How do you hook up a mp3 player to your aux plug in your car? And if you need a cord, where do I get it?

Answer 1

If your AUX jack is like the ones I've seen, you need a 1/8" male-to-male cord -- try Radio Shack, or Fry's, or your favorite home and auto electronics store. It should be all of two bucks if you go for the luxury model. (I bet Monster makes one for four. :-)

Basically, what you want is a cord that has a "headphone" style plug at each end. You plug one end into your MP3 player, and the other into your AUX jack. Then, in effect, your car stereo is your "headphones."

To test this out:

1. Turn all the power off -- in your car, your car stereo (if it's not wired to the ignition) and your MP3 player.

2. See whether the headphone jack from your MP3 player will fit into the AUX port on your car. (It should snap in as snugly as it fits in your MP3 player.)

If it does, then just go into Radio Shack (or Fry's or...) and tell them you need a cord to connect your MP3 to your car stereo, and the plugs at both ends are the same.

If it doesn't, have the helpful soul at the store walk out to your car and see what size AUX port you've got.

In the HIGHLY unlikely event that your AUX jack is 1/4", you can get extenders to fit the microphone/headphone-size plug into a larger jack.

One other thing to observe: When you get it all hooked up, there will be a "sweet spot" for the relative audio levels of your MP3 and your car stereo. You probably don't want to set your MP3 volume more than about half to two-thirds -- if you do, you risk getting distortion because of the two 1/8-inch jacks. What I've found is that my system sounds best with the MP3 player about 2/3 of the way up and then I use the car stereo to adjust the volume. (When I cranked the MP3 all the way up, I got fuzzy, crackling static, like I was listening to an old AM radio...)

Fortunately, fiddling with the MP3 and the stereo is free, once you get the hookup.

One other nifty tip while you're at the electronics shop: You can get all KINDS of adapter cords. My home stereo receiver uses RCA jacks (the red and white ones like you probably have on your VCR/DVD player), so I bought an adapter cord with two RCA plugs at one end and a 1/8" microphone plug at the other. Now I can play my MP3 player on my home system if I don't feel like dragging out the actual physical CDs. I can also plug the 1/8" jack into my laptop and send the computer's audio out through my home speakers. Great if I'm watching a music video on line, but a bit harsh if I forget it's plugged in, shut down, and get the Windows "Shutting down" music with the speakers set to eleven... :-)

Answer 2

Just hook up your MP3 player via a cable that connects from the outlet where you plug in your head phones to the connection at your car stereo.
Once that's done, adjust volume & select desired track as well as the "aux" option on your car stereo, push play, sit back and enjoy the music=)
I got my connecting cable from a car accessories store.

Answer 3

You probably need an adapter cord for the aux plug...you can get one at radio shack for a couple bucks

Answer 4

If you already have an aux. input, you will only need to buy an auxiliary cable, which can range anywhere from twenty to forty dollars. If you don't have an aux. input, you will need to buy a new head unit altogether; I cannot give you a price for that.

Answer 5

search yahoo

Answer 6

Thanks sounds simple enough. I will get me a plug and try it out. Again thanks