Making The Leap

I own a 2008 Toyota Prius. It’s got a handy aux-in jack in the console. The first day I had it, I had my iPod plugged into through a Belkin power/aux out adapter. It was great. The iPod stayed charged and my music sounded great. Things were good.

Fast forward to August when I got my iPhone 3G (yay!). This was the answer to a lot of my problems. I’ve missed countless calls because my iPod has been turned up louder than my phone can ring. The iPhone would solve that by performing both functions. So, imagine my disappointment when I plugged in my iPod to my Belkin cord and I get a message stating that “Charging is not supported with the accessory”.....oh well, I’ll just listen to the music until it dies. Que ‘Der Kommisar’:

bumda bum bum bum bum…bumda bwah bwah bwah..eeeeeeeee…....bumda bum bum bum…bumda bwah bwah bwah bwah eeeeeeeee…..

What in the hell is that whining sound!? Come to find out, the iPhone 3g suffers from a ground loop isolation problem whereas the iPod didn’t. My next step was to buy a new adapter for the iPhone….Yikes! $49.99 for the Griffin Auto Pilot Aux….

I went straight to the car, plugged in the adapter popped the iPhone on it and was greeted by that annoying ‘weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!’

More research…..

I found this device: PAC SNI-1/3.5

It only took a couple of days to get here, but since I drive 100 mile round trip to work each day…it seemed like an excruciatingly long time. Interestingly, radio is still more irritating than listening to the incessant ‘weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee’. Anyway, plugged it in tonight. Plugged the ipod into it and viola!, instant silence. As far as I can tell, the signal isn’t noticeably degraded. The highs still sound sharp and the bass isn’t muffled (any more than the stock Toyota speakers make it)

So, do your ears a favor and get this thing….it’s the best $14 I’ve spent in a long time.