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Apple's iPod™ Hits the Road with Alpine Is Alpine's KCA-420i iPod Interface Adapter the best in-car iPod solution yet?

Todd Cabell — Oct 05, 2004

Alpine's KCA-420i iPod adapter gives you control of your iPod from an Alpine head unit.


The perfect portable's road blues
Hands down, it's the hottest electronics product on the planet in 2004. The intuitive controls, ultra-chic style, and ingenious marketing campaign of Apple's iPod™ have catapulted the diminutive device into the national consciousness. But three years after the introduction of "the perfect digital music player," Podsters still have one major complaint: "Hey Jobs, we need a better way to use an iPod in the car!"

Apparently, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been listening.

Birth of a new in-car iPod solution: Alpine's KCA-420i iPod Interface Adapter
At the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Jon Rubinstein, Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, began a discussion with product development specialists at Alpine Electronics. Apple recognized that, despite the proliferation of iPod accessories from companies like Belkin, Monster, and Griffin, customers were unhappy with the options for using the iPod in the car. And Alpine embraced the opportunity to create a solution that would give owners of Alpine car stereos an exclusive new tool for using an iPod on the highway.



After an unexpected delay due to several iPod software updates in the Spring of 2004, the promise of those early discussions has finally been realized with the introduction of the Alpine KCA-420i iPod Interface Adapter ($100). According to Alpine, the KCA-420i will give drivers "superior sound tuning and control of their iPod music using any of Alpine's 2004 Ai-Net in-dash head units." The adapter is compatible with any iPod and iPod mini with a dock connector and iPod Software Update 2004-04-28 or later.

The KCA-420i consists of a single hideaway box with two cables that connect to the Ai-NET port on the back of the compatible receiver and to the dock connector on the iPod. Once you have the adapter installed and your iPod connected, the KCA-420i offers the following features:

  • control of nearly all aspects of iPod playback from a compatible Alpine in-dash receiver
  • use of Bass Engine™ sound tuning controls on the Alpine receiver to improve sound quality
  • charging of the iPod's batteries when the vehicle is on
  • ability to use the iPod as a plug-and-play music source
In a press release, Stephen Witt, Alpine's Vice President of Brand Marketing, summed up the new Alpine iPod adapter: "There is clearly an eager market of users who want a better-sounding and easier to use solution for enjoying their iPod in the car. This is the in-vehicle solution iPod users have been waiting for."

I've had the KCA-420i in my car for the past month, and while I'll caution you that the KCA-420i will not answer every Podster's prayers, it does live up to its promise. But before I explain why, let's take a quick look at the brief history of using an iPod in the car. If you're already hip to the details, feel free to jump ahead to the review.

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