I would like to have a audio out jack where I could run a couple of noise canceling headphones. Has anyone done this? Could you share your expertise with me? I have a 2006 MCS convertible with the HK system

Thanks for your help.

 

Can't help you there, but I'm thinking that if you're trying to hear your tunes better and cut down on the noise, it may not work all that well. Before you go to the trouble, try using the noise cancelling headphones in the car and run them from an iPod or something. It may not be worth the hassle.

Also, it's probably illegal to wear headphone while driving (true in most if not all states) and you'll be askin' for a ticket. Especially if the top is down.

 

I consulted the Internet and find the general opinion is that it is not legal to listen to music wearing headphones. Now, how this opinion comes about I have not been able to determine. I consulted a friend who has been a State Trooper for 30 years. He says Louisiana has no such law. Motorcyclist and this includes motor officers have speakers in their helmets for their communications as well as listening to some tunes. In fact totally death people are licensed to drive in most states.

I am very surprised that no one has suggested wearing a headset in a convertible. Even without active noise reduction the sound of the music is much better and does not cause the fatigue of all that wind and road noise.

 

Hmm.....well, you might give it a try. But many states still prohibit their use. Just be aware that you'll be losing some of your overall sensory input to what's happening around you.

And if you try the noise reduction, please post back here. I'd be interested to know if it works. (Or maybe I'll just try it myself.)

 

Illegal under California Vehicle Code: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27400.htm. It applies to motorcycles as well. You might consider it to be great for your own use, but would you want other people to be driving around wearing headphones?

Are you using a wind deflector? It cuts down a lot of wind turbulence and noise.

 

ah California A world in itself. To answer your question I likley will not mind that much. I allready have them constantly on the phone but I guess driving with one ear open and one hand on the wheel is ok. Its the half of their brain they use for the conversaton that worrys me. But we are getting offtrack here.
Say I don,t use noise reduction and only cover one ear how do I do I wire in a audio out jack.

I thank everyone for their view

 

I guess so is Louisiana (which you mentioned): http://www.legis.state.la.us./lss/lss.asp?doc=88233

The headunit only has speaker level outputs. You can build a passive circuit that brings it to headphone levels (try searching in head-fi.org). Somebody somewhere probably sells speaker to headphone level adapters.

 

Did you ever find a solution to your question?? I'm very hard of hearing.. (my own fault) and I'd like to be able to plug in to the FM in my 2008 S Hatchback..

Any advice woud be appreciated...

and before anyone else wants to point out state laws... please don't... Speeding is illegal, too, but....

 

no I was never able to come up with a solution. I just listen to my Ipod. Yes through the illegal headset.

 

It is both illegal and dangerous....and pretty stupid if you ask me! It's bad enough to be wearing headphones while driving....but noise canceling on top of that????? Come on man....pay some attention to the road!

 

nobody asked you or anyone else. The question was Is there way to wire in a audio out jack? ACTUALLY as Martinb stated earlier the noise cancelling headset is not worth the trouble.
The noise in the car is not what they are designed to cancel and BTW you can still hear the traffic noise just fine.

 

Now I dont condone this but not due to legal, or saftey reasons but just cause i wouldnt want to look like a huge dork. But in any case, couldnt you plug into this thing with RCA to 3.5 input adapter?

it could be that its only in HK equiped vehicles. its found in the passanger side rear of the car.

If you have it in your car then just get a long cable so you can look like the coolest cat in town with the big ole' noise-cancelling headphones on and your top down.

 

in case you are unaware.. headphones now can fit in your ear...Ever seen an IPod? and you'd be surprised what you might be willing to do if you were so deaf that you couldn't hear music in your car.. your TV in your home.. or a movie in a theatre.. so I'd appreciate a little less mocking...

Appreciate the tip but I have no idea what I'm looking at in this picture... what's it's purpose? and where exactly would I look for it?

 

I don't understand why you couldn't just use the Aux In kit from outmotoring and plug your headphones into it. You'd just need an extension cable, right?

 

when you put it that way i can see how a little joking around (which was my intent) comes off as rude. We all have or will have difficulties and when it becomes a challenge in daily life i guess its no longer funny when some pokes a little fun. I sincerely apologize.

I think the aux in wont work because we need output to headphones in this case.

If you have the Harman Kardon audio system then you probably have this in your rear passenger side. Its meant to be an output to an amplifier. with the right set of adapters it could work. Id definitely try it with a cheap adapter first before you spend money on long cables and then have it not work. heres one on ebay 3.5mm 1/8 stereo female mini jack to 2 male RCA adapter
Its 99 cents shipped. plug that in and a set of headphones into that and see if it works.
you might need a headphone amplifier i suspect, which would make this cost a bit more.

Now that i think about it , it not that crazy a request. Minivans often come with these ports for rear passengers.
Good luck!

 

Thx for the tip, that's the best one yet, but... although I am a newbie to the MINI.. I'm pretty sure this car does NOT have the Harmon Kardon system... It was never mentioned in the pre-purchase advertising spiel and the sound quality isn't anything worth mentioning... so I'm guessing my car does NOT have that piece shown in the pic...

I'll probably take the car to the local car audio specialists and just ask them if it can be done and how....

 

No, nothing like that there in the factory system. The MINI headunit only has speaker outputs. BTW, the headunit is the same for HK and non-HK systems (and the HK amp uses speaker level input).

If you are serious about wanting a headphone jack, I suggest getting an aftermarket headunit that has line level outputs, and plug a separate headphone amp into the line level output.