What is best FM transmitter for in-car iPod

[Davis Silver Sti]

I need to get a iPod nano transmitter for a friend in his car.

Does anyone have experience with these?

I have my ipod hard wired to stereo which has been great but my friend has a factory stereo and I don't want to screw up an install in his car. Plug and play and easy is the key for him.

Here are 2 FM transmitters I was looking into:

Monster ICar PLay transmitter:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-GGTAqVypuv ... =119AIIPFM (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-GGTAqVypuvd/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?I=119AIIPFM)

or

Belkin TuneBase FM:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-GGTAqVypuv ... 599TUNEBNA (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-GGTAqVypuvd/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?I=599TUNEBNA)

or other?

Thanks

[RobbieNelson]

Belkin TuneBase FM:

My experience with a Belkin FM transmitter is that it suck. Sound quality is pretty bad.

Does the car have a tape deck? If so, I'd get one of those tapes with a cord on it sort of devices.

Davis: please respond to my question on RacetrackDB.com... a simple "do it" would suffice.

[RallyEX]

I don't recommend the Monster iCarPlay either. We tried it... big mistake. The unit performed very poorly for about 48 hours, then completely died. A friend of mine has one as well.. his didn't die, but it continues to perform poorly.

My sister has the belkin and is reasonably happy with it, so she says.

IMO, I'd do neither. Find another way. Robbies suggestion with the tape thingy is good as long as the car has a cassette player.

If they don't want to go to the expense of purchasing a head unit with an aux input, and you absolutely MUST go the FM Transmitter route, I suggest one of these: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=205-215

The problem with FM modulators is their lack of power to reach the car's antenna, as well as override other stations in large cities and have a full quieting signal for the FM tuner to pick up.

The unit I linked to actually plugs directly in-line with the car's antenna connector allowing it to pump the signal directly to the head unit without actually going through the air, which is where most of the problems with FM modulators occur. It has RCA jacks, so you can purchase a headphone to RCA cable. I have used these in the past and they work wonderfully, however they do require installation unlike the two units you listed. Anyone who has installed a stereo before should be able to install one with ease. They pretty much block then incoming signal from the antenna when there is a singal present on the line-in, and the sound quality is quite good. And for $39.00, it's a good value if you are willing to do a bit of work but don't want to lose the factory stereo.

Panasonic head units with aux-in's are pretty cheap these days, though...

[RobbieNelson]

If they don't want to go to the expense of purchasing a head unit with an aux input, and you absolutely MUST go the FM Transmitter route, I suggest one of these: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=205-215

The problem with FM modulators is their lack of power to reach the car's antenna, as well as override other stations in large cities and have a full quieting signal for the FM tuner to pick up.

The unit I linked to actually plugs directly in-line with the car's antenna connector allowing it to pump the signal directly to the head unit without actually going through the air, which is where most of the problems with FM modulators occur. It has RCA jacks, so you can purchase a headphone to RCA cable. I have used these in the past and they work wonderfully, however they do require installation unlike the two units you listed. Anyone who has installed a stereo before should be able to install one with ease. They pretty much block then incoming signal from the antenna when there is a singal present on the line-in, and the sound quality is quite good. And for $39.00, it's a good value if you are willing to do a bit of work but don't want to lose the factory stereo.

Wow... awesome suggestion. I may try one of these myself. I had a 10 disc car CD changer that interfaced this way. It actually worked pretty good.

[jde]

or other?

FWIW, I snagged a transmitter from Target that can be used as its own MP3 player (built-in USB port for flash drives, and control buttons atop the unit).

Haven't tried a flash drive yet, but it does a good (for the price) job for podcasts. Music is decent, but nothing wonderful.

-jde

[RallyEX]

Wow... awesome suggestion. I may try one of these myself. I had a 10 disc car CD changer that interfaced this way. It actually worked pretty good.

Yeah, it works quite well. And I can vouch for the company I linked to as well, they do an excellent job and are located just outside of Dayton, so shipping is fast.

[narfdanarf]

Davis, if I remember correctly you have a Pioneer headunit? Why don't you get a IP-Bus adapter that will convert the IP-Bus input on the back of your deck to rca cables inputs, tuck the wiring up neatly and run rca cables to your ipod?

[Davis Silver Sti]

Davis, if I remember correctly you have a Pioneer headunit? Why don't you get a IP-Bus adapter that will convert the IP-Bus input on the back of your deck to rca cables inputs, tuck the wiring up neatly and run rca cables to your ipod?

Actually, thats exactly what I did for my car (you gave me help on that) and it works very well. But this install is for a friend who has a stock stereo in his F150.
Looks like I might go ahead and do some wiring but try to keep it clean. We'll see.

Thanks for the hints guys