re: playin a Zune with your car stereo?

 ALtER EviL wrote:

2. You can buy RCA cables and hook the Zune in through AUX port on the back of  your stereo
----

I'm confused with this. If I have a CD player in my car with an AUX outlet that wont work? How do you plug it in the back of your stereo?

A lot of head units have RCA inputs in the back of them.

If however it's broken then of course it won't work.

Confused by your question...since that should be common sense...If item A doesn't work, then trying to hook something into it is pointless.

---

My posts convey no rights or guarantees, and are in no way related to or endorsed by my employers.

How do you hook something in the back of your stereo? I'm a stereo n00b, should I just go to best buy and tell them what you guys are telling me in the back of your stereo? Cause I see CD players that have an AUX port in the front of the stereo like where you change the volume, put the CD in, etc.

what if my head unit has a usb port and i just plug my zune into it like i do with my computer. would that work?

 

 ALtER EviL wrote:

How do you hook something in the back of your stereo? I'm a stereo n00b, should I just go to best buy and tell them what you guys are telling me in the back of your stereo? Cause I see CD players that have an AUX port in the front of the stereo like where you change the volume, put the CD in, etc.

Yeah or you can just take out the head unit, make sure it has RCA, and then you can drill a small hole to run the cable through.

If you don't feel comfy about that then yeah take it to a place that does installs and they can do it for you :)

---

My posts convey no rights or guarantees, and are in no way related to or endorsed by my employers.

 mautz22 wrote:

what if my head unit has a usb port and i just plug my zune into it like i do with my computer. would that work?

 

That depends on your head unit.  Most of the USB models (if not all unfortunately) are made for iPods *sighs*

If you're lucky then it will work...at the very least it will keep it charged without having to use the 'cigarette lighter' port, and you could still use an FM transmitter.

---

My posts convey no rights or guarantees, and are in no way related to or endorsed by my employers.

Playing your Zune in the car is COMPLETELY possible.  I have an aftermarket stereo(which is the easiest and BEST) way to do this.  If you have a stereo that does video(dvd player) connect a set of rca cables to 3.5mm headphone jack (3 ends:  red, yellow and white usually) to the back of the head unit.  Amazon has a dock that I've put in my car that does this perfectly for ONLY 19.99.  This work great for the 30GB players AND has a remote control that DOES work in the car, but is sold as a "home av pack".  Go to setting, display and then TV out.  Your image will appear on the screen and you can control your Zune with the remote.  If you don't have video in your car and still want to listen to your zune you have a couple options available without using a fm modulator.  Try to avoid fm modulator as much as possible because they will NEVER sound as good as direct connect. 

If you dont have a stereo without video and dont care about the remote can use a regular rca (2 ends only) to a 3.5mm headphone jack.  Theses are also called "Y" connectors.  Connect it to the back of your stereo and enjoy your music and all sounds (video plays w/o images of course).  If your stereo has an "AUX" spot that is the same size as a headphone jack they have another adaptor that will work for you.  Walmart and almost any big box store sell a cable that looks like a headphone jack on both ends.  You will usually find this with the dreaded IPOD things.  Plug the cable into the AUX spot on the headunit and into the headphone jack on the zune.  Set your stereo to AUX mode and hit play on your Zune. 

Hooking a Zune to a stereo by the USB will not work.  Stereo will put up an error stating that it isn't a compatible usb device.

 

I've had some good results using an FM transmitter I picked up from Wal-Mart (I think) for $30.  It works with the Zune, iPod, generic MP3 player, or anything with a head phone jack.  I'm getting anxious to get a newer car that will hopefully have a front side AUX jack that you can just plug into.  My wife's car has one, and it's great.  This eliminates any static and occasionally having to change stations on the transmitter.

 alttunes wrote:

[snipped]

Hooking a Zune to a stereo by the USB will not work.  Stereo will put up an error stating that it isn't a compatible usb device.

It can work...but it has to be a 'zune compatible' stereo.  USB works because the head end (USB master) has a USB driver specific to the USB slave (the device) that tells it what the heck the device is and what it can do with it.  So, adding a USB device to a PC (for instance) is easy...you either have the driver (bundled with the OS) or you do an install that includes the driver.  Doing that for a car stereo is...um...generally not possible.  iPods are so ubiquitous that many USB enabled stereos support them...  Zunes are not yet quite so popular...

Like I said...doesn't work.  Car stereos aren't Zune friendly yet, but hopefully some day.  I think the only stereo I've heard mentioned that is compatible is maybe the ford factory stereo with voice activation.

 alttunes wrote:

Like I said...doesn't work.  Car stereos aren't Zune friendly yet, but hopefully some day.  I think the only stereo I've heard mentioned that is compatible is maybe the ford factory stereo with voice activation.

I just wanted to be clear that it is dependent on the specific stereo and what devices they support. 
And the Ford system you are thinking of is called 'Sync'

But if you have one of these FM modulators, it should work on about any stereo because it would go thru a 'radio station', right?

 fishhunter44 wrote:

But if you have one of these FM modulators, it should work on about any stereo because it would go thru a 'radio station', right?

Yes.