Ezcube FM Transmitter + Hands Free (White)

Comment: The EZ Cube FM Transmitter gives very poor quality audio, especially considering the price tag. I experienced static on every single station on the radio dial when using it with my MP3 Player. And not just a little static, either. It was unlistenable.

The charger for the unit fell apart on me after about 4 weeks, leaving my transmitter powerless. To their credit, the company did respond to my email about this extremely promptly, and sent me a new one free of charge. That did not change how poor the quality of this product is overall, however. If you are looking for a good quality FM transmitter, go with the Monster Radio Play 300. It's cheaper, and the audio quality is a million times better.

Comment: Like a couple of other reviewers, we had a disappointing first day with the EZ Cube -- we tried every single stop on the FM band and, while some were less distorted than others, the sound quality was not good. Since we were in the middle of the Great Plains, where there aren't that many regular FM stations, we were afraid the product was not as good as advertised.

BUT: We went back to the instruction pamphlet and took seriously the directions to dial down the volume on our iPod. Today -- even as we drove through downtown Atlanta, where the FM dial is as crowded as it possible can be -- NO PROBLEMS with the EZ Cube! The sound quality is as good as a clear, strong FM station would be. We will definitely keep the product and continue to use it.

Comment: I read a review of this item about a year ago, before it was available, and it raved about this little transmitter. That review was dead-on. This transmitter is fantastic! I had been using another brand for a couple of years, and this little cube blows it away!

So, why is it so good? Well, simply, it works! You plug it in, select an empty frequency, tune the cube to it, plug in your MP3 player and you're off! I am getting very little static with this, and when I do, small adjustments in location get rid of the static.

I want to address the two people that gave this item a 1 star rating because they both seem to say the same thing (tried it at different frequencies, different locations, different volumes, etc). When I first plugged this in and tried it, the sound was awful!! I thought maybe it wasn't getting enough power, so I turned up the sound on my MP3 player (that's what I had to do with my old transmitter to boost power). This made the sound worse. Big clue! So, I went the opposite way. The lower the volume on my MP3 player got, the better the quality got. You do not have to blast the volume on your MP3 player to get good quality on this transmitter. Find a good volume level on your player, then adjust the volume of your car radio.

One other thing you might want to look at if you're having any issues with this - check the battery level! This does have a rechargeable battery. Obviously, if it's not charged it won't work. Make sure when you're charging that the red light on the part that plugs into the lighter is on. It is bright, so you'll know when it's on. I had to move it around a bit in my lighter socket to make it come on (that's a car issue, not a product issue).

The bottom line is that this product works great! If you're having any issues with it, read the manual or try the things I suggested above.

Comment: I was little hesitant to throw down good $$ on something with such sketch reviews but CNET said it worked great so I pulled the trigger. I got it in about four biz days (thx for quick shipping) I opened the box plugged up the cigarette lighter charger, plugged in my Ipod and it sounded like crap. I didn't freak out though. I lowered the volume on the Ipod and all of a sudden it came to life clear as a bell. I was rocking in about 30 seconds. Now I don't live in a metropolis but I do live in a decent size city. You big city folks might have more issues due to all the stations but the first one I picked with some static worked just fine. I have only used it once so this is a one time use review but I wanted to let folks know it worked for me right out of the box with little fuss and I can wait to jam my Ipod around town not to mention Pandora and Podcasts. Oh goodie goodie!

Only complaint is the cig lighter charger got really hot in about 2 minutes of use but the manual says its normal. I can't imagine that lasting very long with that kind of heat. If you get this product you might want to consider the USB charger as a backup.

Comment: I bought this in December 2009 to replace my aging Belkin FM transmitter. The two are of different generations of tech, so I won't compare them.

The EZCube FM transmitter works great for my needs. It has plenty of transmit power for my vehicle. I've noticed a little hiss when among tall buildings, but no total static or dropouts. Most of my needs are on the open road, so hiss is usually not an issue. You can tune below 88.1 (down to 87.5), so station interference is minimal. I use 87.7 in my vehicle because that's the lowest available on the car radio and I get no station interference.

I did notice that you have to be careful and not have the input volume of your ipod or other mp3 device up too loud or you will get a lot of hiss/static. Experiment with a home or pocket radio before you hit the road to find the best input level. The right level is probably lower that you might think. Turning it up will not increase the transmit power.

The unit is so compact that some may have difficulty reading the display (especially the battery icon). It does have a backlight that comes on when you press the On button. The controls are easy to use for such a small device. The battery life is as advertised (8-10 hours). Charging usually takes less than an hour.

A USB charging cable (USB CHARGING CABLE FOR EZCUBE) is available at extra cost (about $14 w/shipping) and allows you to recharge the cube from a laptop or your home computer.

One interesting use for the cube, especially with the USB charging cable, is to turn your computer into a streaming internet radio transmitter. Just bring up your favorite audio stream in winamp or the like, plug the cube into the computer's headphone jack, adjust the computer sound volume to eliminate distortion and voila!... Internet radio in your home for a fraction of the cost of a standalone internet radio. My home radios are within the range of the cube and work great with this setup. If you have a large home, this obviously wouldn't cover your whole house.

I bought this little gem directly from Amazon, but notice now that it's only available from the Amazon marketplace storefront, NFL Marketing.

Other that the somewhat smallish display, I have no negatives to report. I'm 100% satisfied with this device. Solid, well-designed unit.