bddogprez

To my astonishment, my 2-day old RX350 with the premium sound system (not Mark Levinson) has no cassette player. I realize that no one uses cassettes any more, but that was the method (the "dummy" cassette plugged into the iPod earphone jack) by which I connected my iPod to the sound system in my RX330. Lexus has obviously begun to notice the revolution in music storage, because the CD player will now play MP3 files - but no one at Lexus was apparently thinking about the fact that they've just cut out the ability to hard-connect MP3 players to the sound system (the FM transmitter approach isn't worth it - frequency range and sound quality are terrible).

Has anyone heard about workarounds for this problem? I'm astonished that their engineering on the new sound system is so clumsy.

MJMeucci

A company called Vaistech makes an adaptor that costs around $300 that you can install to connect your iPod to your stereo. It is a great product, I have it on my GX and it enables you to not only play your iPod in the car but control it through the nav and steering controls. It also allows you to use the iPod to control the music as well.

tfischer

I don't have a lot of knowledge about changes to the basic and the ML audio systems, but I do have a '04 RX brochure and an 07 RX brochure.

I just looked at them and see that the photos in the '04 book show both the regular and the ML system and show the tape cassette slot clearly. In the '07 book for the 350, none of the photos of the standard audio system show that part of the center stack, but the photos of the cars with the ML system (you can read the logo very clearly) all show the tape slot and the 4 "mode" buttons.

In Lexus' defense, as you note, tapes are not used very much any more. I used to use mine a lot, but went for years without using it, until lately when I found that the best way to play my (newly acquired) iPod through the system. I'm sure that in another year or two all the basic audio systems will have a simple plug to connect an iPod or other MP3 player, just as many high end systems do now.

I'll tell you one thing I noticed in my '04 RX ML System that seems strange. I have an 02 SC430 and an 04 RX330, and both have ML audio systems. You would think that they would operate the same, but I noticed that the transport controls use different buttons on each system. For example, when playing a CD, the numbers 1 and 2 are "next disc" and "previous disc" in my SC, but in the RX, those buttons are "fast forward" and "fast reverse." The next disc is 3 or 4 (or maybe 5 and 6, I'm not sure -- I just know they are different between the two cars). It's no big deal, but I cannot understand why any change would be made. On the other hand, this is the level to which I have to go to find something to complain about with these cars.

bddogprez

many thanks - I'll take a look at it!

HokiPoki

There will be a similar product from Dice Electronics (affiliated with Denison USA) that should have a product soon. http://www.diceelectronics.com/ I think the price should be less than $200.

http://www.neocaraudio.com/prod-ion.html
http:// m p 3 your car. com remove spaces
Neo is $300 or $200 depending on which product.

The local dealer charges about $500 total installed for the Neo Ion (SP i think)

I put a USA spec product in my S2000 and it works great! Plus it was only $120! They do not claim compatability with Lexus with nav however so this is out.

Anyway - I plan to try one of these out soon. I think $300 is too much to spend for an Ipod hook up however so it may be a while.

Good luck!

SilverLady

As far as I know, all of the other Lexus and even Toyotas that have the new sound systems and/or gen5 Navs have a standard audio plug for mp3 players and any other external audio devices. The plug is usually in the armrest compartment. This is a direct analog wire connection - better than the dummy tape.

For some absolutely crazy reason Lexus left this out of the RX350. Maybe they planned on leaving in the tape deck, took it out at the last minute, and never put in the plug.

Is it possible they will be adding it this model year? We are thinking of an 07 RX but this is a definite drawback.

lexuslover

wow, yeah, that is really strange. the pics on lexus.com show a tape deck i think.

in any case, my friend has the vaistech unit and i helped him install it a few weeks ago and it works pretty well. its a seamless integration solution and is not too difficult to install. the only drawback is you have to organize your music in playlists if you don't want to control the ipod by hand. there is also another extra input so you can attach another device. the sound quality is very good, and the unit also charges the ipod while plugged in. the other nice feature it has is that when you switch to another music source, it pauses rather than continue playing (unlike the tape deck adapter).

barry_s

Yeah, it is quite disappointing that they couldn't just put an aux input and a 12v outlet in the console. I drove a 2006 Toyota Siena rental the other day and it even had an aux input. It wasn't even the high end trim-line version.

What vehicle did you help install the Vaistech unit in?

lexuslover

RX 400h. i've been contemplating buying a Vaistech unit for mine, but i am still building my music library. for now CDs are ok

DocTDC

[QUOTE=SilverLady]

For some absolutely crazy reason Lexus left this out of the RX350. Maybe they planned on leaving in the tape deck, took it out at the last minute, and never put in the plug.

QUOTE]


Our new RX350 w/ML does have a tape deck. I think all the cars we looked at (all had at least premium plus package) encluded a tape deck. The dealer said the normal units had a "Premier Pioneer" radio.

Does anyone know if any of the aftermarket ipod units work with Gen 5?

DocTDC

barry_s

Today I test drove an RX350 with Premium Plus and NAV with the standard audio system. It DID have a cassette slot and the salesman was puzzled when I brought up the issue of it being deleted this year.
That's better than nothing but I sure would prefer an aux input!

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

Anyone have a pic of the deck without a cassette? All the ones I've seen so far have a Cassette. It would be interesting to see how they made the change and what it looks like. I can't imagine what they would fill the extra space on that large faced deck with.

tfischer

From what I can gather, the standard audio on the 350 does not have a tape deck, but the ML does. I have the current brochure and photos of the interior with the standard audio system do not show that area of the audio system. All the photos of interiors with the ML do show the whole system and the tape deck is visible.

It's almost as if they did that on purpose to give the impression that both audio systems in the 350 had a tape deck.

Not that anybody uses them very much anymore, anyway.

barry_s

RX350's with standard audio and NAV have tape decks. RX350's with standard audio without NAV do not have a tape deck. I can't speak for ML because I have never seen one at any dealer in the DC Metro area.

lexuslover

i have a brand new 07 RX350 loaner today and it has standard audio (no ML available in my region yet either). the loaner has NAV w/ tape deck...

that is odd that only people with Nav should get a tape deck - i wonder how the heck lexus rationalized that one. i mean without the nav, you have more room in the center stack. doesn't make sense to me. and even as a cost savings, what would it have been? $20?