For anyone wanting to take your iPod on the road using an FM transmitter, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. First, if you’re using an FM transmitter and expecting to hear from your car stereo receiver what you’d hear from a CD player, expect to be disappointed (see Guy Serle’s iCarPlay Wireless Plus – Review for an explanation)
Second, the quality of your car receiver has a bigger impact on your FM transmitter’s performance than you might think. Both of these systems were tested in my car (with a Pioneer stereo) and my wife’s truck (with a stock stereo). Between the two vehicles, my wife’s truck has a much better receiver, and this made a big difference in the performance for the Griffin iTrip.
Finally, my preferred method for listening to my iPod on the road is through my iCarPlay Wireless from Monster Cable. This was the predecessor to the iCarPlay Wireless Plus that Guy Serle reviewed. The only difference between my unit and his is that I’m limited to only eight stations on the FM band (88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88.7, 88.9, 89.1, 89.3, and 89.5). Other than that, I’ve been very happy with the sound quality from the iCarPlay.
XtremeMac AirPlay for the iPod Shuffle
Company: XtremeMac
Price: $49.95
http://www.xtrememac.com
My wife’s first purchase for her iPod Shuffle was the Airplay from XtremeMac. Tim and I had a preview of this unit in MyMac Podcast #30, although neither of us had a chance to test it.
The AirPlay has a very simple, elegant design and is very easy to use. On one end is the auto power adapter; the other is the FM tuner controller with a female USB port that allows you to plug your iPod Shuffle into the unit. The unit doubles as a charger for your iPod Shuffle while your using it.
The AirPlay controller has only 5 buttons: the (+) and (-) buttons are used to navigate the entire U.S. range of FM frequencies and buttons 1, 2, and 3 are used to lock in up to three preset FM stations. The unit also has a small backlit LCD display for the FM frequency you want to lock in.
As impressed as I was with the appearance and design of the AirPlay, I was equally disappointed with its performance. The AirPlay delivers AM radio quality sound on just about every frequency (and car stereo) I’ve tried. No matter what frequency I tried, there was a constant hiss in the background. I also tried listening to different songs to ensure that it wasn’t just some poor quality sound from a bad mp3 file, and even compared the same songs on the same car stereos using my iPod (with the iCarPlay) and my wife’s iPod Shuffle (using, of course, the AirPlay).
Suffice it to say, within a week the AirPlay was back in its box and off to Amazon.com for a $50.00 refund. I expect to sacrifice some sound quality with any FM transmitter, but I don’t expect it to sound as bad as every AM station on the dial.
Griffin iTrip with LCD
Company: Griffin Technology
Price: $39.99
http://www.griffintechnology.com
For those of you wishing to go unplugged while listening to your iPod (or iPod Mini) on the road, Griffin Technologies offers the iTrip FM Transmitter.
The iTrip plugs into your iPod’s 9-pin remote port and headphone port on the top of your iPod and runs off your iPod battery. The manufacturer’s instructions stated that the iTrip will power up with the music, but I found that actually getting the iTrip to power up could be a little tricky, particularly if you haven’t had it plugged in for several hours. More often than not, I would have to cycle between play and pause on my iPod before the iTrip would activate.
Once active, the iTrip is a lot of fun to use. The iTrip takes advantage of the remote port, allowing you to adjust sound volume on your car stereo using your iPod’s volume control. It has a backlit LCD display showing the frequency and broadcast mode. The only control is a silver knob on the right of the unit, which allows the user to select the FM frequency (by rotating it) and set the frequency (by pushing it in). Holding in the control knob for 5 seconds will allow the user to access and set the transmitter broadcast mode.
The iTrip has two broadcast modes: LX broadcasts in stereo, and DX in monaural. I prefer to listen to my content in stereo (the LX mode), but have found, with the iTrip, that the monaural (DX mode) provides better sound quality. This, of course, leads me to the real meat of this review, which is the sound quality.
In my car, I found the iTrip’s sound quality to be quite finicky. The signal strength in my car will vary with where I put my iPod. When I do use it, I have to place my iPod in the cup holder beneath my stereo to ensure that the car stereo receiver can pick up the signal. Now this is not the case when using the iTrip in my wife’s vehicle. We brought the iTrip with us when we went on vacation last month, and had no problems with signal strength in the truck. I even placed the iTrip in the back seat of the truck (we have a crew cab), and experienced no loss of sound quality due to signal degradation.
Finally, one of the nice options of having the iTrip is that you are not tethered to a car adapter to use it, allowing you to co-opt any empty FM station on any radio. I have used it with our living room stereo, and the sound is comparable with the local FM stations. For my own personal use, I still find that my iCarPlay Wireless provides better sound quality while also doubling as an iPod charger. But, if you have a decent stereo receiver and don’t like having your iPod tethered to your cigarette lighter, the Griffin iTrip provides decent sound at a reasonable price.
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