# iPod in car: FM or cassette



## Cow (Jan 12, 2005)

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/itrip/black.php or
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/smartdeck/index.php

I drive mostly in Toronto. Anyone tried iTrip? Does it work? Also, what has better sound quality (played through car speakers), FM or cassette?


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## K_OS (Dec 13, 2002)

If you have a new Pioneer deck in your car you can get there iPod adapter(CD-IB100) and then it just a matter of controlling the iPod trough your car stereo without worrying about the interference with the iTrip.

<img src="http://www.bestbuy.ca/multimedia/products/large/10057846.jpg">

Laterz


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## däycüs mäximüs (Nov 30, 2002)

cassette will get you a better sound. if i had a cassette player in the car, i'd use that for sure.

but i have to settle with FM.


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## predinchuk (Jun 3, 2005)

FM is great for ouside the city, but inside there are too many stations and the interferance is huge. Go with cassette if you can.


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## RISCHead (Jul 20, 2004)

Check out the Monster iCruze as well.
http://www.monstercable.com/icruze/

Also agree that the tape interface is nicer than the FM one.


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## yoyo (Aug 3, 2003)

First I ha the itrip and it was pure crap.Hard to find a station and poor sound quality. I bought a $7.00 tape adapter and it is amazing.


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## DP004 (Mar 9, 2005)

I use a cassette adapter and the sound is great.
If I change my car stereo, it will include an aux in.
Last w.e., I pluged my mp3(Creative Tx) in one with a male-male wire and the sound was awesome. No cassette, no iTrip, iFall, iBreak something. Just a wire.


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## yo_paully (Sep 20, 2004)

I use the cassette adapter. IMO, better sound quality, plus it doesn't drain your battery.
________
volcano digital


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## MacME (Mar 15, 2005)

i got the free iTrip with my purchase of the 6gig iPod mini a week ago. works "ok" but if you have the option of cassette (ppl still have cassette decks in their cars?  LOL), or better yet an aux-in, then go for that if sound quality is an issue.

i used the ehMac recommended 104.9 station and quality is less than most aired FM stations. i would NOT have paid the $60 retail for the iTrip, Amazon.com sells it for under $25 US. only good thing about the FM transmitter is you can conveniently play it on any FM radio at home or at family/friend's house.


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## jeffbot (Jun 23, 2005)

I've been using a cassette adaptor ever since the 4G iPods came out... HEheh.. Only problem that i've found, the cord getting stuck in the door after I forget to disconnect the cable... HAHAHA


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## Finch (Aug 9, 2003)

I ended up going back to the cassette adapter, purchased an iTip and as others have mentioned the sound is awful, the channels to choose from for tuning are few and far between, said and done the iTrip was a waste of money.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

.


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## MacME (Mar 15, 2005)

Finch said:


> I ended up going back to the cassette adapter, purchased an iTip and as others have mentioned the sound is awful, the channels to choose from for tuning are few and far between, said and done the iTrip was a waste of money.


lucky for me the iTrip came free with my iPod Mini. money well *not* spent! 

but i would agree if i had to spend the $60 retail price that it's going for in Canada, i wouldn't buy it. maybe ... just maybe, for the $25 US at Amazon.com, but even then i'm not sure.


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## Puccasaurus (Dec 28, 2003)

My $.02:

I got the iTrip as a gift, and so I try to use it every once in a while. I find that the sound quality is better than my tape adaptor, but there is no perfect station in Toronto/Vaughan/Richmond Hill/Markham where I do most of my driving. I tend to get too much interference even on almost empty stations.

I always end up going back to the tape adaptor for three reasons:
1) No fiddling trying to find a clean station
2) Slightly lower sound quality, but at least there's no static 
3) The iTrip drains battery at a phenomenal rate. Griffin should not be allowed to claim on their website that it has a "negligible" effect on battery life. That's an outright lie.

Still, the iTrip is good for playing my iPod at friends' houses and so on. It works much better indoors for some reason.


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## rogueToe (Dec 13, 2002)

I'll just chime in with support for a cassette adapter. And don't feel you have to pay more to get one advertised as being especially for the iPod. I got one by Philips at The Bay that was actually made for portable CD players, and it works just fine.


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## Corin (Jun 8, 2005)

Since I don't have a cassette player in my car... it was either replace my stock radio, or buy a 250$ adaptor kit, or 40$ itrip (at Camelot in Qc). I went with the itrip, and I found it to be above my expectations. Montreal's FM band is pretty full but I have found I can even use the itrip on top of a radio station channnel without much interference. I don't get much interference, but I do get some, which is to be expected. The only thing I don't like about the itrip is that the bass doesn't come out as clearly vs. a wired connection.
I do think that the kind of car/radio/antenna you have also plays a factor.


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

*New stereo...*

I just bought a used car last week. A 1999 Mercury Cougar. It comes with a CD deck only. My first purchase was a new deck with AUX in. 

I've used FM transmitters in the past, they stink. Horrible sound, no matter WHERE you use it. I've also used casette adapters, and they are pretty good, especially for the price! The sound of the casette motors at low volumes is a bit annoying, but tolerable.

A new AUX in deck is the best solution IMO. It offers the best possible sound quality without being tied to specifically a full iPod like the Pioneer solution. If I want to use my shuffle, or minidisc player, I can plug that in too. Also to note: Most factory decks in cars are lower quality than the speakers are. You upgrade the deck, and suddenly your whole system sounds better.

A7


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## yoyo (Aug 3, 2003)

In my BMW I can use a Dension Icelink. It connects in the trunk to the cable for the CD changer. You still have to get wires to the front of the car. The plus side is great sound and the ability to control the ipod with the steering wheel controls and the song names are displayed on the head unit. The downside is that it is $200 more then my tape adapter.


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## Ohenri (Nov 7, 2002)

yoyo said:


> In my BMW I can use a Dension Icelink. It connects in the trunk to the cable for the CD changer. You still have to get wires to the front of the car. The plus side is great sound and the ability to control the ipod with the steering wheel controls and the song names are displayed on the head unit. The downside is that it is $200 more then my tape adapter.


The ice link is more than worth it IMO. To have complete control of the unit is more than ideal. Yea, it's a touch more pricey, but I think that you get something with such versatility, it's hard to beat. You have the whole unit hidden from sight and control the device. Where as, the aux input direction still requires fiddling with the actual iPod, and wil not allow for charging either.

H!


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## CN (Sep 3, 2004)

I used to use a FM adaptor (the iTrip) but I got really sick of it. I didn't like having to find a clear station, "acquire" it, then start my music. Its okay for awhile, but when I'm in a rush, it feels like it takes for ever (only a few minutes, but still). The cassette adaptor takes about 2 seconds to stick in and start my music, and I have found the sound quality to be far superior. I find it about 100 times better than the iTrip. Cheap too


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## chgolfs247 (Jul 7, 2005)

Honestly, I have never encountered any of the problems that were previous mentioned about the iTrip. I believe it is an excellent product and would highly recommend it to anyone.


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

chgolfs247 said:


> Honestly, I have never encountered any of the problems that were previous mentioned about the iTrip. I believe it is an excellent product and would highly recommend it to anyone.


I guess it depends if you like just hearing your music or if you enjoy listening to your music. Some people can't hear a difference between radio and CD. Just like some people can't hear a difference between 128k MP3 encoding and 256k. I can. That's why I don't use FM.

Really, when you think about it, it all boils down to personal opinion. Some of us are just more discerning than others.

A7


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## chgolfs247 (Jul 7, 2005)

Good point, and I have to agree with you there. The iTrip does not produce high quality sound, however I believe it serves its purpose well. All I was looking for from the iTrip was a product that allowed me to play my iPod songs reasonably well in the car and that's what I got.


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## chgolfs247 (Jul 7, 2005)

Have you heard anything about this Dennison Icelink? I believe its a high quality FM sound system is tailored to fit the type of car you have and it performs similar functions to an itrip without the sacrifice of the sound quality.


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## RISCHead (Jul 20, 2004)

*Icelink*

looks like a good product - believe BestBuy carries it.
Not cheap - I guess its comparable to the iCruze in terms of price.


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## chgolfs247 (Jul 7, 2005)

Yeah, I was on PotentPodables.com just now and saw that they had it for about $280. I have seen Future Shop and Best Buy advertise it for upwards of $300. It was gotten some good reviews no doubt, but I am not sure if it is worth the money at all. I am interested in seeing if anyone else on this form has tried it out and what they think of it.


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## chgolfs247 (Jul 7, 2005)

Has anyone tried any FM Transmitters other than the iTrip that they thought were recommendable?


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## a7mc (Dec 30, 2002)

The Dennison icelink ( http://www.densionusa.com/main.htm ) is not FM based. It integrates into (mostly) newer cars that have a deck with CD changer controls. It is just like the Pioneer solution, where as it allows you to control the iPod from the radio. Pretty good product if you have the money and you REALLY like your factory deck for some reason.

Downfall? Price. For the $300 price tag, I got a brand new mp3/cd Sony deck with the aux input, installed.

Another thing to consider is compatability. Sure, it's nice to control your ipod from the car stereo. Sure it's cool to see the text on your stereo's display. But $300+ for JUST regular ipod support? No iPod mini? No shuffle? Nothing else. And what if (though unlikely) Apple changed the connection in the next gen ipod?

Most important in choosing what's right is knowing what you need, and what's at your disposal.

A7


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## iPodMR (Jul 7, 2005)

I have the Griffin iTrip (FM Transmitter) and I have used it in both Toronto and outside of the city. It doesn't work as well downtown but it is perfect for use at the cottage. If you are looking for a cassette adapter try the Belkin one from www.potentpodables.com. I was looking at it before I bought my iTrip off of them and they are selling it pretty cheap.


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