iPad vehicle installation is the newest fad in the car audio industry. We have been pioneering methods of integrating the iPad into vehicles from day one. This article will cover 2 methods of extracting audio from the iPad while retaining the charging feature. We always recommend using the iPad as a radio replacement. Car radios don't have much to offer when compared to an iPad. Integrating an iPad with a car radio does nothing but complicate the process.

The Analog method

This method is the cheaper of the two. This method will require 4 parts in order to extract the analog audio signal while charging. The first piece of the puzzle is the 90 degree pass-through. This part is a 30 pin dock connector pass-through. This piece is perfect for mounting into the dash. When you modify it to fit the iPad it is super low-profile and allows the wiring to come from the back of the dash instead of the side of the iPad. The 90 degree pass-through is a life saver. As many of you know, when it comes to squeezing an iPad into your dash, every inch counts. The next little device we will cover is the Pocket Dock. This part will allow you to pull analog signal from the ipad while giving you a mini USB connector for charging. The third item we recommend is the iPad car charger. This charger has been tested and is reliable. These parts all work flawlessly together. The 4th item we will talk about is the remote level controller. This part allows you to control the volume of the iPad with a cool little volume knob that you can mount to your dash. All parts are offered at our online store in the iPad parts section.

The Digital Method

This method is by far the best sounding method of all time. As many of you will recall, we devised the first method of extracting the digital signal from the iPad. However, it wasn't exactly problem free. We were never able to pull digital while retaining 2.1 amp charging. Until now.

The first magical little part we will discuss is the HRT iStreamer. This little bad boy does it all. It comes boxed with a USB to dock connector cable, which will connect the iPad to the iStreamer. It's also boxed with a mini USB to standard USB cable, which will connect to the iPad car charger mentioned above. The iStreamer extracts the digital signal from the iPad and converts it to analog with it's amazing DAC (digital to analog converter). Best of all it supports 2.1 amp charging. When using the iStreamer in conjunction with the Audison Bit One, you will have the best sounding and most flexible source unit ever.  However, you can use the iStreamer with the Bit One or with the remote level controller mentioned above. We also discovered a cool side effect of the iStreamer. When you connect the iPad car charger to the ignition turn on wire of your vehicle, the ipad pauses music when you turn your key off. When you turn your car back on, the screen lights up.

UPDATE: We just started shipping the 12 volt iStreamer, which includes the car charger.

Fabrication

When we started fabricating custom dash housing for the iPad, we quickly discovered that using a fiberglass rear pan saves a ton of time and allows a nice thin profile mod. We just recently started selling the very fiberglass pans we use for our installs. The fiberglass pan is notched out to fit the 90 degree pass-through. So, molding the pan to your dash is the first step. Now you have a perfect pan with a dock connector mounted into your dash. The next step would be to shape it up with some fiberglass and Bondo. Now you can make your front trim piece and paint it or wrap it in some vinyl. The fabrication does require some major skill, so hack your dash at your own risk or you can pay a pro to do it for you.

Video out

The last thing we will cover is the dreaded video out. The iPad doesn't like to give you video out from the iPad LCD itself while playing to an external screen. Of course, you can jailbreak it to open up that feature or you can simply choose whether you want the iPad to play on it's own screen or your rear screen(s). Some people are fine with being able to browse through their movies from the iPad and choose a movie for the rear passenger to watch. In which case, an Apple A/V out cable will work fine while retaining 2.1 amp charging. Scosche presented us with a pre-release of a cable which will allow you to switch between the iPad screen and the passenger screen. Analog, audio/video is extracted while 2.1 amp charging is supported. The new Scosche cable is now available. The iPad 2 features screen mirroring, but only through HDMI out, which most 12 volt screens don't have. There are HDMI breakout boxes, but will they support charging? Nobody knows. If you know, post in our forum in the iPad category. 

Buy parts here.