Harman Kardon's Drive + Play iPod Control System

I love my iPod. Love it, love it, love it. I mean, what's not to love, right? I get to take 5,000 of my favorite songs with me wherever I go. I use mine everywhere — on planes, on the treadmill, on the bike path. In fact, I look for any excuse to use it.

However, I've never been satisfied with using it in my car. For starters, it's illegal to use earphones while driving, and that complicates things. Sure, there are various stereo adapters and ways to charge the battery in the car, but they've always been somewhat unsatisfactory, and even downright dangerous if you're fumbling around trying to find and operate your iPod while driving. Not that my car is messy or anything, but trying to keep my iPod handy so I could change songs or look to see what's playing was just a hassle. If I had someone in the passenger seat, it got worse. My passengers never took too kindly to seeing me taking my hands off the wheel and eyes off the road while I found the player, looked down to see what was playing, and scrolled through my playlists, trying to see the display — their job became being my iPod holder and DJ. Let's face it — whether driving alone or not, it was an accident waiting to happen.

Harman/Kardon must have been lurking in my backseat, because they have designed exactly what I've needed. The Drive + Play is one of the easiest ways to use and listen to an iPod in the car — and no earphones are required. It lets you listen to your iPod over any car stereo with an FM radio or an auxiliary input. More importantly, it has a very large, very visible display that can be mounted conveniently on your dashboard, so you can see what's playing with just a glance.

There are three main components to the Drive + Play:

1. the display that mimics the iPod's display but is larger and more legible
2. a central electronics enclosure
3. the all-important control knob.

The electronics enclosure, which contains all of the connections for the entire system, can be placed anywhere. Once everything is connected, you should never need access to the brains of the system. One side of the enclosure has the two power options: a cigarette lighter adapter and a permanent power connection. You can use the included 12-volt accessory power cable to power the entire system through a cigarette lighter connection. Or, you can power the system with a 12-volt harness that can be connected to your vehicle's battery and ignition, so the system turns on and off when the car starts and stops. Either way, the system will power and charge an iPod that is connected via a cable that runs from the enclosure to your iPod's docking port. The Drive + Play works with most recent versions of iPod, including Minis running v1.1 software, as long as your iPod has a Dock Port. There are also input connections for the control knob and the display.

The sound from the Drive + Play is heard one of three ways:

1. using the built-in wireless FM transmitter to send the signal through an unused channel on your FM radio
2. using the line output to connect the system to the auxiliary input of a head unit
3. via an optional wired FM transmitter that can be connected to your car's antenna.

Another side of the enclosure has an input for an auxiliary audio device, such as a satellite radio signal or a cell phone. The system will send the audio from these other devices to your head unit too. Once everything is connected, you can hide the electronics unit under a seat, behind the radio, in the glove box — wherever, as there are no controls or any reason to have additional access.

On the other hand, you'll want easy and quick access to the control knob. This mushroom-shaped device is the only controller you'll need. Designed to mimic the Click Wheel controls on the iPod, it is very easy to operate. In fact, it's easier to control than an iPod while driving — it has a much more tactile interface that lets you keep your eyes where they should be, on the road! There are four buttons that duplicate the four control points on the Click Wheel. The upper one for the menu, bottom is play/pause, and left and right for forward and reverse. The entire center of the knob is the enter/select function. The big difference from the iPod Click Wheel is that the whole outer ring of the knob is used as a "scroll ring," instead of the touch slider used on the iPod. For this reason, the knob needs to be firmly secured to a hard surface in the car — you need to grab the entire knob and twist it to scroll through screens, menus, playlists, settings, and songs. Whenever any portion of the control knob is used, an attractive blue ring lights up, illuminating the buttons, but the system is laid out so ergonomically that you won't really ever need to look at it to see what you're doing. We love devices that let you concentrate on your driving, especially when we're driving right behind you.

Whenever you touch any of the controls on the knob, the main LCD display lights up too. This backlighting feature is very nice. The screen stays illuminated for about ten seconds after you release the control knob, but you can change the length of time in the main menu. The five-line monochrome display is very legible, but you can also select a larger font that's even easier to read. Contrast, brightness and display settingscan also be selected. Display invert, for example, gives you a black background with white letters, while the default is a white background with black letters. All mounting hardware for the display and the control knob is included.

For the first round of testing, I installed the Drive + Play in my 2001 Acura Integra. Planning for a permanent installation, I connected the power harness to my battery. My Sony CDX-C780 CD receiver does not have an auxiliary input, so I used the built-in wireless transmitter. I went to the settings menu and customized the system the way I wanted it to be. I selected an open FM frequency from the list of presets (if you can't find a free frequency from the preset list, you can directly enter any frequency you want). I also set up the system to automatically sense an audio signal on the auxiliary input when my cell phone was connected. After I picked my font size, I decided to have it scroll if the message was too long. I mounted the display just below my head unit, right on the dashboard, and the control knob next to the gearshift. This gave me easy access while driving, and I could easily get to the controls whenever I needed to without looking away from the road for any significant amount of time.

My daily commute to the recording studio where I work is too short to really test out the Drive + Play, but luckily, I had a long drive coming up. I was riding in the 6 Gap Century Bike Ride, and I was looking forward to everything except the long drive to Dahlonega in the North Georgia mountains. The ride started at 7:30, but I had to register at 6:30, so I had to leave my house at 5:00. 5:00 am, that is. Luckily, the Drive + Play arrived just in time, and I installed it the day before the ride. I was gonna need all the help I could get to wake up and to stay motivated.

I was thrilled to have all my favorite songs with me. It took a while to remember that these were all MY songs. I kept thinking that the radio just happened to keep playing all my personal favorites. I set the system to shuffle my songs, and when John Mayer's very appropriate "Why Georgia" came up, I knew the day would turn out fine. A few more selections from The Dave Matthews Band and Jack Johnson played, and I was gently brought from groggy and grumpy to awake and ready — for-anything. Even though I know every single song loaded on my iPod, I loved having the display right in my line of sight. If a song came up that I wasn't in the mood for, a quick "click" on the right button of the control knob skipped it to the next song in the shuffled line up.

After the grueling 100-mile bike ride, I needed all the help I could get for the drive home. Don't laugh, but a little Earth, Wind & Fire was just what the doctor ordered for the return trip. I needed to make sure every song was upbeat and perky, or else I wasn't going to make it home. "September," followed by "Sing a Song," was as invigorating as a Starbucks Frappuccino, without the calories!

The Drive + Play has a built-in FM modulator.

The FM transmission worked well. Usually, I'll have a clear signal in one part of town, but as I travel there will be interference. Throughout the entire round trip, I never had to change the FM frequency. Although there was a little bit of static on this signal, I was still thrilled with the results. The FM transmitter was working better than some other transmitters that I've used. Compared to earbuds, my music sounded wonderful through my JBL P652 speakers. Stereo separation was very nice, and the frequency response was very good. However, I suspected that the FM signal was probably the worst way to listen to the Drive + Play in terms of sound quality.

To test this, I borrowed a friend's car — one that had a head unit with an auxiliary input that I could use to check out the direct line output. Since this was a temporary setup, I used the cigarette lighter adapter for power. Using a direct connection between the Drive + Play and the auxiliary input on the head unit provided a superior signal - there was not a spec of static, and the signal was clean and sharp, with all of the dynamic range that I knew was on my music. Since the Drive + Play was still "broadcasting" with the FM transmitter, it was easy to compare between the AUX input and the FM signal. Depending on the level of the original song, the difference between the FM signal and the direct feed was notable. Songs that were loud seemed to mask the FM static, while the static was more noticeable on softer songs. Stereo imaging seemed similar. However, the depth and dynamics of the direct AUX signal showed me that if at all possible, a direct connection with the line output is the way to go.

At this moment, I realized that the Drive + Play would be terrific to use when traveling with a rental car — no permanent wiring would be needed if I used the cigarette lighter for power, and since almost every rental car has an FM radio, I could use the FM transmitter to send the signal. I can't wait for a real road trip — my iPod comes with me for the airplane trip, and now the music can keep playing for the rest of the trip. Obviously, the control knob and display should be permanently secured to the surface of your car; however, they could be moved from car to car, if necessary.

I consider myself lucky. Although I love my iPod, local radio stations play quite of bit of music that I like. Even better, my XM satellite radio has even more music options for my taste. With a product like the Drive + Play, I can have it all. With its internal auxiliary input, I can switch between my iPod and XM without touching my head unit. If I'm using the FM transmitter, switching between the Drive + Play and my local stations is as simple as hitting a preset. Harman/Kardon's Drive + Play brings all of my music into reach, with a clever and convenient design that is safe and easy to operate. Most important, it represents one more way for me to love my iPod!