black783

I got an Ipod for Father's Day, including the FM transmitter, and have been hard at work loading songs from the CD collection. It is great to be able to just listen to the songs you like.

The transmitter works great and the sounds quality is excellent. I have had no signal problems at all. Is the sound as good as straight from the CDs? No but close enough so that I will now use the Ipod instead of CDs. The Ipod sits well in the cup holder (I'm usually driving at a frisky pace so it makes drinking coffee hard). I will get a speaker upgrade soon but I would think the sound quality would be even better if there was a direct plug in. Also it would be great if you could see the song and artist on the display as you can with FM stations.

74_LS-4

The iPod has to be one of the coolest things ever.

I have every song that I've ever loved or even liked on mine. And I still have scads of room left to use it as a backup device for my computer.

CV62

I have the iPod Photo with the transmitter and love it. Wish we could convince Apple or an OEM to manufacture HW to match the interior/exterior. That bright white skin is too loud. Thinking of getting the U2 iPod for the red/black contrast to go with my Victory Red/Ebony C6.

b4i4getit

I have to check this out. This sounds like a much better way of managing your music.

SigArms226

Which transmitter model are you using with your ipod? I have heard mixed reviews of some of them.

Hoonose

Why is the iPod so cool? I know it looks cool, I've seen one or two.
But we've been using hard drive and flash memory based MP3 players for years already. Did you just happen to climb onboard the PC/Mac based personal audio revolution just as the iPod came out?
Does the iPod just make it really easy?
It's not cheap, and do you really have to pay for music?

CV62

I use the DLO Transpod FM ALL IN ONE. It has a digital display, allows for tuning to every frequency instead of some that only support 6 or 8 presets. Because you can select any freq and lock it in, it does not slip like some of the wheel tuners. It's pricey but worth it and sounds really good. I picked mine up for $20 NEW on ebay as the sellar did not know what they had.

http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...10184&pfp=cat3

http://search.ebay.com/DLO-TransPod-...fkrZ1QQfromZR8

Big Lebowski

I love the iPod, but with the lack of direct connection I am not too happy.

However, I am very happy with using MP3 CD's in my C6. You can upload your music to your computer (the same way you would with an iPod) but burn an MP3 CD. I have the 6 disc changer and each MP3 CD holds about 8 hours of music! That is 48 hours of music for all 6 discs!I love it the MP3 player capability.

The are normal CD-R disc's , but it is the MP3 file format that is very compressed and since the vette will play them, the 6 disc changer is like an iPod. I burn a lot of albums to MP3 and hit random. Also, the song title comes up on the display with each new song. Love it.

CV62

Unfortunately for the NAV/XM users, we got hosed and MP3's do not work in our system. We are all holding our breath for a software/firmware update for the NAV unit. Enjoy your MP3's and for now I will have to go FM transmitter.

Frans

Besides the FM transmitter, which obviously cuts down the frequency range considerably, your ipod uses compression to cut down the file size of your songs. Uncompressed standard CD Audio (44.100Hz, 16 bit, stereo) is about 8.5 MB a minute. Obvisouly way too large. If you compress this into MP3 you'll lose a lot information. But if you use a compression setting of 192Kbsec or higher, most people can't hear the difference between the MP3 and the original. Since you're using the iPod in a car this is even less notably. You'll have to have a very good stereo installation at home to hear the difference anyway. On a car with all the ambient sound, you don't need that kind of quality.

You can also choose AAC for compressing your songs. AAC is much better and smaller in file size than MP3 meaning more bang for bucks when using the same bitrate. However, you might not want to use AAC because of compatibility issues. Is you use it with iTunes and your iPod it's an excellent choice. But I stick to MP3, 256KBsec.

If you're listening to pop/rock music, MP3 is great. However, for easy listening and classical music (violins, piano, acoustic guitars) you might want to use AAC. MP3 can't handle the dynamic complexity of this music very well.

Hope this helps!

Medriver99

You can have a direct connection for your Ipod sound to your Nav head unit with XM .
Use the Soundgate SDSGM2 interface it allows two auxiliary inputs.
You cannot control the unit from the head unit but the sound is much , much better than the transmitters. and louder too.



Mike

dvarapala

Even better, sttck the MP3 jukebox in one of the wells under the hatch and control everything from the stock radio head unit. Then you won't GAS what color it is.

dvarapala

I'm using the one from Monster Cable. It's adequate, and works much better than some units I have tried. FWIW, I don't have a iPod - I have an MP3 jukebox from iRiver - so I'm not using the iPod-specific model of the Monster modulator, but it appears to be pretty much the same unit except for the connectors.

TRAYC7

Im doing the same thing with mine.. but looking into the interface option.. the sound through the FM transmitter isnt the best...but I can live with it for the options you get...

BeachBunny

I think the ipod came out back with the other mp3 players... but I think minidisc players were first? Either way, they're cheaper... I've got one myself. Doesn't hold as much music, though... and much smaller.

You don't have to pay for music with ipod. But, I've heard they make life a little harder for music that you don't... I guess it's the itunes program that you use to upload the music onto the ipod?

As for the sound quality, I think it's the ipod... and so probably not much to do about it...

You guys know that you can just get an mp3/cd player instead, right? Just burn ur mp3's all onto a dvd and it'll hold a TON... you can even organize folders and all that good stuff.

CV62

If we could get MP3's to work in the NAV it would solve a lot of problems.

BeachBunny

do you have a dvd player in there? They play mp3's too.

Hoonose

The Nav won't take MP3's until some sort of upgrade, and it only takes regular CD's and Nav DVD's, not other software.

BeachBunny

There must be somethin' can be done.

Hoonose

I hear they're trying, but they have alot of distortion, or problems with data throughput speed. Maybe with the '06's...