Hello All:

I have seen a number of threads asking about listening to mp3s in a car. For people w/o a tape deck or an auxillary input, the only option is an FM Transmitter. FM Transmitters are very easy to use.. but are known to deliver poorer sound quality. I have used several of these devices for my iPod and other mp3 players and recently tried out the iRiver AFT 100 found here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...Fencoding=UTF8

I thought I would post my thoughts in case it might help someone else out.

I am very happy with it. It is by far the best FM transmitter I have used. I live in the Columbus, OH metro area.. so the FM frequency band is quite cluttered. The iRiver allow me to tune to any frequency I choose instead of only a preset number of frequencies like some other FM Transmitters.

The signal strength from the iRiver is quite good too. With my Axim at max volume, I can leave me head unit at the same volume I use for local FM stations and get good sound from my mp3s.

Now, the big question... interference.

Yes, very rarely there is some interference. However, it is usually very slight and only noticable between songs. The key to getting good performance from this product is to find a station that isn't being used in your area, or, at the very least, has a very weak signal. This means you want a station that sounds as much like static as possible on your radio. Once you've located a target station, you can dial the iRiver in and your Axim is quickly patched through. Very easy to set up.

The iRiver also comes with 3 preset keys.. so if you know that one station is best on one part of your commute and another station is best on another part of your commute, you can easily toggle between stations using the iRivers preset keys along with a few preset keys on your car radio.

The sound quality is quite good. I cannot notice any significant loss of sound quality as a result of going through the FM transmitter. Everything is still there.

Overall, I am very happy with this purchase. It certainly beats driving with headphones on!!

EDIT: After several months of use, I have developed one pet peeve about this device. It has a sleep function built in. After 30 seconds of inactivity, the transmitter goes to sleep and will wait until it detects an audio signal before waking back up again. Maybe I'm slow to select music, but I sometimes don't give it a new song fast enough and it goes to sleep while I'm browsing my music. I like that there is a sleep feature, but it would be best if the user could adjust the interval somehow.

 

Thanks for the mini review!

Paul

   

mods:

just realized that I posted this in the multimedia forums (good idea), but it is a sub-forum of software (not a good idea!). Could someone give me an appropriate move?

Thanks.

 

Thanks for this info. it looks like an excellent device. I have a Saab with the lighter socket fairly low in the dash and the antenna on the rear guard so I wonder if the distance and obstructions could cause a problem.

Graham:

My VW Passat is similar... power is down low, next to gearshift and antenna is on the rear of the roof...

works fine for me!

 

I have one of these and it is the best I've tried so far. The transmitter must use the audio input lead as an antenna because if you coil up the wire, the signal degrades considerably. With the wire fully extended, I rarely have a problem.

Nothing is never "no problem".