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Transmitters for MP3 Portables?
kwerle writes "I have just received my new iPod, and am now faced with the issue of how I should hook it up to every stereo I own. For the car, I could just get one of those cd-to-cassette converters, but that just doesn't...feel right. What experience have you had with mp3/cd player transmitters (like this one from Arkon or the MK-90)? Any suggestions?" Don't forget about the iRock
Update: 04/24 07:46 GMT by C : Errors in the URL for the iRock have been fixed. My apologies.
My experience with casette adapters is pretty good (though I have bad hearing, so I'm no judge of sound quality). Anyway, they cost almost nothing, so why not just try one?
I've owned various FM adapters. Unless you're willing to pay a bit of money (in which case it's cheaper to just add an input plug to your car stereo), they're worthless. To work, they have to be carefully tuned to slot not occupied by a local FM station. And for $25, you're just not going to get a tuner that's sufficiently precise and reliable.
I bought a Lennox Sound feeder to hook my NAPA MP3 CD player up to the stereo on a thousand KM trip a few weeks ago. I would have just bought a cassette adapter - but the stereo in the MU doesn't have a cassette player.
:-)
Anyway, it took me all of 30seconds to setup, and I only had to adjust it 3 or 4 times (which takes about 5 seconds of "fine tuning" with the dial, one handed in the dark while still driving) through the trip. This is mostly due to driving into range of a radio station directly on top of the transmitted signal (if it's strong it'll interfere, if it's not so strong the soundfeeder pretty much overrode it).
Sound was great, and it was very nice to have my collection of quality MP3 programming in the car.
My only complaint with it is that the DC out on it didn't have a voltage to match the NAPA MP3 player so I had to keep the ol' batteries charged.
The NAPA is very nice also by the way, although rough single roads tend to out-do it's buffer a little
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I've not tried it myself but I'm intrigued. The only caveat would be that it broadcasts on 88.1 or 88.3 FM so if there is a station using that frequency in your area, you may experience interference.
The best solution it seems is to get a car stereo with an aux input. I noticed several at Crutchfield. Then you can use just about any device (iPod, laptop, old tape player, etc...). The only drawback is having to buy a new car stereo...
I agree that you should avoid those cheep FM transmitter thingy's. You'll actually be lucky if they work most of the time, and when they do you don't want to annoy other drivers with your FM transmitter.
I would suggest an FM Modulator that plugs directly into your antenna line. You will get much better quality and reliability from them than your average $25 transmitter.
Of course, if you don't mind spending money, just get a head unit with an aux line-in and use that.
user@host:/usr/bin$ whatis
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I've been looking at doing this lately with my PJB-100. In the past, I've tried both the cassette adapter and an FM modulator that goes between the antenna jack on the back of the head unit and the antenna lead. It's more direct than broadcasting over-the-air, and the sound is ok. But honest, the cassette adapters give you the best sound, and are simpler than the FM modulator (which has to be wired into the dash) or FM transmitter (which takes batteries).
If you're going to be using the MP3 as your main music source, check out new head units from Jensen and Aiwa that have front-panel 1/8" Aux inputs. The cheapest Jensen is $120 at Crutchfield.