# 3.5 mm Auxilary input



## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

The device volume needs to be sufficiently high enough to allow the infotainment system to also control it. Clear as mud now?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

grtpumpkin said:


> Is the volume of this input controlled by the radio itself or is it strictly controlled by the device plugged into it? Or maybe both.


Both. From what I've heard, the sound quality isn't that great. You might want to consider a bluetooth connection.

But personally, I'd really suggest you rip your CDs to a USB drive. If you use a program like mp3tag, you can add title, artist and cover art (I'm assuming you have a color screen). Not to mention that a USB can hold a lot more music than a changer. I've got close to 5,000 songs on mine and it's nowhere near full. The Cruze can be picky about the USB brand, but a cheap Sandisk Cruser works well.


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## grtpumpkin (Nov 25, 2016)

Well, not really. These factory radios are complex. They don't even have a switched power for controlling an aftermarket amplifier. I can turn off the radio, via the power knob, but the amps don't turn off until the door is opened and the display turns off or the 10 minute rap time after the key is removed. Forced to use the speaker sensing turn on of the PacLoc or GTO feature of the LC2i for remote turn on. Guess I wont know about the 3.5mm input till I actually try it out. I have my doubts.


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## grtpumpkin (Nov 25, 2016)

ChevyGuy said:


> Both. From what I've heard, the sound quality isn't that great. You might want to consider a bluetooth connection.
> 
> But personally, I'd really suggest you rip your CDs to a USB drive. If you use a program like mp3tag, you can add title, artist and cover art (I'm assuming you have a color screen). Not to mention that a USB can hold a lot more music than a changer. I've got close to 5,000 songs on mine and it's nowhere near full. The Cruze can be picky about the USB brand, but a cheap Sandisk Cruser works well.


Really not interested in using the bluetooth or usb for music. Sound quality isn't that great. It needs to be worthy of my install. It's a shame that these sophisticated radios can't accept the aftermarket stuff. I guess if I get fed up enough I'll just put in an aftermarket head unit and be done with it. When you start researching how all this stuff works it's just crazy. It's like they purposely don't want you to add anything.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

grtpumpkin said:


> Really not interested in using the bluetooth or usb for music. Sound quality isn't that great.


I'd suggest that in the case of the USB, it's likely to be as good as the headunit can deliver. Now, the quality of the MP3/AAC you feed it could be a different story. Most of mine come from ripped CDs.


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## Smittysmit (Aug 4, 2018)

While the USB stick is a great way to go, I use the 3.5 mmm with great sound quality from my Echo Dot. Works well and is all voice controlled for music on demand.


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## dougunder (May 24, 2018)

I'm admittedly a man that appreciates good sound.

Don't use gold speaker wire or anything, but can't live with sub par sound.

Unfortunately that's exactly what you get from the Aux port.

PITA and cost's more then it should but the Camero bluetooth receiver is the way to go.
https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-parts/gm-module-23340430

Was hard to find, but def worth the trouble.

As far as your question.
Both. The device plugging in is basically a preamp.

Re poor sound from the AUX, I was told that it is designed for phone calls.
IDN if it true, but doing A/B testing between the BT pdim and aux port you can hear a big quality difference


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## dougunder (May 24, 2018)

dougunder said:


> I'm admittedly a man that appreciates good sound.
> 
> Don't use gold speaker wire or anything, but can't live with sub par sound.
> 
> ...



Take what i say with a grain of salt. Just noted you mention "infotainment"
I've got the base radio. Don't think the camero pdim is an option for you, I could be wrong.


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## grtpumpkin (Nov 25, 2016)

Well, I managed to hook up my 10 disc Kenwood changer via the 3.5mm jack. I had to buy a Kenwood switching unit as well as a modulator with RCA outputs to get it to work. Was disappointed though(money not well spent) as the volume is much lower than the radio and the clarity is not really there and it introduces some funky noises when changing traks between songs. I may try to contact Kenwood or united radio tech support to see if there's another way to do it. Just wish this stuff was simpler. Like a selector switch to just switch between inputs. Really, its just 3 simple wires, left & right signal and a common ground. It shouldn't be this difficult but obviously the manufacturer doesn't want it to be done and doesn't care about giving us the option to do it. If I had the knowledge and skill I would modify the radio internally and make it do what I want. A nice aftermarket head unit may be in my future.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

grtpumpkin said:


> Really, its just 3 simple wires, left & right signal and a common ground. It shouldn't be this difficult


You'd be surprised. All kinds software and DSP in there. This isn't your 90's analog radio. For best sound, I'd suggest ripping your CDs to a thumb drive. Ok, so you don't like MP3. Use AAC/M4A. I think it can even do .WAV if you really don't want compression. As long as you use a decent bitrate, the compression will not be the limiting factor on the sound quality. That thumb drive can hold more CDs than your changer can.


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## grtpumpkin (Nov 25, 2016)

So if I went the usb route and used high quality .wav files, couldn't the pdim module still limit the quality? Unfortunately as time has gone on I have not kept up with technology. I just know that everything I've heard on these small media devices was just lousy and I never got into them for that reason. I've always enjoyed my cd's.


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

grtpumpkin said:


> I had to buy a Kenwood switching unit as well as a modulator with RCA outputs to get it to work.


What is the modulator for? I associate those with playing external devices thru the radio rather than auxin.

Doug

.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

grtpumpkin said:


> So if I went the usb route and used high quality .wav files, couldn't the pdim module still limit the quality?


Which radio do you have, the basic greenscreen or the MyLink? I don't recall hearing any complaints about the quality of the USB input. It would be easy enough to test. Just rip and few files and try it out.


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## grtpumpkin (Nov 25, 2016)

plano-doug said:


> What is the modulator for? I associate those with playing external devices thru the radio rather than auxin.
> 
> Doug
> 
> .


The modulator is needed in order to plug in the controller for the changer. I purchased a Kenwood module that has 2 RCA outs instead of the typical antenna leads. I used a 3.5mm to rca cord to connect it to the aux input. Possibly this modulator is still altering the signal and producing the lossy sound.


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## grtpumpkin (Nov 25, 2016)

ChevyGuy said:


> Which radio do you have, the basic greenscreen or the MyLink? I don't recall hearing any complaints about the quality of the USB input. It would be easy enough to test. Just rip and few files and try it out.


I do have the basic green screen. I would have to invest some time and money in ripping cd's. I have no clue how to do that.
Living in the stone age.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

grtpumpkin said:


> I do have the basic green screen. I would have to invest some time and money in ripping cd's. I have no clue how to do that.
> Living in the stone age.


If you have iTunes, that does it. I'm sure you can export from that as that's what I used. Windows media player can also rip a CD. Probably not the best for mass production, but fine for a test.


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## grtpumpkin (Nov 25, 2016)

Blasirl said:


> *The best free and premium CD rippers 2019*


Thanks for the link. I downloaded that EAC application. Unfortunately I do not have a cd drive for my laptop. I will have to purchase one. All I have is an old Dennon single disc player in my home audio system. Don't think I can hook that up to my laptop. Something tells me that won't work. No usb port on the dennon, it's old like 1986. What would you recommend? I know cd players/burners can be bought pretty cheap.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

I'd think most any external USB drive would work just fine. I'd check the reviews on the off-chance it's a make/model that tends to drop dead. You might keep an eye on the speed so it's not the slowest part of ripping the CD.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Agreed!

If you work at a large corporation, ask around, someone has one that could at least borrow if not have. Our IT "throws stuff away" when it becomes "obsolete".

Here is a cheap one (USB 2.0)


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## grtpumpkin (Nov 25, 2016)

According to my owners manual, my infotainment system will only recognize .mp3 and .wma files. Both are lossy file types. Looks like I'm out of luck. Now if it would recognize lossless WAV files or FLAC files it would be worth doing. Such a drag this modern technology. 
Any devices available to allow the infotainment system to recognize and play back the lossless files? Would that be what the Camaro PDIM mentioned earlier is all about? 

I'll look forward to my factory head unit crapping out. Would be just the excuse I would need to justify going aftermarket. Albeit expensive though.


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