looking for some bluetooth car audio help...

[purbeast0]

i have an infiniti 2008 g37s. in the compartment between the seats, there is an aux port and there is also this other cable adapter port that i am not even sure what the port is. it looks like some kind of molex connector.

the cable that came with the car that plugs into the molex connector was an iphone connector cable, before the lightning cable. it was great when i had my iphone 4, but i got the iphone 6 when it came out.

my wife also has an infiniti (2008 g35) and an iphone, and has the same cable. for her, she just got the old iphone -> lightning cable adapter thing to plug onto the cable in her car, which works for hooking her iphone 6 to her car. however, it's a pain in the ass because she has to take her case off whenever she wants to use the adapter.

and if i were to get an adapter, i would also have to slide my case down (and i have borrowed her adapter for my car) and it is kind of annoying.

my car has the old bluetooth technology in it, where it can only transfer the phone data. i can't connect my phone via bluetooth to get music from my phone to play in my car.

so that is where my question comes in...

i was reading about some of these bluetooth receivers you can get that will plug into the aux port, and you can then stream music to the car speakers via bluetooth. i was wondering if anyone has one they recommend. the ones i was looking at on amazon just now, some need power constantly (plug in USB while the aux is also plugged in), some are battery powered and the battery doesn't last long, etc.

so i was just curious if anyone uses one and which one they use, and how they like it.

another nice thing about my car, when i do use the weird molex connector type thing, is that i can control my phone from the car controls to skip to the next songs, and it has the song names and stuff in the dash display. if certain bluetooth devices can allow this same control, i'd also like to be able to continue to do that.

additionally, does anyone have a clue what the connector is that came with the car? i can take some pics later, but i tried searching for it one time and i couldn't find it out. i'm wondering if they make one of those cables with a lightning cable coming out of it instead of the old iphone adapter, because i'd also maybe look into one of those.

 

[NutBucket]

In general any receiver that sports Bluetooth streaming audio will support controls and track info. The hard part usually is integrating aftermarket receivers with the car's electronics. Iirc the G has a fairly integrated dash setup.

 

[nitrous9200]

I have one of these, a Kinivo BTC450, which is probably one of the more expensive (i.e. overpriced) units at $40, although I've seen it for sale on slickdeals a few times in the past.

It is not battery powered, but uses the 12v power outlet - if your car has a 12v outlet and the aux input next to each other, the setup would be pretty clean - you just need to run the little control panel onto the dash somewhere.

The Bluetooth phone functionality is going to duplicated from what you already have in your car, but I find the mic to be good and my phone's voice recognition has worked perfectly every time. I think it's actually better than most cars' built in systems, because the phonebook doesn't have to be downloaded or names manually set up - the voice recognition is being done by the phone and it has all of the contacts already (using the Android voice dialer or Siri).
The BT audio sounds very good to me, paired with a ground loop isolator to eliminate the hum from the electrical system.

Maybe there is some sort of Infiniti specific module that can integrate into the existing setup, but this is a lot cheaper/easier, giving you 90% of the functionality for 10-20% of the cost.

 

[purbeast0]

I have one of these, a Kinivo BTC450, which is probably one of the more expensive (i.e. overpriced) units at $40, although I've seen it for sale on slickdeals a few times in the past.

It is not battery powered, but uses the 12v power outlet - if your car has a 12v outlet and the aux input next to each other, the setup would be pretty clean - you just need to run the little control panel onto the dash somewhere.

The Bluetooth phone functionality is going to duplicated from what you already have in your car, but I find the mic to be good and my phone's voice recognition has worked perfectly every time. I think it's actually better than most cars' built in systems, because the phonebook doesn't have to be downloaded or names manually set up - the voice recognition is being done by the phone and it has all of the contacts already (using the Android voice dialer or Siri).
The BT audio sounds very good to me, paired with a ground loop isolator to eliminate the hum from the electrical system.

Maybe there is some sort of Infiniti specific module that can integrate into the existing setup, but this is a lot cheaper/easier, giving you 90% of the functionality for 10-20% of the cost.

hmmm that looks interesting.

what exactly do you need that button thing for?

like, if i wanted to just play music bluetooth and control it from my phone, then i wouldn't need that part of it?

i MIGHT have an extra 12v power outlet where my aux input is, i'd have to check, but just not sure.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

that button thing is probably going to be used to pair the phone every time you get in. I use a very similar one every single day in my car. The button is also used to pause playback, or double-press to skip songs, etc...same type of thing you'd see on bluetooth headphones with a button.

Some of these bluetooth car kits don't require the button. They automatically pair when you turn on the car. I actually own one of those that used to be in my GF's car. Its cool, but I kinda like being able to turn on the music myself rather than have it automatically go. Also, I think my current one is a little louder. Further testing may need to be done.

Your car is rather new-ish, so theres a good chance for a power outlet and aux input to be right near each other, meaning you could effectively hide the entire thing out of sight and still have full functionality with the buttonless version, or you could have just the button and cable coming out of wherever it is.

 

[nitrous9200]

Once you pair the phone, you don't really need the button - it has the previous/next track buttons and the play/pause button (which doubles as the button to activate voice commands for dialing phone numbers).

So no, if you were to control the music from your phone, you wouldn't need it visible. The only thing is unless you make phone calls through the phone directly, the button pad has the microphone on it and it wouldn't work if it was hidden in the center console or wherever you put it.