Connect Droid X to car stereo

[alpsig]

How do I connect a Droid X to play through my car stereo? I have a 2011 Mustang but it is a base model so there is no USB port in the vehicle. I do have an AUX port in the center console area. Is there a type of cable I can buy that could connect the Droid to the stereo so I can listen to Pandora through the car's speakers? I was looking and I could not find one.

Side question....is Pandora the best free music service for the Droid X or is there a best one?

Thanks!

 

[jerseyboy357]

Is bluetooth an option for you?

And Pandora is good. So is Slacker, Last.fm. Its all about preferrence

 

[alpsig]

Bluetooth is not an option.

 

[Ricky Babalu]

Purchase a 3.5 mm male/male cable. Plug into Aux. I listen to Pandora all day long.

 

[Bombinadam1403]

I have mine hooked up with an AUX cable. I actually went to Verizon and bought the Car Dock for my car where I can hook it into there, charge it and then hook it into my AUX and I'm good to go and my phone isn't flopping around.
If you've got a case though check your AUX cable before leaving the parking lot... My original AUX cable wouldn't fit in my iPhone with my Otterbox on it...

That car dock doubles up nice as a GPS holder too

 

[Johnly]

3.5 cable to aux, even if you didn't have that, you could buy a FM modulator for 15 bucks, hook up usb sd card and you X, and play through a generated FM signal....did you get it yet?

 

[Dirty Ders]

You could try to research the car stereo that you have installed in your car and figure out if it has an aux aux connect in the back of it. If it does then you can install a bluetooth receiver and mount it in the glove box or somewhere.

You can do as Johnly suggested and get an FM transmitter.

Or do as Ricky Babalu suggested and get a 3.5mm male to male cable.

Here is a link to an item I have for this very purpose sold through Amazon:
Amazon.com: Scosche IU3.5RC 3.5mm Retractable Cable: Electronics
It is a retractable 3.5mm TRS male to male cable from Scosche.

Me, I do the 3.5mm cable and saving up for a new stereo that does everything for about $200.

 

[RHChan84]

Between the 3.5mm or FM transmitter, 3.5mm sounds much better and in your case, since you have the AUX, do the 3.5mm.

There is Yahoo Music, Tune-In, iheartradio, Slacker and Pandora. Those are the popular ones. I personally like Slacker. Yahoo used to be good but now there are a lot of ads.

 

[alpsig]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Only question I have about the 3.5mm cable is one end needs to fit into AUX outlet which is like a cigarette lighter outlet. And all the 3.5mm cables I see on Amazon.com have connectors like headphones on each end. Would I need to buy an adapter as well to use the 3.5mm cable so it can plug into the AUX outlet?

 

[RHChan84]

Use what Dirty Ders suggested, the male to male 3.5mm That will work, one end goes to the phone and the other goes to the AUX. If your AUX is the size of the cigarette lighter then it might be AUX power for another phone or laptop.

 

[Dirty Ders]

As far as I know, all the cigarette lighter type aux ports are ONLY for 12vdc power. There is no data transfer within those ports.

So you have a radio with no 3.5mm jack and no USB port…

Well, it seems that your only options are to do as Johnly suggested and buy an FM transmitter. This device will plug into that cigarette style power port for its own power and then plug into you phone via a 3.5mm jack.

Or you can buy a new stereo that offers Bluetooth, USB, 3.5mm jack, MP3 decodable hardware and many other cool things (about $200).

Or you can go to a car stereo install business and ask them if the know if your stereo will accept a Bluetooth add on. Many stereos have extra power pass throughs and connectivity ports in the back for additional equipment.

From the sounds of it, I would advise you to go with Johnly’s suggestion and buy an FM transmitter, it would be the easiest and cleanest install.

Here are a couple of options to go with:

This one has a USB port (only for data and NOT charging) and SD card slot.
Amazon.com: Soundfly SD WMA/MP3 Player Car Fm Transmitter for SD Card, USB Stick, Mp3 Players (iPod, Zune): Electronics

This one is little more bare bones.
Amazon.com: Monster RadioPlay 300 Universal Full Spectrum FM Transmitter (MBL-FM XMTR300): Electronics

 

[jerseyboy357]

I just saw one off those male to male connectors at Wal Mart today for $4. Cant get any easier than that.

 

[Dirty Ders]

Yah that is the easiest way of doing things, but in this case he can't do it - he doesn't have a 3.5mm jack on his stereo.

 

[RemmyZero]

to the OP - are you talking about an RCA input? can you post a picture of it? as far as i know the fords all have 3.5mm jacks in the headunits.

also, if you want bluetooth you could install a parrot bluetooth system, which is what i did, although it only allows play/pause control of my phone for some reason....

 

[phreddyl]

cant you use an FM transmitter

 

[CarSalesman]

Alpsig: ALL 2011 Mustangs have the 3.5mm music input. Its inside your center console.

 

[jbrown1114]

Sounds like you dont have an AUX jack in your center console, rather it sounds like you have an 12v power outlet. An AUX jack will look just like a headphone jack, and you would use a male to male cable for connecting to that. If there isn't one in your console, check yourowners manual to see if it says anything about auxiliary audio jacks. Likely places to find them, if your car has one are the center console, the face of the stereo itself, or even in the glove box. If you don't have one your easiest solution would be to buy an FM tramsmitter (I assume there's no tape deck in a 2011 Mustang). As they said, if theres an AUX port on the back of the stereo you can use that too, and you would get better quality, but it is much more complicated.

As far as the 12v jack in your center console, you can buy an adaptor for that that will let you plug in a usb cable and charge your phone, but there's no way to get that to talk to your stereo. I recomend the one from griffin. They sell it it Targert.