First of all...wow. You guys are great. My warranty's almost up, and all the great info you guys have given here has me inspired-and really tempted-to dig into the guts of my baby T5 (her name is Madeleine, BTW). This is a little ambitious for an electrical newbie like me, but I've never been one to pass on visions of grandeur...so here's the question-has anyone figured out how to get folder/file info to read on the center console when plugging into the USB port on the KOS A200? I'm asking with the thought in mind of buying an external USB hard drive and wiring that in, so instead of bothering with my wimpy little 4Gb ipod I could (conveniently) use a 250+ Gb HD...but without being able to display any of the info that much music would be too much to handle. Or if anyone has any reason as to why that wouldn't work that would help too...
Thanks!

justaguynamedjoe,

Well let me start by saying :00000732: to this great adventure of "custom audio because Volvo didn't think of it first"... :grin:

What you are talking about is close to what I have done.
Couple of things you should consider has you are going to further get into the subject:

I have a S40T5 with the basic audio system. The sound is actually quite descent but I felt a bit limited with a single CD player so I plugged the KOS A200 and soon I felt like you and wanted more.
I already owned an 80GB hard drive so I dumped a lot of my CD’s into MP3 on the drive. Soon I discovered some of the limitation of the KOS A200. First of the USB of the Kenwood will not be able to power most of these drive. I can’t say for sure it will never power any hard drive but it’s likely that if you get a newer faster drive that it will not work. So what I did is installed a permanent DC/DC converter (12V to 5v power supply). Many of the off-the-shelf cigarette lighter type will not give you enough juice either. I bought a good one and nothing worked. I found this neat company who makes power supply just for these types of applications. It is called Mean Well. After some online search I bought it through TRC Electronics. I think it was this model:

http://www.trcelectronics.com/Meanwell/dc-...rter-sd15.shtml

It was not very expensive and works like a charm. I probably could power a laptop with it.
I tapped into the trunk cigarette lighter so it turns off when you power off the car.
Finally I was able to power my hard drive!

Now here is the thing it takes a while for the KOS A200 to read large drive, a minute or more especially the first time you try to read. If you do nut unplug it it is typically faster the next time. It is much faster with a USB thumb drive. I contacted Kenwood prior to that and they told me that although some people have had success with connecting a hard drive they can not say it will work and can not recommend any hard drives. In addition I often need to turn on the car first (remember it turns on the hard drive) before I boot the KOS A200 otherwise it says USB read error. It is not too bad for me because I have installed the switch inside the arm rest compartment so I wait few second after turning the car on before booting the KOS A200.

In addition the KOS A200 is limited in how many folder it can read in one level (99) so it is a bit difficult to sort files. What I do is place all the same artist files in one folder this way there isn’t too much to scroll into. I haven’t converted all my CD yet so I know I will have to find a better way to compartment my drive so it is possible to have some structure.

There are two ways you can set the KOS A200. You can use the right button to fast forward or to change tracks. I whish I didn’t have to make a choice but I decided to use it to change tracks so I can search folders (artist) with the up and down button. And I can change tracks (titles) with the right and left button. If you have better ideas let me know…

The RDS information is sometime a bit slow so although it does work it is not very efficient.
In a way you are almost better sticking with your ipod if you want to find a specific music piece quickly, however if you do a lot of random playing than it’s great.
I like the convenience of having all my music at hand without having to plug anything else however I often found my self using a thumb drive in addition when I’m really in a specific mood.

It’s a long post so I’ll stop here for now. I hope this helps.
:beer:
Greg

Wow thanks for the super-fast response Greg! I'm glad I'm not wandering into completely uncharted territory here. I'm curious what you mean by the RDS info not being very efficient...does it read folder and file names, albeit slowly? or does it show the f-01/t-01 for folders and tracks like it shows in your pictures? If I do decide to go through with this I want it to...well, to be completely honest...impress everyone, esp. the ladies :) (who probably won't notice the details, but will surely notice the display on the center console!) :460: If I can make it look anywhere near as professional as you did, though, I'll at least succeed in impressing myself-that's one heck of a job you did making everything look that clean-big thumbs up from me!

And I don't know if it makes a difference, but mine does have the premium audio package w/ the 6 disc changer and extra speakers-it sounds great but being the music nut I am this idea of having an entire HD of music at my disposal...well...excites me. "Kinda like when I was climbing the rope in gym class"

Thanks for the compliments... :grin:

Yea when I say not efficient I mean that the information is too slow and there is too much displayed. It shows first F1/T1 type text followed by the folder name and track name (I'm not 100 percent sure about the folder but I think it's there, I'll have to check). All this makes it hard to search especially because they display the information in reversed order to what makes it easier to search if you know your stuff. Also it always takes a little time between track change to refresh that information on the display. If you're not in a hurry it still is pretty cool... :thumbsup:

Greg

I just found out how cool was the kenwood KOS A200, i found out that there was another one...the KOS V500 i think there are little differences but it has the option for the hands free bluetooth i dont know if the KOS A200 had that option. But anyway...i was wondering if both were connected the same way...i know the A200 is compatible with my 06S40 thanks to Gregoire but im not sure of the V500. Also im in between buying one or the other cuz the V500 is way more expensive. Anyway thanks in advance.

Unfortunately I have no idea about this new V500 unit.
However here is a link to Kenwood UK support site from which you can download the full manual for both unit...

Let me know if the link does not work

http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/suppo...dia_navigation/

greg :)

thanks a lot gregoire...the link helped a lot i guess both are connected similarly so both are compatible...now comes the tough decision between the a200 and the v500. thanks again.

The problem the way I read it is the fact that owners of the V50,S40, and XC90 with the MOST audio system can not listen to a mp3 or Ipod with a direct input connection. The promise of an adapter is probably not going to happen. Even if it does who is going to pay 1300 dollars to have one installed. This is the cost of it for other car manufacturers that use a similar MOST fiber optic audio system. Some people have no recourse but to change out the audio system or add greatly to the system to get this hardwired connection. This is a costly undertaking as well.
I ask those that own these models what are you willing to do fix the problem. I have read posts from people such as MRGADGET that have soldered an input to the amplifier.
This only works for people that have an identical amplifier as th one he owns. The other option I have seen hints that you can make a connection inside the radio. This was hinted by someone working for Volvo in Europe, but he/she would not share due to some reason. This would not give you any controls over the player, but it would give you the highest quality sound which I believe would make people happy. People that own other brands of cars have hardwired inputs to their radios, why has no one done one on your cars?
I would like to hear the what you fellow owners have to say, unless you do not mind changing most of the audio system.

P.S. This input could do XM, Sirius, etc.

48,500 miles today...been driving a lot less lately(job relocation closer to home...yay!) looks like this massive undertaking is only a few more months away...I'll let you all know how things go as they progress!

I'm just putting the question out there.
I wanted to get back to improving my install and remember someone discussing how he connected the antenna cable from the KOS A200 or some other fm modulator to a connector by the carpet on the left side of the driver's foot I think.
I'm trying to find more about that to change where I tapped the KOS into the antenna of the car. Any body would know by any chance? :grin:

Greg

folks,

thank you all for great stuff, especially photo tutorials!

it looks from the chain like the best way to get my ipod connected is KOS-A200.
it also looks like if i connect an ipod into a USB port kenwood will see it as an external drive and will not care of the stupid directory structure that ipod has, and it will play tracks in the random order just as they are inside of the ipod, is that right?

if so, it doesn't make sense to mount IR-sensor - you can adjust volume from the car audio but you have to get to ipod to skip tracks...

All right! :banana: I found what was wrong with my Kenwood KOS-A200 installation and why I was still getting bad noise in some areas while driving, especially through tunnels.

I was about to do something more complicated (which I may still do in part to get my AM back) but in the process I found that the cables I bought were not correct.
So here is a piece of advice for every one who wants to use the cable technique as oppose to the 9v battery technique.

It must be with our cars because we are not really using Volvo parts but almost every antenna adapter cables I found online have male to male and female to female connection.

So what essentially happen is that my antenna IN and OUT connection to the KOS-A200 got switched. Since I’m connecting to what I think is the AM/FM amplifier it was still working. Signal would essentially travel back through the AM/2 FM Amp and to the Radio using the second connection. The KOS-A200 would also feed the signal it generates back to itself. I was getting some kind of signal loop which for some reason would make reception horrible when driving through any tunnels.

I had to cut-off the 2 cables and reassemble them in the correct combination males to females. Now it sounds great :460: . I still used a noise filter between the Kenwood unit and the radio.

For my next improvement I’ll try to use some kind of relay to switch between the KOS-A200 when turned on and a direct bypass when off. It’s hard because the relay must occur close to the AMP so to keep the AM bypass as short as possible. If I can come-up with the right relay I will be able to get back the AM reception when I switch off the KOS-A200 switch which I already have installed in the center arm rest compartment.

Also I checked behind the carpet behind the left driver’s foot and there is another antenna connector there. If I would to install the KOS-A200 for the first time I would connect it there as it is a lot closer to the radio and less to the car antenna.

To be continued… :grin:

Greg

50,000 miles last night...guess that means it's time to start putting my $$$ where my mouth is...I will be waiting 'til it's a little warmer before I start doing actual install work, I'm going to be nervous enough without numb fingertips...

Any updates from anyone regarding getting better display info on the center console stereo display? as in, translating id3 tags? or is the best still just showing folder and track numbers? I think I'm going to end up getting a small form factor external HD to be powered by usb to keep things as simple as possible with as few steps necessary, otherwise than that pretty much sticking as close to the method Gregoire outlined so well...will keep you all posted as I progress!

Okay, now that I've been throwing my brain back into this...I've been doing some looking around again. I have the cd changer option, and it looks like that means I *could* also use the Dension gateway 500. Has anyone done this? I'm having a hard time finding definitive answers...According to Dension's website it looks like it will work on my '04.5 s40 w/ CD changer, but to what extent? I've seen rumors it will disable CD capability, is that true? The website hinted that I *may* have to basically restart the car if I want to switch from input->CD and back. And how well does info display on the head unit? Anyone have any experience with this piece of gear? I'm just going off what I've found online so far, haven't called any customer support yet-figured I'd get more honest answers from you guys than any salesman/customer serv. rep I would end up talking to on the phone...so here's to hoping someone can recommend/steer me away from this piece of gear...
Thanks!

I personally don’t know anything about the Dension unit but it sounds to me like you're not quite attracted by their option or feel at ease with it.
I’m not going to steer you away from it but instead I would recommend that you priorities what’s most important to you.
All these options will have a downside being added to our Volvo OEM specific radio systems.

If you want the best quality you may need to further access the Dension. If you can tap directly in the radio you will have the best audio results. It’s hard for me to say having only the audio performance system which with the KOSA200 really sound good to me now I fixed few bugs. However if you rather have good usability you may need to compare features and think about your daily needs. Considering my needs (no ipod, prefer installed/portable hard drive) I’m quite happy with my solution.

I know it’s hard to get clear answers on these options. If you have a question on the Kenwood let me know. Otherwise I hope others will have answers for you.

Just my two cents :thumbsup: Keep us posted!
Greg

FYI: using USB Flash drive or hard drive I see folder, song name, and album scrolling on the display. Kenwood folder structure name only shows up when switching tracks.

I saw the denison unit, and there was a german company that said they were making an S40 adapter for it, but it says on the denison support site that it already supports the 2004-2006 S40... Hmmmm. I wish we had some people with experience with it...

I would consider it over the Kenwood unit because it'll almost guaranteed have significantly better sound quality... But the price is twice as much... It's a good thing I'm getting a deal on the Sirius setup that I'm trying to get. I freakin hate that Volvo made such a complicated system with no simple or inexpensive answer, and then once the put the aux jack into the newer versions of the S40, they didn't give us with older S40s any which way to do the same thing or install the same jack.

Does anyone know if the aux just plugs into a simple MOST module that you could buy through Volvo, and it would just work? Or is that just too simple an idea? I guess if that were the case, people would have been doing it for a while...

Does anyone have the old FM Modulator install PDF? They're charging money for it now, and I can't find it on my computer, and don't feel like paying.

I'm just looking at this point to install Sirius by itself cause I know a Sirius guy who is going to get me a deal, and since I drive for 6+ hours at a time to and from school once a month or so, I'd love to have something other than switching around horrible local stations.

Eventually I'll do something like this Denison unit (if it hopefully gets figured out), and look forward to seeing what's going on.

BTW I just found a HUGE thread over in swedespeed about the denison unit. A few people bought it and installed it as per instructions, but it doesn't work currently, so they're trying to see if it has to do with the different Model Year #s that people have, because most of them have the pre-bluetooth/ipod capable systems (someone said chassis 800000+ or something like that [the last 6 digits of your VIN]). The people with a chassis number under 800000 have not been able to install it yet.

Just purchased for my daughter her first car;an '06 S 40 with non premium sound system and problem with no Aux audio 'in' capability. She wanted to listen to her Ipod so yesterday after reading the great help in this forum, we installed an IPOD charger/controller and a FM modulator and are very happy with the results....switching between FM stations and Ipod, levels match well, very little hiss or noise, no interferance at all from local FM stations (even though a strong local station uses the same mod frequency)and no noticable distortion of ipod audio. Also, installation satisfied Dad's requirement that IPOD is out of driver's sight/reach and is not touched while driving and only Ipod's remoted stop/play and skip/shuffle forward/ back controls are used while driving.


I did the design/spec'ing but I had Circuit city store do the wiring install all for $25 labor and for about $100 in mod, controller/charger and cable adapter parts. total cost , <$150)

Used FM modulator/w isolation transformer (the Audiovox unit sold by circuit city and others )

Also used nifty little 'Griffin Auto Pilot ' IPOD interface ( this is cig lighter plug in with IPOD controls built right in the plugs' top with remoted 'pause',' play', 'shuffle' and 'skip' functions for the IPOD while a light ring indicates if it is powered (red), IPOD charging (pulsing yellow) , or IPOD fully charged(green). It supplies a interface cable to her IPOD tucked away out of site in the console and also supplies a proper 'Line level out' cable to the Audiovox modulator. (www.griffintechnology.com)

Other forum users using the Audiovox previously on this thread disliked it..they apparently used improper impedance/level audio sources which I found is no good on the Audiovox and yields unreliable quality. You cannot use for example the Audiovox directly from the ipod headphone out connection as the audio will be distorted and the impedance and resulting'signal head room won't match well the Volvos FM radio signal quality and typical volume levels when going between listening to the Ipod and FM stations. The Audivox does a good job only with the Ipod charger/controller as an interface since the signal level and impedance values are then matched correctly

We tapped into the S40's FM antenna line behind the left side of the drivers foot panel. We hid the modulator/antenna signal switcher behind the removable panel to the left and below the steering column near where we made the in/out FM antenna connection point.

We mounted the modulator remote switch which controls the Audiovox's FM antenna's 'block or bypass' function near the center console This is where my daughter controls the ipod via the Auto Pilot which plugs into the Volvos dc plugin in the center console.

Again, thanks to those forum members here that researched this issue and took the time to post their infomation.