i have the ice link on my S2000 works the same as the music link.

 

Do you mean that the Ice Link works as the Music Link is SUPPOSED TO WORK, or that it works as poorly as the Music Link actually works?

My Fit Sport AT was built two weeks ago, and I listed the Music Link as the only dealer-installed option on my order, so I'm looking for something else, hopefully better, without having to replace the stock head unit.

 

Anyone installed the USA-Spec from Crutchfield in their Sport model yet?

 

Yeah seriously, this topic died. We need updates!!

 

You're lucky. The music link is JUNK. I put one in my Ridgeline and it's totally worthless. Actually less than worthless if you consider that the iPod linked via the AUX port is a better solution.

 

The music link doesn't give you full control of the iPod either. Random control at best. The AUX port is a much better solution until Honda wakes up and fixes the Music Link adapter so the song names, etc. show up on the radio head. The limited functionality of the Music Link don't make it worth the money or the aggravation and trouble to install.

 

It seems that they are backordered at Cruchfield and Circuit City. When they come back in stock at Circuit City I plan on buying it and seeing how it works on the Sport. Worst case scenario is that it does not work and I have to take it back to the store.

 

Neither crutchfield nor USA-Spec have updated their compatibility lists for the Honda Fit Sport. I'd like to see a confirmation of whether their current iPod adapter works for the Sport's stereo.

 

Based on the fact that the unit does work on the Base stereo (as confirmed by one of our own users) and the Sport does have control buttons for a CD changer im willing to take the gamble. Worst case is I take it back and im out the time. Gota love that return policy.

 

Awesome QuackXP. Thanks in advance for letting us know what you find out. The people at my local Circuit City didn't even know what I was talking about. They have no plans to ever have one in stock. I'm guessing a return to Crutchfields would be a bit more work.

 

I talked to someone at Circuit City and they dont know when they are comming. He did give me some advice. Back in the CD changer days one of the car manufactures kept the same form factor plug but switched the positive and negitave power pins around. He heard about a good number of stories of fried equipment before the figured it out. Im going on vacation next week so im not going to look any further into it until then. When I get back im goign to try and find the pinouts for our head unit and the head unit of a supported model for the iPod adapter.

Circuit City had another type of iPod intergration kit that claimed it would do the same thing although the sales guy there didt have anything good to say about it. I think im going to stick with my AUX input until USA SPEC gets there Honda units shipping again.

My next step will be getting in contact with USA SPEC to see if I can get any info when the adapters will be back on the market.

 

I emailed them once a few months ago on the subject, but never received a response. Hope you're luckier than I am.

 

the ones with the swapped pin were the alpine M bus that directly plugged into the honda factory radio. the m bus at the time didn't need any actual adapter to work with the honda radio other than swapping the pins. the factory radio was alpine.

the current problem is a bit more complex than that as you aren't trying to make alpine work with alpine. they still spoke the same "language"

i think the issue now is making these to different things communicate.

 

I just phoned Honda to inquire about when the iPod Music Link would be updated and available again, and they said the software had been upgraded and the improved product in now available, and has been for about five weeks.

I phoned because I thought I saw a link on either the Honda Music Link website or Apples website for downloading new software that is compatible with iTunes 7, but I can't find it now.

 

Yes it works like the music link is supposed to work. I havent had any problems with it.

 

Do the song names show up on the radio head now?

 

They haven't added any features that weren't there before. They've just fixed the incompatibility with the latest iPod software. See the FAQ page on the Honda Music Link site at http://musiclink.honda.com/Tech_Faq.html

 

I finally got my Sport Fit this weekend and like many of you have been researching the Ipod integration options.

My old Civic had the Kenwood PhatNoise MP3 system, which while not perfect, worked ok with two line text display and voice feedback. It was easy to navigate by album, artist, playlist or genre. There really wasn't a search option other than just scrolling through. It was emulating a CD changer, but there was no limit on the number of playlists. I was hoping to get at least this much functionality in an Ipod based system. I don't need it to do everything a standalone Ipod can do.

Before getting the car, I just assumed I would have to pull the stock head unit and go with an aftermarket unit. Now that I have the car, I sort of like the built in head unit, except for the iPod issues.

Here are the options I have found so far:

1) the cheap, but poor user interface option is to buy the Monster Cable charging unit which goes into the accessory outlet and then into the iPod dock. It has a line out audio jack, which means you can tap the audio without having to connect the car aux input to the iPod headphone output. This is temporarily what I currently have. I do lots of short trips and stowing the iPod each time is kind of a pain and I really don't want to be messing with the Ipod itself while driving.

2) the Harmon Kardon unit is next up. It's relatively inexpensive as these things go. It seems to have the functionality that I want, but I'm not sure where I'd mount it and it definitely screams aftermarket add on gadget. On the plus side, the original head unit could stay. Does anyone have pictures of this unit installed in a Fit?

3) wait for the long promised double din dash kit and add an aftermarket head unit.

Alpine seems to get the best reviews for head units that work with Ipod. The single DIN 9857 in particular has a lot of good press. I went CarToys to get a demo, but they said they didn't have the cable to actually show a perspective buyer how the interface worked with an Ipod.

Alpine has a yet to be released single DIN unit (X-001) that supposedly truely emulates the Ipod. Since it isn't on the market yet, there isn't any user feedback. I'm concerned that the screen may be too small. It's supposed to be available in April.

The double DIN touchscreen Alpine unit seems to be the ultimate, but it's a bit of overkill for what I want. I'm not going to need a lot of the functions this unit supports (such as DVDs). It would look nice in the double din opening, but is even more expensive (obviously) than the first two Alpine options.

I have seen nothing positive on the Honda musiclink. If I could get the equivalent functions to the old Phatnosie system, I would consider it. Since it is voice based feedback only (no text on the head unit) and apparently very buggy, it's not really on my list.

Comments are welcome

 

i vote dash kit coupled with the upcoming pioneer avic-d3. u can get both under a grand, it has navi, touch screen and will play music and video from your ipod. i like the decision to make the screen slightly smaller to remove all moving parts.

Pioneer Electronics - Sound. Vision. Soul

YouTube - Pioneer AVIC-D3

 

So I went with the stock 8th inch input for this reason. Yes I have an iPod and I love it, however, I am going to have this car for a long long time. I may switch mp3 players or apple may decide to mess with the base port
(unlikely, but a possiblity). Stereo jacks are standard output devices. At the time there were not too many reviews of the iLink thing, looking back I'm glad I didn't shell out for it. As for head units, I'm waiting to see something really impressive. I don't think I am actually answering any questions you have, but what I can say is that the stock jack has been great the last 7 months. I know that the sound is a little degraded, but it's not $200 degraded.

I'm interested in any other advice on alternate stereo units to maximize iPod usage.

-C-

-EDIT- spider2k, thanks for the link. I'm looking into it now.