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Daracle · Mar 8, 2004, 06:40 PM

I was thinking of picking one up
How well do they work?

Daracle · Mar 8, 2004, 06:57 PM

Found a positive review at ipodlounge....i think that is enough for me....picking it up today

saranwarp · Mar 8, 2004, 07:35 PM

NO. No no no.

The sound quality was terrible. I tried it at all different stations at all different volumes, and the sound quality is roughly equal to the what you'd get listening to an AM radio. I highly unrecommend it.

biscool · Mar 8, 2004, 07:51 PM

I love mine. I am in the metro detroit area and use 87.9, no complaints.

ph0ust · Mar 8, 2004, 08:14 PM

it *works*, but it sort of sucks. for traveling it's teh best option i think. now, wherever i am traveling i get to listen to my tunes in the rental car.

at home, it is totally weak. if you live in a metropolitan area you barely have any free spectrum. once i find something that works i drive maybe 20 miles and a station takes over the broadcast (or degrades it). i am getting my ipod hardwired into my car stereo's aux input. that is the only way to be happy (not to mention hassle-free).

btw, screwing around with this thing is worse than trying to drive and dial a cell phone.... so be careful!

ultimately, i think it is only worthwhile for travelling, otherwise the quality is just not up to par.

Daracle · Mar 8, 2004, 09:28 PM

Here in Calgary, We are getting alot of radiostations so it was kinda hard to find a good one....But I have my volume up to about 80% and I am on the lowest...i think 87.9 or whatever and it is working great....From about 6feet away....I will take it in the car tonight and try it out

Thanks guys....And if I dont like it....It will go back

slider · Mar 8, 2004, 09:32 PM

Love mine, you're going to find a lot of different opinions on this. This comes up a lot. If you have the option of a tape deck insert, that's the way to go, but if you need to use a transmitter the iTrip is a great option. For most of the people complaining it seemed to me like they were expecting CD quality sound, just not going to happen, with any transmitter.

jld · Mar 8, 2004, 09:38 PM

I've got one, and wouldn't buy another. Sound quality stinks.

Daracle · Mar 8, 2004, 09:41 PM

Most complaints sound like it is not the iTrips fault but too many stations....

TimmyDee51 · Mar 8, 2004, 11:05 PM

I vote yay. Works for me in the Twin Cities.

ort888 · Mar 9, 2004, 11:45 AM

I'm going to try and install a hardwired FM modulator. The only cost about $30 bucks and apparently have a much better quality.

I've heard enough bad stuff about the iTrip, that I don't think I even want to mess with it.

Casper Crane · Mar 9, 2004, 12:36 PM

I returned mine within hours. in Pittsburgh, there's not a lot of room on the dial.

but that's beside the point. it had to be within 2 feet of the antenna to work at all, and then it sounded like crap. some people have had success with these and hooray for them. but many have had lousy times with them as i have.

the cassette adaptor is much easier and reliable.

Daracle · Mar 9, 2004, 02:03 PM

Just an update

I took it to a friends place last night and I had it working VERY CLEAR from about 20 feet away....
This thing is great

va3uxb · Mar 9, 2004, 08:02 PM

Two thumbs down.

Mine worked ok (not great) for a week or so. Poor sound quality, and too darn quiet. I had to put the iPod volume up to about 80% (any more and it'd distort) then had to crank the radio volume up to about 8/10 as well, just to hear it while driving (and my car is not noisy). When the literature said 'frequency programmed by the iPod' I thought they meant it used some kind of software that ran on the iPod so you could select the frequency, in reality you have to load little beepy sound-files (one for each possible frequency) then play them to set the frequency.

Also, half the time the iTrip wouldn't turn on. The iPod was playing but the iTrip wouldn't kick in at all, i'd have to stop the iPod, remove and reseat the iTrip, several times, to get it to work. Eventually it stopped altogether.

One last complaint: the iTrip hides the 'lock' button so you have to remove it to lock/unlock the keypad.

Now I have the Monster FM transmitter, and it works great. Sure, only 8 frequency options, but it uses the line-out in the Dock connector instead of the headphone port, has visual feedback so you know what station it's set to, and (i think) uses it's cord as an antenna, rather than the iTrip's internal 2-inch antenna.

Ruffcat · Mar 10, 2004, 02:09 AM

The Itrip works really well for me, especially on long distance drives, but I think its because the FM spectrum isn't too crowded here (Australia - country/regional).

MickS · Mar 10, 2004, 04:50 AM

I've just replaced my iTrip with a Denison ICELink. The iTrip was okay but suffered from three problems:

Interference: We have quite a crowded spectrum here in the UK and although I managed to find a frequency that was mostly clear I found I had to retune on any sort of lengthy journey (over 100 miles).
Battery Life: It did reduce the battery life on my 1st gen iPod. So much so that I couldn't count on being able to use my iPod for a the length of a journey even if I'd fully charged it beforehand. The design of the iTrip meant that I couldn't really charge it whilst using it as any vibration would move the iTrip slightly resulting in a loss of one of the stereo channels.
Switching off: The iTrip switches itself off it there is nothing being sent from the iPod, or it believes that there is nothing being sent from the iPod. I have a number of tracks that I listen to that have very sparse intros. The iTrip would decide that there wasn't enough being sent at this point and switch itself off.

I would say that for short journeys the iTrip is fine. For the sort of travelling that I do it was okay but not ideal. I've now found a better solution.

GORDYmac · Mar 10, 2004, 09:57 AM

iTrip comes in handy for me when:

1. I want to have some tunes piped into the bedroom via the clock radio.
2. When I have a party and I want tunes pumped into the Wave radio (from a remote location). Indoors, it actually works really well.
3. For driving around town in someone else's car. I can just tune to a particular station, instead of messing with the cassette adapter.

Agreed, it's not for daily commutes, but it was well worth the 30 bucks I paid for it way back then.

jewing80 · Mar 10, 2004, 12:14 PM

I debated for the better part of last weekend as to what "audio solution" to use in my vehicle. Initially I had planned on buying the iTrip; mainly because it seemed to be the only device designed specifically for the iPod. After checking it out in the Apple Store I realized it used a variable audio out (headphone jack.) I hate having to adjust volume levels on two different devices, it seems nearly impossible to find the "sweet spot" with out getting a heck of a lot of distortion.

Cassette adapters are out because my car does not have a tape deck. Then I came across the Monster iCarplay... or something like that, I'm not sure of the actual name. Seeing as I plan on using the FM transmitter solely in my car, and primarily for long drives... Los Angeles to Portland in early June, and the normal weekend getaways. The idea of having a transmitter and a power adapter all in one seemed perfect. It then dawned on my since the Monster adapter connects via the dock connector the audio out would be line... not variable... I would only have to adjust the volume on my radio! I tried to confirm this but the three people at the Apple Store (rather uncharacteristically) they seemed to have no idea what the difference between line and variably audio out were.

I decided to verify this and then order from the Apple Store on-line. I placed my order on Monday and was given an estimated ship date of April 4th! Fortunately the item shipped yesterday and should be here by Thursday. I'll try and put it through its paces over the weekend and post my results. Hopefully limiting the frequencies to 8 presets will not degrade the quality... I'll keep you guys posted.

Langdon · Mar 10, 2004, 12:35 PM

Glad you liked it but no matter what the sound quality will be inferior to a good cassette adapter which is still vastly inferior in sound quality to the hard wired options. The Sik Imp, Blitzsafe adapter, and PIE all are a better investment if you have the money. How much did you pay for your iPod car set up?

discotronic · Mar 10, 2004, 02:10 PM

It is a handy device but the reception can be terrible at times. I guess it all depends on how the atmosphere is acting that day. I have tried multiple stations and all of them are the same. I like it but I would recommend checking out some other devices before you buy. It does take a bit of battery life away.

My biggest complaint is the fact that the remote can't be used while the iTrip is attached. When I ordered it the Apple rep told me that the iTrip would override any station that comes in range. That is a flat out lie. Overall I am glad that I have it. I just hope it gets some improvements in the future.

iamnid · Apr 21, 2004, 07:40 PM

Works great -- in LA and San Diego -- use the station finder provided on their website if you can't find a station that works -- sound quality is as good as any FM station -- uses no batter power. Was a great solution for my girlfriend who doesn't have a cassette adapter in her car -- plus you can use it with any boombox w/ a radio -- I love the device and you can't beat it for $30.

jasono · Apr 21, 2004, 10:52 PM

Thumbs down. Here in Seattle there are a limited number of stations that actually sound OK, even those few have quite a bit of interference and static. Also, if you like to listen to your entire library on shuffle you'll find the stations it installs annoying. I ended up uninstalling everything and having an aux jack installed in my car. Now I'm a happy camper.

MilkmanDan · Apr 22, 2004, 02:30 AM

I say yes. It works quite well and the quality is much the same as an FM radio. IF your car does not have a tap deck, use it. Nothing else comes anywhere near the ease and quality of the iTrip.

Evan_11 · Apr 22, 2004, 11:25 AM

Big no. Thumbs down.

It's one of those stupid pieces of technology that requires you to fiddle with. I'm not sure if you value your time but believe me I do and it's not worth it. Even if you get the thing to work (unlikely) it still sounds like ass. If you attempt to turn up the volume to a level where you can actually hear it while driving down the highway it starts to distort badly.

Again no. Terrible product.

kpne1home · Apr 22, 2004, 01:13 PM

It seems like half like it half don't. I love mine, not to many radio stations in CT to screw around with it. I live near hartford and use a lot of different stations.

fritzair · Apr 23, 2004, 07:08 PM

Quality of sound is horrible. Direct connection is much better. AUX in rather then tape. Some head units have a 1/8 jack on the bezel.

Nordica99 · Apr 23, 2004, 08:02 PM

Sonnett Technologies is coming out with their version and it is going to be phenomenal.

discotronic · Apr 23, 2004, 08:39 PM

Originally posted by Nordica99:
Sonnett Technologies is coming out with their version and it is going to be phenomenal.

Where's the info?

todrain · Apr 24, 2004, 11:34 PM

Seems like the gen3 itrip works better than the one I had with my old gen 2 iPod.

If you can find the right station, then it works pretty well.

It's a little difficult to get working, but once you do, it's not bad. (still would be better to use a dirct conncetion, if possible.

Lizard7 · Apr 27, 2004, 07:28 PM

It works when you manage to find the right station. The odd thing is that the few stations that have worked for me haven't been the most clear in the area.

Overall: good when it works but can be frustrating.

Brien · Apr 28, 2004, 12:53 AM

Originally posted by saranwarp:
NO. No no no.

The sound quality was terrible. I tried it at all different stations at all different volumes, and the sound quality is roughly equal to the what you'd get listening to an AM radio. I highly unrecommend it.

Agreed. I would opt for a line-in option if possible... so much better quality.