iPod Tips?
I bought my wife an 8GB iPod Nano for Christmas, and she loves it. Since neither of us have a cassette deck in our cars anymore, I bought her an FM transmitter so she could listen to her iPod in the car. Problem is, it sounds like crap. There's too much interference and several of the songs sound like they're being played inside a tin can.
Anybody have any tips on playing an iPod in the car? Are certain FM transmitters better than others? Please share any info you may have!
- Wes
Anybody have any tips on playing an iPod in the car? Are certain FM transmitters better than others? Please share any info you may have!
- Wes
Labels: Randomness
posted by Wes at 10:43 AM
21 Comments:
You may just not have the best frequency. The SIRIUS Frequency Finder could help with that via Lifehacker. There are also some other tips there that might be useful.
2:02 PMyou could buy a transmitter that you plug into the cigarette lighter if im thinking right they have those dont know how expensive they are though might wanna look it up :)
2:29 PMThere are "better" transmitters, that basically sit in-line between your car antenna and the stereo. It requires a bit of work though, since you have to remove the head unit.
3:02 PMIf your stereo has a line-in option, you could always get an ipod line out cable, and plug it in to that. It's better than FM.
Short of those two, if you want to spend the money you could replace the stereo with one that as full ipod controls. Alpine makes some decent units.
just to clarify, as i was just railed by skormos :)
3:10 PMI'm not recommending a new stereo... just sayin'
It's hard to make a full reco though, without knowing what type of car you have & stereo, also what type of FM transmitter.
Some of them are "crappier" than others. (I have one that's made by iRiver, which is decent)
But check out your stereo for a line-in. Some of them aren't obvious, and are in the back of the unit for CD-changers, etc.
That would be the cheapest route right now (a line-out cable is like $15?)
I've found a few things that helped me the most with my transmitter
3:17 PMa) play with the frequency/band. In Vancouver, Canada - it seems that 91.5 is a very good fit.
b) location of the ipod matters - I hang mine on my automatic transmission gear shift - it's close enough to the antenna i guess, that it makes a difference.
c) if the transmitter has a passthru - you can get a charger for the ipod, and it seems to boost the signal
Hope that helps,
Kevin
All your tips are very helpful! I really appreciate it!
3:23 PMkaosdg - I looked for a line-in jack on my stereo and couldn't find one. I went to crutchfield.com and found that they make an adapter for the iPod to be played through the CD changer. it costs $140, though. It's something to chew on . . .
Anyone know how hard it is to take a CD player out of a 2006 VW Jetta? I'd like to see if there are any ports on the back.
- Wes
just a thought, it might be cheaper to get a stero with a cassette deck and then get one of those ipod -> cassette converters. they cost 5 quid here in the UK so i'd guess 5-10 dollars. sound quality is better than a ropey fm transmitter AND you can play your old tapes :)
5:55 PMWes, I saw a knock off version of what you're talking about (line-in input through the CD changer) for $55 at pep boys yesterday. Hope that helps.
7:33 PMsara's fm transmitter works great as long as you have the right frequency. when you get near the edge of your frequency, moving the transmitter closer does help for a little bit but just changing to a different frequency is better. all that, and it charges too. i got hers at radio shack in chillicothe; i dont know the brand of it.
7:44 PMhim-that-be - I'm gonna have to go check out that input thingie. I saw one on the internet for about $60 plus shipping. If I can get it cheaper I will.
8:04 PMJosh - I bought a $45 FM transmitter for Trish from RadioShack. It works on the 88 and 107 frequencies, but those frequencies seem to be loaded with stations around here. So listening to the iPod actually sounds worse than if we were to listen to the radio.
- Wes
I really have to second the cassette converter. With the iPod volume at maximum and reduced bass, it's almost indistinguishable from CD-quality.
8:13 PMI've got way too many CDs to justify reverting to a cassette deck in my car.
8:17 PM- Wes
Most FM transmitters won't give you as clear sound as the casette adapters will, but my Griffin FM transmitter works decently enough. i've considered getting one of the adapters installed that treats your ipod like a cd changer so you can shuffle through songs with the radio controls on the steering wheel, but they're kinda expensive from what i've seen. hope this helps a little.
8:25 PMsara's was about $80 and you can make it any station that you want. just scroll through the dial until you find one with nothing around and it is good to go.
10:52 PMi think this is it:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2110500&cp=2032054.2222882.2224130&allCount=306&fbn=Type%2FFM+transmitters&f=PAD%2FProduct+Type%2FFM+transmitters&fbc=1&parentPage=family
i give it two thumbs up and she has had hers for awhile.
basically the way to go is through the auxiliary cable thats already been mentioned, even though it isn't "wireless". It just sounds better and works better, no other worries.
12:52 AMoriginal car stereos rarely have the aux port included, so you'd have to spring for a new one, and most places that sell stereos would also cover the installation.
for my family, we've gone though many Hondas, and while the engine lasts forever, the stereo doesn't, so making sure the new stereo had an aux port was essential.
Other than that, if you're still leaning towards the FM Transmitter, try to get the super low or super high ones, but make sure your car stereo still has the ability to pick it up. always make sure everything is charged too, that always helps.
good luck!
Two suggestions:
7:45 AM#1 - if you want to use an FM transmitter, find one that lets you choose the frequency, and then you can find the "dead spot" in the stations in your area. This will change as you travel long distance, or over time. Here in Philly, the whole spectrum is pretty tight, so the FM transmitters are a waste. Most newer "digital" transmitters allow a broad range of freq to use.
#2 - upgrade to a slightly better stereo in the car. Find one that has a headphone jack in the face if you want to plug in your MP3 player. More expensive ones will offer full ipod connections and all, but they'll be priced accordingly.
Also, as someone who couldn't live without an ipod... I've used it less since I got my current car a few months back. Many car CD players these days have MP3/WMA/etc playback. So burn a Disc of MP3s and you've got 10+ CDs on one disc that you can track through like any other standard CD. I know that I typically listen to the same 20 albums a lot despite the 40G on my ipod.
PS. for anyone interested in a Hyundai - the '07s Aux input (for the ipod) is too close the power (cig charger) and will cause a buzz if you play and charge at the same time. D'oh. May or maynot have been fixed for the '08s.
The line-in, whether a new stereo or getting an add-on, will be expensive but worth it. Trust me, if you're discerning enough to notice problems with the FM transmitter, you'll fall in love.
8:07 AMThat said, if you're feeling adventurous - modern stereos use RCA plugs for connectivity. It may be worth a shot to pull it out to see if if it has any spares in the back, say for XM Radio or something like that. Then you could get some cables on the cheap and have line-in.
If you're not feeling adventurous, find some forums that discuss audio in your model of car and see what they have to say. I'll bet they has a big post about what works best or is the cheapest.
Wes,
10:45 AMThe first iPod car transmitter I got only had the ability to choose from three different FM radio stations - I HAD to use those stations. There was no other choice. If memory recalls, it was pretty cheap and like they say, you get what you pay for. Stay away from the ones that are like that.
Then, my wife got one of the transmitters where you slide the iPod into it and then insert it into your cigarette lighter. It has the ability to choose ANY station on the FM dial. I love it.
Some tips:
If you're not getting really great sound from the iPod, you can try changing the FM station on the transmitter AND your car stereo.
Using iTunes and your iPod, you can also try adjusting the settings of your songs. here's how you do that:
1. Connect your iPod to iTunes on your computer.
2. With your iPod selected, find the song or songs you want to adjust the volume for.
3. Click on the song in the iTunes window.
4. With the song highlighted, press your Option - I keys on your keyboard.'
5. When the pop-up window appears, select the "Options" button.
6. From there, you can modify the volume adjustment or click the Equalizer Preset dorop down and experiment with the various setting in there.
I had to do this with a lot of the earlier Webcomics Weekly Podcasts as it was really terrible trying to hear Dave and Brad while listening to Webcomics Weekly in the car. Now, I don't have a problem at all.
Hope that helps!
-Chris
http://www.capesnbabes.com
Wes,
10:52 AMMy boyfriend bought me a Griffin iTrip Auto with SmartScan FM transmitter from Best Buy. That gagdet is amazing. It will scan for the best three radio stations at the hit of a button and saves them as presets, or you can scroll through all FM channels until you're happy with the sound. Also, you can choose if you want it to play in Stereo or Mono. It will even transmit over strong radio stations from here in town and I can't here any interference. It's about $90 at Best Buy but I think it's really worth it, and it doubles as a charger.
I used the tape deck converter for about 2 years but had terrible experience with it. Plus it only plays Mono, and you don't even have a tape deck.
Here's the link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8577998&st=iTrip&type=product&id=1190411437476
FM transmitters are just a waste of money...
11:37 AMyou can get a new head unit stereo or an adapter or even just get one with an ipod hookup so you can control it from the stereo and leave the ipod itself hidden from thieving thieves!
Friends have spoken well of the griffin iTrips.
10:52 AM(My car is old, and has a cassette player which works well. My wife went with the MusicLink setup that honda used to offer. It charges and has good audio quality, but was $300 installed, and it sucks at controlling the ipod)
<< Home | Post a Comment