Griffin iTrip FM Transmitter for 1G & 2G iPod

 (56 customer reviews)

Griffin's iTrip fills the technological void of .mp3 playability on existing audio systems through FM transmission, a Mr. Microphone for the 21st century. Whether you want to play music on your car stereo, or on the FM tuner of your home stereo, the ease of playing your iTunes could not be more effortless. A quick software load from cd-rom onto a personal computer updates iTunes with a special playlist that allows the user to select almost any frequency in the FM spectrum which iTrip is to broadcast on. Once the iPod is synched and updated with iTunes on your personal computer, the user can reselect at any time a preferred FM frequency directly from the iPod interface.

The range of the iTrip FM transmission is viable, as I could transmit at almost 20 feet with no distortion or loss of signal to my home stereo. 30 feet is its stated maximum range, yet in urban environments, half that range may be all one can coax from iTrip in a burdened FM spectrum.

Car travel in...Read more

The iTrip is a radio transmitter, so all of the problems (and benefits) of FM reception apply. Benefits: no wires, decent sound. Problems: adjacent channel interference, narrow freq. response, physical signal range.Best iPod sound in a car is obtained with a line input. Next best is a cassette apdater. But if those are not options, the iTrip is a well designed alternative and easy to use (if Macworld couldn't figure out how to change stations, maybe they need better tech writers - hint: turn up the volume).My iTrip works pretty well in the four cars I've tried it in. The biggest issue is channel interference in urban areas, but even that can often be tuned around. And it is great for parties at friends' houses. At the price, it is a decent compromise.-dan

I thought I'd give the iTrip a try, in lieu of installing a CD player in my 1990 BMW 525i. The unit is small, light and cute, and installs easily (a quick software install and then just pop it on top of your iPod). It worked okay with a radio here in the office, but even turning the unit slightly away from the radio would introduce static. So out to the car we go. The unit sits on the center console less than six inches away from the radio -- and the signal is okay until you start moving. Then with every turn, even though the unit doesn't move, there's static. The sound quality is poor, and the signal pickup is so narrow and weak that if you are in any kind of urban area where there are stations all along the dial, you're going to be SOL with this baby. Even though we have plenty of open air here, this was the case for me regardless of how low in the band I went, and how I fiddled with the sound level, position of the unit, etc. It's going back, unfortunately. :-(