laptop music on car speakers.

Topic: laptop music on car speakers. (Read 4300 times) previous topic - next topic

laptop music on car speakers.

December 11, 2007, 11:24:48 PM

I want to play the music on my laptop and make the sound come out to my stock speakers in the car.

I have premium sound with eq and amp ect ect which was stock on the 20th anny.

I need to know if you guys can suggest how to do this.

I was thinking that the speaker out cable from the laptop would run back to the audio input of the amp.
After that, it seems that my radio has to come on at some point and thats where im stuck because then there would always be a station interfering with me. Perhaps use a cassette to enable the tape player then proceed. I dont own an mp3 player and likely i never will.

There is a cd changer in the trunk but the guts are gone. maybe just get one of those? I dont remember seeing any cables going to or out of it but maybe there is.

I see a couple of problems with what im trying to do but i dont want to over think it. I have enough electronic gizmos i tote around with my work and since i use my cell phone bluetooth for internet while driving and getting emails,, I just figured i could run my winamp in the background for tunes.

Besides,, if i dont get some music soon, ill be stuck on talk radio AM 530 big talkers since that stays in range for hundreds of miles.

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #1 – December 11, 2007, 11:38:22 PM

is there a power amp in your system anywhere?

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #2 – December 11, 2007, 11:39:34 PM

sorry, i meant non stock amp

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #3 – December 11, 2007, 11:40:47 PM

Cassette-to-MP3 player adapter. $10, no rewiring necessary. Done. :)

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #4 – December 11, 2007, 11:44:08 PM

Didn't know they made one.

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #5 – December 11, 2007, 11:53:42 PM

I have one in the '84. You can get one practically anywhere...Wal*Mart, Radio Shack, anywhere that MP3 players are sold. It's essentially a cassette with a wire hanging out the back. Plug that into the speaker out 1/8" stereo mini jack on the laptop, push the cassette into the player, and there ya go.

Signal-to-noise ratio is, predictably, not that great. But a lot of the sound problem has to do with the original stereo equipment in the car. If the factory tape deck doesn't do that good of a job with most cassettes, then this adapter won't work miracles. In my case I'm dealing with 1984-spec speakers and the buttstuffog cassette deck (slide dial baby!), which probably dated back in design a few years before that. There are no amplifiers in this system...just the deck and 4 speakers. And wow, do they ever underwhelm. There are moments when I pray for the sound of nails on a chalkboard when I'm listening to the radio in that car, because at least that would be better than most of the regular sounds coming from it. It's as if your head is in a tin can. At least the receiver can lock in some stations good enough.

Anyhow...the factory premium sound amp and speakers help out a lot. I had that in the convertible the first summer, and even with the top down I was able to get decent sounds from that setup. Hopefully that's the case here.

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #6 – December 12, 2007, 12:02:21 AM

so your saying plug an mp3 player adaptor to my laptop?

if i had another amp i would have said so, i dont like to mis lead.

so am i lost,, did i just get told to buy an mp3 player or did i miss something?

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #7 – December 12, 2007, 12:04:04 AM

ahh,, i re-read,,
your saying to just get the adaptor

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #8 – December 12, 2007, 12:37:38 AM

you can also use a FM Modulator. google it!

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #9 – December 12, 2007, 01:24:54 AM

i guess the fm modulator is out because i will be on the road when this is in use and i dont want to change the least likely frequency all the time.

"Install your new component and make all of the audio connections at the FM modulator. [COLOR="Red"]Determine which of the available modulation frequencies is least likely to be shared by a strong local radio signal and set it on the hideaway box before you mount the unit [/COLOR](on some models you can change this setting on the fly)."

im thnking the cassette to mp3 adaptor mentioned by eric is the best.

Ill get one and let ya'll know what happens. I just fab'd up a laptop holder bracket thing a ma jig that holds my laptop in the car. Its nice to cause i can see my map using the gps MS Streets and trips. Ill try to get a pic of it because im pretty proud of how its done and how i did not damage any exterior parts mounting my bracket.

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #10 – December 12, 2007, 07:29:35 AM

I would say the adaptor is your best bet.

I did a similar thing with my portable cd player back when they came out. but i made a 2-1 splitter. and connected it between my receiver and amp. of course it was an rca jack, it made it simple to make and connect. it must have been before those tape adaptors. or I would have bought one of those.

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #11 – December 12, 2007, 07:53:14 AM

Yeah if youre on the stock stereo system the tape adapter is the best bet. They have been around forever, before MP3 players.

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #12 – December 12, 2007, 03:35:57 PM

If you go the FM modulator route, simply remove the antenna and all of your interference issues are gone.

I have Sirius in the Tib and no matter what station I set, I would get interference. I disconnected the antenna and now I get no interference and the sound is CD clear all of the time.

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #13 – December 12, 2007, 07:29:00 PM

Quote from: 5.0willgo;192405

If you go the FM modulator route, simply remove the antenna and all of your interference issues are gone.

I have Sirius in the Tib and no matter what station I set, I would get interference. I disconnected the antenna and now I get no interference and the sound is CD clear all of the time.

now why didnt i think of that,,, too simple i guess:D

laptop music on car speakers.

Reply #14 – December 13, 2007, 05:34:49 PM

Our if u really wanna go wild lol, Forget the head unit, the PC is your head unit now lol. Simply use a PC's Speaker system center * The place where the speakers all plug in * Make sure its a 4 speaker system, you also gotta get the plugs for it and slice the Speaker wire with the plugs to go into the speaker system. Only thing u will bbe missing is the amp tho, unless u have it going head unit amp to each speaker.... Just throwing out another idea :p