I purchased a Mazda Tape add in module for a single purpose only: To play MP3's from an external source. Initially I though that if my Idea of installing a 1/8" headphone jack, directly wired into the module didn't work, I would still be able to use a regular tape adapter.

Heres what I bought, and here's the results.

- Mazda RX-8 (same as Mazda 6) Tape player add-in module & Faceplate
- 20 foot Headphone extension cable (6-ft is plenty)

You'll need a soldering Iron, a scredriver and a bit of patience and bravery.

1. Unpack the goods: My New Mazda Tape module:

2. Pop the cover off the unit.. (unscrew the two screws in the back, on the bottom, the big side with the connector) then lift up the cover plate:

3. Then locate the little Printed Circuit Board (PCB) that is located below:

4. Next, prepare your headphone extension cable. I used a cable with a female end, since I wanted it to look less noticeable. Then locate the following specific points on the circuit board.. notice the little labels on the PCB silkscreen R-CH & L-CH.. they were very handy in figuring exactly where I should wire this together ;)

5. Then run your extension cable up the back of the tape module through this hole.. Once it's through, tie a tight knot in it to prevent it from coming back out.

6. Then solder on the 3 wires as shown below. For reference, I used a radio shack extension cable. If you happen to want to use the same type of cable, I got a 20' extension cable for about $7.99. The yellow wire goes to the tip of a male connector (Left Channel), the red goes to the middle connector (Right Channel), and the back wire goes to the base connector (Signal return/ground).

6b. Here's a closeup of the solder connections..

7. Then close up the unit, and prepare for installation.

Follow the instructions in the install booklet for installation. However, before you put everything back together, run your wire for the AUX in, behind the head unit console, and down under where the ashtray is, then run it forward, and towards the cup-holders (or some other location you would prefer ;)

I cut a little hole in the edge of the clip that's next to the E-brake, so that the wire would have a better fit without being crimped.

Viola! You are done! (If you put everything back together). I left out a few steps, but you should be able to figure everything out from the tape module. The most confusing thing I ran into was the small retaining bolt that goes into the side of the radio. It's actually right on the side of the radio (on the left side for North American vehicles), and way, way in the console. I only managed to do it with a screw-driver with a socket attachment. I think it was a 10mm bolt..

Look at this! My MP3 player is all snug! ;)

Happy hacking!


Some final comments.. It's probably possible to do a similar type hack to the CD units, but I wasn't brave enough to hack into that.. I needed something cheaper ;)

And the Audio Quality? Absolutely Terrific. My fourth tape adapter, a high quality unit, which was the pick of the litter of several such units was pretty good, but this AUX line in bypass is as good as it gets. Is it reliable? What's the signal level like? Yes, and good. It's not as loud as it could be, but that's a good thing. It's probably possible to blow up parts of the tape module with too much volume.

;)

OverLOAD

Ah, this HOWTO will come in very handy for me when OmniFi comes out. Has anyone seen this system yet? From what I understand, since it is wireless, you'll be able to drag MP3's into your RX8 right from your desktop.

Info links here:
http://www.omnifimedia.com
http://www.techtv.com/news/ces2003/story/0,24195,3413922,00.html

So functionally, you just select "TAPE/MD" and play your MP3 unit?

Have you still got a fully functional tape player as a result?

This is really good!

I think I'd probably expose two RCA plugs in the centre consule near the power socket.

Thanks for all of your effort in posting you works.

Kev.

The reduced volume may be due to halving with the silent tape deck. Maybe cutting the tape signal and wiring in a toggle switch between external and tape? Cool stuff though. Are you experienced at this sort of stuff, or did you just sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night? I ask because it takes cajones to trial and error a brand new (uncheap) radio. Hats off to you either way. :)

Nice work!

Couple of questions: Do you need to have a dummy tape in (and presumably with the motors spinning) for the input to be audible? The cassette player still works normally, right? The audio levels of the cassette player still the same as before the mod (if by chance you listened to it before the mod)?

For about $160, this sounds like a cool solution for an AUX port, at least until/if Blitz or PIE comes out with an adaptor. I think those have generally run between $75-150, so the cost of OverLOAD's method isn't too bad. Running the cable through the cap in the cup compartment was a great idea, btw.

Yup, I meant to mention that last night..

It only works with a dummy tape, so bust out that old tape you made of yourself when you were 8 years old, and pull the tape spools out. Insert the Tape, press the Tape/MD button, and you hear the Aux source. When you eject the tape, it mutes the input.

And by reduced volume, I mean just a wee little bit. I have the rockbox firmware on my Archos, and to get a volume level equal to the radio stations takes about 93% of maximum.. I'd just rather run it a little lower, and not take the chance.

It works really well. I kind of surprised myself by how easily it all seemed to come together. I was willing to take it all apart, since I figured the worst thing I'd blow up was the tape module.. And I wanted an AUX in Really bad!. In terms of my Experience with this sort of stuff, I'm pretty much a rank amatuer at Electrical design, however I'm resourceful enough to be able to find the datasheets for all the IC's that were on the Op Amp Eq PCB in the tape deck. That helped a bit.. I've taken apart a bunch of stuff before, but this is really my only motivation so far to actually do a useful mod to some gear that I had. This head unit was desperately in need of some AUX in..

Have fun, and like I said, this can probably also be done with the stock CD head unit, but you'd probably also need to burn a 'Dummy CD' of one track of blank audio to get that to work..

Net result is that this mod works very well, and I'm more than satisfied with the results.. And Yes, the tape player works 100% normally and will still play regular tapes. The sound levels didn't seem to change intensity at all... just remember to disable the AUX-in source when you do that so you don't have two simultaneous sources (and funny sound)..

However, standard disclaimer: I take no responsibility for any damage that you may do, while trying this mod on your own. I have mentioned everything that I feel is important to completing this mod successfully, but please don't blame me if you mess something up.

Otherwise, happy modding!

OverLOAD


Edit: p.s.

Just another note. I modified my previous tape adapter so that I removed the tape sender unit, and the headphone cable. This allows me to use this as the dummy tape, since a regular tape will keep cycling, and a tape that you've ripped the actual tape out of, will read "TAPE ERROR" on the LCD status screen... Other than that, it sounds great. If possible, get shielded extension cable. And on another note, someone elsewhere mentioned that there would be electronic interference in the tape module, corresponding to engine RPM's. I have not experienced this. I've even only heard of this in very old AM radios..

The next best thing here would be to use an ohm meter/continutity tester to find out what pins on the output of the cassette deck actually carry the audio. And, what pin gives a signal to indicate that a tape is in the unit. If we could find this out, many folks could hook up what they need without having to buy a cassette unit to do it....and without having to make a dummy tape.

Gee, it would be so much simpler if Mazda would make a unit that would go in place of the cassette that would supply inputs (they could even put limits on them to protect the main unit).

Excellent work to even get this effort working even this well!

That's a great idea... something that you could put in the well for the cassette deck that has the inputs, maybe a face plate that had some depth so you could put in an ipod, hard disk mp3 player, etc.

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out where the signals are coming from in the cassette deck's conversation with the head unit, but the hard part would be how to replicate them.

I'd definitely be willing to pay 50+ bucks for something to plug into the bottom of the unit to give me an aux jack without the need for a cassette deck...

These are both good suggestions, about a new module, and tracing the pins. And it's exactly what I tried.

Unfortunately, I was unable to determine exactly which pins on the connector carry audio. I used my favorite 20 function Fluke knockoff multimeter, and I was able to determine that about 7 of the pins on the connector are for ground.

If you are looking at the back of the unit, here's my guess of what's what:

Top of tape module:
Loads from (front) end (front = /|\ way)

Conenctor pinout:

1 . 3 . 5 . 7 . 9 . 11 . 13 . 15
. 2 . 4 . 6 . 8 . 10 . 12 . 14

1 = ground
2 = signal left?
3 = n.c ??
4 = signal right?
5 to 9 = ???
10 & 11 = +Vdc
12 & 13 = ground to battery
14 = ??
15 = ground

From what I tested, this is my best guess so far. This is only from memory as well.. I couldn't verify that this was correct, since I didn't run the unit outside of the car.

I would speculate as well that pins 5 to 9 are a databus connection. It's either a proprietary FMS Audio connection, or it's a CAN bus connection. There is a bug IC on the connector board that seems to handle all this good stuff.

In order to make a module that would function as an AUX in, and integrate seamlessly, would require the bus based capabilities of the FMS data bus, to tell the head unit what type of module it was, and what text to display on the LCD status.. (even just to say AUX would be a challenge, since you need to know the correct message code, and the formatting for the text).

To get this kind of setup working would be wonderful though, since you probably could fit most hard drive based MP3 players in the space the tape module uses, and you could get a little better sound quality, maybe even an SPDIF input connection. But to nail it, would take a lot of R&D to reverse engineer the bus traffic to make the head unit capable of switching into AUX mode from the tape button, and built a module capable of sending the signals. Basically, if FMS Audio gave us the schematics and even some help with the software for the chips, it would still be a big job.. I'm satisfied with this, unless someone else develops an add-in module, or an AUX kit.

Cheers!

OverLOAD

You're the man, Overload :)

I think you're spot on with the difficulty level of coming up with something from scratch to solve the problem. So maybe a good alternative is thinking about how to do surgery on the existing tape deck module to get what we need.

Do you think it would be possible to:

* Remove the "guts" of the cassette deck and leave the electronics in tact

* Fool the electronics into thinking there's a cassette in place all the time. If I recall right, most cassette decks have a switch that's depressed when the cassette is inserted -- if this is how the FMS deck detects the presence of the tape, just soldering the two ends of the switch wires together should permanently close the switch.

* Display is something I don't even want to begin to think about :) Though it would be nice to be able to eliminate the tape error message... maybe tinkering a little with the tape head would let us figure out a way to make it think there's a signal coming from a cassette.

* Line the interior shell of the cassette mechanism with that "no slip" stuff you can get to stick your cell phone, etc to your dash.

* Carve out a larger gap in the face plate to allow access to leave your audio device in that space.

I'm thinking out loud, so if anyone has better ideas, I'm all for it.

Thanks a lot overload for forking out the money and doing this investigation -- we all really appreciate it.

Were those tracings done while the tape deck was operating?

I'm not sure if you'd have to issue a message. I was thinking it might have some line that would assert a signal while a tape was inserted.

I've never seen one of the cassette decks so I'm kinda in the dark. But if I had one and could hook it up, my thoughts were to try to interrogate each of the lines coming out of the deck while it was working to determine potentially what each one was.

--Heck, would even be cool to have have an interface panel or other compartment in place of the ash tray compartment that could be used for a MP3 player where you could still have the cassette or MD option. (I know...I'm dreaming a bit.)

Originally posted by OverLOAD
It works really well. I kind of surprised myself by how easily it all seemed to come together. I was willing to take it all apart, since I figured the worst thing I'd blow up was the tape module.. And I wanted an AUX in Really bad...

And on another note, someone elsewhere mentioned that there would be electronic interference in the tape module, corresponding to engine RPM's. I have not experienced this. I've even only heard of this in very old AM radios..

OverLOAD,
I took the easy way out and had an FM modulator installed so that I could hook up my iPod. It sounds OK but there is now doubt that it would sound significantly better with it hooked up directly. So I'll probably hack my radio too. Thanks for taking the time to figure out a way to get a line input into the radio and documenting it for the rest of us! :D

I think that you were referring to my comment in another thread about the electrical noise that can happen with cassette adapters. My last car was a '01 Celica GT-S and when the cassette adapter was inserted I would get a high pitched whine coming through the speakers that would increase with the RPMs. I spoke with one of our electrical engineers at work and he mentioned that the cable coming out of the cassette adapter is probably acting like an antenna and it is picking up EMI from the engine because it is not properly grounded. Regardless you shouldn't have that problem with your setup because your cable is grounded. Good job!

All the traces were done with the unit OFF... That's the best I could come up with. Since I couldn't be sure about the left & right channels, I decided not to tap in there. Also, that is post OP Amp, so it would probably require more power from the mp3 player to drive it as high, if it's even audible. The impedance matching here is the most critical part to not blow up the head unit.. too much volume, and your head unit could fry. Also, it's possible that they just used the audio bus as the signal carrier for the sound source, which means that a digitally encoded signal has to be sent via the connector, which is too much work.

Now, As to ripping apart the tape guts... The Phantom tape has to have one of those car adapter kit thingies that both spins the tape spools, and the tape slack, fixed speed feeder, next to the tape pickup head. If you use a tape that doesn't have one of these, the tape deck never un-mutes the sound from the pickup head, and will display 'tape error'. This would likely be the result of a speed sensor on the RPMs of the tape spools... Too fast spinning means that the fixed rate spooler isn't working, and that the tape is either getting chewed up, or has snapped. This is likely controlled by the main IC on the connector PCB. Simulating this will be very difficult, however removing the tape innards would not be so hard. The spooler motors, and eject equipment could be removed without much trouble, but finding a way to get the speed sensor from the spooler motor thinking that its spinning slow enough (or even at all?) would be a problem. But this would give you all kinds of room to work with. Everything to the left side of the tape pickup head. That's big enough for even my Archos jukebox to fit inside...

As for putting no-slip inside it, I think that it could cause heat built up problems.. Did you look at how many vent holed are in the housing? It looks like they are there to keep the unit at a reasonable temperature, so blowing those vents with a pretty plastic case, or vinyl cover could cause ment-down... But If you did manage to rig it up, and get the tape deck to pass an audio signal, I'd probably remove the tape mechanisms pickup head, to try improbving the signal quality as well.. It would probably be significant. Those little heads seem to pick up EMI & RFI at very low levels that are audible at higher volumes with no actual sound source.. But the factory cover is plenty big enought to carve out, and has substantially less reinforcing then the tape module. You also wouldn't need the eject or Dolby NR buttons, so the factory module might be the best way to go. Except for the gaping hole in the dash, it wouldn't look too bad. It would even save willing hackers of the tape module from needing to but the special faceplate. They could use the factory one..


So, to sum it up, yes it's possible to fake out the tape deck and pull out the innards, you just would have to be careful how far you went, and that you could resolve all the little detection metords for the tape deck. It would probably survive a no-slip pad on the bottom (heat builtup?), but getting the faceplate to look good would be the next challenge. Perhaps your really good with acrylic moldings? ;)

Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this, and am happy to just have something that work..

OverLOAD

Speed Racer:

Yeah, That was the comment I was referring to... I've never heard a tape deck make that noise before, but it could be a grounding/EMI or RFI problem.. It could be the CD player picking up the EMI from the alternator. Those alternators are *very* loud in the EM spectrum.. lots of hum. good filtering (power stiffening capacitors) and grounding can help..

;)

OverLOAD

Originally posted by OverLOAD
If you are looking at the back of the unit, here's my guess of what's what:

1 = ground
2 = signal left?
3 = n.c ??
4 = signal right?
5 to 9 = ???
10 & 11 = +Vdc
12 & 13 = ground to battery
14 = ??
15 = ground



I imagine some of the wires (5-9 perhaps?) handle control signals for fast-forward, rewind, skip ahead, and skip-reverse.

ectomort:

Nope, I think that from the tape module, to the 'mother' module, there's only a digital bus (speculation). The eject & Dolby reduction buttons are on the front connector, and likely only do stuff within the tape module.

OverLOAD

There's a very good chance that you're right, but control signals must get passed from the head unit to the tape module. When pressed, various buttons on the head unit (and the buttons on the steering wheel) have to send commands to the tape unit to perform the action (e.g. to fast forward) somehow. (Perhaps via the digital bus as you suggest.)

pretty true, but there's what, 6 buttons on the steering wheel just for the audio controls? If there was an analog conneciton, it would have to use at least seven wires to work..

I'm pretty confident that this radio is a CAN bus based system. This means that the audio controls are probably all bus based. However within the tape module, they are probably passed as an encoded digital signal between the different modules. The Audio is probably one of the few things that's analog in the module connector.

I've had quite a few interesting experiences with the tape module, such as instantaneous muting of my aux in if the tape has an error (like it thinking there's a tape problem), such as detecting different speeds on the spool reel and the fixed rate spooler (next to the pickup head). So It's got to be sending bus based messages to the main head unit to mute the sound.

However, to be able to create a digital bus transaction card, which could communicate with the radio, in place of the tape module would be very nice, I just think that probably only FMS Audio have the right information to do it without spending 500 hours trying to analyze the bus protocols, and figuring out which code does what..

OverLOAD

...there is one more thing I'd love to know though.
Your Archos is feeding the tape unit with speaker level signal - what if someone would want to use your method to hook up a line level source instead?
The reason I'm asking is that I want to hook up a different hard drive-based player and that has RCA line outputs (non-amplified). Would this method provide still sufficient volume or would it be too low?

Thanks for all the work :)

RCA's? Hmm.. Is it the same headphone Jack? That's all I'm using from the archos.. You should just be able to use the headphone jack if the RCA line out is too low.. a pre-amp line-out is pretty different from most line-outs.. from what I remember, most RCA out's are the same as headphone outs.. variable volume.. it should work, but as long as you have a headphone jack, you should be fine.

OverLOAD

No, it's not the same as the headphone jack. It's the regular line-out-type red/white plug pair. However, there IS some volume control in the player... so I guess I need to check the documentation as for what signal level it actually produces. I doubt it would be the same amplified phone jack level like the Archos is.
One thing I know is that the signal level this jukebox is issuing is comparable to that of a regular car CD-changer - because in my current car, it is hooked up to the CD-changer input of the head unit and it works fine. Essentially, it is currently behaving like a regular CD changer, as far as the head unit is concerned.
So I suppose I might get problems when even the amplified signal of the Archos produces a little bit less volume than the radio stations. Or not?

Tamas,

I'm not 100% sure what you'll run into, but my Archos does seem loud enough, but if I turn it up too high, I get nasty sounding clipping at the pre-amp in the tape module (theory..) I can turn the volume up much louder with the archos than a tape would play, but to do it cleanly with no chance of clipping for all my music, I leave it lower for some songs than others.

Why not just use the headphone out plug? The RCA-outs should work too.. The archos can only output somewhere around 400 mW to the headphones, so that's not a whole lot of volume. What kind of mp3 player have you got?

OverLOAD

It's a Neo car MP3 player (http://www.ssiamerica.com/products/neo35/index.shtml).
It does not have a headphone jack since it is built specifically for car- or home stereo use. Attaches to the head unit like a regular car CD changer.
I see that recently, they started to sell an AUX adapter for it too (which I don't have), but according to their list, it's not compatible with Mazda units anyway.
So it seems the only option I have is to hack the tape unit like you did.
Actually, reading your post, it looks like in case you turn up the volume on the Archos too much, it overloads the tape unit - so I have some hope that the signal the Neo produces will be sufficient with this hack. What do you think? I don't have too much understanding about electronics :D

Thanks for your time.

It's worth trying, at the least. If it doesn't work well enough, you can always consider another mp3 player?

The RCA line level out is usually a reasonable signal strength. As long as you can adjust the volume out in the Neo, it should be able to be tuned for the tape pre-amp.

OverLOAD

Great Job! I've been looking for exactly something like this, but was a little too scared to try it myself...I just have 2 quick questions...
1) I have a Mazda6 with the Bose setup. I assume since it's the same cassette adapter for the RX8 this mod will work in a 6/Bose setup?
2) Can I use the ministereo plug output from the Delphi SkyFi XM radio unit as a source or would it be too low of an audio output?
Thanks again.

djmn:

1. Yes, the guys in the mazda shop who sold me this unit said that the module part number for the RX-8 and the 6 are the same. The only difference is the faceplate. If you do the same thing to the module, it should work the same way...

2. Maybe. It's very likely that it will work. Make sure to use a shielded cable from the tape module (and ground it on the chassis of the module). It will almost certainly produce some level audio.. but if it's too high, there'll be nasty clipping sounds, and too low, and you won't hear anything and/or the noise level will be too high.

If the SkyFi XM unit has a volume, or level adjustment for the output, you should be able to adjust it to a satisfactory level.

OverLOAD

Thanks for the info overLOAD, I have one more strange question.
Would the cassette module work without the front "trim" piece attached?
Since I'm going to be doing the mod to it and I have no other use for cassettes, I want to be able to "hide" the cassette module behind the orginal faceplate of the headunit.
I assume it would need to "recognize" the electronics (eject button, FF, etc.) the front piece provides, but maybe not.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

Yup, you can do that. I've removed the tape dash panel from the tape module (while running) and had no problem, except it was a little tricky getting the tape cover back on with the dummy tape in the unit (I had to hold the tape door open while I popped it back in).

I can't see why you couldn't permanently use the blank face plate, other than preventing yourself from actually using a tape if you happened across one. I'm not sure if the blank cover will fit, but it should. I didn't try since I'd have to pull the unit out of the dash to get it back out (or use some string?)..

It's a neat idea to cover it back up, stealth mode.. It'll work just fine..

Great...I'll give it a try in "stealth mode". I'll let you know how it goes.
Here's a couple of follow up questions:
1) Since it doesn't need the front panel to work and I'm going to hide it behind the original faceplate, would I even need to buy the front panel at all. I can get the cassette module for around $140, but then they charge another $62 for the front panel! Is this how you had to buy yours overLOAD?
Or am I totally off base and the $140 includes the front panel and the $62 would be for a new faceplate with the hole cut out for the cassette?
If I was to get just the cassette module would I be able to manually eject the dummy tape if I ever needed to?
2) As for the dummy tape, I'm not quite sure exactly what I need. You mentioned that if you use just a blank tape with the tape removed you'll get a thread error from the tape module. Can I just use one of those simple cassette adapters for cd players and stuff and just cut off the cord to it, or will I need to remove something else from it so that it doesn't come in contact with the play head?
Thanks again

You can buy the module from the service department without the faceplate, and it is much cheaper... no problem.. I only bought it since i might possibly want to use an actual tape, and I wasn't sure this hack would work at the beginning, and would have used the oldschool tape adapter the conventional way had I failed..


You can also buy one of the cheapest tape deck adapters (the normal headphone jack type..) you can find, cut the wire, and carefully open it up and remove the tape play mechanism (reduces the noise level a little more), and put it back together and make sure that it still has the tape speed wheel control gears working in it, you'll be set..

Don't forget that shielded AUX in cable, and try to keep it as short as you comfortably can.. (I think about 36" is lots)..


Cheers ;)

OverLOAD

overLOAD -
Just got the cassette module and I'm going to be doing this mod this weekend. I bought a 16' Sheilded Miniplug headphone extension that I plan on cutting off around 4' and using. You mentioned to be sure and ground it to the chasis of the cassette module.
Looking at your mod, your extension cable has 3 wires (left, right, and return/ground). You have the black wire grounded to the PCB point. ...Is the shielded Miniplug extension going to have a 4th wire that i'll ground to the chasis, or am I to NOT solder the ground wire to the PCB like you did but ground it to the chasis?
Thanks

Yes, the miniplug connector will have 3 plastic coated wires, you can figure out which is signal left, right and ground, and it will also have another wire which will probably be wrapping around the other three, or it will have a sort of anti-static bag type plastic wrapped around another bare wire, encasing the three inner wires. The 3 wires with plastic coating on them go to the locations I described, and the one ground wire should be soldered anywhere inside the chassis to sheet metal cage. Try to use a location that is well connected to the chassis.

Optionally, you could use twisted wire pairs instead of shielding.. but that's a different story. cat 5e ethernet cable works well, but I don't have any experience using it in this application.

I also opened up my tape module on sunday, and pulled the small ribbon cable off of the 'Amp EQ board' PCB in the tape module. This substantially reduced my noise floor (made it sound better), but also prevents me from using a real casette tape (seems like less of an issue daily..)

I've been using it every day for the last 3 weeks, and I love it. I have an Archos MP3 jukebox, which has been loaded with the rockbox firmware from http://rockbox.haxx.se . It is connected to a DC to DC converter which is plugged into the rear ACC power port, and automatically powers up and starts playing withing about 7 seconds.. ;)

OverLOAD

overLOAD-
Once again, excellent info.
These should be my last questions, I swear! :)
1) Is the "Amp EQ Board" and the ribbon cable you pulled off marked or easily recognized? Is it shown in any of your pictures? I'd definitly want to do that to mine also if it increases the sound quality. Just wanna make sure I pull the right ribbon.
2) I hate to sound ignorant, but you said to pull the tape play mechanism out of the cassette adapter. I assume this is the silver playhead piece that makes contact with the actual players playhead?
Keep up the good work, and be sure to update us on any other improvement mods you might make to it.
Thanks

Ok, I lied...
Also, when you say "pulled" the ribbon off, can I just cut it off or do I need to de-solder it out?
thanks

This should be a simple enough question. Where do you start, to take the dash apart to get to the components? I don't have tape deck, nor do I ever plan on getting one, mostly I am looking for a way to integrate my handsfree cell kit with the dash a little better. Think if I take it apart to see what it behind it, I will be able to do a semi-permanent install.

So, where do I start?

djmn,
The ribbon cable sits in a little push clip. You can just pull it out, and it drops the noise floor. If you want to put everything back, you can just plug it back in.

NineT4,
but the tape deck, and do the mod. otherwise, if you're really adventurous, and want to try hacking the head unit, go ahead, pull it and start taking pictures of the PCB's. You could probably hack into both the CD or the Radio but I'd hack into the CD if given a choice, since you won't get radio static, but you'd definately need to burn a special 'silent' CD to make it work. So far, I think the tape mod is as easy as it gets.


OverLOAD

overLOAD -
I finally got a chance to cut one end off of the shielded 1/8 mini-stereo extension cable that I got. It had 3 wire's wrapped in a thin tin foil. There was a red, black, and bare wire. The red wire was the tip of the plug, black was the middle. So according to your diagram, I wanna solder the black wire to the right channel, red to the left and the bare wire to the return/ground point. correct?
You also said to solder the "shielded wire" to the chasis. It's not really a wire, but should I solder the foil wrap to the chasis?
Why didn't you have to do this for your install? It seems like it should be the same procedure whether its a standard plug or the 1/8" plug.

Also, is it the playhead piece I wanna remove from dummy tape so that the only thing still in it is the tape spinning mechanism?

Thanks in advance

In my install, I didn't have shielded wire, so you don't see the wire wrap...

That sounds like unusual shielded wire.. The extra ground pin should leave 3 colored wires, plus a bare wire..

You've got a stereo shielded headphone jack right? The shielding is integrated into the grounding on your cable. You should be able to connect it exactly as you described. The shielding is going right to the ground throughout the length of the wire. Some shielded wires will have an extra wire just for the shielding, some will integrate it with the return signal.

This shouldn't pose any problem. You could connect the ground wire to the same location as the signal return.. Just make sure that if there is exposed wire, you cover it with shrink wrap tubing to prevent it from shorting against anything inside the circuit board.

And yup, you can pull the dummy casette head out of the tape adapter, but if you pull the small ribbon cable out of the holder on the underside of the amp eq board, that won't make any difference, so it's probably not worth the effort at that point... The fixed speed spinning mechanism is a critical component, and must stay.


Looking forward to hearing how it works out for you,

OverLOAD

overLOAD -
It's was a standard 1/8 stereo male miniplug to 1/8 stereo male miniplug extension cable from Radio Shack.
So what it sounds like is that the foil wrap is the shielding, but since the ground wire is bare that two are in essence one wire. So I'll attach everything the same way you did, and attach the one bare wire (which is both the ground/return and the shielding to the point on the pcb that you did. Correct?
Or should I be looking somewhere else for a better/correctly shielded cable?
Thanks again

Do the first thing ;)

Connect it up the same way I did.. It should sound just fine..

OverLOAD

OverLOAD:

Awesome how-to bro! Quick question: do you see any reason that this setup wouldn't work with RCA as opposed to headphone jacks? I know next to nothing about electronics, but I have some so-so soldering skills and I can follow directions damn well... :p

I'd like RCA though so I could hook up a beefier MP3 player.

Oh, and one more question, any chance somebody can scan and upload the schematics and installation instructions? My car came with the tape deck installed and I want to experiment as little as possible.

I think that the install instructions have already been posted in another thread. Search for them, you should find it.

In terms of will it work with RCA plugs? Yup. Ever seen a RCA to 1/8th Stereo plug? Just straight into the wires. Join the left-ground and right-ground together from the RCA wires to connect to the base (ground) on the 1/8th connector.

It works in a very similar way.. You just have to make sure that you can control the volume. You want to keep the level just below clipping..

OverLOAD

I did this mod this weekend and had a slight issue I was hoping someone might have some answers on...
I did the mod just like overLOAD, but used a 1/8 mini-plug male to male shielded cable. I unhooked the ribbon cable on the back of the "amp Eq" PCB, and I used a standard cassette adapter for the dummy cassette (I didn't do anything to the cassette adapter. I did not remove the playhead mechanism, and left the wire attached)
I did the mod so that I could hook up the XM Roady. The problem is I notice a slight noise/"interference" when using the Roady. To describe it, it sounds almost like the high-pitched whine you get on AM stations. Along with this intermittent whine, there is a constant pulsating noise. Overall, its slight but definitly noticable when there is dead air.
I tried to do some troubleshooting and found out the following: This noise/interference is only with the Roady and only when it's connected to the mod. I hooked up an mp3 player, portable CD player, and a camcorder with a headphone jack and all of those sounded great with no noise. All were battery operated if that matters?
The Roady has three wires that connect to it: the headphone wire, antenna, and the 12V to 6V cigarette lighter adapter. I hooked the Roady up and used it with both headphones and a set of amplified speaker hooked up to it and the noise was not there!
So the noise is a direct relationship between the Roady and this mod somehow.
Is there something I can hook-up/add to the mod or the Roady unit to get rid of the noise?
Thanks

It's possible that adding some power stiffening caps to the roady will reduce the noise, and it's also more likely that grounding the roady to the chassis of the tape module will make an improvement...

So if you think it might be a grounding issue, do you think a Ground Loop Isolator would work.
I'm going to pick one up this afternoon and try it...
If not, how would YOU go about grounding the Roady to the chasis?
Also, would grounding the cigarette lighter to the same ground as the mazda headunit do any good?
Thanks

You should get what you need at a Radio Shack for about $20. Either an alternator noise blocker that installs in-line the power cable to your Roady (in case you have the alternator whine that matches the engine revs) or another thingy that installs in-line to the signal cable going from the Roady to the tape module. I don't remember what is it called, but this second one was that I needed when I installed mu HD-based MP3 player and connected it's signal cable to my head unit's AUX input. My noise was not the typical alternator whine, so it didn't seem to be grounding related.

I don't know much about car stereo troubleshooting, sorry for the quite sloppy wording :)

djmn,

connecting the the aux-plug ground to the ground on the head-unit will probably make an improvement. The shorter the distance between the units, the less potential for voltage differentials on the line..

Like Tamas suggested, an isolator/noise filter will probably clear this up even more. Try running it from a battery to test it out.. (if there is such an option).. or just try it with the car off, but in Aux on power mode.. If you don't get noise that way, a power filter is a definate must..

OverLOAD

OverLOAD,
I bought the Ground Loop Isolator from Radio Shack. It definitly got rid of the hum/buzz, but it also makes the audio sound like crap. It sounds really muffled/muddy. It has no midrange at all now. I don't know if this is a common side effect of GLI's or not.
Since the GLI worked, I assume it's safe to say I have a ground loop. Could I fix the problem all together and lose the GLI by hardwiring a new 12V cigarette/accesory adapter to the Power and Ground wires going directly into the headunit?
If that would work, does anyone know the "pinouts" or color-coding scheme for the headunit wire harness?

Sounds like it would work.. I think I've seen a pin-out for the head unit in the audio & electronics page, and I think that doing that would probably make an improvement..


How does it sound when you run the roady with the car just in the ACC mode? do you get static? A couple of stiffening capacitors would improve this situation..

OverLOAD

Well, I think I'm getting close to solving the buzz/hum issue. I've tried just about everything you guys suggested and here's what I know:
Everything sounds great when using a battery operated device OR if I hook the Roady up with AC power from the garage. Therefore it must be a power issue and not an issue with the way the 1/8 miniplug cable is modded into the cassette deck.
When I use the cigarette lighter in the car for power I get the buzz/noise.
I tried hooking up another lighter adapter using the same power as the one going to the lighter in the car and grounded the other wire to the chasis. Same problem.
I tried a ground loop isolator. "fixed" the buzz but make the audio sound like crap.
I tried hooking a 10amp power filter between the cigarette lighter in the car and the new cigarette adapter I installed. It did nothing.
I can only think of 2 other things to try: I still need to try hooking the new cigarette lighter to the same ignition power wire and ground cables that go into the headunit. Or, someone suggested buying a DC to AC convertor then run my AC adapter to the roady. Would this work?
Someone else suggested tapping directly off the battery, but I'd like to find a solution that would turn on and off with the ignition.
Thanks for all the advice so far. I'm sure my pain will make it easier for others who will be trying do the same.

djmn,

Sounds like you've exhausted all of the ideas. I don't know what else to suggest, but good luck,

OverLOAD

I finally got the buzz/noise fixed! It was on my final try, with my final idea, but it worked.
The only thing that worked for me was to us a DC to AC power inverter and then use a 6v AC to DC adapter. Strange, but it works.
The cassette mod really does sound great.
Thanks to everyone for the ideas.

good deal


Its always that last thing you check:D

That sounds great. I like the sound quality through that hack, we'll see how many other people adopt it,

OverLOAD

this is really cool, I'm going to do this to hook up my ipod once I get my car back from the dealer!

Originally posted by miata2rx8
this is really cool, I'm going to do this to hook up my ipod once I get my car back from the dealer!

why is it at the dealer?

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12559

engine replacement

duh
sorry I missed that

Anyone in the bay area been able to pull this hacking tape deck for aux line?? I sautered it, and installed the tape deck myself(which was a PAIN in the A$$!!), but I still can't get the line to work. Tape deck works fine, Thank God. Can anyone in the SF bay area help me?? :( I think the problem is the sautering. I don't think I sautered it properly. :( Any volunteers in the SF bay area?? :D

x-mobile,

I don't know specifically where your problem is, but here are a few suggestions:

1. If you connected to the correct points, you should be ok, unless you soldered a short onto another wire

2. Once you're done, you plug in the AUX-IN device, and put a 'fake-tape' in the tape module.

3. Set the radio to tape mode, and hit play.

I would be happy to provide you with any further help about the hack if you have any more details,

OverLOAD

Originally posted by OverLOAD
x-mobile,

I don't know specifically where your problem is, but here are a few suggestions:

1. If you connected to the correct points, you should be ok, unless you soldered a short onto another wire

2. Once you're done, you plug in the AUX-IN device, and put a 'fake-tape' in the tape module.

3. Set the radio to tape mode, and hit play.

I would be happy to provide you with any further help about the hack if you have any more details,

OverLOAD Thanks Overload for your suggestions. I think I may have short circuited the wires while soldering it. My had was so shaky doing it. I wa so nervous. :) With fake tape, was I just suppose to pull out the brown recording tape in the inside. I tried that but my tape deck just kept trying to rewind it. I tried a blank one but still couldn't hear it. I think I did not solder it correctly or it came loose. I forgot to tie a knot. :( I just need help soldering the wires cleanly. :)

It is pretty fine pitch soldering work, especially if you havn't solded before.

Important tips are to use a very small tip soldering iron, rated for between 20 and 30 watts, or temperature controlled to about 700 Degrees F.

Also, don't use very much solder. It only takes a very small contact to make a good connection.

Coat the loose tips of the wires with a very thin layer of solder with the soldering iron first.

Use very short ends on the wires. If you have much more than 1mm of exposed wire outside of the insulation, your chances of shorting out a wire are much higher.

Put the wire exactly where you want it, and then put the iron over it to liquify the solder. remove the iron, continue to hold, and you're done.

Hope these tips helped.

OverLOAD

Great!! Thanks a lot overload!! i'll try that!! it'll be hard uninstalling and reinstalling my tape deck!! ughhh!! ....i'll do it next year, i'll let you know how it goes!! =)

Good luck,

OverLOAD

Long time, lurker, first time poster. I was inspired by the system that OverLOAD described, but too cheap to get the tape deck. So I got the belkin ipod car charger (with the pre-amp) and then wired directly to the CD player. It was very simple, (after the instructions for removing the head unit that is =) ) and now I just put a regular CD into the player and as long as my ipod is plugged in, the ipod owns the channel, when I unplug it, it is CD's as normal. I ran the line out under the center and back to the charger plug in the center "glove box" - it works great and sounds SO much better than the iTrip or other FM solutions. - Great job OverLOAD - and just to let everyone know, you can do it with just the stock equipment.

John Blakely

Repost - for some reason I was logged on as Ibleedgarnet, no idea how or why, but here it is again.

--------------------------------------

Long time, lurker, first time poster. I was inspired by the system that OverLOAD described, but too cheap to get the tape deck. So I got the belkin ipod car charger (with the pre-amp) and then wired directly to the CD player. It was very simple, (after the instructions for removing the head unit that is =) ) and now I just put a regular CD into the player and as long as my ipod is plugged in, the ipod owns the channel, when I unplug it, it is CD's as normal. I ran the line out under the center and back to the charger plug in the center "glove box" - it works great and sounds SO much better than the iTrip or other FM solutions. - Great job OverLOAD - and just to let everyone know, you can do it with just the stock equipment.

John Blakely

this is very cool news. So, here is what I am interested in: tape hack for XM radio, cd hack for IPOD. Has anyone done BOTH of these hacks?

hey L8r,

I'd like to hear about more details about how you spliced in that ipod car charger. It's just a line-out connection from the ipod right?

How about some details on exactly how you wired it up?

Cool beans,

OverLOAD

I actually just added a line out to the CD player - happened to hook it to my iPod, but I am sure it will work with other devices as well. I got an XM commander for christmas, so I will keep the forum up to date (with pictures this time) about my installation of that device. I wish I had taken picutres as I went through, but here is a rough outline.

I removed the head unit completely, took it into my garage and disassembled it completely, down to the circuit boards (you do not have to do this - I was simply exploring =) ). Then I discovered there is a small PC board that connects the head unit to the CD player. I removed that board and then found the input channels and a ground. I purchased and 8 foot shielded 1/8" stereo extention cable from radio shack, cut off the female end of the cable, then tinned and soldered the appropriate wires to the pads I identified on the PC board. Once that was done, I routed the 8 foot cable our of the head unit, reassembled the unit and reinstalled into the vehicle. Then I lifted the center, routed the cable through to the power socket in the center console, and drilled a hole, so I could have a line out to the head unit. I then bought the belkin ipod charger (which has an 1/8" plug into a pre-amp on the charger) plugged that in, selected CD and was in business. I have attached a picuture of the final result. I will take more as I attempt to install my XM Commander this weekend. Also, I have not had any interference issues that have been mentioned in prior discussions. Hope this helps.

l8r


With Ipod in (that little mark on the iPod is a protective cover doing its job =) )

http://ourworld.cs.com/JTBlakely007/DSC01016.jpg


With Ipod Out
http://ourworld.cs.com/JTBlakely007/DSC01017.jpg

so I just added that 1/8" mini stereo out that plugs into the CD player. The holder BTW is by belkin as well and fits into a cupholder. Yes I can shut the comparment without any problems.

Originally posted by L8r
I actually just added a line out to the CD player - happened to hook it to my iPod, but I am sure it will work with other devices as well...


Can you post any pictures, or more detail about which leads you used for Left channel, Right channel and GND?

I'd like to pull off this mod as well.

Presumably, there is a pre-amp board in the CD unit, much the same way that there is in the Tape unit?

What makes me curious, is how it 'automatically' bypasses the audio of the CD.. or are you using a CD that's full of "Silence"?


FYI,

My partner and I are considering making a module which will plug into the CD expansion module (for the Tape or MD player) and provide optical, SPDIF and other input formats, as well as a serial port to connect into a computer with Winamp based controls..

Ideally much cheaper, doesn't involve soldering, perfect sound quality, and usable steering wheel controls for Winamp in a mini car PC.. Probably selling in the neighbourhood of $50.. if there's a lot of interested people, please say so, and we will step it up a notch. right now we're just contemplating the idea.

Happy Holidays!


OverLOAD

I'd be interested, as long as the final result had a high quality appearance. Are you planning to have all these jacks on the console of the car (where the MD player would be)? If you do, it might look a bit cluttered.

I'd definitely be interested in such a module (especially if it worked well with iPod.)

"Show us the meaning of haste!"

OVERLOAD,

If you've already figured this all out, I'd gladly pay you $50 or more for it.

I'd prefer a USB connection then a serial connection, but I understand it's quite a bit more work to pull this off.

Can you start a new thread and/or elaborate on what this module would be capible of? I'm assuming its tapping the bus + / - pins we've seen for monitoring the steering wheel controls? What else have you been able to determine is available over this bus (if in fact you have gone this route)? Can you, for example, write to the display screen?

What other progress have you made so far on this? Have you managed to trick the head unit into thinking you have a tape module (or any other module) in the tape bay? I have you managed to get audio through the tape bay without the the Mazda tape player? Any other information you can share would be great.

Thanks, and good job!!!

Hi OverLOAD,

Great work and contribution to the forum. I enthusiastically third the notion for your proposal for a $50 add-on module.

It seems like a great idea if you can pull it off. 1/8" stereo, and optical inputs are good ideas as that would cover most of our AUX input needs. A usb connection would be a nice alternative to serial.

Question: Would this module's faceplace use the existing spot for the cassette player/ md player?

Thanks for the effort and keep us posted!

:D

The customized unit has had it's own thread started, and is here:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17396

l8r-

on the right side of the board that connects the CD to the headunit, there is the L, SGND, and R solder points- these seem the only likely candidates- is this what you used?

close a similar thing on the tape module, but there was no gound labeled.

OverLOAD

miata2rx8 -

yes the labels were in black as I recall, - also the ground was "below" the other pads on the board forming a small triangle. (it is a rotary after all =) ) the SGND is for signal ground - you should also do a continuity check beofre doing any soldering.

L8r

sorry to ask so many questions; my solder points seem very clean, not much solder, no dripping or spillage, however the sound quality is VERY low and of very bad quality. What does this suggest- what should I look for? I am thinking of wrapping the wires with shrinkable wrap up the pad- right now they are between 1-2 mm of exposed wire.

Originally posted by miata2rx8
sorry to ask so many questions; my solder points seem very clean, not much solder, no dripping or spillage, however the sound quality is VERY low and of very bad quality. What does this suggest- what should I look for? I am thinking of wrapping the wires with shrinkable wrap up the pad- right now they are between 1-2 mm of exposed wire.

Several possibilities:
1. your audio input level is too low or high. Try adjusting the level of your source device to find the ideal level

2. you've got a ground loop causing interference. If you can run the device on battery power only (car-not-running) and the noise goes away, that's the problem. A ground loop isolator will fix that, but may be expensive, and/or hard to find. Radio Shack will usually carry them

3. you've somehow messed up the wiring and connected a signal to the gound and a ground to the signal. Recheck your wiring to make sure that your wires are going to the right places. This would likely sound like there was just something wrong with the setup.

Check it out, maybe it'll be ok. Also, try using a different audio source device (like a portable cd-player) to see if it works with that any better..

Regards,

OverLOAD

I got tired of waiting, and didn't want to rely on the cassette module, so I opened up the headunit itself and patched in to the CD output channels. (Kudos to OverLOAD, l8r and others for their valuable information.)

It wasn't too risky or hard (some simple soldering), it doesn't require any additional modules, cost about $10 (for the minijack extension.) The technique will work for either the Bose or base head units.

The result: seemless integration and perfect sound from my iPod. Next, I plan to figure out how to pass the steering wheel controls to the iPod's wired remote input.

I'll post more info on what I did if anyone is interested.

Please post the info.

As an electrical engineer who does a lot of circuit design and testing, I would recommend that just trying to inject a signal into a signal stream isn't the best of ideas.

Sometimes it will work fine other times you might damage something or get poor results; it really depends on your MP3 player and its output impedance. The iPod is probably robust enough in design to not cause any problems but other MP3 players might not like the forced mixing connection.

Please show us what you did. (detailed shots of the ciruit board would be nice with part numbers. I'll try to make some comments on them.

Thanks in advance.

-Mr. Wigggles

Originally posted by MrWigggles
Please post the info.

As an electrical engineer who does a lot of circuit design and testing, I would recommend that just trying to inject a signal into a signal stream isn't the best of ideas.

Sometimes it will work fine other times you might damage something or get poor results; it really depends on your MP3 player and its output impedance. The iPod is probably robust enough in design to not cause any problems but other MP3 players might not like the forced mixing connection.

Please show us what you did. (detailed shots of the ciruit board would be nice with part numbers. I'll try to make some comments on them.

Thanks in advance.

-Mr. Wigggles

That reason, in particular is why the tape module hack doesn't sound as clean as it could. If you connect into the expansion connector, you might be able to get a better signal, but it's the same thing, the module has to be completely disabled from it's original function, and doesn't work the way it used to.

Ectomort, It sounds like you've got decent results, but I'll bet if you disconnected the audio outputs (cut the CD audio source traces) at the point before you tapped in, you'd get even better sound, at the expense of loosing a functional CD module, then you could play any CD, and the source wouldn't mux into the stream

It could be dangerous to the head unit if you pumped up the volume too much though.. be careful.

Still working on a Plug and Play solution which integrates with the radio.... and getting closer.....

OverLOAD

Here's a description of how I patched an auxiliary line-in to the head unit. I have the Bose head unit, but I'd be surprised if this approach doesn't work for the base unit, too.

Follow the standard instructions (posted elsewhere on this forum) to remove the audio assembly from the car and separate it from the control-trim panel.

This picture shows the audio assembly from below (the lower module is empty.)

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall1.jpg

Turn the unit over. Detach and remove the upper module (CD/MP3/CD6 player) from the assembly.

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall2.jpg

Remove CD module front plate (thing with the black felt dust guard) according to the instructions printed on the top of the CD module.
To expose the head unit circuit board:
[list=1]
remove 2 3mm short phillips screws from front of unit
remove 2 5mm screws from bottom of unit
remove 2 5mm screws from rear of unit (back plate will come off now)
[/list=1]

Gently pry off the head unit cover plate to expose circuit board and remove the right (on the left in the photo) side plate to expose CD-head unit PC board.

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall3.jpg

On the left side (not visible in this picture) is a little board which connects signals from the CD module connector to the head unit's main board.

I'm sorry the next picture isn't clearer, but it shows a closeup of the head unit from the left side, the green board connects the CD module connector to the main head unit circuit board. (You can see a portion of the pink sticker in this photo that also appears in other images I've posted.)

I've added a diagram which shows the various lines (labeled as they were printed on the board.) I've marked the locations where I patched in in green. There are no electronic components on the board, so it's relatively safe to solder there without risk or heat-damage to components on the head unit itself.

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall4.jpg

I purchased a stereo minijack extension cord and snipped off one end, leaving the male plug end to connect to the line out from my iPod. Then, I threaded the cord through the hole in the frame near the pink tape. (It's important to use this location, so that the cord is not crimped when the audio assembly is re-installed in the car.)

Next, I prepared the end of the cord, stripped and tinned the wires, and used the continuity test function on my digital multimeter to identify the left and right channel and ground wires. (On a stereo mini-jack, the tip is left channel, middle is right, and the base is the ground.) Then I soldered the cord as shown above and used the continuity tester to verify a good connection between the male end of the mini-jack and the corresponding lines going into the main circuit board. It's a shame the picture of the final solder job didn't turn out.

I then reassembled everything. Here's a picture of the nearly complete assembly showing the patch cord.

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall5.jpg

And here is the iPod in the car. I use a Monster Ultra-Low Profile Charger for iPod™ with Dock Connection (http://www.monstercable.com/computer/productPageComputer.asp?pin=2132) which gets power from the accessory outlet and attaches to the iPod's docking port. It provides line level output which the patch cord plugs into. There's no risk of blowing to the head unit with the signal, since the iPod's volume control doesn't affect the line output. The adaptor includes a voltage inverter, so there isn't any noise from ground looping. I get perfect sound.

The patch signal source merges with the CD player source, and the head unit won't accept input from the CD player unless it's playing a CD, I've burned an audio CD which contains nothing but silence (I call it 4'33" extended remix, a tribute to John Cage.) When that CD plays, the iPod effectively owns the audio channel. The CD player auto repeats, so every 80 min or so I have to tolerate a 2 second dropout while CD cycles. Since my iPod has over 7200 songs on it, I won't often need to pop in a normal audio CD, but as long as I turn of the iPod, there's no problem.

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall6.jpg

Originally posted by MrWigggles
Please post the info.

As an electrical engineer who does a lot of circuit design and testing, I would recommend that just trying to inject a signal into a signal stream isn't the best of ideas.

Sometimes it will work fine other times you might damage something or get poor results; it really depends on your MP3 player and its output impedance. The iPod is probably robust enough in design to not cause any problems but other MP3 players might not like the forced mixing connection.

Please show us what you did. (detailed shots of the ciruit board would be nice with part numbers. I'll try to make some comments on them.

Thanks in advance.

-Mr. Wigggles

I'm a software engineer with a bit of EE background. I didn't check on the input impedances, but since I'm dealing with a line level signal from the Monster adapter, and the results sound so good, I doubt there's any problem w/ my set up.

Originally posted by OverLOAD

Ectomort, It sounds like you've got decent results, but I'll bet if you disconnected the audio outputs (cut the CD audio source traces) at the point before you tapped in, you'd get even better sound, at the expense of loosing a functional CD module, then you could play any CD, and the source wouldn't mux into the stream

It could be dangerous to the head unit if you pumped up the volume too much though.. be careful.

Still working on a Plug and Play solution which integrates with the radio.... and getting closer.....

OverLOAD
As I posted above, the signal is line level (from the iPod's dock connector.) Should I plug into the iPod's headphone jack, I would have to be concerned with pumping too much signal through.

I use a "silent" cd to ensure only iPod is supplying audio.

I remain appreciative of your efforts to bring a custom module to market, since there are obviously many folks who won't want to open up their HU and tap it like I did. I just ran out of patience and decided to experiment a little.

FWIW:
A more significant consequence of this method is that you are now exposing your head unit to static electricity. Usually inputs like this would be properly ESD protected.

Admittedly, I don't know how the car would handle this, since the car isn't grounded anyway. And not that I have ever seen anything damaged by ESD, but i sure have been zapped while I was wearing a wool sweater.

Originally posted by OverLOAD
Yup, I meant to mention that last night..

It only works with a dummy tape, so bust out that old tape you made of yourself when you were 8 years old, and pull the tape spools out. Insert the Tape, press the Tape/MD button, and you hear the Aux source. ...........

First of all, congratulations for an ingenious and easy to be done solution albeit costly...

How is your sound quality? I've just installed my deck one day before you passed this instructions and I'm somewhat unahppy with the flat sound I'm getting from my IPOD. I have the same setup in my wife's Stratus and the sound is much better... I've even exchanged the whole setup IPOD+tape adapter (one each time and then both altogether) and the result didn't change. The Mazda tape head has far less treble than the one in the Stratus :(

I hope it is due to the head quality and that bypassing it will give better results. On the flip side if the whole circuit is built taking into consideration that the frequency response of the tape head is limited than it won't make any difference...

Would you let me know what do you think comparing the sound with a tape adapter and the direct connection you cleverly designed and implemented.

Thanks.....

Originally posted by speedmaster
First of all, congratulations for an ingenious and easy to be done solution albeit costly...

How is your sound quality? I've just installed my deck one day before you passed this instructions and I'm somewhat unahppy with the flat sound I'm getting from my IPOD. I have the same setup in my wife's Stratus and the sound is much better... I've even exchanged the whole setup IPOD+tape adapter (one each time and then both altogether) and the result didn't change. The Mazda tape head has far less treble than the one in the Stratus :(

I hope it is due to the head quality and that bypassing it will give better results. On the flip side if the whole circuit is built taking into consideration that the frequency response of the tape head is limited than it won't make any difference...

Would you let me know what do you think comparing the sound with a tape adapter and the direct connection you cleverly designed and implemented.

Thanks.....

You can get near-CD quality sound, if you want to sacrifice ever using the tape module to play tapes again. It's not really that difficult, (if you've done some soldering before) but you have to completely disconnect the audio sources from the factory RX-8 connector, and feed your audio source directly into the HU. IT's possible to overload the circuit and blow the HU tho, so it's pretty risky.

I'm thinking about doing a small write-up next time I take my tape module out so that I can explain the process better. It's really very similar to what ectomort has done with his CD module.

Regards,

OverLOAD

Well, I tried doing the CD Hack, and I think i messed up my HU pretty bad. I followed Ectomort's instructions, put everything back together, and then put the HU back in my 3. I tested out the hack but I was only getting audio out of my right channel from my iPod, however, the rest of the stereo was working fine. So I removed the head unit again, took it apart, and tried re-soldering the ground and left channels. I put the HU back in my car, but the unit was dead - no power, nothing lightning up. So I took the HU out again, took it apart, and removed the soldering. Put it back together, and put it back in my car. Now the HU powers up when I turn on my car, the front panel lights work, and the stereo makes the beeping noises when I use try to use the steering wheel controls, but other than that, the HU is still not working. None of the modes (radio, cd) work and the display, though backlit, remains blank (no Hello! message). Any suggestions, or am I going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new HU?

P.S.
I tried this hack because I had a long road trip coming up and couldn't wait for Overload's AUX IN module, which I still plan on installing when it becomes available

Overload,

Thanks for this great information.

Even though the Icelink should be available in 3-4 months, I'm still going to do this mod today. UPS should be delivering the cassette module as I write.

I can no longer stand the FM option. This will hold me over.

If you do the hack, can you install the original trim piece so there is no cassette opening? Will it fit as a totally "invisible" install?

Interesting question.

I suspect you would have to put a dummy tape in the player, then you might be able to install the trim piece.

I'll check it out and let you know.

Thanks. I figured I would have to install the dummy tape before I "enclosed" the deck. I think it would look better that way and you can buy the cassette module for about $50 less if you don't buy the trim piece.

It certainly appears that will work after installing. There is a good deal of room between the unit and the trim piece. One thing that was different on my install.. When I tried to use an empty tape, it gave me the tape error detailed above, but it also ejected the tape. I just bought a blank cassette, and that worked wonderfully. Not a hard install at all but be careful when removing the console. Also, the two plugs for the heat and AC require you to use a small screwdriver to release. Other than that, it was a piece of cake. Like Overdrive said, it sounds really good. MUCH MUCH MUCH better than the best FM unit.

Can I use this technique also with Navigation System and Mazda Multi cd-changer (6cds)?
Thanks

Depending on which one you do... The tape deck hack just requires a tape deck. The in-dash cd changer is a replacement module for the CD player. The Nav, AFAIK, is in a different place as far as wiring is concerned. So, go buy the 160$ tape deck, mod it, install it, and you'll be good to go.

Update,
I turned the system volume up while the IPOD was playing, and something happened to my left channel. When I put a regular cassette in, I got no sound at all. I'll have to remove everything to see what went wrong.
Any ideas on what could have happened/how to fix it?

I cannot buy a md module.
I already have a cd module

Hello I'm an Italian boy. I read the post:
Here's a description of how I patched an auxiliary line-in to the head unit. I have the Bose head unit, but I'd be surprised if this approach doesn't work for the base unit, too.

Follow the standard instructions (posted elsewhere on this forum) to remove the audio assembly from the car and separate it from the control-trim panel.

This picture shows the audio assembly from below (the lower module is empty.)

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall1.jpg

Turn the unit over. Detach and remove the upper module (CD/MP3/CD6 player) from the assembly.

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall2.jpg

Remove CD module front plate (thing with the black felt dust guard) according to the instructions printed on the top of the CD module.
To expose the head unit circuit board:




remove 2 3mm short phillips screws from front of unit

remove 2 5mm screws from bottom of unit

remove 2 5mm screws from rear of unit (back plate will come off now)



Gently pry off the head unit cover plate to expose circuit board and remove the right (on the left in the photo) side plate to expose CD-head unit PC board.

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall3.jpg

On the left side (not visible in this picture) is a little board which connects signals from the CD module connector to the head unit's main board.

I'm sorry the next picture isn't clearer, but it shows a closeup of the head unit from the left side, the green board connects the CD module connector to the main head unit circuit board. (You can see a portion of the pink sticker in this photo that also appears in other images I've posted.)

I've added a diagram which shows the various lines (labeled as they were printed on the board.) I've marked the locations where I patched in in green. There are no electronic components on the board, so it's relatively safe to solder there without risk or heat-damage to components on the head unit itself.

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall4.jpg

I purchased a stereo minijack extension cord and snipped off one end, leaving the male plug end to connect to the line out from my iPod. Then, I threaded the cord through the hole in the frame near the pink tape. (It's important to use this location, so that the cord is not crimped when the audio assembly is re-installed in the car.)

Next, I prepared the end of the cord, stripped and tinned the wires, and used the continuity test function on my digital multimeter to identify the left and right channel and ground wires. (On a stereo mini-jack, the tip is left channel, middle is right, and the base is the ground.) Then I soldered the cord as shown above and used the continuity tester to verify a good connection between the male end of the mini-jack and the corresponding lines going into the main circuit board. It's a shame the picture of the final solder job didn't turn out.

I then reassembled everything. Here's a picture of the nearly complete assembly showing the patch cord.

http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall5.jpg

And here is the iPod in the car. I use a Monster Ultra-Low Profile Charger for iPod™ with Dock Connection (http://www.monstercable.com/compute...er.asp?pin=2132) which gets power from the accessory outlet and attaches to the iPod's docking port. It provides line level output which the patch cord plugs into. There's no risk of blowing to the head unit with the signal, since the iPod's volume control doesn't affect the line output. The adaptor includes a voltage inverter, so there isn't any noise from ground looping. I get perfect sound.
The patch signal source merges with the CD player source, and the head unit won't accept input from the CD player unless it's playing a CD, I've burned an audio CD which contains nothing but silence (I call it 4'33" extended remix, a tribute to John Cage.) When that CD plays, the iPod effectively owns the audio channel. The CD player auto repeats, so every 80 min or so I have to tolerate a 2 second dropout while CD cycles. Since my iPod has over 7200 songs on it, I won't often need to pop in a normal audio CD, but as long as I turn of the iPod, there's no problem.
http://homepage.mac.com/ectomort/ectoinstall6.jpg
Last edited by ectomort on 02-02-2004 at 12:41 AM"

Does it work on my Mazda Rx-8 with Navigation System and Mazda Cd-changer (6Cds).
Thanks
Thomas

Hi guys ,

Does anyone have a good pic of the wire that goes into the factory radio from the led display. the wire that is pluged into the main board.

i have lost this wire and can not find a replacement. i have solder wire onto the main board but i have two slots that are opened,dont know which one it is .


thank you in advance

Don't know if this will help:
http://homepage.mac.com/danschwartz/PhotoAlbum30.html

Don't know if this will help:
http://homepage.mac.com/danschwartz/PhotoAlbum30.html

Where is this MOD? .. how can I purchase it? I actually am a mazda3 owner (still same family :Peace: ) but I have the same HU I do believe. I have looked through this thread and don't see anywhere to buy this particulare mod, which looks very simple to install.

bdd

Here...

http://www.sylfex.com/products/AuxMod/

overlord, your pics seem to fell off page one. any chance of getting those links updated? this still an outstanding how-to & relevant for those with cassette decks already installed. thanks, mk

Hey does anyone know if the really hard to find mystery bolt has changed in 2007? I've taken the radio out of my 2004 many times but I really can't seem to find that bolt in my 2007. Grrrr

::bump::

:score:

I'm assuming that the following is based entirely off the work that ectomort did: http://www.whatsmyip.org/ipodrx8/

Regardless, I used the above link as my DIY due to the immense library of pictures, and this hack was a dream. I spent $5.99 on the mini-to-RCA cable at BestBuy, and another $8 on a new soldering iron.

Personally, the hardest part of this project for me was getting the radio out. I COULD NOT get my hands anywhere behind the damn unit to disconnect the remaining cables (actually spent about 10 minutes just trying to disconnect the climate controls). So, I improvised and popped out the A/C vents directly above. It's simple... there are two screws, one on each side of the venting, that are visible above the radio. Then just pop out the vents, and it's ten times easier to access the cabling on the back of the radio.

Wonderful work though, ectomort, truly. I HATE FM transmitters... I live in Northern Virginia. Good luck finding an FM frequency you can broadcast for more than 5 miles before hitting interference. Now I have CD-quality sound and the convenience of no visible cabling.

9.5/10