So I bought an Ipod last night and also picked up a Axxess Wire-Tunes oem honda interface kit. It was $150...about how much I would pay for the PAC, PIE, etc. kit online with shipping. Anyway, I like it - it has good sound (not f***ing FM modulation) and the controls work well, and it powers the ipod.

I do have a couple of issues with it though...not sure if this is common with the other IPod interface kits.

1) interface "box" that the cd player and ipod connect to is too big to fit behind the radio (at least I couldn't get it to). Right now it's in the passenger foot well.

2)IPod display only shows the company (Axxess) logo - not song information. I would like to be able to see song information if, for example, I forget the artist of a song.

3)IPod can only be controlled by the stereo controlls (and not the ipod) when plugged in (not really a big deal)

4)Random select works, but when I hit "next" while in random it will sometimes (10% of the time) play the first few seconds of a song, then go to another random song

5)IPod stops playing after disconnected (so I can't listen to the same song when I leave the car)

So do the PAC, PIE, Dension, etc kits have the same minor issues? If not, I'll return this and just order one of those. Thanks!

 

I have a Kenwood interface so I'll answer your questions by that...
1. Yeah, but mine came with a long length of wire on each end so you could put it almost anywhere in the front half of the vehicle and still have enough to get to the iPod and to the stereo.
2. Yep, same as the kenwood, the song information will be through your stereo display...
3. Yep, same as mine
4. Don't know about this one... sorry.
5. Yeah, this is so the iPod doesn't run until the battery is dead if you say.... turn off the vehicle and leave the iPod in it and don't stop it.

Hope that helps to shed some light on iPod interfaces in general... all of my Kenwood answers also go for my brother in law's Alpine interface (well I don't know about number 1 as I didn't install it, but I'm sure it's similar).
-Doug

 

I think you'll find quirks in any of the iPod interfaces. I have the Alpine and it's a royal pain in the butt to operate. If you do a search by Artist and pick one, it automatically goes into "repeat that artist forever" mode and you have to go back to "artist search" and choose someone else to get out of it.

Also, it seems the only controls you have is "next track", but then that's an iPod thing. It's obvious to me that the engineers who created the iPod are under 30 years old and never heard of "album rock". It never crossed their mind that someone would want to listen to music by the album, or change from one album to the next. Incredibly stupid in my opinion, but then I was stupid enough to buy one wasn't I?

 

Ah...
I guess I'm fine with the quirks, just looking to see if there is an interface kit without the quirks. eh...

Anyway, I was wrong about points 1 and 5. I had to juggle around and I found a good spot for the interface box. Halfway between the area behind the radio and halfway in the passenger's dash. And it turns out that if I unplug the ipod from the interface before I turn off the car, it automatically pauses - allowing me to continue my song.

One thing that I would have liked, that I think is on other players, is for the radio to controll the on/off of the IPod. No big deal...just another quirk I guess?


Probably keep this one...since I already took apart my interior and put everything back again to install.

 

[QUOTE=patinum,Jul 27 2005, 09:58 AM]So I bought an Ipod last night and also picked up a Axxess Wire-Tunes oem honda interface kit. It was $150...about how much I would pay for the PAC, PIE, etc. kit online with shipping.

 

soooooooo does the ipod jus play your entire libary or can you choose a playlist??

 

You can listen to music by album on an iPod.

It can do both.

 

I had the same setup in my car. It was decent for a while but I had the same problem, where it would play the first few seconds of the song and then skip to the next one unexpectedly. It drove me insane after a while. Sometimes it would do this for like 5 songs in a row. Also I would get random lockups, where it wouldn't work and I have to reset the Ipod.

I emailed their tech support about this problem and the reply I got was:
"We will not have a solution until we get back into a vehicle similar to yours". I have a MY 2002 btw.

I'm going to get the new Alpine 9856 and ipod cable setup instead. Cost a bit more, but hopefully it'll work much better.

 

Damn dude.....$150 bucks for an IPOD kit?

For 199.99, you could have gotten a brand new ALPINE headunit, that the IPOD plugs into directly, with the added improvement of sound quality.

 

Or a HU and Alpine adapter for an extra $100 - that would give you the iPod controls in the HU.