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gorickey · Jul 23, 2002, 09:37 AM

Hello:

I just got a 10 GB iPod and was looking into getting an iPod Car Adapter....are some better then others? What do you guys recommend?

Thanks in advance.

Moosecat · Jul 23, 2002, 09:57 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by gorickey:
Hello:

I just got a 10 GB iPod and was looking into getting an iPod Car Adapter....are some better then others? What do you guys recommend?

Thanks in advance.<hr /></blockquote>I'm not sure what you mean by "Firewire" iPod adaptor ... All the car adaptors I'm aware of plug into the headphone jack (although the power adaptors, of course, plug into the Firewire port).

I recently bought the Dr. Bott iPod Connection Kit with the tape adaptor. It is also available with an FM adaptor (which transmits the iPod's music to a station on your FM dial). I have heard bad things about FM adaptors (staticky; difficult to position properly for optimal performance), so I chose the lower-tech tape adaptor.

I haven't used it much yet, but my initial impression is that it sounds more like a tape than a CD. I was disappointed to open the Dr. Bott kit and find that they hadn't designed their own tape adaptor. They appear to have just thrown in a cheapie generic tape adaptor (with packaging that includes amusing failed attempts at English). For $50 for the kit, I expected more.

I don't know if there are degrees of quality of tape adaptors, but if there are, I'm pretty sure this one is not high on the list.

[ 07-23-2002, 10:59 AM: Message edited by: Moosecat ]

gorickey · Jul 23, 2002, 10:40 AM

FireWire adapter....various car chargers for the iPod w/ firewire interface. Sorry if I confused you.

OAW · Jul 23, 2002, 10:58 AM

Gorickey,

Head over to <a href="http://www.xtrememac.com" target="_blank">www.xtrememac.com</a> and check out their charger. It is white so it matches the iPod, it charges fast, and it lets you listen to the iPod while it is charging. What more can you ask for?

OAW

gorickey · Jul 23, 2002, 11:10 AM

Wow, awesome....thanks for the link, you rock!

Roxie · Jul 23, 2002, 11:57 AM

...and if you're near an Apple store they have the above-named charger usually in stock.

Rox

Jul 23, 2002, 01:08 PM

There's a reason for the poorer quality sound from a tape adapter. The vast majority of cassette player tape heads do not have the ability to pass CD quality sound to the audio amp, the frequency bandwidth is narrower(common ranges I remember were in the neighborhood of 500Hz to 13KHz instead of the 20Hz - 20KHz of CD quality), and this isn't a limitation of the adapater, it's the actual tape head inside the the stereo, a head cleaner may help a little bit. An FM modulation adapter would most likely give better quality sound, but they're also more sensitive to noise interference, always plenty of electrical noise in a car. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> This is one reason I prefer to get a deck with some type of audio in, be it a headphone jack or RCA line in on the back. Food for thought considering how expensive the car stereos with MP3 capability and storage space are for now.

OAW · Jul 23, 2002, 01:32 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by <Shanshsin>:
There's a reason for the poorer quality sound from a tape adapter. The vast majority of cassette player tape heads do not have the ability to pass CD quality sound to the audio amp, the frequency bandwidth is narrower(common ranges I remember were in the neighborhood of 500Hz to 13KHz instead of the 20Hz - 20KHz of CD quality), and this isn't a limitation of the adapater, it's the actual tape head inside the the stereo, a head cleaner may help a little bit. An FM modulation adapter would most likely give better quality sound, but they're also more sensitive to noise interference, always plenty of electrical noise in a car. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> This is one reason I prefer to get a deck with some type of audio in, be it a headphone jack or RCA line in on the back. Food for thought considering how expensive the car stereos with MP3 capability and storage space are for now.<hr /></blockquote>Audio In jacks are ideal, but most factory stereos don't have it. Consequently, those who have a factory setup only have a cassette adapter and a FM stereo transmitter as options. All I can say is trust me, the FM stereo transmitters suck!

Personally, I prefer the Radio Shack cassette adapter. It simply has excellent sound quality ... and you only hear the "hiss" on the softest of tracks. The Radio Shack even sounds better than the typical Sony version you get at your local BB or CC.

OAW

Moosecat · Jul 23, 2002, 01:41 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by OAW:
 Personally, I prefer the Radio Shack cassette adapter. It simply has excellent sound quality ... and you only hear the "hiss" on the softest of tracks. The Radio Shack even sounds better than the typical Sony version you get at your local BB or CC.
<hr /></blockquote>I guess that means I could get better sound if I upgraded from my Dr. Bott generic cheapie tape adaptor ... I'll have to investigate these other adaptors.

I'm increasingly thinking the $50 Dr. Bott kit is a bit of a ripoff. The only unique thing in is the car charger, which I assume can be purchased separately for less. The cables to connect to a stereo are garden-variety, and the iPod "case" is not very useful to me.

slider · Jul 23, 2002, 05:05 PM

<a href="http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerpodauto/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerpodauto/index.html</a>

Brien · Jul 23, 2002, 05:52 PM

Use the Dr.Bott adapter I have one and I havent had any probles (yet).