Poor sound when iPod Nano connected via 3.5mm connection

[Little Jo]

Hi All

I've just bought an iPod Nano to make use of the 3.5mm jack in my Fabia. Tried it today and found I had to turn the volume to max to hear anything at all. Sound quality was poor. Not at all what I was expecting.

What on earth am I doing wrong? I got a Hama 2m cable with gold-plated connections and I'm a little disappointed.

Jo

[mannyo]

try turning the volume up on the ipod.

[JSJ]

As above, plus IIRC you need to alter the 'aux' settings for mp3 input.

[Wet Kipper]

it's because the head unit is expecting a "line out" type signal at a certain level, whereas what it's getting is a "headphone out" signal at a much lower strength.

At least, that's as much as I remember of what an audio-techy friend told me about these sort of things.
It's why things like the big docks plug into the funny long thin socket at the bottom af a 'pod, and not through the headphone socket.

[Little Jo]

Originally Posted by JSJ

As above, plus IIRC you need to alter the 'aux' settings for mp3 input.

Do you know what settings I need to change? The manual for the stereo is pretty thin, I had to look up how to choose the Aux in! I don't really want to pay out £100+ to get the ICE thingy. It's an awful lot to pay out just to listen to music.

I'm really new to all of this. I tried plugging it into my home hifi and that was pretty quiet too. The volume needed to be a lot higher than for CDs.

[mannyo]

The output from the ipod is very low from the headphone socket, try turning the ipod upto 3/4 volume and it should be more acceptable.

[dxg]

You could use one of these...

SendStation - Products - PocketDock Line Out USB

I have one - it works well.

[Little Jo]

Originally Posted by dxg

You could use one of these...

SendStation - Products - PocketDock Line Out USB

I have one - it works well.

Well, I've taken the plunge and ordered one - it sounds like the solution to my problem.

[Wardy]

Yes, excellent suggestion. Was just going to point you in the direction of the PocketDock. Brilliant bit of kit - highly recommended.

Steve

[JSJ]

Originally Posted by Little Jo

Do you know what settings I need to change? The manual for the stereo is pretty thin, I had to look up how to choose the Aux in! I don't really want to pay out £100+ to get the ICE thingy. It's an awful lot to pay out just to listen to music.

I'm really new to all of this. I tried plugging it into my home hifi and that was pretty quiet too. The volume needed to be a lot higher than for CDs.

My Dance manual is quite thick, I wonder if the main one is missing from your pack?

IIRC you hit the cd button until 'aux' comes up then it's the bottom right preset and then you have the choice of three settings.

I've ordered a standard skoda lead so I'll let you know how I get on, at the moment I use an FM transmittor for my ipod.

[Wardy]

You'll always be better connecting to the amped output, available through the bottom iPod connector, rather than the headphone jack. The sound quality and the volume level will always be better. And for £20-odd for the SoundStation, you can't really go wrong.

Steve

[JSJ]

I'm sure you are right, but I ordered the lead last week, so may as well wait and see how it performs.

[d96em]

You don't mention if you've tried turning up the volume on the ipod, but if you have and it's still too low, it may be due to apple's volume limiter (which serves no real purpose except keeping potential lawsuits away). Check your ipod manual, there is a setting somewhere that you can use to alter the maximum volume setting. IIRC, it's set rather low by default. I've jacked mine up a fair bit, and when I use my nano in the Fabia, the sound is excellent (and loud )

[woodenspatulas]

Originally Posted by d96em

You don't mention if you've tried turning up the volume on the ipod, but if you have and it's still too low, it may be due to apple's volume limiter (which serves no real purpose except keeping potential lawsuits away). Check your ipod manual, there is a setting somewhere that you can use to alter the maximum volume setting. IIRC, it's set rather low by default. I've jacked mine up a fair bit, and when I use my nano in the Fabia, the sound is excellent (and loud )

i was just going to suggest this as i recently found the same thing on my SWMBOs ipod.

but the other thing to note is looking at the screen on the radio in the car when you have the AUX selected, there is a arrow on the screen pointing at the lower right hand button (one you use as preset 6 on the radio itself)

if you push this you can select a volume control for the line input itself, most are set at the middle setting so it could be good to turn this right up aswell.

[Little Jo]

Yes, I did play with the volume limiter on the ipod. Thanks all for your replies, you are all brilliant! I was going to say fab, but on a Fabia forum that might be interpreted as something else!

[JSJ]

As luck would have it my cable was waiting for me when I got home. Set aux level to 3 and you get the best volume and quality (aux 2 & 1 reduce it significantly) set the ipod volume to full and then use the volume control on the stereo.

I like rock music - and the output is plenty loud enough.

[Little Jo]

I just wanted to update this for the benefit of others. I got my PocketDock on Tuesday. It does make a big difference to the sound from the iPod.

Volume problem sorted, interestingly, volume is better on ripped cds than the one album I've downloaded from iTunes.

Weird!

Jo