When I purchased my 30Gb iPod in the US last year I decided to take advantage of the excellent Sterling to Dollar exchange rate and purchase some iPod accessories. One of these was the Apple AV Connection Kit.
In a nutshell this kit allows you to connect your iPod to another audio visual device such as a hi-fi or TV. But the kit consists of more than just a few cables.
The AV connection kit consists of the following (taken from the Apple web site):
iPod AV Cable
On one end, the iPod AV Cable connects to the headphone port of the iPod or the line-out port on the iPod Universal Dock. On the other end, it connects to the left/right stereo input jacks on a stereo, powered speakers or TV and the composite video input on a TV or monitor.Universal Dock
The iPod Universal Dock serves as a convenient and elegant home base. It features an infrared port for the Apple Remote. And it works with all iPod models that have a dock connector through the use of interchangeable inserts called Dock Adapters.Dock Adapters
These adapters snap into the Universal Dock to provide a snug fit for any iPod with a Dock connector. This package includes adapters for five iPods: iPod mini; iPod with click wheel (20GB, 40GB/U2 Special Edition); iPod with color display (20GB/30GB/U2 Special Edition, 40GB/60GB). New iPods already include adapters for that model, and other adapters are available separately.Apple Remote
The Apple Remote combines with the Universal Dock to let you experience your iPod from across the room. When used with the iPod, the Apple Remote offers play/pause, volume control and forward/back buttons. (Note: Menu button is inactive when used to control iPod.)USB Power Adapter
Use this convenient USB based adapter to charge your iPod. Simply plug the adapter into a wall outlet and connect to your iPod for recharging.Dock connector to USB cable
This cable connects to the iPod USB Power Adapter to deliver a continuous charge.
Let’s now review each of these items:
iPod AV Cable
This is a decent quality AV cable. Nice and sturdy and the connectors for plugging into your hi-fi or TV fit snugly. It does the job of connecting your iPod to your hi-fi or TV without any problem.
The sound output from my iPod to the hi-fi was very good. I had equally good results with photo and sound output when connecting my iPod to the TV.
Before connecting the iPod to your TV there are a couple of menu options you need to set on the iPod. Select Photos from the main menu, then Slideshow Settings, then make sure the TV Out option is set to On. Also make sure the TV Signal option has the correct setting, either PAL or NTSC. This map will show you the correct setting for your country.
I have many photos stored on my iPod and I was interested to see how well these would display on my TV. I use the resize feature on iTunes, so that whenever iTunes syncs with my iPod it resizes the photos to save space. I thought that may have an impact on picture quality, but on my 32 inch widescreen TV I was very happy with the photo quality. It is certainly good enough for doing photo slideshows in front of the family.
An added bonus of doing slideshows through the TV is that the iPod plays a selection of your Top 25 rated songs so you have music to accompany the slide show. The sound quality of the music through the TV was also very good.
Universal Dock
No complaints with this device. The universal dock is more convenient than using just a USB cable to charge your iPod. It looks more cool too!
I had no issues using the infrared port with the remote control. Attaching the iPod to the dock is fairly easy. At first it may seem a bit fiddly to dock the iPod, but once you’ve done it a couple of times it becomes straightforward.
My only minor niggle is that the universal dock is white. Since my iPod is black it would have been nice to choose a color that matched my iPod.
Dock Adapters
These work fine. You just pick the adapter that matches your iPod model and slot the adapter onto the universal dock.
Apple Remote
My only minor niggle with this is that the menu button is inactive when controlling the iPod. It does say this on the Apple web site but I wasn’t aware of this as the time of purchase. As far as the iPod goes, you can use the remote to adjust the volume, play and pause tracks and rewind and fast-forward tracks.
Since the menu button is inactive it means you can’t access any of the menu functions of the iPod which is a shame. I don’t know whether that problem will be resolved in the future.
You do have to remember though that the remote is for more than just controlling your iPod though. You can use it to control your Mac too, and for that the menu feature does work. So it would be unfair to complain too much about this.
Also worth noting is that the Apple remote can only control your iPod when the iPod is connected to the universal dock, since that is where the infrared port is located. If you’re considering buying the remote control separately, instead of the AV connection kit, you will also need to buy the universal dock.
USB Power Adapter
I haven’t used this yet because it uses the 2-pin style plug which is unsuitable for use in the UK. I think I’m right in saying that even the adapters sold in the UK use the 2-pin style plug?
I think this is poor marketing from Apple. It is forcing me to buy an expensive travel adapter just so I can use the USB power adapter. The world travel adapter sold by Apple is expensive. I have seen cheaper alternatives but I’m worried I might buy the wrong one and end up frying my iPod!
Summary
Overall a nice piece of kit from Apple although I’m not sure it can fully justify the price tag of $99 (£69), especially when you consider the USB power adapter won’t work outside North America without purchasing a separate travel adapter.
I mainly use the universal dock and AV cable. They are both great pieces of kit. I’m really pleased with the AV cable. It delivers good sound quality to my hi-fi and the photo and sound quality on my TV is very good too.
If you’re looking to connect your iPod to a hi-fi or TV, and need extras like the universal dock and remote control, then overall this is a good buy.
Buy the Apple iPod AV Connection Kit from Amazon.
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41 responses so far ↓
1 Mike // Apr 8, 2007 at 9:49 pm
thanks for the help!
2 Philippe Ariaudo // Apr 29, 2007 at 11:54 am
The UK version comes with a 3 pin UK configuration for the power adaptor (the earth is a dummy plastic pin).
3 Dean // Apr 29, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Thanks for clarifying that. I’ve just had another look at the UK Apple web site and it does show the 3 pin UK configuration as you describe. That’s another good reason to buy this kit now.
4 Digitaal magazine // May 10, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Seems cool to me that you can watch you xvid divx and mpeg 4 movie on your tv from your ipod
5 Dean // May 11, 2007 at 7:07 am
Yes the videos look pretty cool on your TV. I’ve downloaded a few video podcasts onto my iPod from sites like the BBC and National Geographic and I was amazed how good the video quality was on my TV.
6 Sam // Oct 21, 2007 at 7:41 pm
is this kit compatible with the 6th generation ipod, ipod touch and iphone?
7 Dean // Oct 21, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Sam,
I think support is limited. I found this in the Apple discussion forum which may be of interest.
8 Jennifer // Dec 7, 2007 at 9:32 pm
This kit is *not* compatible with the 6th generation iPod or iPhone. The audio works just fine, but the video does not.
9 Mike // Dec 19, 2007 at 12:36 pm
If you buy this item in the UK, like any apple product it comes woth the correct 3 pin plug adaptor.
10 Plb // Dec 28, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Jennifer – I’m not sure you’re correct on the iphone compatibility. The following shows a video of a guy using his iPhone showing video through his TV.
11 Most Popular Reviews of 2007 // Jan 5, 2008 at 8:20 am
[...] Apple iPod AV Connection Kit [...]
12 jan // Jan 5, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Thanks so much for these reviews! Was a bit dubious about buying when the 2 pin plug mentioned but once clarified that 3 pin adaptor supplied for uk use cant wait to get one. hope it works!
13 Apple 30Gb iPod Review // Jan 18, 2008 at 6:13 pm
[...] don’t use the earphones that much, I normally connect the iPod to my hi-fi using the Apple AV connection kit, and then let the iPod shuffle the songs in random order. The sound quality through the hi-fi is [...]
14 jimmy // Mar 24, 2008 at 5:34 pm
i have an 30gb ipod video two years old and have just bought a av cable to connect to the tv ,the one that connects to the ear phone connection and has the white-yellow-red plugs but i can only get sound not the video i got from itunes,can any body help .thanks
15 Dean // Mar 25, 2008 at 7:04 pm
From the main iPod menu select Videos and then Video Settings. Make sure the TV Out option is set to On.
Let me know if that fixes it.
16 lea // Mar 29, 2008 at 3:58 pm
ive just bought a av cable for my 80 gb ipod ive set it to tv out it comes up with the white screen but there still isnt any image on screen.its the av cable that u plug into the headphone socket.can anyone tel me whats happin!!!!
17 Dean // Mar 30, 2008 at 8:38 am
Hi Lea,
I’ve got a few questions to try and help you out.
Is it just the video you can’t see on the TV? Do you get any sound coming through the TV speakers?
What type of AV cable have you bought? Is it the type where there is red, yellow and white plugs at one end of the cable?
18 lea // Mar 30, 2008 at 5:30 pm
hi dean
i dont hear or see any thing on the tv.
i bought the wire that plugs into the headphone socket an it does have the red yellow an white lead at the end.
19 Dean // Mar 31, 2008 at 8:21 am
A couple of other things to check. Go back to the Video Settings screen on your iPod and make sure the TV Signal is correctly set to either PAL or NTSC. If you live in the UK it is PAL, otherwise it is NTSC if you live in North America.
Also you may need to setup your TV so it knows where to get the input signal from. On my TV I have to change to a special AUX channel before anything from the iPod appears on my TV. Check your TV manual for details.
If that doesn’t work, try connecting your iPod to a hi-fi system using your AV cable and see if you can get any sound to come through your hi-fi speakers. Again you may need to setup your hi-fi to receive its input from an AUX signal.
20 Dave // Apr 8, 2008 at 1:06 pm
One other quick question – will this allow me to connect to a ‘traditional’ TV or will it only work on a plasma/LCD? I’m just thinking that my trad TV only has SCART in and also the usual Yellow/White/Red sockets on the side
21 Dean // Apr 8, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Hi Dave,
I still use a traditional TV and it works fine. I plug the lead into the yellow/red/white sockets on the back of my TV.
22 Simon // May 19, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I have bought the iPod AV connection kit and have tried connecting my 60GB iPod to my Harmon Kardon hi-fi. i can hardly hear the ipod through the hi-fi at normal volume levels. i have to turn up the volume so high to hear any song at a decent level. is anyone else having this problem? do i need to unblock a safety level setting?
23 Dean // May 20, 2008 at 9:28 am
Simon,
I have to turn up the volume levels a little higher on my Kenwood hi-fi when the iPod is connected, although not excessively high levels.
24 JonBoy MacRobot // Aug 15, 2008 at 5:10 am
hi, so what happened bout the iPhone/3G compatibility of the supplied cabling? I can get the lead from Argos £15 instead of nearly 30 notes for the official apple composite one (uses the dock connector instead of 3 pin mini jack). Does anyone know if iPhone 3G outputs video via it’s headphone port???
Please only respond if you actually have tried this or know for a fact.
25 Stephen // Jan 8, 2009 at 3:44 am
Hey I seem to have the same problem that Jimmy had on comment 14 except I have an 80GB IPOD. I bought the Maxell Audio and Video connection kit and it is compatible with IPODs. I get sounds on my TV but no video. I also tried setting it to TV out on the on setting but it did not work either. If there is anything you can tell me it would be extremely helpful.
Thank-you,
Stephen
26 Dean // Jan 8, 2009 at 8:21 am
Hi Stephen,
I’m not sure what else to suggest next if you’ve already set the iPod to TV Out. Just double check the TV Out setting is still set and the cables are connected to the right sockets on the TV.
If you do a photo slideshow on the iPod do they appear on the TV? That might help to establish if we can get anything visual to appear on the TV.
27 Cygnett Unison i-X5 iPod Speakers Review // Feb 13, 2009 at 11:41 pm
[...] convinced there was no problem with our iPod. We have a docking station from an iPod AV Connection Kit that has worked fine with this iPod for several years. We plugged the iPod into this old docking [...]
28 Tracy // Mar 17, 2009 at 9:11 am
I have just bought an apple AV componant cable. These have red, green and blue, but on my tv i have yellow, white and red. I can get sound but no picture. I have tried all different combinations to no avail. can you help.
29 BMX Bandit // Mar 17, 2009 at 9:23 am
Hi Tracy. Well really you need the ‘composite’ cable type. It’s no cheaper but has the yellow connector you need. Component is more like RGB in that it seperates the colours onto individual cables. Most top tv sets now have this option as well as hdmi but your set requires composite which granted is lower quality and shoves all the video down one cable. I have one like this for my iPhone. Works a treat and if you get a SKART converter can be plugged into almost any telly. Perfect if on holiday for movies from iPod or iPhone!
Take the one you got back and exchange it pronto.
Hope that helps you?
BMX Bandit.
30 Cen Davies // Apr 6, 2009 at 5:16 pm
hi, can you tell me if you can see the album information on the tv screen? I only want this if I you can see the same as you do on the ipod but on the tv. Thanks.
31 Dean // Apr 6, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I didn’t have any luck getting music to be output through my TV speakers, or audio from videos. The only thing that worked for me is photo slideshows. My guess is you can’t show album information on the TV.
32 Ronnie // Aug 15, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I have the iPod touch 1g will it work with it?
33 Dean // Aug 15, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Hi Ronnie,
I looked at the product description on Amazon and says it supports the iPod Touch, but reading through the reviews one person says it doesn’t work with the iPod Touch. So conflicting reports on whether it works or not.
34 Ronnie // Aug 15, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I just bought one it’s on it’s way I guess I’ll find out when it gets here I’ll let you know
35 ron gallop // Dec 1, 2009 at 11:19 pm
excellent article as i am unable to get video on tv from my av cable. i presume the photo/ slideshow setting is necessary for video playing as well as photoshows, although this is not clear. i do get sound but no picture from my 80gb classic. the 30gb ipod used to work when i connected that. i will give it a try. my av cable looks similar to yours so it should work with a PAL setting for uk
36 dazedandconfused // Dec 31, 2009 at 7:57 pm
V interesting comments. I have an ipod classic and a samsung tv / surround sound system that are both connected up. I bought the Apple AV component cable to play the Ipod through the tv/ home cinema kit. But I keep getting the message that there is no music on my Ipod (there is) and the only thing the cable will let me do is show photos. I’ve put tv out on so not sure where I am going wrong? Anyone?!!!
37 Dean // Jan 1, 2010 at 10:10 am
I get the same problem with my series 6 Samsung TV. I can’t get music to play from my iPod classic. If anyone has a solution let us know.
38 dazedandconfused // Jan 4, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Hi Dean – I have cracked it. Forget about the costly Apple cables and connecting it to your tv – if you have the option of connecting your Ipod to a surround sound system/ stereo. Get a cable that connects to the headphone jack of your Ipod and also goes direct into the red and white jacks (mine are aux 2) on the back of your sound system. In my case as long as I switch the surround sound system’s function to aux 2 then I finally have Ipod music!
39 Dean // Jan 4, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Thanks, glad you got it sorted.
40 shelly // Jan 21, 2010 at 11:51 am
I tried for months to get this kit to work with both my new samsung tvs it worked with both my previous tvs which were sony eventually i cracked it in a bizarre way. To get it to work on my samsung tv i had to use the kit plugged into my old sony tv which played video an sound an left it running for 5 to 10 mins then once it had been running i quickly changed it over to my samsung tv and hey presto it worked and then for my 2nd samsung tv i repeated the same process above and it worked. I know this is bizarre and maybe coincidental but im happy it worked and now both tvs 1 being the b750 latest samsung model before led tvs are now both working with the ipod white/red an yellow av kit with dock but does also work with lead plugged in headphone socket as well because i checked both. Dont know if it will work for anyone else but it did for me.
41 Ipod docking station Apple - 9lives - Games Forum // Feb 22, 2010 at 5:12 pm
[...] Apple iPod AV Connection Kit Review [...]
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