Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iTrip vs Tape adapter

MrCommunistGen

MrCommunistGen

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 14, 2004
144
0
"Wherever you go, there you are..."
I have a friend who will be getting a new iPod for Xmas... I don't know which model, but I know she will want to play them in her car. I am debating whether to get her an iTrip or a tape adapter. I know about the possible difficulties of finding a frequency in the city, but we live in a relatively rural area, so I don't forsee that as a problem.
My concern is overall sound quality... which one will SOUND better. While on a long road trip a friend and I used an iTrip in his car, but he had horrible speakers and I couldnt judge quality. On the other hand, over the years I've tried several tape adapters and I KNOW those aren't any good!

Thanks!
-mcg
 
Tape adaptors are better than the transmitters.

First, the sound quality will be better, you won't get any interference, it's cheaper, and you can travel in tunnels without the sound cutting out and no mucking around with frequencies!


Here's to the Crazy Ones ​
 
I definitely roll with the tape adapter.

I see no need to spend 40 or 50 dollars to just take care of a little cord.

Sound is way better too.

If I got anything wireless, I would get the Monster iCarplay. That has the best wireless sound of all that I have heard.
 
First off, you will need to know which model of iPod the person will be getting because the regular iTrip does not work with the newer iPods. They need to have a model which has a docking connection. Secondly, does your friend have a cassette player in her car? If not, then you're again limited in choices....

I just bought a Griffith Road Trip late this afternoon, but haven't yet had a chance to try it out in the car to see how well it will or won't work.... I've got the 5 G iPod so needed a device which would have the docking connection, and I also do not have a cassette player in my car, so couldn't get one of the devices that works with that.

I do live in an urban area so am anxious to see just how well this thing will work -- if it doesn't, well, back to just playing CDs in the car...

OTB
 
A tape adapter should work much better, as long as the heads are aligned with the surface of the "tape" since FM radio stereo separation is much less than tape.
 
I would also have to vote for the tape adapter. None of the FM transmitters work that well.
 
Thanks for the heads up on the iTrip compatibility! Also, her car does have a tape deck.
I had no idea that the quality on the iTrip was worse than a tape!... God help me if I ever want to use my iPod in the car... Listening to my music @ tape quality would bug the... y'know... out of me. I could spring for a better CD deck with aux inputs if I ever wanted it, but thats a bit much. Plus, I'm perfectly content burning my tracks onto RWs.

Thanks!
-mcg
 
MrCommunistGen said:
Thanks for the heads up on the iTrip compatibility! Also, her car does have a tape deck.
I had no idea that the quality on the iTrip was worse than a tape!... God help me if I ever want to use my iPod in the car... Listening to my music @ tape quality would bug the... y'know... out of me. I could spring for a better CD deck with aux inputs if I ever wanted it, but thats a bit much. Plus, I'm perfectly content burning my tracks onto RWs.

Thanks!
-mcg
Click to expand...

Um its not at tape quality at all. it sounds just as it does on your iPod
 
OK I got a Monster iCar cassette adapter and it sounded horrible. The music was all staticy and a high pitched weeee when it was playing. I didn't know if I got a bad one or what. I must of seeing as everyone swears by them. What is everyone else using?
 
Lacero said:
Tape adaptors are better than the transmitters.

First, the sound quality will be better, you won't get any interference, it's cheaper, and you can travel in tunnels without the sound cutting out and no mucking around with frequencies!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what tunnels you go through Lacero, but I've never been through one where the walls would be between an iTrip and the car's antenna. ;)
 
Well now I am using just a plain old panasonic tape adapter that sounds just fine. but from when I have heard it, the icarplay by monster sounded really good, it is the wireless one and charges at the same time. however tonight I saw this and I just might end up buying it after reading a few reviews and hearing how good it sounds for 70 bones
 
Well, I have both an iTrip, and and a Tape Adapter for my iPod. I used to have a Tape Deck in my car (until it died) and I loved the ease of use, just plug and play, no messing with those frequencies, no battery problems, etc... But with my new car it only had a CD-Player and I figured not to downgrade it so I got an iTrip, it is very nice (more expensive) and looks nice, but I'd still prefer the old tape adapter, but it really depends on the person, and the Radio in the car... Good luck!
 
WildCowboy said:
I'm not sure what tunnels you go through Lacero, but I've never been through one where the walls would be between an iTrip and the car's antenna. ;)
Click to expand...

A couple of tunnels here in New Zealand which attract a lot of traffic have FM transmitters inside them for the main FM broadcast stations. These tend to flood out all other frequencies while you're in the tunnel, so you'd get an enormous amount of interference if you were using an iTrip.

I currently have the Belkin Tunecast which doesn't seem to work very well, and I've been seriously considering getting an iTrip in the hope that it might be better. However, the general consensus seems to be that all of these FM transmitters are far to frustrating to bother with, so I think I'll stick to burning CDs.
 
I have an iTrip and although ease of use and a slick design, I'll be returning back to the tape option as when using the iTrip on fairly high volume, any interference (and there are plenty) you'll get at an equally high volume which is very very annoying not to say ear breaking...

- Dal
 
I hope there will be a way in the near future for me to control my as-yet-undelivered iPod* before it goes into the tape adapter. I love running it through the remote, nice and easy controls.




*Paraphrasing my mother "Skis are too expensive, you can rent some. What kind of iPod do you want?" :D
 
I think that the tape adapter has better sound quality. You must check if your stereo can hold the tape adapter. My stereo has a front door and while driving, the car movement force the tape out because the door jams with the cable.
 
The tape adapter will have better sound quality, but they're not perfect either. Every tape adapter I've ever had has at least sometimes had problems with mechanical noise (squeaking, rattling, etc). Also, the tape adapter in my car picks up a fair amount of ignition noise. Whether it's because the tape adapter is poorly shielded or my car's stereo is not very good, I don't know, but the noise occasionally bugs me.

Still, having used both an iTrip in my old car and a tape adapter in my current car, the tape adapter definitely wins.
 
I have used all of them (FM transmitter, Sony and Monster Tape adapters) and the Monster tape adapter (iCarPlay) is by far the best. It has FAR superior sound quality, it's worth the couple of extra bucks over the Sony or Philips one. We all already know that FM transmitters suck so I won't go there. I used to want subs for my VW Golf but now that I'm using the Monster tape adapter I realized that I don't need them.
 
Actually I have a quick question:

So I recently got the iCarPlay tape adapter and it's been the best thing ever. But lately it's started to squeak and make random noises (which I've noticed all tape adapters start to do). Is there any way to fix this? Like put a tiny amount of WD-40 on the gears or something? I just got it no more than a month or so ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back