Audio and Electronics This is a discussion on Getting rid of white noise (static) with added XM radio within the Audio and Electronics forums, part of the Toyota Prius Forums category; I recently picked up my new 2006, and after being told by the dealer that the Toyota XM module has ...
I recently picked up my new 2006, and after being told by the dealer that the Toyota XM module has now been rolled back to September <sigh!> I decided to go ahead and install the XM Roady2 unit I alrady had (this also had the added benefit of costing me nothing, compared to several hundreds of dollars for the other solutions).
So, I plugged it into the handy console inputs, and discovered that it worked fine, except that the sound was overwhelmed by a great dela of "white noise" and this static made it hard to hear or enjoy the programming. Did a little research and found out that the issue was due to the amount of electrical energy running around in the car, and that what was needed was a "ground loop isolator". This is a common box that just plugs inbetween the audio out from the XM and the aux input on the car.
Only problem is that these are very easy to find at almost any car audio supplier with RCA plugs, and very hard to find with the 3.5mm audio plugs needed for this application. I finally gave up on finding a 3.5mm unit, and just used one with the RCA plugs instead by purchasing a few inexpensive adaptors that allowed me to go from thew two RCA plugs to a single 3.5mm stereo plug at each end. The total investment was only about $30 for the isolator as well as all the cable adaptors, and it worked perfectly...problem solved, crystal clear sound, and minimal expense.
I thought this info might be helpful in case anyone else is having the same problems with XM, ipod (or whatever) having static when used with the aux port...
05-16-2006, 08:57 AM
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