Subtopic	Posts		Updated
	Do I need the data cable and the adapter?	2		08/27 10:29am

By Anthony Kronkaitis (Gremlin) on Sunday, August 19, 2001 - 07:28 pm: Edit

We just bought our first LR a 2000 Discovery II (love it). Its been in the shop to have multiple plastic pieces replaced (was a dealer demo). While we were on our first trip with her, we inserted a cassette tape into the deck and low-and-behold if it did'nt like our classic rock tape and spit the cassette out all the way to the center console, Anyways, the dealer has a new radio on back-order. There was no CD player installed and I would like to put one in/and keep the existing stock radio (whenever it arrives). Does anyone know what brand/model of CD changer will patch into the existing sound system (since I would like to use the controls on the deck to control the cd changer or who is the manufacture of the radio)? I'm figuring that it would be cheaper to get it at a good stero store vs the dealer, any info would be appreciated.

By wags2034 on Sunday, August 19, 2001 - 07:49 pm: Edit

i would go with a stock 6 or 12 disc changer that is compatable. you can usually find them used for around $250.00. (new from atlantic british $629.95.) they're made by Pioneer. this way you know that it will wire in with little problem, and be compatable with your existing radio. mounts under front pass. seat. you should be able to find a sterio shop to do it, best buy maybe?

By sam on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 04:02 am: Edit

i might be wrong but i thought that disco II had a different manufactor for their sound system (not pioneer?). i know for sure that in a disco I you can't fit an aftermarket cd changer to your stock radio, the female plug part of the cd changer will not fit the plug that is under the seat. it's one of those things that land rover does to get more of your money. you might have to go all stock or all aftermarket...

By s on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 09:03 am: Edit

I bought an Archos Jukebox 6000 - mp3 player . U can buy it at any CompUSA for around $250 + $50 for the car adapter kit. Holds around 150 CDs. I use it in my DiscoII with no problems - holds more and saves you about $300.

By David on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 09:08 am: Edit

The Disco II cd changer is an Alpine unit. You can get it from just about anywhere, but you usually need to special order it.

S --- can you give more details on the Mp3 player. Specifically the car adapter kit.... does it adapt to the standard radio? Controls, etc....

By Tony (Gremlin) on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 10:56 am: Edit

Thanks for the info. Is there a model # for the Alpine unit? I read in the Atlantic British catalog that if you have the "cloth" interior you have to buy a CD data cable to connect the CD changer is this true?

(The MP3 unit sounds like a very interesting alternative)

By Davud on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 11:06 am: Edit

Tony, the CD cable bit from AB is true. I do not have a part number, but I would search the archives here as well as those of the disco2owners groups in yahoo groups. It's been covered by both groups.

Now where did "s" go?

Cheers,
David

By Mike P. (Mikep) on Wednesday, August 22, 2001 - 06:49 am: Edit

Tony,

The unit in the Disoc II's is definately an Alpine and I'm going thru the same thing. I have the vol/tune controls on the steering wheel and don't want to give them up. A local stero shop is looking into it for me and they called the local dealer. The parts guy told them that he is also looking for a compatible changer for his.They have another supplier that is into engineering etc. I'll let you know how I make out.

Mike

By David on Wednesday, August 22, 2001 - 07:41 am: Edit

Tony,
Here's the info you seek:
Alpine# CHMS620 (6 disk changer)

Blitzsafe# LROV/ALPDMX.1 (adapter 96-0)

You can usually order this stuff via Circuit City. The Blitzsafe cable is the most important bit. Any high end Alpine unit will interface correctly.

Good Luck.

By Tony (Gremlin) on Wednesday, August 22, 2001 - 01:33 pm: Edit

David,
Thank you for the information this should also be of help Mike P.
On Friday the new stereo deck will be installed and I'll have some music at last. Then I'll have to call Circuit City about the changer.

By Dan on Wednesday, August 22, 2001 - 04:18 pm: Edit

I’ve looked into this also. Alpine CD changer $299 and a $80 adapter from CC. The wire is right there under the passenger’s seat, but you have to buy the adapter to connect to it. A OME changer from my dealer was $700.

By s on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 05:01 am: Edit

David,

http://www.archos.com

There is only one Car adapter to buy. I ordered it directly from their web site. The JukeBox can be purchased from them or just about any computer/electronics store.

By s on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 05:03 am: Edit

one more thing David

yes the steering wheel controls still work. It thinks you have a tape cassette in.

By David on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 05:35 am: Edit

s, Thanks for the response. Hate to ask you another question, but by 'car adapter', do you mean the tape adapter? I'm assuming their's no cable interface that would maake this a bit more clean? Please let me know. the player looks kickass.

Thanks.

By Jarrod on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 07:28 am: Edit

What about the D1, is there any type of adapter for the non-LR CD changer? I know Pioneer makes the changer for LR, but its expensive as hell. Is there any way of buying another Pioneer changer and using an adapter?

By David on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 07:32 am: Edit

Have you tried going through another outlet for the pioneer changer? Just because the LR sticker is on it, doesn't mean it's made exclusively for LR. I would bet you could track it down through one of the major outlets....

By s on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 07:53 am: Edit

David,

Its called the Travel Kit - yes the cassette adapter - also comes with a ac adapter and remote control unit - cheap but it works.

By hans g. on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 08:31 am: Edit

don't mean to pry but i thought pioneer did make their changers exclusively for land rover? the back ports (female plugs) are different. i might be wrong but this has been discused before...

By Tony (Gremlin) on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 10:14 am: Edit

from an earlier post... I have a 2000 DII cloth seat model and that is not set-up with the CD wire loam under the passenger seat. Does anyone know what the part# is for the wire loam from the stero to the cd changer, and is this something that needs to be purchased through LR?

s How is the quality of the music with the JukeBox Player when using the Travel Adapter(near CD)?

By Jarrod on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 10:29 am: Edit

Yea, I remember reading a previous post about the Pioneer and their excusive ports for LR. Has anyone else been able to attach a pioneer changer that doesn't have the LR logo to the stock head unit? Special adapters? splicing? Or is it more trouble than its worth.

By oldhouse on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 09:31 am: Edit

Make sure that CC has the Disco II Alpine head unit removal tools before ordering the changer and interface cable. Mine in Sacto didn't and they couldn't get the head unit out. The tools are $25.00 from LR and their manager wouldn't authorize purchasing them. Their suggestion was to take it to my dealer and have the head unit removed for them. The LR service manager said that would void the warranty on the radio. Go figure?

By herky on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 10:28 am: Edit

You can get the "keys" from anyh stereo shop. Use new Pioneer radio removal keys, all they are are flat metal pieces the same width as the openings on either side of your factory radio. Look towards the top of your factory and you will see them. There are two clips that are loaded to push up into the upper part of your dash, all you have to do is depress them slightly. Put the keys in about 2 inches is all. Your disco might have the brackets for the changer, you also need to see if you have the data cable already ran if you want the landie changer. They sell all of these pieces separately. I said screw it and put aftermarket in.

By RDS on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 06:26 am: Edit

My D2 did not come with the factory CD data cable. The Alpine changer that Circuit City recommends for D2's comes with an 8 pin DIN connector cable. Looking at Blitzsafe's website, under the application guide, Blitzsafe indicates there is an 8-pin Data Port behind the head unit and you MUST run the data cable supplied with the CD changer. My question is this, Will the cable included with the CD changer directly plug into the back of the head unit, with the Blitzsafe adapter going between the cable and CD changer? Or does the adapter directly plug into the head unit, with the supplied cable from the CD changer plugging into the adapter? Or do I need to order the LR data cable and plug the Blitzsafe between the LR data cable and the aftermarket Alpine CD changer? I just want to make sure when I go to Circuit City I have all the parts I need. Blitzsafe kicks butt!! Also will new Pioneer radio removal keys work on the Alpine head unit?

By oldhouse on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 08:38 am: Edit

The Pioneer keys will not work on the new Disco IIs. These are OEM Alpine units from Japan and even calling Alpine in the USA they could not provide me with any help. The keys can only be purchased from LR. Standard Alpine keys will not work. My rig was in Circuit Citys' Roadshop for 4 hours trying to get the head unit out. The manager at CC said that since they work on so few LRs there is no reason to spend $25.00 on tools that they might only use once. Good Luck!! I had to just return my deck, adapter, and get a refund from CC since they couldn't do the job in Sacramento. Maybe a CC in a bigger town, such as LA could help you. The manager also stated that the changer mounts that are under your passanger seat would probably not work either with a aftermarket deck, even the recommended Alpine unit.

By oldhouse on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 09:17 am: Edit

RDS, the radio removal tool is made by SPX Kent-Moore with a part number SMD-4091. They will not sell directly to you. The LR part number is LRA-76-001. Like I said before, hopefully your CC is better equipped than mine out here in California and you don't have to spend the extra $25.00 for the keys. I just would hesitate craming Pioneer, or any other tools in my new LRs' head unit.

By jpritter on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 09:37 am: Edit

Oldhouse, what CC did you go to in Sac? I recently went into the CC in Rancho Cordova, near Sunrise Mall, and the Sales Rep. said that they would order the keys at their expense if I had the aftermarket changer installed by them. I was still kind of leary having them install it for me though.

By oldhouse on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 09:58 am: Edit

That is the shop that I visited. The Roadshop manager Brian went round and round with his boss on this and the boss said NO. My salesman (Tim) said the same thing when I purchased my changer from him, that they could do it. Well, if things have changed since two weeks ago they will have your Blitzsafe adapter in stock. The special order took 3 weeks and they are now stuck with it. The install was $60.99, the Blitzsafe was $79.00 and don't pay a dime over $199.00 for the Alpine deck. Tell Brian to give me a call now that two people want a deck in their LRs. Maybe there will be more to follow and they can spread the tool cost. Check to see if the deck will mount in the factory brackets and that the cartridge can be accessed from the little door in the front of the passengers seat. They said probably it wouldn't work.

By s on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 10:17 am: Edit

Tony,

The quality of the sound depends on the bit rate. I always go with at least 128 - some do 160 and even 256. Most mp3s are 128. Sounds fantastic. Some people think its not as good. Can't give you a site but there is a ton of stuff out there on the net that can give you more info and quality etc than I can. Of course it depends on the recording. I have a lot of Greatful Dead bootlegs that sound acceptable but not CD quality. Most were recorded via analog machines by someone in the audience. Any other mp3s though that come from Cds orginally sound great.

The only future problem I see is if the record companies come up with a way of preventing people from ripping their own Cds into MP3s - which would suck for me and millions of others.

By oldhouse on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 10:39 am: Edit

One more question. I have a single cd player with as cassette adapter for my car. When I put it into my LR it spits it out. Tapes play great. Any help? Do I have to place the radio in manual mode? or since the adapter doesn't have a tape maybe the head unit doesn't like it. It works in all othe cassette players, but LR.

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 11:18 am: Edit

With the MP3 players though you need to remember that it will only sound as good as what you used to hook it up with. Example if you use the tape deck adapter it is not going to sound as good as a direct connect to an amp or a head unit with a line in. I record my CDs into MP3s using 160bit w/oversampling. They sound good at that rate. I don't have my Neo Jukebox hooked up to the Disco yet as I'm using my money for other mods like sliders and such before the stereo.

By Tate on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 11:57 am: Edit

oldhouse,
The LR tape deck has a tape pretensioner feature that's supposed to take the slack out of tapes before playing. You're right on: when you put the adapter in that doesn't have a tape, it can't pretension the tape, thinks it's defective, and it spits it out. Some adapters do have dummy tape in them, but I can't personally vouch that they work.

By jpritter on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 01:31 pm: Edit

Oldhouse, Thanks for the info. That is so ironic. The sales rep showed me the adapter that was ordered for another customer, probably you, and he wanted to charge me $119 for it. He also wanted to charge me $250 for the changer. I am sure glad that I decided to sleep on it.

By herky on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 04:56 pm: Edit

Sorry guys I have a 2000 disco 2 and pulled my factory head probably 10 times adding amps, dvd's etc. It is okay to use Pioneer keys. I have been doing this for 9 years professionaly so I am not blowing smoke up your ass!!!!! I guess I could post a pic of my old factory radio and the clips that you depress. Very simple project being complicated. There is no mysterious land rover technology involved in head removal. The back of the factory probably wont have a din cable, it will look like a blank spot for a factory harness.

By Whats wrong with 8-track? on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 04:59 pm: Edit

It all depends on how clean you "need" your unit to be. Personally, I would love to go with a changer or even an aftermarket in-dash single CD unit, but for $60 can have a Pioneer CD player (OK, so it's a Discman stuffed in the centre console)using the cassette adapter, good enough sound, and still keep my weather band.

Sure, I would like my interior to look cleaner, but I can't even get my wife to vacuum the mud out of it once in a while, what difference does it really make if there are a couple of wires running from the cassette hole to the console?

By Horness Spencer (Horness) on Wednesday, August 29, 2001 - 12:04 am: Edit

Most manufacturers (Sony, Kenwood, Alpine etc.) make adapters to enable their CD changers to be used with various head units.
Check out your local car hi-fi shop and ask them about it.

I looked into it for connecting my MiniDisc head unit to the stock CD changer. Nearly all the places I tried could provide an adpater to put the stock head unit onto another CD Changer, but not the other way around (DOH!).

Good Luck.
Horness

By E Snyder on Wednesday, August 29, 2001 - 01:12 am: Edit

I put a Sony 10 CD changer under the seat, and it hooks up to the existing stereo through an FM station. That allowed me to keep the cassette playing stock unit, but get 10 CDs in a changer, too. It has a small controller that velcros to the dash or anywhere. (I put mine just to the right of the drivers right knee, on the plastic side of the gearbox console. Nearly invisible from outside the car.) It was only $250 or so. It almost never skips, even off-roading.

By RDS on Wednesday, August 29, 2001 - 02:59 am: Edit

Herky, pls post a pic of the BACK and the clips of your D2 head unit. Thanks.

By oldhouse on Wednesday, August 29, 2001 - 05:13 am: Edit

I can't beleive that CC wouldn't of been able after 4 hours to remove my head unit. When I showed up they had 4 sets of various lengths and configurations of keys and still were unable to remove it. Unfortunately CC is the only shop in Sacto that can order the Blitzsafe adapter. I went Goodguys, AudioExpress, etc. and was told the same thing. I didn't want to use a FM modulation deck since sound quality will suffer and the steering wheel controls will be inoperative. Alpine is the only one available and Blitzsafe is the only adapter manufactered for the LR. RDS, the best deals on the Alpine deck can be had at Goodguys ($199.00, CC matched it), but they can't provide the adapter. I guess the only alternative is the $500.00 factory deck from Roverconnection.com. With that though you still need the factory adapter, $32.00, and need to remove the head unit if your rig is not prewired. My brother-in-law has a 2001 SE and I am going to check his out this weekend and see if all I am missing is the deck on my SD. I will cross my fingers. Maybe a wrecker is the way to go. I was told to stay away from the RF decks and was warned by my dealer that fooling with the factory head unit will void its warranty. Oh well, my wife barely lets me drive this rig anyway and listens to books on tape or Dr. Larua.

By Tony (Gremlin) on Wednesday, August 29, 2001 - 12:45 pm: Edit

Well the dealer replaced my defective Alpine with a new one and even upgraded the unit. I really loved that until the tech came out and told me that they had to order another unit because only the volume control was not working (it works but u can only hear it with the engine off). Anyway I'm waiting for a new deck to arrive and I'm going to have them put the data cable in ($24 and some change for the cable) when they yank out this nice and quiet deck.