iPod aux mod

[Paul in NM]

Anyone done this?

http://jurgar.wordpress.com/2008/07/...-9-5-audio-en/

I'm thinking of doing it. I hear you "do not" need to hook up a switch as the instructions illustrate as when you're in radio mode plugging in the iPod will override the radio. Anyone who's done this have any tips, insight?

[thinkglad]

I as well would like to know if this is the best way to add an iPod as well.....

[starlightfury]

I did this mod about a week ago and it works perfectly. I would highly suggest wiring up a simple rocker switch into one of the blank dummy buttons on the left side of dash. The only difficulty I had doing this is I kind of slipped pretty bad when using my rotary cutter and made a big gap outside of the space I wanted to cut out to put the switch in on the dummy button. I covered it well with electrical tape, and when I get the time I'll fix it with some epoxy and paint. Other than that though, its very much worth the effort, especially given that I just installed a 500W subwoofer system about a month ago. I did this mod all with parts and wiring I already had so it cost me nothing besides my time. Overall, working very slowly and taking breaks it took about 3 hours, but could be done in half that if not less. If you're good with soldering its an easy job.

I recommend the switch because it completely mutes all other inputs and you know you are getting a clean signal. I do not have experience with this mod without the switch, but I have heard mixed results when people choose not to use one. It is not that much more work for peace of mind that you are doing the job right and getting the best sound quality possible. The sound quality from this mod versus a standard tape adapter that I was using previously is night and day. People are right when they say it is extremely, if not impossibly difficult to tell the difference between this and cd quality if you are playing MP3 songs with a high bitrate. Even at the standard 192Kbps encoding rate it sounds damn good.

[Paul in NM]

Originally Posted by starlightfury

I did this mod about a week ago and it works perfectly. I would highly suggest wiring up a simple rocker switch into one of the blank dummy buttons on the left side of dash. The only difficulty I had doing this is I kind of slipped pretty bad when using my rotary cutter and made a big gap outside of the space I wanted to cut out to put the switch in on the dummy button. I covered it well with electrical tape, and when I get the time I'll fix it with some epoxy and paint. Other than that though, its very much worth the effort, especially given that I just installed a 500W subwoofer system about a month ago. I did this mod all with parts and wiring I already had so it cost me nothing besides my time. Overall, working very slowly and taking breaks it took about 3 hours, but could be done in half that if not less. If you're good with soldering its an easy job.

I recommend the switch because it completely mutes all other inputs and you know you are getting a clean signal. I do not have experience with this mod without the switch, but I have heard mixed results when people choose not to use one. It is not that much more work for peace of mind that you are doing the job right and getting the best sound quality possible. The sound quality from this mod versus a standard tape adapter that I was using previously is night and day. People are right when they say it is extremely, if not impossibly difficult to tell the difference between this and cd quality if you are playing MP3 songs with a high bitrate. Even at the standard 192Kbps encoding rate it sounds damn good.

Good stuff!

Couple of questions...Does the switch need to be "on/off" or "on/on". Never understood that. And in the picture on the illustration where the aux cable is soldered to the board it's very difficult to make out. Are there 3 wires in the aux cable? And lastly he mentions removing the varnish before soldering. What's the best way to do so? Chip it off? solvent?

[19016c]

The minjack often has the two grounds linked for a total of 3 wires. What I want to know is where he got the audio ground. It looks like the unshielded part of the cable is run to an empty spot on the board.

[cse_20]

Single throw, can only be on/off, double throw can be on/on or on/off
According to the mod only 2 wires to the switch. so any one will work.

Look at the table further down;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch



[QUOTE=Paul in NM;1844371]Good stuff!

Couple of questions...Does the switch need to be "on/off" or "on/on". Never understood that.

[starlightfury]

I used a single pole single throw switch, ie ON/OFF. The switch just needs to create an open circuit between the wires when in one position and a short circuit in the other.

A little piece of sandpaper was used to remove the varnish from the blank spot of the circuit board as seen in that guide. No matter the size of connector, what you are using will be a TRS connector of some sort, which has a right and left channel, in addition to the shield which acts as a relative ground- so yes, three wires for the aux cable. If you are confused about which wires are what when you are soldering the TRS cable to the circuit board, reference that wikipedia article and use a multimeter on the diode setting to see which wires correspond to which channel on the other end of the connector. Typically, the ground wire will be a bare wire and the right/left channels will have red/white(or black maybe) shielding on them.

[mbachand05]

i've done this mod,except i used the tape player to do it. it works very nice.

[guiltyspark7750]

yeah I did a tape player version, it's too quiet so I might open it up and try this version, see if its better. You can also purchase an adapter here:

http://www.partsforsaabs.com/product...oducts_id=3919

[Mrmegnum]

Just a clean creative thought here. If you don't want to put in a new switch, wire the window lock switch to turn this on and off instead of locking the windows, because who uses that anyways?

[gw0udm]

Originally Posted by starlightfury

I used a single pole single throw switch, ie ON/OFF. The switch just needs to create an open circuit between the wires when in one position and a short circuit in the other.

A little piece of sandpaper was used to remove the varnish from the blank spot of the circuit board as seen in that guide. No matter the size of connector, what you are using will be a TRS connector of some sort, which has a right and left channel, in addition to the shield which acts as a relative ground- so yes, three wires for the aux cable. If you are confused about which wires are what when you are soldering the TRS cable to the circuit board, reference that wikipedia article and use a multimeter on the diode setting to see which wires correspond to which channel on the other end of the connector. Typically, the ground wire will be a bare wire and the right/left channels will have red/white(or black maybe) shielding on them.

When I did this, I didn't have much luck scraping off the varnish so instead I connected the ground via a short run of wire to a big solder pad further up the board. There are a few of these and it was quite easy. I was worried about burning something or scraping off something important!

In my install, I have got the Saab mobile phone 'pod' and I'm using my phone as the music player. I drilled a hole in the bottom and fitted a rocker switch, which is connected to the mobile phone wiring harness to switch telephone mode on and off. This looks neat and tidy, and works very well.

Overall I think the mod is great! Sound is good and it's not difficult to do.

James

[thinkglad]

Originally Posted by mrmegnum

just a clean creative thought here. If you don't want to put in a new switch, wire the window lock switch to turn this on and off instead of locking the windows, because who uses that anyways?

^^^ + 1

[guiltyspark7750]

Originally Posted by gw0udm

When I did this, I didn't have much luck scraping off the varnish so instead I connected the ground via a short run of wire to a big solder pad further up the board. There are a few of these and it was quite easy. I was worried about burning something or scraping off something important!

In my install, I have got the Saab mobile phone 'pod' and I'm using my phone as the music player. I drilled a hole in the bottom and fitted a rocker switch, which is connected to the mobile phone wiring harness to switch telephone mode on and off. This looks neat and tidy, and works very well.

Overall I think the mod is great! Sound is good and it's not difficult to do.

James

pics!!!

[nbndtrain]

I think you lose treble and bass controls right? I had the tel-mute mod in my Viggen, and it was the best option at the time. I had the tape mod in my last 9-5 and it was good, but the cassette made physical noise. I now have an AudioTroll which has it's own set of issues, but is a good solution. This mod seems to be the best/available option.

[gw0udm]

Originally Posted by nbndtrain

I think you lose treble and bass controls right? I had the tel-mute mod in my Viggen, and it was the best option at the time. I had the tape mod in my last 9-5 and it was good, but the cassette made physical noise. I now have an AudioTroll which has it's own set of issues, but is a good solution. This mod seems to be the best/available option.

You don't lose the treble and bass controls with this one. I originally thought that you did, and I think this is because you do in the 9-3 but not in the 9-5. I've tested this myself and I can positively confirm that you do not lose them. Everything functions as it should. THe only thing you do lose is the RDS Traffic Announcements, but this is a fairly minor loss.

I actually use mine in conjunction with a Parrot hands-free kit, and because I also use the phone as the music source it works pretty well. If there is an incoming call the phone automatically stops the music playback anyway, and the handsfree works exactly as it should.

I'll post up some pics tomorrow, if I can take some while the light lasts.

James

[Paul in NM]

A lil' help. I'm knee deep in this mod and putting things back together but I can't figure out how to run the cable(s) out of the unit. Note the pic...

The greyish cable is the ipod connection. Which is the best way to run it out??

[gw0udm]

Hi

There's a little metal notch in the middle of the back plate, just where the CD player module joins the rest of the radio. I enlarged this but cutting a bit of the metal away, and fed the cable through there.

It's hard to explain without a picture, though, I'll try and find one.

James

[Paul in NM]

I see where you're talking about. Nice. I was all set to use the rear window on/off switch as mentioned but it's all wired with one connection including the window switches. I'll have to rethink where to put the switch.

[Paul in NM]

Nice mod. I ended up routing the cable to the rear cubby hole. I added the siwtch to the inside wall of cubby hole as well. Sound is excellent.

[SaabNineThree]

Originally Posted by Paul in NM

Nice mod. I ended up routing the cable to the rear cubby hole. I added the siwtch to the inside wall of cubby hole as well. Sound is excellent.

is the dash hard to paint i completely hate my wood one...