I'm with Mr. Nuckles on this one. The iPod is a no brainer. You're jumping through hoops to use antiquated technology. Why the desire to use the head unit?
- The iPod holds more music than a CD.
- The iPod holds more music than a digital media head unit.
- With an iPod you don't have to physically change out a CD if you want to change artists.
- With an iPod you can make personalized playlists without burning a CD (which is becoming harder to do since optical drives are going the way of the floppy disk).
- With an iPhone* you can still tune in to radio stations, if listening to commercials is your thing.
- With an iPhone you can also tune in to internet radio stations, giving you exponentially more options than a normal head unit.
- With an iPhone if you want to listen to music you don't yet own, you just download it wherever you are and THEY WILL YOU SEND YOU THE SONG/ALBUM FROM OUTER SPACE. With a CD player, you have to find a local music store (which will be difficult without an iPhone), drive there, go inside, and hope they have the album in stock. Oh you just wanted a single song? Well it's $.99 on iTunes but you'll have to buy the entire album in a store.
- With an iPod/iPhone when you leave your car, you bring all your music with you in your pocket. With a stereo and CDs, you leave a small case of dozens (if not hundreds) of items that cost you ~$15 each in a car without locks that is already tight on storage space.
- With an iPod/iPhone you can still listen to music if your stereo gets stolen.
- With an iPod/iPhone you can run the headphone cord under your shirt. This helps to hide it from police.
- When an iPod/iPhone breaks or becomes outdated, it's very simple to replace. With a head unit, you have to take the car to a stereo installation place or do it yourself. Either option is a pain in the a$$ compared to simply plugging the iPhone/iPod into the computer and instantly having all your music put on the new one.
- With an iPod/iPhone, you can continue listening to music while getting out of the car to pump gas or whatever. Turning the engine off does not stop the music and walking around is not an issue, as the iPod/iPhone fits in your pocket.
If you insist on using headphones, there are probably a slew of additional reasons to use portable media over a stereo head unit. Don't forget that any decent stereo that isn't outdated will have have a usb port on the back so you can charge the iPod/iPhone while driving. Again, why are you trying to use headphones through the stereo rather than an iPod etc?
*I'm assuming you have an iPhone or comparable. I would never make the rude assumption that you may not actually have one by third quarter 2012. I cannot stress this enough, I would never behave that rudely (I would insert a smiley face emoticon here to indicate that I'm obviously joking, but the emoticons on the new site are so horribly childish and feminine that I'm afraid if I use one I will no longer be able to satisfy my girlfriend). If by some chance you do not yet own one, I would highly suggest saving the money you're hoping to spend on the small 12 volt preamp that can be connected to the RCA jacks which the car stereo shops don't seem to carry because it may or may not exist and instead allocating this money towards an iPhone. In addition to full iPod functionality, you also get internet access, email access, gps, turn by turn driving directions, radio, internet radio, YouTube, a digital camera, a video camera, the ability to pinpoint its location if lost/stolen, the ability to download music/applications on the go, the ability to record a conversation with a potentially abusive police officer if you get pulled over (I have an awesome story here), and of course a telephone. All in the palm of your hand. For $200. Umm, duh.