Besides the easiest adapters for connecting your iPod to your car, the cassette deck and the FM transmitter, there are other ways of integrating this connection. A wired FM modulator, while not as easy to connect as the aforementioned adapters, gives good sound quality and is very inexpensive. You can typically pick up a wired FM modulator online for around $15 or so. Unlike wireless transmitters, in which the signal must travel through airwaves, wired FM modulators come as small boxes with just a few cords coming out of them. They intercept the connection that exists between your car's antennae and the radio. This allows you to connect the signal from your iPod directly into the box resulting in significant sound quality. Keep in mind however, that your connection may still be interrupted by limitations from your FM radio.
The good points of the wired FM modulators are that they are inexpensive and relatively easy to connect. You simply must be comfortable messing around with the wires on your car stereo. If you can connect a stereo to your car, then you should find the modulator easy to install. First, you have to reach up under your dash and unplug the antenna that runs from your stereo. You will then plug the antennae connection directly into an input plug on the modulator, taking the output cord from the modulator and connecting it to the antenna input on your stereo. That's it. You should then be able to set your wired modulator to run on any FM frequency. You will still need to choose a frequency that has a low or weak signal. These are typically found at the bottom or top of your channels.
Once you have chosen your frequency, you simply plug the audio output cord running from the wired modulator into the headphone jack located on your iPod.
Again, while the wired FM modulator is not as easy to connect as the wireless FM transmitter, it does produce a fairly easier way of finding a low frequency radio signal in which to connect. You also have the added burden of wires coming out from the modulator that you do not have with the transmitter. In short, you will need to determine whether or not you feel comfortable playing with the wires on your car stereo as well as whether or not you want extra wires coming from the dash in your car. Overall, the modulator produces excellent sound quality compared to the easier versions of integration, while still coming in at the lower end of the price spectrum where iPod to car integration is concerned.
About The Author:
As the webmaster of a popular iPod Interface website, Nick Mack is an expert on this subject. For more information, visit his website or for other articles by Nick Mack click here.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
tweet this!