Belikn Autokit and groundloops
I just picked up the Belkin Autokit at bthe Apple store and...WOW! The line out sounds soooooo much better then the headphone jack on the iPod. I had my wired from the headphone jack directly to my Sony headunit and it sounded alright, but not amazing. Certinaly not CD quality. I plugged my Belkin charger in, plugged the stereo plug into it and the quality of sound is amazing. 100% better. Like going from cassette tape to CD. I don't think I could tell the difference between the iPod and CDs now. I had my doubts, so if you have doubts about getting the Belkin Autokit, don't. It is worth the money, believe me.
Anyway, onto my question. The only negative thing about the autokit is I now have a ground loop. Anyone have any ideas about where it may be coming from and how I could get rid of it? (When I didn't have the autokit and was using the iPod through the headphone jack, I did not have one. This leads me to believe the problem is with the power source?)
[991 byte] By [
BigIzz] at [2007-11-9 13:02:35]
# 1 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
I got rid of the ground loop on mine by grounding my head unit at my cigarette lighter which got rid of about half of the noise. Theoretically I thought it would get rid of all of it since the both the head unit and adapter are both grounded at the same point but I think my antenna might be causing some interference. I got rid of the rest of the noticeable noise by getting a ground loop isolator from Radio Shack. If I turn my head unit up all the way with the engine on I can still hear a little bit of noise, but I have no need to ever turn the stereo up that high. At regular listening volume I don't notice any noise and I did notice quite a bit before I did these two things.
Here's the link to the isolator I got at Radio Shack
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cookie_test=1&catalog_name=CTLG&category_name=CTLG_002_001_019_008&product_id=270-054
# 2 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
I actually grounded the head unit to the lighter, it helped. I'll look into the isolater, thanks.
BigIzz at 2007-11-15 16:00:07 >
# 3 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
by no means it is necessary to get a grounding problem from the car charger. is it just a design defect or does it not affect some people? anyone tried grounding their head unit to the chassis?
# 4 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
You can get a groundloop from any auido source. Headunits, speakers, amps, extra things like an iPod. A properlly installed stereo should not have any problems and a good installer should know what they are doing (ie, grounding all sudio sources to the same point). But they can strike anything really, its pretty much hit or miss. You might have the problem, you might not.
BigIzz at 2007-11-15 16:02:11 >
# 5 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
I recently got an iPod and need new headphones... i unfortunately can not use the iPod's earbuds on account of my oddly shaped ear holes...haha... i was just curious if anyone knew where i could get some regular WHITE headphones to match the iPod... im talking mainly just white chord, and mostly white plastic... foam ear pieces don't matter...thanks
# 6 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
I'm also in the same situation, alternator/engine hum from the groundloop. I bought the isolator at radioshack, $15 for this dinky thing!
BigIzz - How much less static do you hear now that you've grounded the plug/head unit at the same point?
If the sound is half way decent, I'll just get rid of the isolator and give it back to the Shack.
# 7 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
i just bought the isolator and it completely removed any hum, or high pitch noise in the speakers. i used to hear i high pitch acceleration in the speakers when i pressed the gas pedal but now its just like its a cd...great fix
deezy at 2007-11-15 16:05:15 >
# 8 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
does your ipod make a buzz/beep noise when the autokit is docked? it leads me to believe that the ipod detects particular accessories?
# 9 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
The problem with using ground loop isolators is that there WILL be degradation of sound quality. Ground loops are usually caused by an insufficient grounding source and of course, cheap amps that most car manufacturers use. Most car manufacturers cheaply ground their electronics to the easiest point of contact. The best thing to do is to wire the ground out of your cigarette lighter adapter, stereo equipment to your car by scraping off the paint of the chassis and bolting your components to that exposed part of your chassis. It also helps to replace your amps with some high quality ones.
If you bought an ipod, you wanted the best, so get a decent car audio setup to match it.
By the way, all original car stereos will have cheap sound including the the premium car packages by BOSE offered by VW, mercedes, etc. If you want good sound you need to look at top audio manufacturers - ie Alpine, eclipse, denon, nakamichi. Replace your receivers and your speakers and you'll hear a huge improvement.
dinged at 2007-11-15 16:07:16 >
# 10 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
OK I'm a bit confused.
I have the ground loop isolator from Radio Shack.
How does this hook up?
I am using a Cassette Adaptor.
Does the ground loop isolator connect the cassette adaptor to the Belkin Autokit or do I use the ground loop isolator to connect the Belkin Autokit to the iPod.
Either way there seems to be 1 Y- adaptor missing.
Could someone who has this hooked properly please give me the details of how it is connected?
Thanks so much.
Nick
# 11 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
I have not done your setup but I did get the isolator and its a fairly easy fix. You use the adapter that comes with the isolator and plug it into the belkin. Then your going to need to go and purchase a Y adapter that will convert the RCA from the isolalator to a femal mini jack that your cassestte adapater can plug into. You should post a pic when your done your wires must be everywhere:)
Taskman
# 12 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
Thanks Taskman.
That's actually the way I though it went.
I need an all female y adaptor .
When I asked about it at radio shack they said they didn't have one and tried to set up a combo of other connections.
I told them to hold off and I'd come back when I knew for sure what I needed.
# 13 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
I dont think Radio Shack carries an all female y-adapter.
What you can get instead is:
- a 2-phono to 1/8" stereo adapter (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=&product%5Fid=274%2D883&hp=search)
- a 1/8" stereo coupler (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F007%5F002%5F001%5F003&product%5Fid=274%2D886&site=search)
csrx at 2007-11-15 16:11:21 >
# 14 Re: Belikn Autokit and groundloops
My setup: Honda 2002 Civic Si, OEM head, Belkin Autokit, P.I.E. adapter (without its ground wire connected), 1/8"-to-RCA Y-adapter with a magnet noise supressor.
There's very little noise at all, but it's a bit noticeable if the head unit's turned up over halfway, and a problem if it's 3/4 or louder. But, the Belkin's volume amplifier can crank up the signal pretty strongly, and it can all be loud enough at half volume.
My first attempt was with the PIE adapter, without its ground wire connected, plugged into the headphone jack. I would get a quiet intermittent beep/buzz sound, and if the iPod was turned up much more than halfway, it would somehow overdrive the head's input or something and get an interrupted signal.
Quality-wise, it sounds worlds better than the Monster FM transmitter I tried for a night (literally -- I returned it the next evening). I should probably bring a CD into the car one of these days to make sure the CD player mechanism is still working.
OK, ground loops --
I did try adding a ground loop isolator to my current setup, but it caused more problems, even a bit worse than my first setup had.
The instructions for the PIE adapter say to connect its ground wire if your audio player of choice is running on battery power, and to leave it unconnected if your player is running off a power adapter. As it is, with the Belkin & unused ground wire, there doesn't seem to be any appreciable alternator whine (typical symptom of ground loops), and the sound is just fine.
Anyway, that's what I've got, whether it's a help or not. ;)
