Design Considerations for iPod Integration

Many of us in the upper tier of the consumer electronics industry, especially in the custom integration realm, have mixed feelings about the iPod. But because of its popularity, you will inevitably need to accommodate the iPod into your distributed audio designs.

Owing to the iPod's ubiquity, virtually every CE manufacturer offers an integration solution.

There are freestanding docks with an amplified speaker, like those from Bose or JBL. Surround receivers from Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, Onkyo, and others that mate with a compatible docking station and allow you to navigate your library and playlists with the receiver's remote control, and listen to your iPod through your big speakers. And to integrate an iPod as part of a whole home integration project, Speakercraft and Crestron offer hardware that will allow you to connect multiple iPods to your control system.

With all of the options available, let's take a look at the design considerations you should keep in mind when planning for iPods in your installation.
Make it Accessible

For starters, think about installing the docking stations in public, easily accessible areas in the home. The iPod is by nature a portable device, and odds are your clients are going to want to take it with them when they leave the house.

Their lifestyle will dictate the final decision, but the kitchen, den or living room are all obvious choices. Nobody wants to go down to the mechanical room in the basement to retrieve their iPod before going outside for a run.

Controlling the iPod

Manage your client's expectations of how the iPod will be controlled by your system. Because of the scrolling toggle wheel nature of the iPod's interface, you are not going to be able to program keys on a keypad to bring up specific playlists. On keypads, you are going to be limited to basic play/pause, forward, and back commands.

Only on touchpanels, or Speakercraft's MODE keypads with LCD display, will you be able to make good use of the iPod's library navigation. (If any of you Crestron programmers out there have any handy tips for getting better functionality out of an iPod, let us know in a comment below.)

Consider Limiting Access

If you are incorporating two or more iPods into an installation, you may want to consider limiting access, depending on the room. One popular situation is to have one iPod for the kids and one for the parents and to be able to access them in different rooms.

For ease of use, you may want to program the system so that the touchpanel in the office or master bedroom only sees the parents' iPod, and in the rumpus room or kid's bedroom, the kid's iPod is the only one visible.

Typically, this programming decision benefit the parents more, helping them avoid accidentally accessing their children's preferred music. Likewise, although it seems unlikely, I have had clients ask me to limit the functionality of the keypads or touchpanels in the children's rooms to prevent them from inflicting their music selections on the rest of the house.

Music Servers Sidelined

One of the unfortunate consequences of the iPod's success is that the market for component music servers in small to mid-sized installations has shrunk.

If you try and pitch a quality, high-capacity music server, such as the units from Imerge, the objection you are most likely to hear is "Why do we need that? Can't we just use our iPods?"

While it may not be perfect, the iPod is the most popular music storage device on the market. If you don't already, you should expect to have to integrate it. But with some helpful tips, and the hardware and software support of your supplier, it should be relatively easy.

Lee Distad is a CEDIA Certified Professional Designer for Systems Inc, a high-end audio/video and automation firm in Edmonton, Alberta. For 19 years, Systems Inc has provided consolidated design, installation, and project management services for new home construction and renovation. Systems Inc's new Web site is under construction at http://www.systemsinc.ca and Lee's business and industry blog can be read at http://www.businessopinions.blogspot.com