iPad mini

[TURBO2GO]

It looks perfect honestly. The new HU.

 

[bngl3rt]

It looks perfect honestly. The new HU.

I've given a lot of thought to the best way to get digital audio out of it and keep it charged - assuming you are still planning on using a processor with digital input...

 

[TURBO2GO]

I've given a lot of thought to the best way to get digital audio out of it and keep it charged - assuming you are still planning on using a processor with digital input...

Yeah, so what have you figured out?

 

[bngl3rt]

Yeah, so what have you figured out?

Well, I designed a circuit based around the board out of the Pure i-20, the 30pin to Lightning Adapter, and one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/L123-7-5V-Converter-Step-Power-Supply/dp/B008I097LC

The i-20 takes 7.5V. This could all be mounted to the back of a SoS stereo delete plate inside the center console, with the Lightning connector from the adapter coming out in the cigarette lighter/ashtray area and concealing behind the door when not in use. The remote for the processor could also go behind the door... and you could even put a contact switch on the door that powers down the whole system when the door is closed (just spitballing ways to turn the 3sixty on and off).

Today Apple gave us a second option:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD826ZM/A/lightning-digital-av-adapter

The audio side of the HDMI out is always active, even though mirroring is off. So you would charge through the Lightning pass-thru in the Digital AV adapter (12v -> USB -> lightning somewhere), and then send the HDMI out to...

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...011002&p_id=5557&seq=1&format=3#specification

I've confirmed that this device can extract HDMI audio over optical WITHOUT a display attached to do the HDCP handshake.

This approach has two upsides:
a) The Pure i-20 is still using the old protocol for getting digital audio out from the phone - the new phones are backwards compatible with the old protocol for purposes of enabling the Lightning to 30 pin adapters, but who knows how long that will supported, and if any bugs appear in the support for the old protocol, whether they will ever be fixed... Apple's OEM digital AV adapter uses the latest and greatest true-Lightning protocol and will not be allowed to stop working.
b) The Monoprice board likely takes 12v and does not require a step-down (although it is probably a bit larger)

Both of these can be mounted to the back of a stereo delete plate, and both of them elegantly provide for a Lightning connector poking out somewhere in the cabin that can charge an iPad mini and get digital audio out.

 

[TURBO2GO]

What's the i20 for? You want to go lightning out to the AV adaptor, then HDMI out from that to your switcher and then optical out to the processor.

Why the switcher? You couldn't find a standard box to extract audio out from HDMI?

Yes, it's 12V but it's kinda bulky. There's got to be something better.

 

[bngl3rt]

What's the i20 for? You want to go lightning out to the AV adaptor, then HDMI out from that to your switcher and then optical out to the processor.

Yes, the i-20 and the 30pin adapter is another way to get charging and optical out. Maybe they will even announce a Lightning i-20.

Why the switcher? You couldn't find a standard box to extract audio out from HDMI?

Yes, it's 12V but it's kinda bulky. There's got to be something better.

Not for $40...

 

[bngl3rt]

So to clarify:

Option 1) iPad -> Lightning to 30pin Adapter -> Pure i-20 (provides charging) -> optical

Option2) iPad -> Lightning AV adapter (provides charging) -> HDMI to optical thing (Monoprice switcher or otherwise) -> optical

Either way you get optical and either way you get charging. #2 is bulkier but also more future-proof.

 

[TURBO2GO]

I HDMI the only way to get digital audio out of this lightning connector? I not thrilled with having to use all these adapters.

I'd almost rather use analog. There is something to be said about reliability. This to that and that to this using this board and that power supply isn't what I want to do in the environment of a car.

If you did what I do for a living and seen enough electronics just shit out, you'd be leary of this too. And for what? A very questionable gain...

 

[bngl3rt]

I HDMI the only way to get digital audio out of this lightning connector? I not thrilled with having to use all these adapters.

No, an accessory can negotiate for a USB digital audio stream, which it can then do whatever it wants to (including push out over an optical port as the Pure i-20 does). The trouble is that no "native" Lightning accessories that do this exist yet (in fact none exist at all) so you're stuck with whatever 30-pin hardware you can put behind the adapter.

This is a temporary problem, a pure Lightning equivalent of the i-20 will surface soon enough, the question is just when.

Then you will go iPad -> new Lightning to Optical thinger (which hopefully provides charging) -> RF 3sixty

 

[bngl3rt]

Plus, the lightning connector does not provide analog... there is a DAC in the 30pin adapter because 30pin traditionally provided analog. So either way you're using an adapter.

I assume you meant line-level analog and not (blech) headphone jack amplified analog.

There's always bluetooth...

 

[TURBO2GO]

So what's your thought on the Bluetooth? I have little desire to mount a mini permanently into the car. It's very thin and I think it'll be just fine docked on top of the console and using Bluetooth. Then you can just pull it off when you go. I have a targa. I am not keen on leaving an iPad mini in the car with the top off.

Not to mention this stuff changes so fast, installing any of them "permanently" is an oxymoron.

 

[bngl3rt]

Well, the RF 3sixty does ship with a bluetooth module, so if you were satisfied with the sound quality and general usability of Bluetooth audio and you just wanted to mount one of those Launchport things as soon as one in the correct size with the correct connector is released, that would be the simplest (well, depending what the wiring for the Launchport looks like in back)

The only unknown is how the Bluetooth audio connection on the RF interacts with Siri. I was hoping to get an LTE model and use Siri while driving for nav/directions/messaging/opening apps etc. If RF or Apple have made even the tiniest mistake in their Bluetooth profiles (I wouldn't put it past them) Siri will stop listening on the internal mic and start listening on the Bluetooth digital void for a nonexistent handsfree mic, which of course the RF does not currently have - I imagine they could add one via their proprietary accessory port.

I have confirmed that registering a digital audio output over Lightning, one way or another, does not confuse Siri as to which microphone she should listen on.

I will be looking for a solution that extracts digital audio over the Lightning connector, mainly so I can easily disconnect the iPad and connect my phone or other peoples' phones rather than deal with bluetooth pairing and unpairing drama. I certainly wasn't imagining mounting the mini permanently, but rather giving it some way to be supported and sturdy while in the car and also remove easily.

 

[L_RAO]

Can we get some pictures? I'm more of a visual learner. :biggrin:

 

[TURBO2GO]

Have you used Siri? It doesnt work well in a loud environment.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Can we get some pictures? I'm more of a visual learner. :biggrin:

Here you go:

 

[I1O101I]

Here you go:

Let me know where I can get one of those packages. :wink:

Bryan

 

[bngl3rt]

Can we get some pictures? I'm more of a visual learner. :biggrin:

One downside to #3 is that the LaunchPort expects 15v, so you would need to step up from 12.

A fourth option goes iPad -> Lightning to USB cable -> iStreamer -> Straight into an amp or a simpler processor (Kicker Front Row). This is the most basic affordable option, but I'm a high end tweaker type :smile:

Have you used Siri? It doesnt work well in a loud environment.

I have had the opposite experience - the mics on these things and the noise cancellation is pretty darn good. I've had Siri understand me perfectly in places where I would have had to shout into a person's ear (nightclubs etc).

Regardless, I hope Rockford Fosgate will make a handsfree phone integration accessory for the 3sixty at some point so that I can mount a mic in a good spot in the cabin.

For simplicity/reliability maybe you should consider the iStreamer.

 

[TURBO2GO]

When you say Siri works well for you are of talking about an iPhone5? I am using a 4S.

 

[TURBO2GO]

BTW if I had to to this right now I probably wouldn't do any of those 3. I would take the apple lighting to 30 pin, and from there take fixed analog audio out.

 

[bngl3rt]

When you say Siri works well for you are of talking about an iPhone5? I am using a 4S.

Yes, I went from a 4 straight to a 5 so I can't say how well it works on 4S.

BTW if I had to to this right now I probably wouldn't do any of those 3. I would take the apple lighting to 30 pin, and from there take fixed analog audio out.

That's pretty much the same as my option #4 (iPad -> iStreamer -> Analog) except it uses the cheap DAC in Apple's adapter rather than the less cheap DAC in the iStreamer.

Different strokes for different folks, I just wouldn't want to introduce a needless DAC->ADC->DAC step. If you were going straight into an amp (analog) that had a wired remote the the iStreamer/30-pin-adapter path would work well. To me, as long as there's a processor in the chain with an optical in, I should use it.

 

[bngl3rt]

Another benefit of the Pure i-20 is that it has an infrared remote control circuit which could easily be hacked for steering wheel controls etc.

 

[bngl3rt]

Some email correspondence with http://cypherlabs.com/product indicates that their product will be fully Lightning-compatible in a few weeks. Of course, their digital output is SPDIF over coax (RCA), so you would still need a coax to optical converter to go into the 3sixty... they're $11 but it's another board. Groan.

Anyway, there's a pricey but elegant option.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Steering wheel control will add weight. It's for girls and soccer moms.

You're driving a race car not a minivan. Stop being a sissy and reach over!! :biggrin:

 

[bngl3rt]

Steering wheel control will add weight. It's for girls and soccer moms.

You're driving a race car not a minivan. Stop being a sissy and reach over!! :biggrin:

Precisely because I'm driving a race car, double-clutch heel-toe downshifts in tight turns require all of my limbs. How am I supposed to change tracks in the middle of one without steering wheel controls? :tongue:

 

[TURBO2GO]

Precisely because I'm driving a race car, double-clutch heel-toe downshifts in tight turns require all of my limbs. How am I supposed to change tracks in the middle of one without steering wheel controls? :tongue:

Sorry I didn't know you were The Stig... Lol