Support NeoGAF

[BigJonsson]

Is it any good?

 

[ckohler]

Just spend 10 bucks more and get an iTrip. It doesn't take any batteries, snaps right on top and can broadcast on more frequencies. I love mine.

 

[aparisi2274]

Just spend 10 bucks more and get an iTrip. It doesn't take any batteries, snaps right on top and can broadcast on more frequencies. I love mine.

I have the iTrip, and I bought it because everyone on the ipodlounge.com forums said it was great, well its not. If you use any of those FM transmitters, it will be like listening to your iPod as if it were a regular FM station. You are suceptible to static, loss of signal, interference, ect. The only good option for the iPod is if your car has a cassette adapter. By one of those adapters and put it in the casette player and then into your Ipod. You will get the best reception by far. Unfortunately most new cars did away with the casette, so u are left with a CD and the radio, and then u have to use a FM transmitter. If I had to rate the itrip I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars. It works when you need it to.

 

[BigJonsson]

One of my cars loads tapes the wrong way (lengthwise) so cassette adapters don't work :/

 

[aparisi2274]

One of my cars loads tapes the wrong way (lengthwise) so cassette adapters don't work :/

yes they will. You just re-adjust the wire so that it will come out the way so u can load it the long way. The sony cassette adapter I have does it perfectly. I can either put it in the wide way or the long narrow way. Look into it.

 

[BigJonsson]

i actually have a sony adaptor from years ago and it never worked in this car....
the tape deck just seems to want to rewind it

but i'll try i guess

 

[ckohler]

Keep in mind that FM transmitters work best in areas that aren't oversaturated with FM signals. I don't live in a big city so there are lots of clear frequencies to choose from. I also bought a hands free cell phone holder for my dash to hold my iPod up high. It not only looks cool, but it puts the controls in easy reach and puts the antenna up higher for great reception.

I too was super skeptical about the quality of the sound on the iTrip but it turned out much better than I thought it'd sound.

 

[SteveMeister]

I have the iTrip, and I bought it because everyone on the ipodlounge.com forums said it was great, well its not. If you use any of those FM transmitters, it will be like listening to your iPod as if it were a regular FM station. You are suceptible to static, loss of signal, interference, ect. The only good option for the iPod is if your car has a cassette adapter. By one of those adapters and put it in the casette player and then into your Ipod. You will get the best reception by far. Unfortunately most new cars did away with the casette, so u are left with a CD and the radio, and then u have to use a FM transmitter. If I had to rate the itrip I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars. It works when you need it to.

BZZZT! Wrong. At least in my experience.

I had a cassette adapter at first. The sound quality was horrible. In fact, on my wife's car, there were such loud pops & hisses that we thought the speakers would blow. It was very difficult to balance the iPod's volume to minimize that. And even then there was a ton of static. To top it off, when it was cold out the spindles in the cassette adapter (this was a Sony model) would stiffen up a bit, and the cassette player in my car's head unit would interpret that as the end of a side, and switch to side B -- where there wasn't any signal. Add to that the mess of wires, and it was a totally unacceptable solution.

I currently have an iTrip. The sound quality is excellent. Occasionally I get interference, and when I went on my long road trip last month, there were a couple cities where local radio stations overpowered the frequency I normally use. But most of the time, driving around where I live (DC metro area) it's excellent. There are two other negatives two the iTrip, though. First, is the way you select frequencies. A special playlist is added to your iPod containing all of the FM frequencies. You choose a frequency from the playlist, press PLAY, and the iTrip interprets special signals in the frequency track to change the transmission frequency. The problem is, if you have the iPod set up to shuffle songs, sometimes the iTrip frequency tracks will come up. What I do to get around that is I have a smart playlist that EXCLUDES the iTrip frequency tracks, and select that to play from. Kind of a pain though. The second negative is that the iTrip uses the iPod's headphone jack. This has two problems -- first, you need to set the iPod's volume just right (about 80%) for optimal sound quality; and second, the audio quality is what you'd want for headphones, and is NOT the best the iPod could do. Still, though, I like my iTrip, and for me it works just fine. 3.5/5.

I had originally had the first Belkin FM transmitter. It had only 4 frequencies, and every one of them was occupied in the DC area. So that was no good.

The newer Belkin models -- the TuneCast 2 and Digital FM Transmitter -- solve that problem by offering digital selection of every FM frequency. This also eliminates the iTrip Frequency Track problem I described above. The negative here though is that they require their own batteries, while the iTrip gets its power from the iPod. All of the Belkin models still plug into the iPod's headphone jack, though, so sound quality is not optimal.

The ultimate FM transmitter for iPod, IMO, is the DLO Transpod FM. It's more expensive, but a) it includes a nice mounting bracket, b) it plugs directly into a 12 volt power point in your car, and c) it plugs into the dock connector on the bottom of your iPod. Why is c so important? The dock connector is where the iPod's line out signal is. This transmitter will give you the highest quality audio possible for an FM transmitter. The iPod's volume control is ignored; instead you adjust the volume on your car stereo. Also, you adjust the transmission frequency on the unit itself, as with the Belkin transmitters. I might pick up one of these myself.

Of course the best solution is to have a connection from your iPod's line out directly into an input on your car stereo. There are a number of ways this can be done, such as connecting to a CD changer cable, using an auxiliary input on your head unit, or buying a new BMW. In addition, Alpine is releasing later this year a line of head units that will interface directly with iPod via a breakout box. The nice thing about this is that, as with the BMW solution, you'll see playlists and track info right on the head unit display. And you'll have the highest quality sound possible with no interference.

 

[ballhog]

I have an itrip and a tape adaptor. I allmost never use the itrip. I do live in a city though, so I got alot of interferance. I use the itrip in the house sometimes, if i don't feel like messing with moving wires around. It works great on a couple of systems, and not at all on others.

 

[BigJonsson]

Well I just bought the iTrip and it was loud and clear all the way home from the store

Works far better then I expected, woohoo

 

[aparisi2274]

BZZZT! Wrong. At least in my experience.

Well I had the cassette adapter from Sony for the last 10 years, and I live in NYC, and I havent had one problem with it. No hissing, no popping, nothing. It played very clear, loud and it was noise free.

Oh well I guess yours just didnt work right.

 

[aparisi2274]

Well I just bought the iTrip and it was loud and clear all the way home from the store

Works far better then I expected, woohoo

Dont get me wrong, it works, but trust me, if you go on a drive somewhere, and you get to an area where there are FM stations around the one you are using, you will hear the static and the noise.

I still like my itrip, but I would prefer something better.

 

[Idle Will Kill]

I just use a cassette adapter and it works perfectly, so I don't think I'll be buying an iTrip anytime soon.

 

[SteveMeister]

Well I had the cassette adapter from Sony for the last 10 years, and I live in NYC, and I havent had one problem with it. No hissing, no popping, nothing. It played very clear, loud and it was noise free.

Oh well I guess yours just didnt work right.

That could very well be the case. The tape drives in my cars (they're both VW's) also might be more sensitive and auto-reverse with less tension than the one in your car, too.

 

[bionic77]

What is a good station to use in Washington DC?

 

[SteveMeister]

What is a good station to use in Washington DC?

I use 87.9, all the way at the bottom.

 

[bionic77]

I use 87.9, all the way at the bottom.

Thanks. One more thing, does it matter where you keep the ipod when you are using the itrip? I noticed that it is more clear when someone holds it next to the window.

 

[Doth Togo]

http://www.ccrane.com/fm-transmitter.aspx

Not sure which brand this one is, but it's awesome. You can't beat a 70 ft. broadcast radius with digital programming.

 

[SteveMeister]

Thanks. One more thing, does it matter where you keep the ipod when you are using the itrip? I noticed that it is more clear when someone holds it next to the window.

It depends on your car -- where you have the iPod in relation to the antenna and how much metal and space is between the iPod and the antenna. In both of my cars, it worked fine -- but when I brought it to LA and we tried it in our huge rental van, it didn't work if it was too far from the antenna. The most effective range is about 10 feet; closer is better.

 

[robot]

Dont get me wrong, it works, but trust me, if you go on a drive somewhere, and you get to an area where there are FM stations around the one you are using, you will hear the static and the noise.

I still like my itrip, but I would prefer something better.

I havent been able to find a good station for the itrip in NY, so its been sitting in my room.
It seems like every single station has some interference. Gimme some decent stations to try.

 

[Phoenix]

The Belkin FM transmitter is a terrible terrible product. Don't waste the gas it would take to get it and then take it back to the store because it sucks - horribly.

 

[bionic77]

The Belkin FM transmitter is a terrible terrible product. Don't waste the gas it would take to get it and then take it back to the store because it sucks - horribly.

What do you suggest instead? I got mine because of seeing how well it worked for my friend.

Anyone have any suggestions for how to mount the Ipod in your car. Right now I keep it in that protective slip that comes with it while in my cup holder, not very elegant.

 

[SteveMeister]

The Belkin FM transmitter is a terrible terrible product. Don't waste the gas it would take to get it and then take it back to the store because it sucks - horribly.

That's true, I thought you were talking about the iTrip at first. The 4 frequency Belkin FM transmitter does suck -- but I don't know about the newest one that allows you to select any frequency digitally.

 

[SteveMeister]

Anyone have any suggestions for how to mount the Ipod in your car. Right now I keep it in that protective slip that comes with it while in my cup holder, not very elegant.

I have one of these