Connect Your iPod to the Pioneer DEH-P3500 Car Stereo
Please Note: This article previously appeared on my other general purpose blog which I have since shut down. I thought the topic was techie enough that routine TechTraction readers might find it helpful so I decided to republish it here. Enjoy.
I’ve been dying for an affordable way to connect my iPod to my car stereo that doesn’t involve the low-fi audio option of an FM transmitter. For the family’s Volkswagon Eurovan a standard “rip-n-replace” was the most affordable option. Fortunately, that approach wasn’t necessary for the family’s second car because all I needed was an inexpensive adapter for my Pioneer DEH-P3500 to achieve the desired results.
Pioneer CD-RB10 gave the second car a standard RCS composite AUX port
My second car is a Mercedes Benz 190E 2.6. The factory radio thankfully died about 4 years ago. At the time I didn’t have an iPod so I wasn’t worried about the lack of an easily accessible AUX port on the face plate. And, unfortunately the DEH-P3500 doesn’t come with typical RCA composite AUX input jacks in the back of the unit (something you find on most home stereo units); however, the unit does have what Pioneer calls an IP-BUS-RCA Interconnector. I believe this port is normally used to connect an external multi CD changer, but can also be used for other device connections with one of two specialized Pioneer adapters: the CD-RB20 or the CD-RB10. If you search for either of those names, you should find a variety of places that sell them online. I found the CD-RB10 (used) at Amazon for approximately $7.00 US.
Connecting the CD-RB10 adapter to the back of the Pioneer DEH-P3500
The IP-BUS-RCA Interconnector is on the back of the Pioneer DEH-P3500 which meant I had to pull the unit out of the dash to make the connection. I used the removal tools I got from Crutchfield when I purchased the JVC KD-AR480 for the Eurovan. In less than a minute the unit popped out and I was able to plug in the CD-RB10 adapter. Now, I was faced with a new problem: how to feed the newly created RCA composite jacks to an accessible location.
I looked around the dash for a convenient and nondestructive place to feed a composite RCA extension cable. Finally, I decided to rip out half of the factory installed cassette tape holder.
The cassette holder is held in place with some serious adhesive tape but after much pushing and pulling, and little extra persuasion in the form of a screw driver, I managed to finally pop out the holder. After all of that I connected the composite RCA extension cable, feed it through the newly created opening in the dash, and slid the stereo unit back into place.
One last trick to enable the Pioneer DEH-P3500 AUX port
To access the device plugged into your AUX port, press the SOURCE button repeatedly to cycle through options until AUX appears. This approach works only if your AUX port was previously turned on.
I believe the AUX is off by default, but you can easily turn it on with the following steps:
- Press and hold the SOURCE button until the unit turns off.
- Press and hold the FUNCTION button until the clock appears
- Press the FUNCTION button repeatedly to cycle through the adjustable settings (e.g. clock, warn, aux, dimmr, R-SP, tel).
- Once you have the AUX option selected, press the up and down arrow keys to turn the AUX port from OFF to ON.
- Press the BAND button to save settings and return to normal operation.
Once everything was turned on, I connected my iPod, switched to the AUX source, pressed play on my iPod, and finally my car was filled with sound from my iPod without the use of a low quality FM transmitter — and the peasants rejoiced.
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Filed under: How-To & Tech Tips
That was a pretty ingenious way of hooking your ipod to your Pioneer deck. My stereo has an input on the front already so I don’t have do any modifications, but that is a neat idea for anyone who has that type of stereo.
Thanks for the positive comment Chris. I have an eighth inch input jack on the stereo in my other car but was so lucky with the Pioneer unit. In the future, I’m going to be much more selective about what I put in my car. Thanks.
I was wondering, do you get in-dash functionality with that setup? I would like to set this up in my wife’s car, and would like her to be able to control the ipod with the stereo. Wife’s driving, looking down at Ipod = disaster. Thanks Bret.
Hi Lee, unfortunately I do not get any in-dash functionality with my setup. All I get is a little text on the screen that says either iPod or AUX; however, I prefer it this way because all the options that gave in-dash iPod control seemed to only offer minimal control. Something was always missing so I figured it was best to stay with the iPod navigation. I do, however, understand your concern. Therefore for your situation the reduced control might be okay. Options do exist you just need to do a little shopping to find it. I recommend checking out the Crutchfield web site for options. Thanks for the comment.
thank you so much!I have been researching how to do this forever, since the DEH-P3500 seems like an older setup. I am still debating between this and an fm transmitter, mostly for cost reasons.
Hi Sara. Thanks for the comment.
In my opinion the special RCA converter for the DEH-P3500 is well worth the money and a far superior option to the FM transmitter. Yes the FM transmitter option is probably easier to set up initially but I believe that it takes more steps to repeat each time you want to listen to your iPod in your car and the quality probably isn’t nearly as good as the converter option.
I have to say, I’ve been using the converter option with my DEH-P3500 for quite awhile and am very happy with the sound quality and the connection ease. Also, with the converter option, I can plug any audio device that has an 1/8 or even 1/4 stereo jack into my car. That means a portable CD player, Zune player, or other portable media device works in my car and not just an iPod. Something to keep in mind as you evaluate your options.
Good luck
thx a lot, i was stuck at a dead end having conected the AUX and not knowing how to turn it on, now I know thank you,
Bret - i love you :))
now i found a way to connect my ipod with my soundsystem (DEH-P 3500) aweeeeeesome :)))))))
to make it clear, i only have to buy this CD-RB10 or RB20, plug it in, connect my radio with a AUX-Cable..thats it???
Yes, that’s pretty much all you need to do. The special connector leaves you with a standard composite audio jack (sometimes called RCA jacks — left and right channels identified by red and white connectors). You just get a simple left/right composite to 1/8 stereo jack cable,which you can find at nearly electronics store such as Radio Shack. Connect composite connectors to the new adapter and the 1/8 stereo plug to your iPod and you are in business. And as you noted, you also have to switch to your AUX input on your Pioneer DEH-P3500 as a final step but that’s it in a nutshell. Hope that helps and I’m glad you found the article useful.