# Clarion HX-D1/drx-9255 mod question



## stickpony (Nov 8, 2010)

has anyone ever been able to hook up a an mp3 player, ie, ipod or other such player, to the Clarion HX-D1's optical input? I believe the clarion optical digital input is proprietary, yes?

I look forward to hearing feedback from anyone who has been able to do it.

Aaron


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## meamens (Dec 17, 2009)

Hi Stickpony,

I have a HX-D2 and I think the optical side is very similar, if not the same - it's just standard toslink/SPDIF, only the connector is proprietary (DCA006) so you need to chop the end off, polish the splice with the finest wet sandpaper you can find, and put a standard toslink connector on. 

However there are some considerations... to make the optical connector an input, the HU needs to 'negotiate' with the correct changer when it's first powered on, in my case this was the DCZ625. So you'll need to put toslink connectors on to both ends of spliced cable so you end up with 2 modified cables, an optical switch box helps immensely here, mine was only a few pounds but is a bit of a monstrosity (I'm sure there's a neater one out there but it's been a while since I even looked at this).

But anyway, the result of all this is playing FLACs via my modified (with 60GB SSD) iRiver H140, bit-perfect through my HX-D2 DACs! Awesome. Also, I'm in the UK and wanted 6Music in the car, so a Pure PocketDAB 2000 later and I'm enjoying high quality radio in the car too! Well, as high-quality as DAB gets that is.

As you can see - once the cable is spliced and the HU optical is negotiated to input mode, it should accept pretty much any standard toslink. Go for it.


BTW when I eventually reinstall the system in my new car, I plan to replace the iRiver with a Nexus 7 + USB storage outputting audio through a U-Control UCA202 sound card. I've tested the optical output through my home cinema and it works perfectly but I'm sure there'll be some teething problems with the interface and charging etc (but I'm pretty sure it's possible to do OTG and charging at same time). I think this will be a pretty kickass setup with the tablet doing music, videos, navigation, and Torque for OBDII connectivity plus whatever else comes along in future. Looking forward to it.


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## stickpony (Nov 8, 2010)

meamens said:


> Hi Stickpony,
> 
> I have a HX-D2 and I think the optical side is very similar, if not the same - it's just standard toslink/SPDIF, only the connector is proprietary (DCA006) so you need to chop the end off, polish the splice with the finest wet sandpaper you can find, and put a standard toslink connector on.
> 
> ...



coool, i think i understand your setup.. but to clarify, i dont suppose you could draw up a quick diagram showing all the devices, and the cables with their appropriate spliced connectors on each end?

Thanks for the thorough response. Its nice to know i have more options than just RCA inputs , i tried using the RCA inputs already using a 3.5mm mini-jack to stereo rca's adapter, and the quality to be frank, is crappy, even with 320kbps mp3's


Aaron


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## goodstuff (Jan 9, 2008)

This might help. Not sure.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...ds-ipods-me-drz9255-optical-input-fooled.html


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