From: Roger 2008 on

"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec(a)aNOoSPAMl.com> wrote in message
news:rh%bm.7138$cf6.6247(a)newsfe16.iad...
> At 29 Jul 2009 09:03:32 -0600 Roger 2008 wrote:
>
> I have very litle trouble finding modulators that reproduce the low end-
> the high is usually the problem- they tend to rolloff far below FM's
> 15khz limit. The Monster Cable unit is decent, and I have a Griffin
> that's not quite as good, but acceptable. Hopefully my next car will
> have a direct cable connection (aux jack) like my wife's and I'll be done
> with it.

I doubt if I'll ever get a car with a MP3 connector so I'm still messing
with FM Modulators and ended up getting two of them.

http://www.sharperimage.com/Electronics/The+Sharper+Image+MP3+Music+and+Video+Player+Keychain.axd

The funny thing about that one is when you enable the FM Modulator you have
to plug in headphones for 2 reasons.

1. The headphones shut off the internal speaker and I can't find a way to
shut off the external speaker with the menus.

2. The headphones act like a transmitting antenna and you don't get so much
background noise on the FM receiver.

It doesn't keep the settings very well either. After you turn it off you
have to re-enable the FM Transmitter and if you turn it off the fast way
with the power switch then it even forgets what song it was on last.

The neat thing about that MP3 player is the size and the fact it has it's
own speaker.

Then I picked up a Jabra Cruiser after seeing that it transmits in Stereo.
Note, a while back I tried a Motorola T505 only to find out it did not
transmit FM in Stereo so I returned it.
http://review.zdnet.com/product/headsets/jabra-cruiser/33897034

Neither one of the above seem to have enough power to cut through other
radio stations on the FM dial but when they work they seem to work fairly
well.

I haven't tried the Jabra Cruiser in hands free mode yet but I'm planning on
it.


From: Todd Allcock on

"Roger 2008" <rwpcs(a)att.net> wrote in message
news:TqadncOh-8gRt8_WnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d(a)giganews.com...
>
> "Todd Allcock" <elecconnec(a)aNOoSPAMl.com> wrote in message
> news:rh%bm.7138$cf6.6247(a)newsfe16.iad...
>> At 29 Jul 2009 09:03:32 -0600 Roger 2008 wrote:
>>
>> I have very litle trouble finding modulators that reproduce the low end-
>> the high is usually the problem- they tend to rolloff far below FM's
>> 15khz limit. The Monster Cable unit is decent, and I have a Griffin
>> that's not quite as good, but acceptable. Hopefully my next car will
>> have a direct cable connection (aux jack) like my wife's and I'll be done
>> with it.
>
> I doubt if I'll ever get a car with a MP3 connector so I'm still messing
> with FM Modulators and ended up getting two of them.
>
> http://www.sharperimage.com/Electronics/The+Sharper+Image+MP3+Music+and+Video+Player+Keychain.axd
>
> The funny thing about that one is when you enable the FM Modulator you
> have
> to plug in headphones for 2 reasons.
>
> 1. The headphones shut off the internal speaker and I can't find a way to
> shut off the external speaker with the menus.
>
> 2. The headphones act like a transmitting antenna and you don't get so
> much
> background noise on the FM receiver.
>
> It doesn't keep the settings very well either. After you turn it off you
> have to re-enable the FM Transmitter and if you turn it off the fast way
> with the power switch then it even forgets what song it was on last.
>
> The neat thing about that MP3 player is the size and the fact it has it's
> own speaker.
>
> Then I picked up a Jabra Cruiser after seeing that it transmits in Stereo.
> Note, a while back I tried a Motorola T505 only to find out it did not
> transmit FM in Stereo so I returned it.
> http://review.zdnet.com/product/headsets/jabra-cruiser/33897034
>
> Neither one of the above seem to have enough power to cut through other
> radio stations on the FM dial but when they work they seem to work fairly
> well.
>
> I haven't tried the Jabra Cruiser in hands free mode yet but I'm planning
> on
> it.

The keychain looks cute, but I assume it's FM modulator only works with the
device itself- not an external MP3 player. I've tried to stick with
"universal" modulators to use with any of my players.

I tried this little piece of excrement last year:
http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Transmitter-Auxiliary-Input-Remote/dp/B000FCI7KS

I REALLY wanted it to work since you could just plug a flash drive or SD
card full of tunes as well as connect an MP3 player or phone to it, but it
had so much high frequency rolloff it sounded more like an AM modulator than
an FM one!

While not perfect, this Monster Cable unit is the best of the dozen or so
I've tried:
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-RadioPlay-Transmitter-MBL-FM-XMTR300/dp/B000E43GOO/

My "backup" I found cheap as part of a clearance "MP3 starter kit" at
WalMart is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Universal-Transmitter-Charger-Players/dp/B000JV9NL2/

Sound quality isn't as good, but it has a USB charge port built in so you
can charge your player as well.



From: Roger 2008 on

"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec(a)AnoOspamL.com> wrote in message
news:uPKrBRzlKHA.5656(a)TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
> While not perfect, this Monster Cable unit is the best of the dozen or so
> I've tried:
>
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-RadioPlay-Transmitter-MBL-FM-XMTR300/dp/B000E43GOO/

I tried to get one of those tonight and Best Buy was sold out of them then I
got to looking around on the Internet and you might even want to try one of
these FM Modulators:
http://www.wholehousefmtransmitter.com

Dang, if it has that much power there might not be any static at all in the
background.


From: Todd Allcock on
At 18 Jan 2010 02:28:18 -0600 Roger 2008 wrote:
>
> "Todd Allcock" <elecconnec(a)AnoOspamL.com> wrote in message
> news:uPKrBRzlKHA.5656(a)TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> >
> > While not perfect, this Monster Cable unit is the best of the dozen
> > or so I've tried:
> >
>> <http://www.amazon.com/Monster-RadioPlay-Transmitter-MBL-FM-
XMTR300/dp/B000E43GOO/>
>
> I tried to get one of those tonight and Best Buy was sold out of them...

I generally find Monster's stuff to be over-priced, but I figure they've
got a repution for quality they don't want to jeopardize by selling
anything completely crappy-sounding. In my case, I got it on clearance
at one of the office-supply stores since the package had the misfortune
to say "Works With ZUNE" in big lettering!

> ...then I
> got to looking around on the Internet and you might even want to try
one of
> these FM Modulators:
> http://www.wholehousefmtransmitter.com
>
> Dang, if it has that much power there might not be any static at all in
> the background.


Yeah, I've seen that website before and was put off by the "infomercial"-
style huckstering.

Static and range haven't really been my big problems a much as fidelity
(frequency response.) I'm certainly not an audiophile, but I'd like a
little treble! So many of the cheapie/no-name modulators just sound flat-
more like AM radio or even a telephone speaker.


From: Roger 2008 on

"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec(a)AnoOspamL.com> wrote in message
news:UX45n.8375$ap2.1070(a)newsfe18.iad...
> At 18 Jan 2010 02:28:18 -0600 Roger 2008 wrote:
> >
> > http://www.wholehousefmtransmitter.com
> >
> Yeah, I've seen that website before and was put off by the "infomercial"-
> style huckstering.

I asked someone else about FM Transmitters and he told me to check on Ramsey
Electronics then I found out they are the ones that make the Whole House FM
Transmitter so it looks like it comes from a well known company.

> Static and range haven't really been my big problems a much as fidelity
> (frequency response.) I'm certainly not an audiophile, but I'd like a
> little treble! So many of the cheapie/no-name modulators just sound flat-
> more like AM radio or even a telephone speaker.

Yesterday I bought a Scosche FM Stereo Transmitter that runs on 2 AA
batteries from Walmart for $12. It sounded pretty good but the channels
were flip flopped meaning what was supposed to be on the right channel was
on the left etc. I called Scosche Tech Support and they told me to return
it where I got it. I ended up exchanging it and when I found out they both
had the same problem I got my money back.

When I got home I called Scosche Tech Support again and told them about what
I found. They told me nobody has ever complained about that and then I
asked them how many people do you know with a file that has the word left in
the left channel and the word right on the right channel? So that means I
also want left and right channels to be left and right channels.