ipod/iphone fm transmitter for car

[EddieG]

I bought an inexpensive one of these and the SQ is not good - the sound is very flat. Is this the nature of these things, or is that my unit is "cheap"?

Any suggestions on ones that work well but won't break the bank?

Thanks!

 

[ljaggers]

I used to use FM transmitters. Then I found found Jesus...and bought a head unit with a direct 3.5mm aux input. Now everything is much more 3-dimensional. Ditch the FM Transmitter my friend. Even a cassette adapter with a 3.5mm jack sounds better (if you have a cassette deck.)

 

[EddieG]

I used to use FM transmitters. Then I found found Jesus...and bought a head unit with a direct 3.5mm aux input. Now everything is much more 3-dimensional. Ditch the FM Transmitter my friend. Even a cassette adapter with a 3.5mm jack sounds better (if you have a cassette deck.)

I have a cassette deck, and after posting here I found out that it is better than the fm thingy. Now my dilemma is that on Amazon a lot of the cassette adapter got a lot of 1 star ratings.

What's a head unit? I'm looking to do this on a budget as I had XM radio and thought I'd save money and use the iphone app (for $3/month). If it's gonna cost me money I might as well renew my XM subscription and use the car stereo.

 

[Exit]

Google iSimple. They were mentioned by Audioholics as a good gift. I bought the Jamcast for about $75. It works fine. Its a little more dollars but you get what you pay for with FM transmitters. I don't know if you can get good quality cheaper but I know this one is good. You can end up spending more trying other units that don't satisfy and waste a lot of time.

 

[ljaggers]

If you are still interested in the cassette adapters, take a look at the Monster one. The ratings seem to be a consistently higher than the others. The problem is that even though you are playing your high quality digital files from your iPhone/iPod the sound quality is only going to be as good as a cassette can sound. However, I think you will find that this is a drastic improvement over the FM transmitter.

 

[Hi Ho]

When I had vehicles with tape decks I used a cheap $10 cassette adapter and it worked great. I don't see how a cassette adapter would work poorly. They are cheap so I would just buy one a see how it works. I used a hard wired Scosche FM modulator in my old car and the sound quality was very good.

Head unit = the stereo. Have you check to see if you have an aux input? There may be one on the back.

 

[EddieG]

Google iSimple. They were mentioned by Audioholics as a good gift. I bought the Jamcast for about $75. It works fine. Its a little more dollars but you get what you pay for with FM transmitters. I don't know if you can get good quality cheaper but I know this one is good. You can end up spending more trying other units that don't satisfy and waste a lot of time.

It looks like this is another FM transmitter. Does it produce full sound? I know about limitations due to various components, and last night I picked up a cassette adapter from Radio Shack and it, too, sounds flat. I listened to some Green Day and Yes and there was no "oomph".

ljaggers - is Monster any better than any others? When it comes to cassette adapters, what is it that makes one better than another?

My head unit is built into the console - there is no way for me to access the back of it.

 

[Exit]

It looks like this is another FM transmitter. Does it produce full sound? I know about limitations due to various components, and last night I picked up a cassette adapter from Radio Shack and it, too, sounds flat. I listened to some Green Day and Yes and there was no "oomph".

ljaggers - is Monster any better than any others? When it comes to cassette adapters, what is it that makes one better than another?

Yes it is a FM transmitter - I forgot to say that. iSimple has hard wire solutions too, but I think most hard wire solutions require removal of the head unit to install. I went with the FM transmitter for my son's car CD player because of ease of connection to the cigarette lighter socket and it is portable. My son is driving an 86 Nova and he will probably get a new car in a couple of years when he graduates, and the Jamcast can be transferred easily. Also FM transmitter type solutions can be used in a rental car if you travel a lot. I can't say how it sounds because I don't listen to it. Maybe I could try it in one of our other cars with better sound systems. I do know the transmitter part works very good according to my son.

Just wondering - does your car sound the way you want it in at least one situation? If not, maybe the sound quality is being played accurately by the adapters and the source is the culprit.

 

[EddieG]

Yes it is a FM transmitter - I forgot to say that. iSimple has hard wire solutions too, but I think most hard wire solutions require removal of the head unit to install. I went with the FM transmitter for my son's car CD player because of ease of connection to the cigarette lighter socket and it is portable. My son is driving an 86 Nova and he will probably get a new car in a couple of years when he graduates, and the Jamcast can be transferred easily. Also FM transmitter type solutions can be used in a rental car if you travel a lot. I can't say how it sounds because I don't listen to it. Maybe I could try it in one of our other cars with better sound systems. I do know the transmitter part works very good according to my son.

Just wondering - does your car sound the way you want it in at least one situation? If not, maybe the sound quality is being played accurately by the adapters and the source is the culprit.

Here's my situation. I have XM radio on 2 cars. To save money I decicded that instead of renewing my subscription at $8.50/month I'd get their internet account for $3/month and use the XM iphone app on the iphone. I am comparing the SQ to both my previous scenario where I had the XM directly to the car via satellite, and also to my set up at work where I have the ipod plugged into computer speakers. I'm thinking that for the best SQ I should just renew my XM subscription.

 

[ljaggers]

Here's my situation. I have XM radio on 2 cars. To save money I decicded that instead of renewing my subscription at $8.50/month I'd get their internet account for $3/month and use the XM iphone app on the iphone. I am comparing the SQ to both my previous scenario where I had the XM directly to the car via satellite, and also to my set up at work where I have the ipod plugged into computer speakers. I'm thinking that for the best SQ I should just renew my XM subscription.

I vote "yes" for this idea

 

[NapaDRB]

The best solution I have found is from this company http://www.gromaudio.com . I installed one of their units in my wife's car over a year ago and it has worked great.

I never liked the FM transmiters, and went through several of the cassete adapters before I found this.

This unit plugs in to the connection on your stereo that is meant to control a CD changer and "fools" your stereo into thinking your ipod is the changer. Now the FF and RW on you head unit will control the ipod. I ran the cable into the glove box and the wife just puts the ipod in there and you don't have any cables showing.

The only negative I know is you do have to pull your head unit to get at the back connection.

 

[Hi Ho]

If you're streaming XM radio over a cell network then there's your problem. The sound quality simply isn't very good. I have Pandora on my Blackberry and the sound quality doesn't compare to Pandora on the PC.