How To Play iPod Through Home Stereo

How to play an iPod through a home stereo can be a simple if you are the kind of person that hoards all the materials that come in the box when you purchase electronics. The fact that you have both an iPod and a home stereo means that you are still in a transitional period (don’t worry, we all are), which is excellent. Let us just hope that you want to play an iPod through a home stereo that isn’t from the 20th century. Either way, playing your iPod through a home stereo allows you and your friends to enjoy the extensive playlists you have set up on your iPod on a grander scale than simply using your personal earbuds. 

What you will need to play an iPod through a home stereo:

• of course, your iPod
• a 3.5 MM (1/8") Stereo Cable (Male to Male)
• a stereo with an “AUX” input jack
• your favorite tunes.

1. Make sure your stereo is turned on.
2. Press the “function” button until the stereo LCD reads “AUX” or press “AUX” button so that the stereo will transmit through the auxiliary input line. This will depend on the model of stereo you are using.
3. Plug one end of your 3.5 MM (1/8”) stereo cable (male to male) into the headphone input of the stereo or in the input that is labeled “AUX.”  This will also depend on the model of stereo. More modern models will have an input specifically labeled for the auxiliary input.
4. Plug the other end of the stereo cable into the iPod that should already be loaded with your favorite tunes. Otherwise, this process would be all for naught.
5. Select a song that has significant elements such as bass, vocals etc. to use as a gauge to adjust the volume. Volume can be tricky because you have both the iPod volume control and the stereo volume control. It may be best to have your iPod volume at half mast and conduct the remaining equalizing using the stereo’s volume controls.

The cost of the stereo cable is miniscule (less than $10) at any electronics store. This method of playing your iPod through a home stereo should also work with any model of iPod, though the model of stereo may change the stereo cable needed. At worst, you will have to purchase a stereo cable that has two separate prongs to plug into the back of the stereo: one for the left speaker, and one for the right. This doesn’t change the process much and the cost of the cable is still in the same ballpark as the single pronged cable.

If all goes well, playing your iPod through the home stereo should make you the life of the party. You will be known as the DJ that gets the rumps out of the chairs and the hands in the air.