17 replies to this topic

[phif]

Hi all,

Any advise on adding an aux-in connector for iPod/iPhone/mp3 player besides Denison?
I've been using the fm transmitter type which has very bad sound..
Hence thinking of any way of having direct input but keeping the stock sound system.

Any recommendations? (btw my car is a 2004.5 s40 t5)

[Volvo_Vinny]

Honestly i have had the same problem and would love to find the answer. The only options that i have found that don't look to wallet busting look too universal and i don't think would work. I would love to hear some success stories.

[T5power]

go to G-ROM audio. i got my auxilary input for about 60 bucks, one of the best audio purchases ive bought for the car

[Logan2224]

^ this

I bought the Grom unit and it is absolutely fantastic.

[VS Legend]

Having just spent a fair amount of time researching this for my own car, I read a fair bit about the Grom adapter and saw nothing but positive reviews.

[Volvo_Vinny]

g-rom does not make a adapter for the s40 though for the year of 2005. Has anyone else tried a different way or maybe an aftermarket head unit?

[goldponcho]

Well, just ordered mine for my 854. Can't wait to be able to pack all the cd's away again, and listen to my ZUNE instead.

[VS Legend]

Volvo_Vinny, on 06 March 2012 - 02:54 AM, said:

g-rom does not make a adapter for the s40 though for the year of 2005. Has anyone else tried a different way or maybe an aftermarket head unit?

I think your only non-FM option is the Dension Gateway

http://www.dension.c...its/gateway-500

[BtownVolvo]

There is a write up for this on Swedespeed. The only catch is it has to be the base system and can't have premium audio. Forget where...but it's not for the electronic faint at heart. Lemme see what i can find.

EDIT: Found it. http://forums.swedes...read.php?105447

Even the Dension isn't perfect. There's basically no perfect way to go about it. Check some of their other How-To's. Pretty good info. Helped me a ton when I had my S40

http://forums.swedes...ormation-thread

[Volvo_Vinny]

Thats weak. I have a sun roof and a ipod connection in my 98 s70. I feel like I went back in time.

[BtownVolvo]

Volvo_Vinny, on 07 March 2012 - 01:12 AM, said:

Thats weak. I have a sun roof and a ipod connection in my 98 s70. I feel like I went back in time.

Notice how I don't have my S40 anymore...

Pros and cons for each, but at the end of the day it didn't give me the ability to tinker with it like I did my old X70. The car was always very fun to drive and looked stellar, but that's about the extent of it. Hence, the "downgrade" to the V70.

[D s50r]

The other day I pulled a customers car in and it had an aux plug in the the center console behind the climate unit in a s40.....

[BtownVolvo]

D s50r, on 07 March 2012 - 03:04 PM, said:

The other day I pulled a customers car in and it had an aux plug in the the center console behind the climate unit in a s40.....

Factory aux-in ports were only available in the MY07's and up.

[VS Legend]

Volvo_Vinny, on 07 March 2012 - 01:12 AM, said:

Thats weak. I have a sun roof and a ipod connection in my 98 s70. I feel like I went back in time.

You mean like when I realized that my 2007 XC didn't have the multi-zone EQ that my 2001 XC did?

[Volvo_Vinny]

So does anyone know the difference in the two models to give it an aux connection. Would it be possible to get the newer head unit and put it in an older model.

[BtownVolvo]

Volvo_Vinny, on 07 March 2012 - 10:33 PM, said:

So does anyone know the difference in the two models to give it an aux connection. Would it be possible to get the newer head unit and put it in an older model.

Nope completely different system. On top of that, it's not like you can re-wire it as it's all in optical loop. Your options remain (for 04.5-06):

- Aux port mod (via thread listed above) **ONLY FOR NON-PREMIUM AUDIO**
- Dension Gateway 500
- FM Transmitter (hard wired or not)

For what it's worth, I had my XM radio hard wired into the FM antenna and it always did a decent job. So that means you can hard wire an AUX module and use it to plug in an RCA input (i.e. your iPod).

[VS Legend]

The only definite disadvantage to hardwired FM modulation is (I believe) that FM is a compressed signal since regulations require FM to operate within a certain frequency response range. Otherwise, if you can find a band which doesn't result in a lot of interference, it's an okay solution and is a good value since the price is rather low.

[BtownVolvo]

VS Legend, on 08 March 2012 - 07:30 PM, said:

The only definite disadvantage to hardwired FM modulation is (I believe) that FM is a compressed signal since regulations require FM to operate within a certain frequency response range. Otherwise, if you can find a band which doesn't result in a lot of interference, it's an okay solution and is a good value since the price is rather low.

Agreed. The quality isn't anything to rave about, but it gets the job done. Better than the cigarette lighter FM modulator IMO.