Blaupunkt Orlando ipod attachment?

[Jgordon]

Title pretty much says it all. I have an 89, with a blaupunkt orlando cd changer in trunk. At the moment, I'm using the mini to fake cassette for the ipod. Wondering if there are any more permanent solutions. Has anyone found a good auxiliary attachment for this model? I thought about wiring it instead of the cd changer, but I'd like to keep that functionality.

Thanks.

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by Jgordon

Wondering if there are any more permanent solutions. Has anyone found a good auxiliary attachment for this model? I thought about wiring it instead of the cd changer, but I'd like to keep that functionality.

The "best" solution might be Blaupunkt's iPod adaptor. This allows you to control the iPod from the head unit. However, there are a number of caveats;

* it uses the AUX connector. So no CD changer.
* the interface sucks bigtime (because it's designed for a CD changer with ~10 CD's and 15-20 songs per CD - instead of an iPod with 10000's of songs), you need to create special playlists on the iPod and you're limited to the display length, number that can be displayed etc.

The second reason is why I happen to have a Blaupunkt Memphis (with two AUX connectors in the back) and a Blaupunkt iPod interface accessory kicking around in their respective boxes waiting for me to list them on Flea Bay.

Next best would be line-in, use the headphone output to feed the aux input on the head unit. If it doesn't have one, you can't do this. This won't take care of charging it either.

Least desirable overall is an iTrip or one of the other radio tuners that plug into the iPod socket and broadcast on a frequency you select because it's free from stations broadcasting there. This often doesn't pan out too well on long trips, and interference can be a problem. So much for digital quality. Best thing going for this setup is that it's suitable for use in a rental car if you're traveling.

But it seems to me that the cassette interface probably works better for sound quality - just that no rental car would have a cassette deck these days, right?

I gave up on all of the above and fitted an Alpine iDA-X100 instead. No CD's whatsoever (my library all fits on a 160GB iPod anyway). "Real" iPod interface, even displays the artwork, lets you search etc.