I recently bought a gizmo for my car called the “VWCDPIC”. It’s a small little chip which allows me to connect any RCA input directly into my car’s audio system without the use of a tape adapter. Before I bought this, I was using one of those tape adapters and none of my music sounded good. Even MP3′s that were recorded at 320 bits sounded the same as 32 bit because of the tape adapter.
My car comes already hard wired for an extra input for a CD changer and has a 12 pin plug in the trunk but you can’t just make your own cable because VW uses a type of encryption that forces people to buy CD changers from them. The VWCDPIC emulates that same encryption and allows me to have my music patched to my head unit as if what I was playing was one huge long CD. From the two RCA’s I’m just running a standard RCA -> Stereo/Mini Plug cable and pulling it up into my iPod. I’m planning on running the cable thru the bottom of my doors so it doesn’t show but for now this will do.
The only problem is I can’t charge and play my iPod at the same time because for some reason there is some static interference. Not sure exactly what, but I have a feeling its something to do with the fact that my car is obviously a closed circuit.
If you own a VW with a single or double din headunit (typically 1998+) check it out. The sound quality is definitely worth the price. A guy in his garage makes it and is nearly 1/2 the price of other comparable items. $54 with shipping.