ipod

You are looking at the coolest iPod accessory in the world. The iTrip FM transmitter for the iPod can play your music through any FM radio in your car, at a party, wherever the mood strikes you - and you have a radio.

It's clear that the iTrip is made specifically for the iPod. This gives iTrip advantages over similar devices. For example, with the iTrip, you can have the cleanest possible signal - because you can choose any radio station on the dial to tune for the best performance possible. You do this by 'playing' special station codes directly from the iPod itself. Simple.

Another advantage of the iTrip is that it needs no batteries, it receives its tiny amount of power from the iPod, and it can rotate out of the way to charge the iPod while still in use. No more batteries ever again.

There's not even a power switch - just plug it in and go. It shuts off automatically after 60 seconds of silence - just like the iPod. The iTrip is the ultimate accessory for the iPod because it allows you to share the music and share the fun beyond your headphones. Don't leave home without it.

I thought I'd give the iTrip a try, in lieu of installing a CD player in my 1990 BMW 525i.

The unit is small, light and cute, and installs easily (a quick software install and then just pop it on top of your iPod). It worked okay with a radio here in the office, but even turning the unit slightly away from the radio would introduce static.

So out to the car we go. The unit sits on the center console less than six inches away from the radio -- and the signal is okay until you start moving. Then with every turn, even though the unit doesn't move, there's static.

The sound quality is poor, and the signal pickup is so narrow and weak that if you are in any kind of urban area where there are stations all along the dial, you're going to be SOL with this baby. Even though we have plenty of open air here, this was the case for me regardless of how low in the band I went, and how I fiddled with the sound level, position of the unit, etc.

It's going back, unfortunately. :-(

Someone earlier wrote;

>Radio quality is only 92kbps<

That is misleading. The new HD Radio signal is only 92kbs, but regular FM is analog, limited only by the multiplex stereo system in use that forces a high frequency cutoff at 15KHz. Technically, analog FM (without the required cutoff) would sound better than CDs, as it does not have the low bit rate of even CDs, and as a transmission system does not have problems with hiss as did old old tapes, or problems with scratches as did old LP records.

Of course most FM stations now play CDs or MP3s, and they often compress their signals to make themselves sound louder. But technically, FM sound is about as good as it gets, transmission-wise.