iTrip 3G

[patrick0brien]

-Any, All...

I am looking at an iTrip for my iPod, and was curious - if anyone has the 3G yet, what you think of it?

Is it any easier to use compared to the 1G?

How does it sound? And what kind of useable range do you get?

 

[Harry K.]

I ordered my iTrip in July. I still haven't gotten it yet! As far as quality, I've heard mixed reviews. I guess it depends where you use it.

 

[LimeLite]

If you want to listen to music in your car, and quality is more important to you than convenience, get a cassette adapter. They provide much better sound quality than FM transmitters.

 

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by LimeLite
If you want to listen to music in your car, and quality is more important to you than convenience, get a cassette adapter. They provide much better sound quality than FM transmitters.

-LimeLite

I understand, but unfortunately, that's not a choice available to we in-dash CD player people

 

[Macpoops]

The 3g ones are probably just as good as the original ones. It's not perfect but it get the job done, and is less bulky then other FM Transmitters. As far as i know the only real change between the original and the 3g is the connector.

 

[Squire]

I'm kind of interested in this, too. Are there any car CD players that have input jacks right on the front? That would, I assume, give better sound quality than both the FM transmitter and the tape adapter.

By the way, is the quality of the FM transmitter noticeably different or is it one of those deals where you have 10 audiophiles in a room and 4 of them can tell the difference?

Squire

 

[big]

>car input jacks?

yep, you just have to go looking for them... though after having that in my truck, I have found iTrip to be signifficantly cooler, as I do not have to deal with cords et al....

 

[rjrufo]

I haven't tried the iTrip yet, but I bought the Belkin TuneCast when I bought the iPod. The TuneCast uses it's own batteries (2 - AAA), and I found that battery life was far less than the iPods. The iTrip uses power from the iPod itself.

Another problem with the TuneCast was the limited frequencies available (4 - in the low range of the FM dial), while the iTrip can use any frequency. And then there is the short cord that causes the TuneCast to dangle from the iPod.

As for sound quality, I think that it was ok. I've heard better reception from the more powerful FM stations, but then again, I've heard much worse.

Why am I saying all this? I think that if I were to go buy another FM transmitter for my car, I'd pick the iTrip over TuneCast. In fact, I'm planning for a long road trip for Thanksgiving, so maybe now would be a good time to try out the iTrip

 

[patrick0brien]

-All

Wellp, the Apple Store at Old Orchard (the one that opened Friday) just called to inform me that I have an iTrip waiting for me. I'll let you guys know how it goes after I pick it up Saturday...

 

[toughboy]

a picture which might be useful

a pal in another thread had posted this pic, and if it is his own pic, I hope he wont get mad that I post it up here..

anyways, I hope this will be useful to compare the earlier versions of iTrip with the 3G one.. for me, it's packaged and designed good enough to be an iPod accessory..

 

[Squire]

Well, that looks pretty darn cool. Again, what's the sound quality like? Is there a noticeable difference once you use this?

Squire

 

[eclipse525]

I have the Belkin and my friend has the iTrip and at first the concept of playing your iPod via a FM station is cool but after a while when you come across constant FM static and cross station interference it's not that cool. I got mine for the same reason that <patrick0brien> did, I only have a CD player in my car. What I would like to know is how to take the Belkin or iTrip and MOD it so i can increase the signal strength. Anybody know of sites that show you how to do this? .....I know it's against FCC regulations BUT hey, when did that stop anyone.


~e

 

[big]

with a soldering iron and some simple pieces, you could create one of your very own, I believe all transmitters like iTrip run on 4W's and, simply adding more juice, to bigger components, you could have your very own very very cool radio show!

but I am sure the components used are the smallest available, that will run on 4W's.... and you'd blow 'em if you added another battery.

 

[rjrufo]

Originally posted by eclipse525
I have the Belkin and my friend has the iTrip and at first the concept of playing your iPod via a FM station is cool but after a while when you come across constant FM static and cross station interference it's not that cool. I got mine for the same reason that <patrick0brien> did, I only have a CD player in my car. What I would like to know is how to take the Belkin or iTrip and MOD it so i can increase the signal strength. Anybody know of sites that show you how to do this? .....I know it's against FCC regulations BUT hey, when did that stop anyone.


~e

Try this.

 

[eclipse525]

Originally posted by rjrufo
Try this.

Very nice. Thanks....Now I just have to figure out how to do this....

~e

 

[patrick0brien]

-All

Well, I''ve had the iTrip for two days and I have to say and a stop-gap measure, it's everything I hoped it would be. It's compact and not wire-y, and I can select a channel of my choice.

It also works pretty well -- especially considering I live in Chicago where pretty much every channel is occupied - and my car has some engine-line noise. I wasn't too concerned about the co-channel issue as a very property of FM is co-channel rejection - you just have to make sure your signal is stronger than the other - and the other will kick out - no simultaneous reception with FM (unlike AM).

Sure, it's no substitute for a wired solution, but damn good band-aid.