Customer Reviews

iSimple IS76 MediaWire iPod/iPhone Interface Cable

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was exactly what I needed, and it works perfectly with only one installation snag. I bought this as part of a larger effort to revamp my car's DIY A/V setup. I was adding a 4 in x 4 out A/V switcher to handle the confusion of two independent headrest monitors, a Sirius Backseat TV installation and a DVD player, and this product came in handy as a simple way of bringing my iPhone into the mix. This simple little cable charges the iPhone via a hardwired connection so my power socket is freed up for additional chargers, and I can play audio on the car stereo and/or play video on the backseat monitors. The cable is nice and long, and the connector appears to be high quality with a locking mechanism to avoid accidental disconnects. The only problem is that the plastic shielding around the connector is about 1/8" thicker than the standard apple cable, so my case has to be flexed a little to get it to connect, which is going to get annoying when getting in and out of the car a lot.

The installation snag I ran into is that the wires for connecting to a power source are such a thin thin gauge that they would not work with the quick-taps I had on hand. The blades in the quick-taps that are available in most auto part stores really only go up to about 16-18 gauge wire. These wires were 20-22 according to my wire stripper and the quick taps barely penetrated the insulation. Fortunately the video switcher I was installing at the same time used screws to connect the power leads so I was able to connect them into that to get power for charging my phone.

The conductors that the cable uses to connect to the iPod/iPhone are very weak and do not have flexible insulation. ya i know you may be thinking "duh of course its flexible" but there is a difference. Think of your Lamp cord, its pretty flexible right? of course it is, but if you've been hooked up to a medical device, you've seen how flexible and robust wires can be. Another good example of this is high quality speaker cables or even high quality headphone cables. You may now also think "oh but it's in a car it needs to be shielded". well ya, and headphone cables are shielded (sometimes double shielded) also.

The cable in the iSimple products will snap if bent at a tight radius, which is an easy thing to do in your car not using a dock or some other holder. Because of this I've had to replace this cable twice due to constant breaking right near the iDock connector.Despite the flaws I have still purchased two of these cables since they are the only cable i have found that combines video + audio out and charging capabilities for under 30$, without having to make my own.

That being said, this will be the last one of the iSimple products i do buy, simply because of the quality of the cable.

Cable appears to made well. I really like how it charges when it is plugged in. I use it with my iphone 4s and it works great.

This cable is really heavy duty and connects firmly to my iPhone. The cost of these cables aren't much more than a decent car charger and are built heavier than any charger I have seen on the market.

I can play Pandora, iPod and even turn by tun GPS apps through my radio with this interface cable connected to PIE GM9-AUX 1995-up GM 9-pin Auxiliary Input Converter. I have installed a second one so my wife can charge her iPhone or we can play movies or Netflix through the DVD player in our vehicle on long trips.

The only issue I have had was alternator noise so I installed a ground loop isolator which solved the issue.

I own two of these. The one I ordered in Jan 2012 seems to have been redesigned. Cable is much sturdier than the older one. Nice improvement!

The is76 charging and audio/video cable works great I have one through a hardwired fm mod in one car and the other with an aux input on factory radio both are doing the job needed without having audio and cig plug charging wires everywhere only the one ipod end comes out from the dash and plugs in ...perfect

I got this to replace a broken Apple cable. The iSimple picks up a lot of alternator noise and noise from the iPhone. The noise from the iPhone is very noticeable when scrolling through all the artists list. The Apple cable using a cigarette lighter USB adapter had no noise with the same connections. I added a noise filter on the power supply and a ground loop isolator on its output. Noise was significant less, but not noise free as the Apple cable. Adding the cost of the noise filter and ground loop isolator makes this more expensive. However, the adapter to the iPhone is more robust than the Apple cable

I just bought something like this from Best Buy. My box looks similar to the pick but my box says for ipods, iphone, & other mp3 players. I had them at best buy install it and it turned out great. Mine has 2 connections. One was for an ipod or iphone and it keeps that charged. It is a transmitter but not like the ones you are used to. This transmitter does something where it blocks out the signal so the sound quality is great. It also came with a connection for non Ipods but this won't charge them but yet again the sound quality is great. The installation looked a little tricky because the guy at best buy installed some things right into my dash.
The link below is the one I bought not exactly like this one but I had such a good outcome with it I would recommend The Isimple brand.

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