After months of using CDs, I got a sound shop to hardwire an aux input into my jag. Listening to music on my phone is so freeing. How did we live without smartphones again?

Anyways, the shop did a great job and it looks like it was installed from the factory. I told them to follow this youtube video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LLoShbZHGhY

The sound quality is fantastic. This mod was definitely worth the $180 and anyone with more handy skills than me could do it for free minus cost of an aux cable. Anyone thinking about getting a bluetooth fm transmitter should reconsider.

Here are some pics:

 

Thanks for the link I'll be doing this right away!

 

Do you need to have a CD with silent tracks playing while using the aux or will it give the signal the the amplifier also without something turning inside the CD player?
I checked the video and homepage of ben willcox but didn't find a reference to this.

 

Yes, you need a cd playing. It actually doesn't need to be silent, but every time you disconnect your phone it will start playing the music from the cd, so I would suggest an empty cd.

Also, the video didn't really explain where to route the aux input when you're done. The shop I went to drilled a small hole near the cigarette lighter (you can see in the pics), making it look more OEM. I suppose you could route it in the gap between the bottom of the CD unit and the pop-up cover below it.

Finally, don't worry about the second part of the video where it talks about sautering leads for an Arduino. That's just if you want to run Android on your nav screen and skip tracks from your steering wheel.

Edit: an empty cd just gets ejected, so now I'll make a specialty cd by burning on a silent track.

 

Hi sqanchy thanks for posting, glad you found the video useful!

Since making the video I did discover that some different revisions of the main PCB exist, which means that sometimes different pins need to be used to inject the audio. For anyone else thinking of doing this please also check the link in the description which explains whether the Analogue mod will work or not, depending on whether you have the Alpine Premium audio in your car or not.
I'll do an updated video with this information when I can but for now it's all in the link in the video description.

Ben

 

Thank you very much for the video. I had the "BK" model cd unit (I have nav, premium alpine audio, no rear entertainment).

 

Very nice write up Ben (your link). Thanks for breaking a lot of new ground.

 

thanks for doing the leg work for everyone here! i watched your video, as well as read the picture instructions on your site. i will be utilizing the analog method since i have the alpine system.

in the picture instructions, there is a step to "isolate the two pins shown using a thin strip of PVC tape". is this the updated instruction instead of severing the connection from the cd transport (from the video)? do you think the tape is a good long term solution for making sure there is no connection? i havent looked at it myself so dont know if the ribbon sits on a sharp piece that might dig into the tape. since electrical stuff isnt my strong suit i want to make sure i dummy-proof this for myself!

i am lookng for a "reversible" solution so i will also be adding the cd out but just leave it hanging.

cheers!

 

Yes the PVC method is my latest version, it’s a bit less intrusive than cutting the tracks or ribbon and allows you to redo it if you make a mistake, although either method works just fine. I’ve not had any issues with longevity with the PVC method, the pins are not sharp enough to break through as they are more like pads that the ribbon clamps onto.

 

I can confirm that the "analog" setup version on the website works with an "AK" designated unit. I ended up isolating the CD audio-out by snipping the 20 and 22 leads along the patch cable instead of using the tape method, but otherwise followed the instructions on the website and am very pleased with the results. Thanks again Ben!

 

No problem Victor, glad to be of help!

Just to clarify that dispite what it says in the video, the CD player model number doesn’t actually designate whether you need to do the Analogue or Digital mod (as I discovered subsequent to making the video).
If you have the Alpine Premium Audio in your car, the CD player can be modded with an Analogue stereo input as shown.
If you have Standard audio, then the CD players SPDIF digital signal is used instead, which means you can mod it to accept an SPDIF digital input but would need to use an Analogue to Digital converter to feed an Analogue stereo input into the system.
The link in the video description also covers this, with picture instructions.

Ben

 

Squanchy mentioned that there should to be a silent CD playing, and if you unplug the aux-source it will play CD again. So, having a rather low electronic profile, I wondered, what is the isolation of the 2 pins of the ribbon isolating exactly? As I got from the video these should be the pins for the audio signal. So I imagine that the CD should be effectively silenced after isolation of the two. Did I misunderstand that?

As I'm still struggling to find a free weekend to get this mod done, my idea would be to connect a bluetooth streaming receiver to the aux input, so that I can finally stream all my stuff from the phone to the car. The receiver would be hidden somehwere behind the CD player (not sure yet how the space there looks, haven't got further than the ashtray yet to install a USB charger with voltmeter) and suddenly the good old XJ8 wouldn't only look modern with its touchscreen but even behave quite up to date.
Has anybody tried this already, connecting a bluetooth streaming receiver to an aux input as described by benwillcox?

 

That's a good question Aix, and I meant to question that. Indeed if the 2 lines have been isolated then you should hear nothing from the CD that's playing even after disconnecting your aux-in device.
It does actually work to a certain extent without isolating those tracks which can give the behavior described (with a bit of background noise bleed), however it's not good practice as your external aux-in device is essentially fighting against the audio output from the internal transport (and doesn't always win, depending on the aux device you have connected).

I tried a bluetooth streaming receiver with my own mod quite some time ago, but I wasn't happy with the audio quality which was partly due to an inherent design in the bluetooth audio standard that compresses the audio and thus loses quality, and partly probably due to the DAC contained within the unit which to be fair was pretty cheap.
I found that a hardwired aux-in gave much higher quality, however I think there is a newer bluetooth audio standard that improves on audio quality so the latest units might be better.

Ben

 

I think Squanchy means sound bleed through. With nothing plugged in, I can hear the CD playing very low along with an every-second-tick which makes sense when doing this type of mod (the volume has to be up pretty high to hear it). As soon as I plug my phone in though, the bleed through disappears. It sounds awesome! So the silent track CD isn't necessary but it's not a bad idea.

I had the same idea for Bluetooth but I wanted the plug accessible for direct connection to my phone also. (btw, there is plenty of room behind the audio unit for what you have in mind) I have a cigarette lighter bluetooth device that I can plug into my new aux input but the sound isn't the best and it needs a noise filter (available and cheap). I'm gonna buy a Bluetooth receiver that has the APTX codec and try it that way (your phone needs to have APTX also).

 

I wanted to have the aux input on the face of the audio unit but there is no room on it, but what I found was a bit of space on the climate control unit so that's where I put it.


Aux 3.5mm stereo input next to ac button



Here's a close up.



Here's how it looks hooked up to my cheapy Bluetooth device.

 

Thanks for the first-hand audio quality report. And the aux in looks perfectly blended into the console.

BTW, is there a similar option for the cd changer in the trunk? If I had the option to sacrifice my driver-seat-accessible player or the one in the trunk I would vote for the changer in the back. Does it look the same in there?

 

There's plenty of room in the trunk but then you're dealing with a digital instead of an analog connection. There was a guy on this forum making a bluetooth device for the truck that takes the place of the CD changer but I don't think he's making them anymore.

 

I rather meant open the cd changer and connect to analogue audio pins in the changer instead of the single player in the front. I gues the audio signal must have some short analogue existence in the changer, too, before it disappears in the digital world of the optical bus.
Has anybody opened the changer already and checked, if the signal path there is similar?

 

can you send me info to shop that did your aux mod thanks

 

I have an early 05 with an AK radio like yours, do you have the extra amp in the trunk?