Has anybody tried the Harmon kardon Drive + Play ipod setup?

With all the talk surronding "seemless ipod integration" this option comes to mind. If hooked up through an auxiliary input such as the soundgate, this might operate ok. It also has an additional aux. input for the sattelite provider of your choice. Any thoughts or comments?

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rmsbcspd/reviews/20051025/digital_music/ipod_drive+play.html

That looks very cool, and only $10 more than the Honda Music Link.

I had my eye on that one before I read about the impending release of the Honda kit.

Now, after reading some of the less than satisfied opinions regarding the Honda kit, I am giving the Harmon Kardon kit some renewed consideration.

That looks very cool, and only $10 more than the Honda Music Link.
Unfortunately, you have to add in another $80-90 for the Soundgate unit, too. Pretty expensive after all that, but it is a nice system. I didn't realize it had line-out capability, I thought it was just a very nice FM transmitter. Even with the added price of the Soundgate input, it's far superior to the Honda Music Link, unfortunately.

I have installed about a dozen of these since november in various cars. I recently put one in an Acura MDX, it turned out to be a really nice setup. The only issue was the wireless fm modulator, it had a lot of static. I would suggest the optional hardwired fm mod, which loops the antenna. The Ipod control is really nice.

I have one, and had it installed in my 2004 Element which has been replaced by my Ridgeline. I have yet to install it, but my experience with it in the Element was excellent. I had the audio out hardwired to the Element's AUX input, and my plans for the Ridgeline are to insert it between the AUX input and the head unit.

Because the HK D+P has an AUX input on it as well (which can auto-sense audio input) I am wanting the AUX input on the RL to plug into that, and then subsequently continue to the head unit via the D+P. You can configure the AUX input of the D+P via its menu.

I wouldn't recommend using the FM antenna hookup unless you have no other choice. The FM connection is a poor substitute for the real thing IMHO. Given that my solution requires an AUX input, it only applies to the the RL/Navi :rolleyes:

When done I will still be able to use the AUX plug on the RL and pump some other sort of input besides the D+P should I choose to.

Feature for feature there is no comparison between the D+P and anything else I have seen, and I have looked. :cool:

I would not buy another IPOD if the price was dropped to $19.95. It's too problematic on non Apple computers. Apple had to fully "erase & restore" it twice and now it's going back to the 'Apple command center' to find out what happened to the hard drive.
Mike:mad:

Too bad you have had such a bad experience with iPods and PCs. Being a Mac user I can't share your disappointment though... I have had nothing but good luck with every iPod I have ever owned :)

I read the complaints about the Music Link from Honda but it's a good unit that's just a bit quirky to control, it does work well though. Sound quality is as good as an MP3 gets.

Thats because you have a Mac. Two different Apple techs told me about certain USB ports and needing different USB wires instead of what I am using! In the end the last tech told me it works best with Apple computers! No thanks! They should of told me that before I bought the thing!
:mad:

I just finished hooking up my Drive + Play through the AUX on my Ridgeline. It went well, and the results are better than I expected. I ended up severing the AUX cable about 2 inches from the connector to the AUX jack in the dash so that I could put the D+P between the AUX jack and the AUX input to the head unit.

I soldered a 1/8" phone plug cable (18") to each end of the severed connection. The stock AUX wire harness has 5 wires. I could not find pinouts for this cable to save my life. I tried everywhere online and even called the dealer service department (with no luck). Finally I just bit the bullet and figured it out myself. I hope the below pinout helps out someone else :-)

Brown - Right Channel
White - Left Channel
Red - Common
Blue - AUX Input Sensor
Yellow - AUX Input Sensor

One the side of the the AUX input (Cable 1) that goes to the head unit, the Blue and the Yellow wires need to be soldered together so that the AUX input on the head unit is enabled. Those two wires comprise a circuit that normally gets closed when a 1/8" stereo plug is plugged into the AUX jack. Since I wanted to leave that jack open for other device usage, I needed to have that circuit closed at all times for the Drive + Play to work.

I soldered the other leads on Cable 1 per the chart above and the other end of that cable got plugged into the audio out on the D+P. Cable 2 was soldered appropriately to the connector that went into the AUX jack (in dash) and the other end of that cable plugged into the audio in port on the D+P. I then set the D+P to auto-sense input from it's audio in port. This setup lets me still use the AUX jack in the dash for other devices (laptop, portable DVD player, etc...)

I found the power leads I needed on the 12V accessory outlets in the dash, and clipped 2 T-taps into it and used them for the power to the D+P. The D+P fit nicely in the space behind the glove box and up and to the left.

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The D+P controller is mounted right between and to the front of the cup holders in the center console. The display for the D+P was mounted to the right of the dash center console next to the 12V accessory outlet. The cable for the iPod was easily routed into the glove box through the hole on the left used for the glove box stop.

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Now to the important part. The sound... Awesome :D Very clear with plenty of volume. As good as you could expect from an MP3 player with direct input. I plugged my iBook into the AUX jack on the dash and the sound from it worked as expected.

Of course, I would have preferred to have control of the iPod via the steering wheel mounted controls and have the songs and playlists displayed on the Navi screen, but Honda really dropped the ball on that end (are you reading this Honda?). I don't quite understand how Harmon Kardon can do such a fine job of the iPod display, while Honda did such an awful job of the same. I might be pursuaded to change it out if there was ever a compelling alternative, but for now my current setup works and looks great.