Before I am buying this iPod FM transmitter for my '07 RX350 with navigation, is there a better way to connect it to the stereo system? I don't have the owner's manual with me right now. But I don't think it will play iPod or MP3 with a FM transmitter, right?

 

I'm looking for an iPod integration solution as well. I've heard that FM transmitters are no good for sound quality, especially if you live in a city with many radio stations like Boston. You'll get a lot of interference with the radio stations.

As far as hard wired solutions, I've been searching the forums and it seems that the general consensus is that VAIS Technology is the top choice, but not the best it could get. You are limited to only using Playlists with 99 songs max per playlist. You can't access songs by Artist or Album using the factory controls.

The other option seems to be Dice Electronics

I heard a rumor that Toyota/Lexus would be coming out with their own iPod integration solution, but it hasn't been substantiated. Please let me know if you hear anything.

 

vais and dice are similar. a lot of members here have vais, including me. it is superior to any FM transmitter or aux input. and you CAN access by artist/album in "Simple" mode, which would be controlling the ipod directly rather than thru your factory controls (the unit can only control playlists w/ your car controls, everything else you simply use simple mode to manually control)

here are some install instructions i posted last year. vais also came out w/ a 2nd generation that is smaller and has no secondary aux input. it is cheaper as well.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=227901

 

I'll be installing a VAIS unit later this month. The sound quality of a setup like this is far superior to any FM modulation unit, and is noticeably better than a cassette adapter. It's also a pretty elegant solution from an aesthetic perspective.

Thanks again to lexuslover for the awesome how-to on this.

 

"I heard a rumor that Toyota/Lexus would be coming out with their own iPod integration solution, but it hasn't been substantiated. Please let me know if you hear anything."

On the car I picked up today my dealer was trying to sell us on an iPod connection. Since neither my wife nor I really use iPods we didn't consider it so unfortunately I don't have any details other than it is available.

We stuck with Sirius radio instead which (we were told) was just recently made available again after a hiatus.

 

lexuslover - I just looked at the pics. It looks like a brain surgery to me. I will probably stick with FM transmitter. Or perhaps some local stereo shops will do this for me.

 

LOL, it prob feels like brain surgery to most when taking apart the car! that is the first major DIY job i have ever done to any car. being female, the most i had ever done was check tire pressures

i think you can get someone to do it for you for about $150-$200 (that seems to be about the average). but if you are somewhat handy, you can do it!! after i finished the RX (i also cut the wires for the dvd hack) i went on to doing our GS, and then to my cousin's ES the following year. it's not too bad actually.

the other benefit of DIY is if you need any upgrades later on (which i actually needed btw), you don't have to pay someone to remove it and reinstall it ... again.

 

Sooner or later, I will have to tackle this project. Thanks for the DIY write up. Feels good to have a "professional" on hand to help....that's you!

 

the words "cut the wires" are worried me the most. haha... at least we know our RXs are outdated.

 

no cutting wires for the iPod install, that one is just plug and play. i just also did some cutting while i was back there to save myself some time

 

I'd try out the FM method first. It's inexpensive and if it doesn't work well enough in your area bring it back. The RX is not all that quiet a vehicle on the road. The FM method works quite well for me given the road noise. I drive from Milwaukee to Cape Coral a few times a year and the FM transmitter is solid through Chicago, Atlanta and all along the freeway except around Nashville. There I need to change the frequency to find a clear channel but that is a minor nit. On the road, the audio quality is just fine. Then again my old ears may not be hearing what yours do.

 

First off, like many of you, I was FURIOUS that on a 2007 vehicle with a sticker price of $43K, there is no direct ipod connection, when there is on a base model Camry!

I have a dealer-installed Sirius radio integrated into the head unit (non-NAV). It shows on "Sat 3" that there's an AUX... went back to the dealer and asked how much it would cost to hook me up that AUX. Didn't want to spend a fortune because it's leased. Could never get a straight answer from the dealer, so gave up. Tried the DLO transpod FM converter -- rated the best by CNET -- but it simply sounded bad... had to change channels every 15 minutes or so.

Finally called a few high-end stereo shops here in NYC. One guy said that I likely had an untapped AUX-in as part of my Sirius unit... and that the biggest cost would be labor, but certainly no more than $250.

So, they took the radio apart, and sure enough, there was an Eclipse Sirius tuner, interfaced through a Vaistech SounLinq unit... and there, on it, was a pair of RCA aux inputs. They did a beautiful of wiring a Aux jack that comes up through the the center console, and now there's about 12" of wire with a miniplug that goes right into my ipod. It sounds fabulous... better than the CD player, and it cost $240.-- two hours of labor and a couple of dollars of parts. So I'm still pissed off about the fact that I needed to do this, but VERY happy with the results.

I would recommend, if you have a dealer installed/integrated Sirius or XM, that you find a really good local car stereo shop and see what they can do for you...

best,
ed

 

Before trying the FM Method use this link to see if there are vacant frequencies in your area to make sure the FM transmitter for your MP3/Ipod players is going to work or not.

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin...90048&state=CA

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/vacant?select=city&city=90048&state=CA


In this example just replace 90048 with your own zipcode and CA with your State code

 

i have a vaistech unit also for my ipod. i will never use a FM transmitter again. i had mine installed at bestbuy for 50 bucks.

 

Okay guys I have been looking at this IPOD tread for a couple of days now and I have to say I don’t understand. What is the big deal with the FM transmitters and the vaistech unit? Do they display the song title and artist on the nav screen or on the lower half? Because I know for a fact that my wife uses the tried and true method the tape deck adaptor (I know everyone has a tape deck) you know the CD car cassette adaptor that you hooked up to your CD walkman ,before all cars had CD player so you could listen to your CDs in the car. So I must ask what’s wrong with that method. My wife does it and she is perfectly happy.