F
inding an aftermarket stereo that blends seamlessly with your car’s interior
can be an impossible dream; it’s certainly not a task you’d want to endure
just so you could plug in your iPod. For that, you should consider buying a third-
party integration kit that allows you to retrofit your factory unit.
We examined Peripheral Electronics’s iSimple iPod Adapter in our June
2007 upgrade feature story, and we’re following up that coverage with a review
of Dice Electronics’s iPod Integration Kit. Dice’s product has one cool feature
that its competitor’s doesn’t: an AUX input (in the form of a 1/8-inch stereo jack)
that allows you to plug an existing CD player, satellite radio tuner, or non-iPod
MP3 player into the iPod integration module.
The trunk-mounted 10-disc CD changer in our test vehicle—a 2002 VW
Cabrio—doesn’t work that way, so this feature wasn’t useful in our situation.
But we were even more disappointed to discover that we couldn’t use the but-
tons on our factory stereo to control the iPod either. That’s one of the big selling
points of these integration kits, and we were able to use our stereo controls
with the iSimple adapter we tested last month. We also preferred the iSimple’s
extra-long docking cable (being 12 feet, you could pass the iPod to a passenger
in the backseat; Dice’s three-foot cable was just long enough to reach the cup
holder in our Cabrio).
Both integration kits require vehicle-specific wiring harnesses, so we
weren’t able to test either adapter in a variety of vehicles, but we do knowthat the more advanced your factory stereo is, the more features both prod-
ucts should be capable of. For example, if your factory stereo can display text
(i.e., CD and song titles, not just “TRACK 01”), flip a few DIP switches on the
back of the adapter and your iPod will pass this data to your head unit for
display. But given the fact that the Dice unit didn’t deliver the interoperability
we expected with our VW, readers should be sure any retailer they
purchase a unit from has a sat-
isfaction-guaranteed policy.
—Michael BrownDice Electronics iPod
Integration Kit
Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel
MAXIMUMPC july 2007
reviews Tes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized
Dice electronics’s iPod integration Kit was not compatible with
any domestic cars or trucks at press time, but the company
plans to add such support “soon.”7
dice ipod kit
$160, http://www.diceelectronics.comC
onsidering their $200 price tag, it’s amazing to see how many professional
features M-Audio’s Studiophile AV 40 reference monitors are packed with,
including 1/4-inch balanced inputs that can accommodate long cable runs. But
you know the company had to make some compromises—and we found out
where the moment we turned the speakers on.
At first, we attributed the low-level hum we heard from the amplifier to a
ground loop, which can occur when components with different ground poten-
tials are connected. But after connecting two other systems to the same out-
lets, we concluded the problem was with the amp. We returned the speakers to
M-Audio, and the replacement set we received was a little quieter, but we still
detected a funky buzz when we pressed our ear to the driver. If you’re using
these speakers for recording, mix-down, or other critical listening tasks, the
noise will haunt you because you won’t know if it’s coming from your instru-
ments, your mic, or some piece of outboard gear.
The AV 40s do exhibit a characteristic that is essential for any speaker
laying claim to the “studio monitor” moniker: pancake-flat frequency response
that doesn’t add to, subtract from, or otherwise color recorded music. The 20-
watt-per-channel class A/B amplifier is well suited for near-field listening, but
if you also want to use the system for recreational listening or even gaming,
simply flip the bass-boost switch on the back and be rewarded with just a little
more thump in the low end. Even in this mode, bass response is far short of
what M-Audio’s subwoofer-equipped Studiophile LX4 system dishes out, but it’s
impressive for monitors in this price range.
Listening to the power funk of Tower of Power’s “Oakland Stroke,” we
were impressed by the AV 40s’s ability to deliver the band’s full sonic spec-trum, from the belch of Stephen “Doc” Kupka’s baritone sax to the crackle
and snap of Dave Garibaldi’s drum work. But we’d score these
speakers much higher if the
amp were quieter.
—Michael BrownM-Audio Studiophile AV 40 Speaker System
Funk good. Funky bad
7
studiophile av 40
$200, http://www.m-audio.comM-audio’s Studiophile aV 40 speakers have both 1/4-inch bal-
anced and rca inputs in back; there’s a 1/8-inch stereo input
and headphone jack in front.