[greenhorn]

I stumbled onto this cable
Alpine Electronics of Asia Pacific Co., Ltd.

its an alpine aux in cable for the 'full speed' interface. My HU, the 9870E has a full speed interface and connects to an ipod using it. however , there is no mention of aux input in the manual. the 9870R, an apparently euro spec model has support for it. alpine officially does not list what all HU's are compatible

an ebay listing I found for it claims that it does support, but I'm not too sure.

any advice ?

[DerAlte]

There is nothing "high-speed"ish about this cable since it doesn't dabble with data. "Full speed iPod access" must be a nick-name for the D connector, since this connector / interface hooks on to the Tx-Rx line of the iPod for exchanging data.

All you need to check is whether the HU has a socket corresponding to this plug (the green one in your pic).

[MadRash]

DerAlte:
My Fabia's stock HU is alpine (I think). It has a Aux in and does not have any USB connector provided. I'm wondering whether I can add USB support in this manner?

[greenhorn]

i think alpine has different names for the interfaces, Another interface was called AI net or something.

I do have this connector at the back, what I'm worried about is if the 9870E firmware might lack aux in support , since it is not mentioned in the 9870E manual ( but is mentioned in the 9870R manual)

[frankmehta]

go to setup, and try finding AUX. if there is AUX in the setup, then just enable it. VOILA, while switching sources you will see the magical AUX source

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by MadRash

... I'm wondering whether I can add USB support in this manner?

No.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

i think alpine has different names for the interfaces, Another interface was called AI net or something...

Sure, that was a circular connector earlier

Originally Posted by greenhorn

... I do have this connector at the back, what I'm worried about is if the 9870E firmware might lack aux in support , since it is not mentioned in the 9870E manual ( but is mentioned in the 9870R manual)

Firmware support is not an issue - this is primary source switching functionality, part of basic firmware. One does not keep hardware on the board not covered by firmware. Better to leave the hardware out in such a case and save the component cost (design principle ).

[greenhorn]

what i was wondering was , since this cable seems to be a recent creation, whether the support for this cable might have been implemented in the HU firmware after the 9870E was made( i dont recall seeing this cable around when i bought it) , and in the 9870R, you have an option to select between USB and AUX in the setup menu - I havent seen it.

I wouldnt have worried too much about it , but recently got an alpine 9845 for a friend which according the the manual should have an option to change the backlight colour, but its just not there in the settings. so I'm worried whether alpine might randomly omit features

either way, the cable is 10$, and there is only one way to find out.

PS: any volunteers
here it is ALPINE MP3 PLAYER AUX INPUT 3.5MM to KCE-422i JACK - eBay (item 270333271908 end time Feb-19-09 12:45:30 PST)

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

what i was wondering was , ... implemented in the HU firmware after the 9870E was made ...

If the connector is there, one would expect the functionality to be implemented, otherwise the production guys (KRA: cost) will scream at the design guys (KRA: functionality)!

Originally Posted by greenhorn

... according the the manual should have an option to change the backlight colour, but its just not there in the settings ...

Are you sure you read the right manual? Japanese companies don't make mistakes like that: mentioning functionality in manual but actually not giving it. Dishonorable mistake deserving hara-kiri!

[greenhorn]

turns out it won't work. the cable is supported by 2008+ units only
Using Aux input (Not Ipod) on Alpine CDA-9887 - DIY Mobile Audio

[navin]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

while switching sources you will see the magical AUX source

Frank since you know more about the 9887 that I do...

A few meonths ago B&T installed a 9887 in my mom's car. I rarely use the car but had the opportunity to drive it a few days ago. I found 2 Ipod connectors sticking out of the dash. One that looked like it came from Alpine and the other was something that looked it was not Alpine but 3rd party.

Confused, I stuck my ipod into the Alpine ipod connector and voila the ipod worked. Then I stuck the ipod into the 3rd party ipod connector and again the ipod worked. Now I was really confused. I was under the impression the 9887 can take only one ipod. Whatever B&T or Shafiq has done has got 2 ipods working on the same HU.

I called B&T and he did not know how this was done either!

You know anything about this?

[frankmehta]

yep, ill tell you how. the earlier ipod interfaces allowed one to connect the ipod to the head unit via a box. the box itself has one more connection which enables one to connect the 'hi-speed' cable or a multi disc changer. i suspect shafiq has connected this 'box' which you might be having from your earlier head unit into the 9887 and the cable I gave you into the 'box.'
this is the only logical explanation I can think of.

[navin]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

yep, ill tell you how. the earlier ipod interfaces allowed one to connect the ipod to the head unit via a box. the box itself has one more connection which enables one to connect the 'hi-speed' cable or a multi disc changer. i suspect shafiq has connected this 'box' which you might be having from your earlier head unit into the 9887 and the cable I gave you into the 'box.'
this is the only logical explanation I can think of.

Yep. the earlier HU was a 9830 with a KCA420.

So your contention is that Shafiq got a spare 3rd party cable and connected to the 9887 directly, while a second cable via the KCA420 is also connected to the 9887. Now to see if the CHS634 changer also works. That would be freaking fantastic. 2 ipods and a changer on one HU (my mom's ipod, my ipiod and my sons CDs can all be available). Time to get another ipod.

[condor]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

There is nothing "high-speed"ish about this cable since it doesn't dabble with data. "Full speed iPod access" must be a nick-name for the D connector, since this connector / interface hooks on to the Tx-Rx line of the iPod for exchanging data.

Digging up an old thread ..

Trying to understand the difference between using such a cable, vs the Aux port (on front)

Some Alpine HU's (like my 126BT) have an Aux port in front, and can also use the aux connection through the "high-speed" cable at the back.

https://www.amazon.com/Goliton-E-EMT.../dp/B005GCLCZE


The port on the back of the HU where we can connect this cable, can also connect to an ipod / iphone using the ipod-wala cable ( guess the older interface). The connector of that cable looks like this:

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by condor

Digging up an old thread ..

Trying to understand the difference between using such a cable, vs the Aux port (on front)...
The port on the back of the HU where we can connect this cable, can also connect to an ipod / iphone using the ipod-wala cable ( guess the older interface). ...

The difference is treating the iDevice as a PMP or a Storage Device.

"Aux-in" only accepts an analog signal, which means the file reading and decoding must be done in the 'PMP' device, i.e. the device plays the audio track to the Earphone-out connector, which one would connect to the HU.

If connecting the rear cable with "ipod-wala cable" (no, the "Aux-in" predates this cable), the HU reads the iDevice as Storage. That is, it sends Directory Read commands (Read First, Read Next), over the serial digital interface, and receives Directory information. The HU then asks the iDevice to send the contents of the file selected at the HU (automatically or manually). The contents of the file are routed by the HU through the HU codec, whose output goes to the HU mixer and further to the pre-amp and amp (internal or external).

With the Aux-in, music quality depends on the CODEC used in the 'PMP', the cable used and the connector quality. There is a possibility of interference via the cable, or signal degradation over the connectors and cable.

With the direct read method, the music quality depends on the HU CODEC (that's why we look for HU's with a good CODEC) and the amp. Chances of interference and signal degradation are obviated as contents are read digitally - no analog signal till output of HU CODEC.

[greenhorn]

Digging up an extremely old thread. While I knew that this probably wouldn't work, $9.76 and 100rs later, I now know that this definitely won't work

Funny thing is, even with an actual kce422i cable, a Bluetooth iPod emulator doesn't work either.

The amount of money I've thrown at solutions to make it work could have probably bought me a new hu with better connectivity

But then again, for me, curing the "what if" itch is more important!