so i have been listening through FM transmitter in my car for a few year now. it sounds okay but definitely not as good as my home stereo. just wondering, how good is the quality through FM? is it like compressed? don't know much about radio. thanks.
what kinda of car do you have? i'm assuming you do this cause you don't want to change the car stereo you have now. if you buy a brand new car stereo, they all have ipod/mp3 adapters. i decided not to change my oem stereo and just upgrade the speakers and get an adapter. I got mine here for my ipod http://www.crutchfield.com/m_770/iPod-MP3-Car-Adapters.html?tp=15
yeah, i don't want to change anything (yet). the system is linked with the navigation system, and another 6 CD changer. i have no idea why they didn't just put a direct line in. thought about opening things up to see if there is one somewhere, but i don't really know what i am doing. cool link, it looks like it's all FM radio stuff for my car. i will do some more research. thanks.
"qualify" what ? But... seriously... FM quality is only as high as the source, and the source is the transmitter on the iPod, which degrades the fidelity. You can get quadraphonic sound from FM, but not with the high quality that a CD can have. MP3 is already compressed and it will never be in the same quality as CD quality (the sound in a CD isn't "compressed"), but it's far better than FM radio. On top of the compressing of the MP3, you're already losing quality sending it over the transmitter. Therefore, in quality terms and if we're playing the same song as a source, the lowest we're talking about here is FM Radio, then MP3 music, then CD music. Adapters just cut the FM "middle man" that lowers the quality of the sound. Listening to your CDs on your car through any medium other than the CD in the system will never be as good as your home stereo. Too bad we can't take our home theater systems in our cars... but you can come close to it. Do you listen to your iPod's music on your home stereo, or play the original CDs before they're put on the iPod?
If your system did not have a separate aux in, then you will probably have to replace the cd changer to get it done.
I really can't tell the difference between a CD and a 320kbps MP3. If you can, I guess you have pretty talented ears.
if your car is new enough to have a navi system, i'd be surprised if there isn't a line in. can you post a pic of the dash/control for the audio system? check inside the middle console, behind the console (facing rear seat), or in the glove box. they often put the input in odd places so the driver isn't "distracted" (meant to be used by a passenger.)
Yep, I have never seen somebody cite a credible source that shows that you can hear the difference. Back in the 90's, sure it was pretty easy to spot 128kb mp3's with ****ty codecs but who listens those nowadays anyway? Edit. Before some audiophile corrects me, I meant NORMAL to ABOVE AVERAGE listening conditions and not some specially built listening rooms where the music is played through the super high-end stuff etc.
yuantian was the one that said that "it sounds ok but definitely as good as [his] home stereo" and, while I realize he didn't say what exactly it was, CDs will always sound better to the untrained ear or to a music connoisseur. Heck, I've heard lots of women say "HD? Standard? Huh? It looks the same to me!", so... I guess it's opinion. Did you say "320Kbps MP3"? If you're encoding all your MP3's in 320kbps, I guess you have a pretty large capacity on your hard drive.
You can tell the difference if you pay attention. Like if you played both the cd first and then the mp3, you'll hear it. It also depends on your sound system in your car. In mine, CDs sound so much cleaner and clearer than mp3s, obviously. But most of yall are right, the average person won't notice the sound quality. Move away from the FM transmitters. They make sound quality even worse.
okay, i just woke up. :grin: man, i checked everywhere in my car and i couldn't find a direct line in. i think i really have to replace the 6 CD changer under the passenger seat. as far as quality goes, i currently have 320 kbps MP3. i just started converting my CDs into Apple Lossless format. i can already tell quality improvement from earbuds. but not so much through my car FM. it really sucks that i have almost 400 CDs in my collection so really iPod is the best way to go. probably have to pay someone to install something for me.
You can always use a cassette tape adapter for your mp3 player. Those sound better than the FM transmitters.
Adapter is the way to go. I've been doing research and the FCC limits how much power these little FM transmitters have. It's possible to get a better signal, but not legal.
When the family and I drove to California, we used an FM transmitter I bought at Worst Buy. Upon arriving in Anaheim, we couldn't find a strong enough signal to overpower the already taken frequencies there... all were taken. I returned the transmitter when we got back. That's what I use. They are still cheap at Fry's. I have 2, one for my car, and another for inside the house (boombox, living room stereo, etc.).
yeah, those radio station sucks. take over my iPod. i usually listen to tons of metal (trash/death/black). everytime when i go to milwaukee, the local religious station takes over. it's like listening to some evil stuff then they start talking about bible out of nowhere.
