Can't seem to get my mp3 player/aux input to sound good...
 

Well, I got my MCS today (yay!) and also tried out my mp3 player with the aux input. Trouble is, I tried many configurations with the EQ, volume normalizing, and Aux Input volume, but all my songs sound like crap. It's not the quality of the mp3 because I'm anal retentive about that. When played through the car speakers from the mp3 player, it seems to have all the mids scooped and I can't hear certain parts of songs. It's not just certain songs, too...it's all songs. I tried fiddling with the wire and if I put it half in/out, the quality gets slightly better but it can't be like that all the time.

Anyone have similar problems? Do you think it's my male/male cable that's the problem or my mp3 player itself? BTW, I have an iAudio X5.

Sounds like a faulty part/bad install. I'd call your MA ASAP.

I'm going to ask my friend to bring his iPod tomorrow when he tags along for a ride and see if the sound is any better. Maybe it's just my player...hopefully not. Although, the dealership is 50 minutes away. Grr...

Thanks for the fast reply.

Does your headset work with your ipod? If so, it's the car, not the pod.

Could be the cable that connected from the player to the AUX input - I have seen (heard ?) a cable make a player sound like you are describing

Well, I don't have an iPod. It's this...http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/

Not that it should matter... But yes, headphones work fine.

I'll try my friends player tomorrow. If it still sounds like crap, I'll buy a different cable. If that fails, then I shall call up my dealer.

Deffinately could be that. I seriously doubt that your mp3 player is bad if it works with your headset; just wouldn't make sense. All it is doing is sending signal through a wire.

I just tried it with my PSP. The sound was "fine", although too quiet even with the PSP's volume turned up all the way. With that said, I turned up the AUX Input to 5 and I heard too much noise/static. I think I'm just going to get a new cable because it really doesn't make sense how headphones will work fine but through a car speaker it sounds like arse.

Well, you're putting a lot less power to a lot smaller of a speaker with the headset. Thats why MP3s sound great with a normal headset, but just so-so through speakers.
If the cable doesn't work out, have the dealership take a look.

May not help, but...

Try turning the volume down on the Aux Input and up on the player. My Dell DJ has to be turned up almost all the way. I keep the Aux Input at either 2 or 3 with the Dell DJ up all the way. Above 3 on the Aux Input, I got some distortion.

One key factor - using a headphone jack as line-out is going to lower the quality, because it's amplified. If you take the built-in amplifier on the device, and you add the amplifier of the car stereo, you get double amplification... not good!

If possible, try to find a way to get an unamplified line-out from the device. In the case of an iPod, for example, that means using an adapter that plugs into the docking port on the bottom... not using the headphone jack.

You're sending a high-level signal through a wire that is amplified again. Get a connection that takes the signal through a low level port (dock connector) or better yet - the DICE kit will be the best solution.

Do you have a recommendation as to where we could find a connection cable like this or what this kind of cable is called? Thanks!

Here's what I am referring to:

http://www.europeanautosource.com/im...ableStereo.jpg

RetractCable - iPod Dock to 1/8 Stereo Audio Mini Jack
http://www.europeanautosource.com/pr...roducts_id=257

I found out the source of the problem. It was the cable itself going from the iAudio to the AUX input. Gotta get me one of those monster cables...