Okay, so ive been thinking about getting a new radio for my car. Right now i have the standard 6 cd changer that came with my car. However, my friend has an adapter to hook his ipod up to the radio.


So which do you think is more reasonable? Getting an FM transmitter (A lot cheaper), or a new radio alltogether (A lot better sound quality)

I just use an FM transmitter. My car's stereo is nothing amazing anyway (it's just the stock stereo, decent, but not amazing), and I really can't notice any quality difference in playing a CD in the car and playing decent quality music off my iPod through the transmitter. I just made sure I got one with full FM tuning capability because the ones that only tune like 8 preset stations (usually like 88.1-89.5) can suck if you live somewhere with a lot of stations in that range (like I do).

Before buying one though, the best thing you can do to tell if it's gonna be a waste of money or not is to drive out to somewhere where you can pick up all of the radio stations in your area well. Then you sit there and tune through all the stations and see if you can find at least a good .6 MHz gap where there are no stations, and then use the deadest sounding frequency on the transmitter...

Just from personal experience, I've always enjoyed Line In a helluva lot more than FM transmitters, and they've solved a lot of problems with my XM Radio units. Those were powered through the car, and when I would use the built-in FM Transmitter, I would get so much engine noise it was crazy. I could've just probably just grounded the lines, but I figured Line-in was a better all around solution.

I don't even have a cassette / CD player in my car, so I only use the radio

The FM transmitter ive been using plugs into the ciggarette lighter so you can charge the ipod at the same time.

However, I do notice a drop in audio quality. I dont think i have the base line speaker system for the car anyway, its got about 6-8 speakers in it.

None of the ones I've seen that just run off the iPod battery seem to work so hot anyway. I think it's mostly due to the fact that the cable for the 12V plug also generally serves as the antenna and does a better job than the crappy built-in antenna in one that runs off the battery.

One option you could maybe go with since you have a CD changer is use an adapter that will connect to the radio's CD changer input. Of course, in doing so you'll completely lose the option to use your CD changer, but it'd be cheaper than going the new radio route I'd imagine, while still getting the quality of a line-in connection. I considered this option since my stereo has a CD changer input that's not used, but I decided to go the cheaper route, at least for now.

There are so many factors going into what you should do. Quality of the radio, quality of the speakers, cost of new radio (and possibly speakers), etc. So ultimately it's just how much you want to spend and how much work you want to put into it.

Yea. Im looking into getting a radio, seeing if thats worth it feature wise or not.

Another question I had: Since i have a 6 cd changer already, would I need to look for a radio capable of handling the 6 cds? Or can I just use anything?

How often do you really use the CD player?

I've used both, and to be honest the FM transmitters are a pain: If you travel any real distance (when is when you get the most out of the iPod) you lose the signal as local radio stations interfere with your signal.

Change your radio - my iPod friendly one cost less than £100

All the time. Pretty much every time im in my car.


I drive about 6 hours to get too and from school for the holidays.

The FM transmitter i used seemed to work fine, but again, i didnt travel very far with it so I dont know if it would have cut out on the signal

My trip is 21 hours, and I manage with just FM

FM Transmitters suck. They're shoddy, lower quality sound, and if you don't have many dead stations in your area, you're gonna have a hell of a time getting it working right.

I ****ing hate my iTrip. I would use a tape adapter, but my casette deck is broken on my radio. I am so sick of hearing static wherever I go... there are NO dead stations because I live next to Washington DC. If you live in a populated area, spend the extra cash and buy a new iPod-compatible radio.

Tape Adapter. Or at least... a tape adapter if you have a tape player. Its better than an FM transmitter.

ya, well.... my car's got an AM radio! ooh!

....

I feel for you. If you can find out how, it should be fairly easy to get a standard 3.5 mm jack plugged into your radio instead of buying a new radio, which is expensive. There should be audio input somewhere in there that you can just tap into with a headphone jack that you can steal off a cheap pair of headphones. Or you can buy a small kit for little money. I haven't looked into that at all, but I am sure if you are careful and read up you could install everything yourself, regardless if you get the kit or just try to rig something of your own up. I haven't tried this, but I know people do it. Good luck.

Ha, thanks. I'm actually planning to take it apart and figure out how to do what you said. I'll fix it eventually.

XM Satellite radio. It's not that expensive.

Well the radio might be but the service is like only $12...or so my sister says.

[QUOTE=Admiral Zarn]ya, well.... my car's got an AM radio! ooh!

....

:([/QUOTE]
One of our trucks has an 8-track! BEAT THAT

well mines got....

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AN AM RADIO!!!!

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....and uh......

..... thats it

alpine radio + ipod adaptor = sex

Our whole family has XM, and we can't live without it. I still use it a crapload even with using the iPod in the car. The radios have definitley gone down in price, and yes, the service is only 12 bucks a month or so, but well worth it.

If you got it, they would probably stick the FM Modulator in there that owuld hardwire XM to a station like 87.9, and connect through Line In, which would also let you plug in a mp3 player.