fm transmitter for ipod shuffle

Sep 11 2005

XtremeMac Airplay iPod FM Transmitter for iPod shuffle

For those of you like me,
your
iPod listening depends on the dark magic of FM transmission. I drive everywhere and I don’t have the luxury of a car stereo
with
a line in. I
used to use a cassette adapter
but it seems to have pooched my cassette player. So, you see, if I am to listen to my iPod when I have time to do so, I need an FM transmitter.

Back in January when the iPod shuffle was announced, I was one of those blind instant adopters. Not once did I think of when and how I was going to listen to programming on the thing. I wanted to keep all the podcasts I subscribe to and all my audio books on the shuffle and all my music on my 40GB iPod. But as soon as I got in the car, I realized I was in need of a transmitter in order to complete my plan.

First out of the gate with an iPod shuffle FM transmitter was XtremeMac. They sent me one of their Airplay iPod FM Transmitter for iPod shuffle units to test drive almost as soon as it came out and I’ve been playing with it since then. It is a tiny little thing with a four foot cable and a cigarette lighter adapter. The cigarette lighter adapter is actually the biggest part of the Airplay for shuffle. The business end has a blue backlight LCD that displays the FM band that it is currently broadcasting over. It also has easy to use tuning buttons to allow you to access frequencies from 88.1 to 107.9 and three preset buttons to allow you to switch between favored frequencies when one gets taken over by a local broadcast.

The Airplay for shuffle is powered directly from the cigarette adapter which means that it is going to tether you to your car if you have the desire to broadcast your shuffle over FM for any other purpose than on-the-road listening. That’s not a problem for me, but it bears noting.

The FM broadcast quality of the device is about as good as the iTrip and, like the iTrip, relies on finding the iPod’s volume sweet spot to balance between FM static and distorted audio. I have been able to broadcast my shuffle’s audio using the Airplay on an FM band that actually is being used by a radio station in nearby Washington state. Not bad. It is plenty strong enough for my needs, the audio quality is passable. If you do have a functioning cassette stereo in your car, the shuffle’s earphone jack is still accessible, so you can use the Airplay simply as a power adapter and feed audio to your cassette adapter.

My only real beef with the Airplay iPod FM Transmitter for iPod shuffle is that the cigarette lighter adapter doesn’t stay in my cars lighter socket. The little wings on the side of the adapter (presumably put there to grab the insides of the car lighter socket) don’t actually reach the inside of the socket but instead serve to periodically pop the adapter out of position. ARGGHH!!! Another minor annoyance is the fact that XtremeMac has offered no way to allow users to put the shuffle in a handy place in their vehicle where the controls would be in easy reach. I’m so used to the at hand access I get with my DLO TransPod for my 40GB iPod that it seems clunky to me that the Airplay doesn’t come with a air vent clip or the like to put the shuffle in reach when driving. I end up sticking my shuffle in the slot of my defunct cassette stereo.

All in all I recommend the Airplay iPod FM Transmitter for iPod shuffle to iPod shuffle users you want to charge their shuffle and listen to its programming on the road. It sells for USD$49.95 and works very well. It finally made my iPod shuffle usable to me.

By admin • Reviews • 2 • Tags: 40gb ipod, airplay ipod, broadcast, car, cigarette, cigarette adapter, cigarette lighter adapter, dark magic, fm broadcast, fm transmission, fm transmitter for ipod shuffle, ipod fm transmitter, iTrip, January, line, need, player, Reach, time, xtrememac airplay