FeloniusMonkey Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 I just bought a 120GB iPod Classic (late 2008 "2G"). Hooked it up to my AVIC-F90BT, and I am now experiencing the same audio issues that I've seen many posts about, regarding the Pioneer cable. My right channel is dull, quiet, and I hear a bit of interference. I have played with the cable, swapped the channels, checked all connections, and the problem is most likely with the cable. I saw, in a related post, that this cable (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.21221) seems to be a valid replacement, with a build-in mini-USB jack to complete the full connection needed. I go on Amazon to buy it, and I see in the reviews that many people with the same model iPod as me are having problems playing VIDEO because this cable lacks an authentication chip. I'm running the latest firmware on the iPod (2.2), and I don't know if I can downgrade to the Pioneer-supported 1.1.1 version (and I'm not even sure that would help). I know my iPod has the authentication mechanism built into it, and I'm also sure the Pioneer cable (and my F90BT) do NOT (only the X-series have it). Is there some magic going on with the F90BT, that's supposed to allow the VIDEO to work without the authentication chip? Or do I need to shell out $50 for a special cable from Apple? I've seen some stuff posted about this in the D-Series forums, but nothing in the F-Series forums. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sierratango Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 You will probably have the same connection problems with the apple cable. I have the 120 gb ipod too and I went thru 3 different apple cables with the intermittent connection issues as well. Only the pioneer cable would have a 99% connection rate, but it did have the speaker channel problem, which is related to its crappy RCA connectors, so I hardwired them to the AVIC and I have never had a problem since. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FeloniusMonkey Posted August 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 You will probably have the same connection problems with the apple cable. I have the 120 gb ipod too and I went thru 3 different apple cables with the intermittent connection issues as well. Only the pioneer cable would have a 99% connection rate, but it did have the speaker channel problem, which is related to its crappy RCA connectors, so I hardwired them to the AVIC and I have never had a problem since. Thanks for your reply. I think you may have posted this same solution in another thread that I read. I assume from your trials with other cables, that your problem lie in the FEMALE A/V INPUT RCA connectors, rather than in the Pioneer iPod cable. Do you think it would have been equally effective for you to replace the female A/V INPUT RCA connectors with better ones, as opposed to severing and splicing to those wires directly? Just curious, because if I have the same issue (which I probably do), I would prefer this route. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VBLUE42 Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 First try the Apple Composite AV cable before resorting to surgery on your unit. Most people have had no problems with the Apple cable. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FeloniusMonkey Posted August 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 First try the Apple Composite AV cable before resorting to surgery on your unit. Most people have had no problems with the Apple cable. Respectfully, I intend to test the female RCA jacks with some other devices and male RCA cables before I operate on them. I have at least 5 other cables, and 4 or 5 other devices I can test. If they all exhibit the same result (bad right channel), then I will have to operate. Or I might just call Pioneer support to replace the bad A/V harness bundle. No need to drop $50 on the Apple cable. BTW, anyone have any idea HOW the F-Series is able to display Video output from a recent iPod, without having an authentication chip? This is most perplexing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sierratango Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 You will probably have the same connection problems with the apple cable. I have the 120 gb ipod too and I went thru 3 different apple cables with the intermittent connection issues as well. Only the pioneer cable would have a 99% connection rate, but it did have the speaker channel problem, which is related to its crappy RCA connectors, so I hardwired them to the AVIC and I have never had a problem since. Thanks for your reply. I think you may have posted this same solution in another thread that I read. I assume from your trials with other cables, that your problem lie in the FEMALE A/V INPUT RCA connectors, rather than in the Pioneer iPod cable. Do you think it would have been equally effective for you to replace the female A/V INPUT RCA connectors with better ones, as opposed to severing and splicing to those wires directly? Just curious, because if I have the same issue (which I probably do), I would prefer this route. I read on the forums that other users tried replacing the harness and not having it make a difference. Also, when I used the apple cable I never experienced any speaker channel problems, so I figured it had to be the pioneer cable. The other poster is right, I would suggest you try to install the apple cable first and see if that fixes your problem. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FeloniusMonkey Posted August 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 I appreciate the suggestion. I just hate the thought of buying into the whole Apple proprietary thing for $50. So before I do that, I'm gonna play around with some of the typical diagnostic procedures that the others have done: [*:3syf6l0p]Jiggle the RCA harness plug where it enters the AVIC, while using the iPod[*:3syf6l0p]Jiggle the RCA connection between the RCA-F and iPod RCA-M tips, while using the iPod[*:3syf6l0p]Try several other cables and devices to possibly narrow the source of the problem[*:3syf6l0p]Exercise my active warranty, and have Pioneer replace whatever seems to be the problem Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FeloniusMonkey Posted August 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Ok, I determined what the problem is on my AVIC-F90BT, and fixed it as well. The RIGHT AUDIO IN pin/wire of the white MALE audio harness plug was not secure in the plug. In fact, the pin itself seemed to be damaged. It wouldn't "snap" into place like the other pins. I secured it as best I could with electrical tape, and things seem to be holding up well now. I was able to tell this was this issue by jiggling the various parts of the connection. The RCA connectors themselves were all okay. But when I got to the harness connection, I realized something was wrong. I wasn't sure if it was the harness socket or the plug. But when I examined the plug, and saw that the aforementioned pin was easily removed from the plug, the problem was evident. I don't believe this to be all that big of a coincidence. I'd suggest many of you with the same issue go ahead and trace the RIGHT AUDIO IN wire from the RCA jack to the harness plug, and see if the cause is the same. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IceCube Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 If possible could post Pictures of what you did please? I am not sure about the fix you are proposing... Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WilliamG Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 If possible could post Pictures of what you did please? I am not sure about the fix you are proposing...Thanks! Yes, if there's a way to post a picture of what you did, that would be awesome. My replacement F700BT is having the same issue as the first one, meaning it's not the AVIC itself, but something cable-related. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ratubbs Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 this is useless without pics please post some ASAP Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dianebrat Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 this is useless without pics please post some ASAP It's not "useless without pictures" he's described what he found very well and in plain language, he found the pin inside the connector on the header that plugs into the AVIC from the rt-audio RCA wasn't properly in the header. I give FeloniusMonkey an A+ for his description of his problem and how he fixed it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ratubbs Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 this is useless without pics please post some ASAP It's not "useless without pictures" he's described what he found very well and in plain language, he found the pin inside the connector on the header that plugs into the AVIC from the rt-audio RCA wasn't properly in the header. I give FeloniusMonkey an A+ for his description of his problem and how he fixed it. yes kudos for FeloniusMonkey for discovering an issue with harness. but some pics would help and if he really wanted to "explain in plain language" as you say , he would of included the color the the right input wire so we knew what the hell we were looking for. Good day Sir. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lacehim Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Just an idea but have you tried using something like a ferrite ring around the cable from the ipod to reduce interferance? There is a heap of electronics in a car and maybe the ipod cable is just routed near something noisy electrically. FYI I have a 120Gb Classic and I haven't had any issues with the standard Pioneer cable that came with my Aussie F900BT. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IceCube Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 ....he's described what he found very well and in plain language, he found the pin inside the connector on the header that plugs into the AVIC from the rt-audio RCA wasn't properly in the header. Pardon my ignorance but the "connector on the header that plugs into the avic"... he is talking about the white "male" plastic piece that connects to the actual unit (it has tons of wires, of which some are for the RCA/Ipod) right? So how did he fix it? Electrical tape? but where? For me, it is the LEFT channels that goes dead once in a while. Which wire color could it be? Yellow or Red? I guess I will check them all.. but if someone knows, please let me know. By the way, electric tape on the RCA connectors did nada for me. Ice (English is not my first language, hence some of the confusion here). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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