Cars & Transportation Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connection?

[Will.B.Worth.Da.Waite]

Guys I was given an iPod the other day and I'm trying to get it plugged into my car. My car has an aux connection/hole so I bought one of the aux cables. The problem is, when I plug it into the iPod, sound only comes out of one speaker. This doesn't happen when I listen to CD's or radio or anything like that.

Does anybody know a possible cause? I'm not very good with these types of things, could it have something to do with whether or not the cable is monophonic or stereo? If it helps, it's a shitty little Belkin retractable cable which is 3.5mm that cost $10.

 

[Dean3]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

Could be something to do with your iPod settings (Settings > Equaliser).

Or I guess you could try with a different set of earphones and see if result is the same.

 

[HarryTiger]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

Guys I was given an iPod the other day and I'm trying to get it plugged into my car. My car has an aux connection/hole so I bought one of the aux cables. The problem is, when I plug it into the iPod, sound only comes out of one speaker. This doesn't happen when I listen to CD's or radio or anything like that.

Does anybody know a possible cause? I'm not very good with these types of things, could it have something to do with whether or not the cable is monophonic or stereo? If it helps, it's a shitty little Belkin retractable cable which is 3.5mm that cost $10.

Balance can do that, but it would have to be the balance in the iPod not the vehicle and iPods probably don't even have balance. (also you have Fade, similar balance in the front-back direction)

Test that iPod-cable combination on something else like your TV or stereo, that should confirm if stereo sound is or isn't being output. It should be in this day and age all equipment should handle stereo where it is applicable.

If I had to guess I'd say that your cable is broke in one channel, similar to when your ear phones only produce sound in one ear piece. A stereo cable has two wires inside and one can break, or both. Sometimes bending it around at the break point will result in scratchy sound coming through.

 

[Rod Stroker]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

Could it be that either the aux jack or headphone jack is only mono, hence why there is only sound coming out of 1 channel instead of 2 if the jack was stereo?

 

[TurboHead]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

make sure its pushed all the way in, its a double click and you may have stopped after the first.

 

[Will.B.Worth.Da.Waite]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

Thanks for the feedback guys, appreciate it. Think we figured it out though. Pretty sure the iPod was just faulty. Because when I plugged in other people's iPods, everything was fine. And then when we connected my iPod to other people's connections, it wouldn't work. Also when I would go into radio, the iPod would say "please connect the headset", which was already connected.

So pretty sure something was wrong with the aux jack in the actual iPod itself. Swapped it for another one today and fingers crossed everything will be good.

 

[Damon_3388]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

I've got Belkin accessories for my iPod, including this aux connection cord, and they're all pretty good quality IMO.

 

[Will.B.Worth.Da.Waite]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

Ok scratch what I said above, I now remember why I never bought an iPod in the first place. After ****ing up within 5 minutes of using my first iPod, the 2nd one (the one I exchanged the first one for today) has done the exact same thing. Was working to begin with (for the first 60 seconds), then i pushed the headset cord VERY marginally in more, the thing crackled like a bitch, and is now ****ed again. Music plays out of the iPod instead of the headsets, even when the headsets are in, and i'm 100% certain if i plugged it into my car it wouldn't work again. Just like the first one, the aux jack is ****ed.

Must be a bad batch or something. really angry though, absolute pieces of shit. just wanna take it back and get a different model, because this current one (iPod nano 8GB) is ****ed. Should just exchange it for cash actually, the only way I was ever going to get an iPod was through a gift, never had intentions of buying one myself, and this has furhter reinforced that view.

 

[bit_pattern]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

There's probably a good reason why the previous owner gave it away

 

[HarryTiger]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

My 8GB Sandisk (16 with micro card) has seen hell and high water in the past 2 years and still works like a charm. I wouldn't touch Apple anything, it's all dumbed down for the stake of style and easier tech support.

 

[Will.B.Worth.Da.Waite]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

There's probably a good reason why the previous owner gave it away

Lol it was a brand new gift that came in a sealed box, accompanied with a receipt. Would love to make excuses, but when it comes down to it, Apple are just shit

 

[scooterb]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

I've owned 2 iPods in the last 5 years and both of them still work perfectly.

I use my 80GB Classic for hours every day and I also use an aux cable regularly.

As the person before me said, always buy quality accessories and take good care of them. HDDs are fragile.

 

[pacemaker]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

sounds dodgy

 

[The Cranium]

Re: Why does sound only come out of 1 speaker when I plug my iPod into my car through an aux connect

Have always bought Apple and they are far superior to some of the crap out there, everything fails, no model, no brand is perfect.

I have traveled the world through deserts and snow with my IPOD and its still soldiering on. Headphones are my biggest bug bear.

 

[toxic]

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