Well, I tried searching for this without much luck, so here is my situation:

I recently put in XM radio, and connected it to the AUX jack in the center console. Of course, I'm getting the electrical whine, and I'm looking into fixing it. I'd rather not remove the head unit to connect one, so I'm considering a "minijack" ground loop adapter that connects in between the XM radio and the AUX input. Will this work?

If not, how do I go about "grounding" the wire? Please let me know.

 

have you tried running the XM unit without the power plugged in? when you get the electrical whine does it change with your rpm? depending on what i asked, you might also consider an engine noise eliminator too.

 

Just remove the aux cable that you currently have running from the unit to your headunit and replace it with a ground loop isolator from the unit to the headunit. It will eliminate an extra cable having to be added there and the sound can only be as good as the worst piece of cable that it has to pass through - which would be the ground loop isolator

 

I have the same problem with my Harman Kardon Drive+Play- but it's an alternator whine like ADRdesignCo said. Do they even make ground loop adaptors that are mini stereo to mini stereo?

 

i personally havent seen a mini to mini ground loop iso. but you can get 1/8" to RCA and use that in then another one back out of the ground loop iso.

 

i run a mini to RCA not mini to mini

 

Are you sending RCA directly to the HU? Guessing you don't have the stock one if that's so... the only aux input I have available is the 1/8" AUX in the center armrest.

 

exactly. I have an aftermarket with rcas. if your running stock, i'm sure u can figure out a way to do the same as me. I just forget what connections there are to the stock. I believe its just the aux port, and I believe a mini to mini ground loop isolator exists. if not, i'm sure an adapter is made that can help.

 

The electrical whine definitely changes with the RPMs. Also, here is the part I'm considering:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-rK61v51...op&i=127SNI135

 

alternator whine....this brings up a few questoins and concerns on my part here:

Is buying an adapter sort of a cop out to finding a better ground for your components and / or using better insolated wire / running power and signal separately?

im just curious, what do you guys think?

 

wow ive never seen that before, but by the looks of it it looks like itd work. but as of anycase i personally can't guarantee but i say its definately worth checking it out.

 

That's a standard Ground Loop Isolator with the correct connectors for the job, so it should do just fine.



Tom

 

I ordered one from Crutchfield, so as soon as I put it in, I'll report back here on how it works.

 

I have a couple ground loop isolators laying around. PM me if your need one.

 

ADRdesignCo brought up a good point. Does this "whine" noise occur when your XM unit is plugged in and does it disappear when you unplug it? If that's the case a hardwiring of the XM units power source to a OEM grounding point should fix the problem.