Well, I didnt wanan shell out for the iPod, so I got a creative zen touch for a nice price.. 250 bucks for a 40 gig. that saved me 200 bucks if i were to get an iPod 40 gig...
I know they make the itrip for the ipod, and Ive heard of a few for other mp3 players, mostly about the BELKIN TUNECAST II, I was wondering if anybody has tested any of these FM transmitters out so I can get the songs from my creative zen touch, to play on my car stereo.
well, Thanks for any comments.,

 

The FM transmitter obviously wont give you the most exceptional sound quality, but if that doesnt bother you then most FM transmitters should be up to the task. A number of my friends have said that the iTrip is hideously over priced.

 

i dont have a zen micro, but i do have an mp3 player that i use an FM transmitter for.

without a subwoofer, the sound is pretty decent IMO... but with a sub, im not too sure.

 

I used an fm transmitter with built in charger with my ipod for a while.. Long story short, it turned into a $60 paperweight.

It pretty much comes down to whether or not you car about the sound quality. Even with the best possible reception, most of them sound kind of bad. The transmitters they use are small enough that the signal you get will be pretty much like a weak fm station. As an example, if I wanted to hear the same amount of sound out of my speakers, the cd player would have to be on volume 4 out of 10, fm radio would be on 5 or 6, and the fm transmitter would have to be on 7. I ended up just using the tape adaptor until I got a nicer head unit that accepts a line-level input (and controls my iPod directly!).

With that said, if you don't really turn your stereo up very often, the fm modulators can be very convenient. I definitely liked only having one wire that can be tucked out of sight, instead of having a wire hanging out of my tape player and another for the charger. Its also nice to be able to take your mp3 to your friends car along with the fm modulator and know that it will work on their stereo.

Without having an iPod, the best solution would be to get an aftermarket head unit that has an aux input. You just plug in a regular RCA wire in the back of the stereo and into your mp3 player and be done with it. You get the best sound quality that your player can make and have no annoying wires hanging out the front of your stereo.

For me, I keep the fm modulator for long trips and stuff when I'm not taking my own car, but it just sounds too bad to use every day. If I had known up front how bad it would sound, I would have saved my money and put it towards a better head unit in the first place.

 

Thanks for all the help.. I went ahead and got the Tunecast II by Belkin...
It works pretty well, but bass with a subwoofer doesnt sound all that great, but it sure beats listening to the crappy radio and swapping cd's.
the hardest part of finding a place to set it down so it will keep working, and not move around very much.