[Febs]

HOW DO I CONNECT MY IRIVER TO AN EXTERNAL PLAYER (HOME STEREO, CAR STEREO, ETC.)

Q. What is contained in this FAQ?

This FAQ contains information about hooking up your iRiver player to an external device such as a home stereo or a car stereo. Contents of this FAQ include:

How do I connect my iRiver to my home stereo?

-If your stereo has a 3.5mm (1/8”) line input
-If your stereo does not have a 3.5mm (1/8”) line input
--Where do I connect on my stereo?
--Where do I connect on my iRiver?
--How should I set the volume on my iRiver?
--What cable do I use?
--How to tell an audio input from a video input?
--Can I use the “PHONO” or “TURNTABLE” input on my receiver?
--What if my stereo does not have any audio inputs?

What is the best way to connect my iRiver to my car stereo?

-Front panel auxiliary inputs
--What is it?
--Advantages
--Disadvantages
--What cable do I use?
-Auxiliary inputs designed for CD changers
--What is it?
-Cassette adapters
--What is it?
--Advantages
--Disadvantages
-FM transmitters
--What is it?
--Advantages
--Disadvantages
-Bluetooth*

[*coming soon]

Q. HOW DO I CONNECT MY IRIVER TO MY HOME STEREO?

FAQ authored by Febs, incorporating a prior FAQ authored by Carman, with input from tripucka7 for American terms/prices and adapter info, and Shrink for volume advice.

1. If your stereo has a 3.5mm (1/8”) line input

First, determine whether your home stereo has a line-in port. If it does, use a 3.5mm male to 3.5mm male (1/8” male to 1/8” male) stereo cable to plug one end into the line-out port of your player. Plus the other end into the line-in port on your home receiver. Set your stereo to "AUX" or “LINE IN” mode and you’re set to go. Note that the H1xx and H3xx series of players come bundled with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm (1/8” to 1/8”) cable. If your player did not include such a cable, you can get them at most electronics stores, including Radio Shack and Maplin.

2. If your stereo does not have a 3.5mm (1/8”) line input

Where do I connect to my stereo? If your stereo doesn't have a line-in port (and most do not), then you can connect your iRiver player through any of the following types of audio inputs, which may be located either on the front or the back of your stereo receiver/amplifier:

--an auxiliary input (often labeled “AUX” or “AUDIO”)
--a tape input (often labeled “TAPE,” “TAPE IN,” or “TAPE PLAYBACK”)
--a CD audio input
--a VCR audio input
--a DVD player audio input

Where do I connect on my iRiver? For players with a line-out jack (e.g., the H1xx series and H3xx series of players), you can connect to either the line-out jack or the headphone output. For other players, use the headphone output.

How should I set the volume on my iRiver? Some Mistic River members have found a volume of 35 on the player to be appropriate, but to avoid unpleasant surprises and potential damage to your speakers, it’s always best to start with a low volume and raise the volume gradually until you find a comfortable level. You may find it helpful to switch back and forth between the input you are using for the iRiver and another input device, like a CD player, and raise the volume on the iRiver until the two inputs are the same volume. If you hear distortion in the output, try backing off the volume of the iRiver player and raising the volume on your stereo.

What cable do I use? The audio inputs on most receivers use a type of plug known as an “RCA plug,” which is sometimes also called a “phono plug.” Thus, to connect to these inputs, you will need a 3.5mm (1/8”) stereo to RCA (phono) stereo audio cable. This cable can be picked up on the internet, or in your local electronics shop and cost around £5-10 / $5-10 USD. The price varies with cable length and quality of the jacks.

Here are some examples of appropriate cables from Radio Shack and Maplin.

Another option is to use an adapter in conjunction with your existing 3.5mm-3.5mm cord which came with your iRiver. These can be picked up for around £2-5 or $4 USD. They are an adapter which fits onto one of the 3.5mm jacks and "converts" it to 2x phone/RCA plugs. Although this is a cheaper option, please note the general rule of "The more connections made, the greater the deterioration of sound,” so you may want to avoid this if possible.

How to tell an audio input from a video input? Note that RCA plugs can be used for video inputs as well as audio inputs, and you want to be careful to plug your player into an audio input and not a video input. There are two ways to tell the difference between the two. First, video inputs are usually clearly labeled as such on the receiver. Second, many manufacturers, particularly in recent years, have color coded their inputs. Audio inputs will be color-coded red (for the right channel) and white (for the left channel), while video inputs will be coded yellow.

Can I use the “PHONO” or “TURNTABLE” input on my receiver? This is generally not recommended. Certain types of turntables historically had a lower output level than what later came to be standard for audio devices. Those turntables required the use of a pre-amp to raise the signal before it was amplified. Some manufacturers of audio components included a pre-amp in their “PHONO” input so that a separate pre-amp was not required. As a result, these inputs expect to see a much different input signal than what is standard for most of today’s audio devices. If the only input that you have available to you is a "phono" or "turntable" input, it generally will not hurt to try it, but be aware that the result is likely to sound unpleasant. If you do try such an input, start with the volume on both your player and the stereo set very low and raise both volumes gradually to avoid any surprises.

What if my stereo does not have any audio inputs? Some lower-end home stereos do not have audio inputs. For such stereos, use the cassette adapter or FM transmitter methods described below in the car audio section.

Q. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO CONNECT MY IRIVER TO MY CAR STEREO?

FAQ authored by Febs.

There are several methods that you can use to connect your iRiver to your car’s stereo system, depending on what your car’s audio system allows: (1) connection through a front panel auxiliary input, (2) connection through an auxiliary input designed for a CD changer, (3) connection through a cassette deck using a cassette adapter, and (4) through the FM radio using an FM transmitter. It is also possible that at some point in the relatively near future, Bluetooth technology will allow wireless connections between a player and a Bluetooth-enabled car stereo.

1. Front panel auxiliary input

What is it? As digital audio players increase in popularity, car audio manufacturers are beginning to include auxiliary inputs on the front panel of their stereos. For example, many car stereo head units by Aiwa and JVC now have this feature. If your car stereo has such a front-panel input, this is the easiest and best-sounding way to hook up your iRiver player to you car’s stereo. Refer to your car stereo's owners manual for information on how to connect via a front-panel auxilliary input.

Advantages. If your car stereo has a front panel input, this method is inexpensive and easy. Connecting through an auxiliary input sounds better than connecting through a cassette adapter, and significantly better than using an FM transmitter.

Disadvantages. People who are obsessive with hiding wires in their cars may not like having the cable dangling from the head unit on the dashboard. Otherwise, there are few disadvantages.

What cable do I use? Use a 3.5mm male to 3.5mm male (1/8” male to 1/8” male) stereo cable to connect your player to the car stereo. Note that the H1xx and H3xx series of players come bundled with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm (1/8” to 1/8”) cable. If your player did not include such a cable, you can get them at most electronics stores, including Radio Shack and Maplin.

2. Auxiliary inputs designed for CD changers

What is it? Many OEM (original equipment from the manufacturer) car stereos, as well as some aftermarket car stereos, have a pin connector for a cd changer. Several companies, including Precision Interface Electronics (PIE) and Blitzsafe, make make adapters that convert the pin connector to two RCA inputs. You can then connect the RCA inputs to the line-out or headphone output of your player using a 3.5mm (1/8”) stereo to RCA (phono) stereo audio cable, which is available at any electronics store, including Radio Shack and Maplin.

The Crutchfield site sells auxiliary input adapters for a number of brands of car stereo. The Crutchfield site has additional information on how auxiliary adapters work and how they are installed. Although Crutchfield's discussion of auxiliary input adapters is geared towards another brand of digital audio player, most of the information there is applicable to your iRiver as well.

Source: Information provided by Spike in this thread, as well as information provided by Riffraff.

3. Cassette adapters

What is it? A cassette adapter is a cassette tape housing with a lead coming off the end of it and a 3.5mm (1/8") plug which fits into the line-out or headphone output of your iRiver player. The adapter is designed to play through the cassette deck of your car. These adapters are available from most electronics stores for under $25 USD.

Advantages. Cassette adapters are relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and sound better than FM transmitters.

Disadvantages. Some car stereos have difficulty with the cassette adapter. When they sense that there is no signal on the adapter, their autoreverse mechanism kicks in and tries to switch to "side B" of the cassette, which cuts off the signal from the player. Also, depending on how your stereo loads a cassette, the wire from the cassette adapter can sometimes make loading and unloading of the adapter awkward. Finally, people who are obsessive with hiding wires in their cars may not like having the cable dangling from the head unit on the dashboard.

4. FM transmitters

An FM transmitter is a device that plugs into the headphone jack or line-out of your iRiver player and broadcasts the output to the FM radio in your car stereo. The is generally a split of opinion on the sound quality of FM transmitters. Some Mistic River members have had good results from FM transmitters, while others have found the sound quality to be unacceptable.

FM transmitters work by broadcasting the signal from your iRiver player to an empty FM frequency. The signal from broadcast FM stations is much more powerful than the relatively weak signal from an FM transmitter. In cities where there are a large number of FM stations, the relatively low signal from the FM transmitter can be essentially "drowned out" by the signal from commercial radio stations. (Think of what happens when you listen to an FM radio station on a long drive. As you start to get out of range of a station and its signal fades, you get interference from other stations that are broadcasting on the same frequency or nearby frequencies. The same effect often happens when using an FM transmitter in an area where there are many FM stations.) Thus, in order to use an FM transmitter effectively, you need to use it on a frequency where there is no signal from a commercial radio station. Entry-level FM transmitters allow you to pick from a limited number of FM frequencies. More expensive models allow you to select any frequency that your car stereo is able to receive.

Some FM transmitters run on batteries, while others plug into the car's lighter plug or power socket. FM transmitters can eat batteries fairly quickly, so look for a model that gets its power from the car rather than from batteries.

FM transmitters are available at almost any electronics store that sells car audio, such as Crutchfield or Best Buy. Different models of FM transmitters are discussed frequently on Mistic River. (An example can by found in this thread.) Do a search for "FM transmitter" if you would like to learn about Mistic River members' experiences with specific models of FM transmitters.

Advantages. FM transmitters can be used in any car that has an FM radio. They can be a good option if your car has no line-in or cassette player, or if you are travelling and will be using rental cars.

Disadvantages. FM transmitters do not sound as good as connections via a line-in or a cassette adapter. FM transmitters may receive interference from broadcast radio stations, particularly in areas where there a large number of broadcast FM stations. Battery-operated models can eat batteries quickly, especially if you forget to turn the transmitter off when you are out of the car. FM transmitters are not legal in all countries.

5. Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a relatively new technology that allows wireless communications between electronic devices like mobile phones, PDAs, and computers. For example, some car manufacturers are beginning to make "Bluetooth-enabled" cars. These applications, to date, have been geared primarily towards mobile phones. A Bluetooth-enabled car, for example, contains a hand-free system that allows a driver to connect a mobile phone to a hands-free system in the car, without using any wires. It is possible that in the future, you will be able to buy a Bluetooth adapter that transmits wirelessly from your iRiver player to a Bluetooth-enabled car stereo.

For information on Bluetooth technologies, visit Bluetooth.org.