It's simple if you just take the time to understand a few things. If you haven't already, you should first read 10 Things You Should Know About Interfaces, Adapters and Converters!. The article will give you some basic understanding of what it is you're about to look for. If you don't have the time to read through this material, just fill out the Product Recommendation Request Form, and our Tech Support staff will recommend the product you need. There are two pieces of information you must know before you start looking: Please understand, you may be looking for something that doesn't exist. Not all factory radios have interfaces, adapters or converters made for them. Maybe the vehicle is too old, or the installed base of the vehicle sold in the U.S. is too small for the interface manufacturers to have invested the money and time to engineer any interfaces, or the factory radio was not designed to have any external devices connected to it, or it's internal protocol is too complex to work with....whatever! There could be a gazillion reasons why nothing is available for your vehicle. Just be aware that the situation exists! If you know what you're looking for and you still can't find the right device for your vehicle, you can always Email our tech support staff 24/7 and they will help you find what you need or tell you what you want isn't available for your vehicle. Ok, those are the basic facts, now let's find you an interface: 1. Application - Know what you're looking for:
  Auxiliary Input Converters - Auxiliary Input Converters are used to create an audio input on your vehicle's radio. An Auxiliary Input Converter will allow you to connect the audio from any external audio source (iPOD, Zune, MP3 player, etc.) and connect that audio source directly to your factory radio, which will allow you listen to that audio device through the sound system in your vehicle. The input connectors on an Auxiliary Input Converter are generic, usually RCA-type or 3.5mm earphone jack-type connectors (both shown at right). These connectors are not device-specific, they are not made for any specific device. Having non-device specific RCA-type connectors means you are not restricted to what audio device you can connect to the auxiliary input. You can connect ANY external audio device to your factory radio through the Auxiliary Input Converter, as long as that external audio device has some way to get the audio out of it, like an earphone jack or some other audio-output connection on it. Auxiliary Input Converters can only provide an audio connection between the factory radio and the audio device, which means it will only pass audio through to the factory radio. An Auxiliary Input Converter is no different than a set of ear buds and works the same way as ear buds do by passing audio from the earphone jack of the audio device to your ears. An Auxiliary Input Converter does the same thing, it passes audio from the audio-out jack of the audio device into the factory radio through the auxiliary input converter, The auxiliary input converter doesn't have any other type of connection to the factory radio other than an audio connection. An audio connection cannot provide any control of the audio device connected to it, nor does it have any way to pass any text display information to the factory radio. In the same way you cannot control an iPOD using the earbuds nor can you see the iPOD text on the earbuds, you cannot control an iPOD nor see any text from the iPOD when using an auxiliary input converter. It is strictly an audio-only device....like a set of ear buds for your radio!
 iPOD™ Interfaces - Use this type of device if you only want to connect an iPOD, and no other type of audio device, to your vehicle's radio. The term iPOD Interface is defined as any device that will connect to the iPOD using an iPOD dock connector, which plugs into the bottom connector of the iPOD (shown at right). Any other device that does not plug into the bottom connector of the iPOD, is not an iPOD interface. There are several types of iPOD Interfaces that have a wide variety of ways in which they allow the factory radio to interact with the iPOD. You will need to decide exactly what functions and features you are expecting the iPOD Interface to perform once it is installed. Again, what is your application? The simple iPOD Interfaces will just pull the audio from the bottom connector of the iPOD and will charge the iPOD when it is connected, and will usually pause the iPOD when the factory radio is turned off. Simple iPOD Interfaces perform no other functions than this....no control, no text display. Some simple iPOD interfaces will have volume level adjustments, some will not. Some will allow you to turn the charging circuit on or off, some will not. The more complex iPOD Interfaces will do everything the simple interface will do, but they will also allow control of the iPOD through the factory radio and steering wheel controls, if the vehicle has steering wheel controls, and will display the iPOD text on the factory radio, if the factory radio will allow the text to be displayed. Which factory radios that will or will not display text is identified in the specific iPOD interface's application information on the specific iPOD product page. There is typically a substantial price difference between the simple and the complex iPOD Interfaces, usually somewhere in the neighborhood of $100, based on the features of the interface. The simple rule-of-thumb is the more features, the more cost. You will need to decide just how you want to use your iPOD when installed in your vehicle, so you can decide what features you want the iPOD Interface to have, and then decide how the 'function-vs-cost=value' formula fits into your budget. Please, if you are going for the more complex features, be sure to read each iPOD Interface's product description. Not all complex iPOD Interfaces are created equal. How the iPOD is controlled, what text is displayed, what iPOD functions can be accessed from the factory radio, all of these things and more, differ from product to product and from interface manufacturer to interface manufacturer. The bottom line?.....read the information. It will prevent disappointment after the purchase.
 Zune™ Interfaces - Use this type of device if you only want to connect a Zune, and no other audio device, to your vehicle's radio. The term Zune Interface is defined in much the same way as the iPOD interface, that is, as any device that will connect to the Zune using the Zune dock connector, shown at right, which plugs into the bottom connector of the Zune. Both the Zune connector and the iPOD connector look similar, but they are quite different physically and electronically and one type cannot be plugged into the other one's connector. At this time, SoundGate is the only company making Zune compatible interfaces, and have them designed to work in several makes and models of vehicles. This makes choosing an Zune Interface much less complicated because there is only one choice. Because of the Zune's internal design, the Zune does not stream text information out of it's bottom connector. Zune has a menu-driven text user interface and doesn't produce text streams of information. Consequently, Zune Interfaces will not provide text display on your factory radio because the Zune doesn't supply any text information to display. Therefore, selecting which features you want your Zune interface to have is a more simple choice. However, like the iPOD interfaces, the more functions the Zune interface have, the more it will cost.
2. Factory Radio - Know what you have: OK. So now you have decided what type of device you want for your particular application, now you need to figure out which one you need for your specific vehicle. The first thing you'll need to do is to navigate to the particular Product Category you've decided on, using the nav bar down the left side of the website. Inside each product category you'll notice that it is organized by Vehicle manufacturer, listed alphabetically. Locate the vehicle manufacturer of your particular vehicle and click on that sub-category. Once inside the vehicle manufacturer, you'll find all of the products from that particular product category that are offered for your particular vehicle manufacturer. Each product will have in it's title, the range of years that the product will work in. You will notice there are several products that overlap in years. This is because we carry several different manufacturers of these products so there are competing products that essentially do the same thing. Important: We couldn't begin to tell you all about the individual factory radios that are in all the different vehicles from all the different model years that have interface products designed for them. But you need to understand that factory radios are NOT all the same, even from the same vehicle manufacturer, even from the same year. There are several vehicles that are the same year, the same model, yet can have two or more different radios in them that look exactly the same from the dash, and have the same radio features and functions, but yet have different connectors with different configurations and number of pins, which means they will need different interfaces that have corresponding connectors. So please, pay attention to the "Specific Vehicle Application List" and the "Compatibility Information" we have included on each product page. Paying attention to this product and vehicle information will go a long way in making sure you choose the correct product. Once you narrowed down your product choices to the model year of your vehicle, look very carefully at the "Specific Vehicle Application List". This lists each model of vehicle and the years where the interface device is compatible with the factory radio. Vehicle manufacturers change factory radios all the time, but they don't always change all of their vehicles over to the new radio all in the same year. Some do, but some don't! Consequently, you could have in the product title something that reads like "1998-2005 Honda Interface", and then right beside it from the same interface manufacturer a product title that reads "2003-2008 Honda Interface", and both titles are correct. You'll see that Honda came out with a new radio that now operated on a 'bus' within the Honda vehicle and had a totally different type and style of connector at the rear of the radio in 2003, which means it required a newly designed interface that must operate within the new Honda 'bus' environment, plus match the new Honda connectors on the radio. But Honda didn't include this new radio and 'bus' system in all of their models until 2006. Therefore, several Honda models had the old style of radio up through 2005, which means they required the older style of interface, while the other models that made the new radio upgrade required the new interface. You will see this type of model year situation in many of the listing for the different vehicle manufacturers. This is why you must never just read a product title and pick a product, thinking it will work. Read the information!!! There are several factors besides the model year of your vehicle, that will determine whether a particular interface will or will not work with your factory radio. Many of these factors are due to the way the interface is designed to function when it is connected to the factory radio, but are also deal breakers that are due to the way the factory radio is designed to work in your vehicle. Again, be sure you know your factory radio, and be sure you read the application information. OK, there you have it. A not-so-brief summary of what it is you are required to know, and what you need to consider when looking for the correct interface for your application. But, as we said way back up at the beginning of this document, you can always Email our tech support staff 24/7 and they will help you find what you need or at least let you know that what you want isn't available for your vehicle. Let's hope we don't have to say that too often!
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