EXCLUSIVES

Integrating the iPod with Home & Car Stereos
By Erez Reuveni > Images by Caesar Lima
December 2003

Over the past few years, MP3s have emerged as a viable means of distributing and consuming music, evolving from a marginal niche pursued by a select few to a class-cutting cultural phenomena. When the big five record companies filed suit against Napster in 2001, MP3 technology achieved a massive, if unintended, public relations coup, with millions more now aware both of the convenience and legality issues surrounding the use of MP3s. Much to the record industry's chagrin, MP3s have outstripped the courts' abilities to regulate them. Today, scores of desktop-based music software and portable MP3 players allow music listeners to customize their music listening experience like never before.

Apple¨'s iPod has played a pivotal role in the unfolding evolution of portable MP3 technology, setting the standard competing portable manufacturers look to follow. While players like the iPod come with headphones and can be attached to external speakers, true audiophiles will not be satisfied with the inferior sound projection found in inexpensive headphones or desktop speakers. But the influx of portable MP3 players like the iPod has created a new market for electronic products that facilitate the use of MP3 players with more expensive home and car stereo systems. Several options exist--ranging from cheap wiring for the home to expensive MP3-based stereo systems for the car-for music listeners eager to integrate MP3s into their home or car stereo systems.

Home Stereo Systems

The portability of MP3 players has made many home stereo systems seemingly obsolete in their immobility. But what home stereos lack in portability they make up for in sound quality. Those eager to take advantage of the sound amplification capabilities of their home stereo systems can certainly use simple wiring available at any electronics store to accomplish this goal.

The most reliable of methods to connect an iPod to a home stereo is a good old-fashioned cable. An RCA audio cable is an old standby. The cable has one male end, which connects to the iPod's headphones jack, and an RCA connector on the other end of the cable that plugs into a stereo receiver. Using the auxiliary function on the stereo receiver allows the iPod's MP3s to stream directly to a home stereo's speaker system. Scores of these types of cables are available on the market, but the specific product used for this article was the Xwireª Gold RCA cable (www.extrememac.com; $12.95). The cable utilizes 24-karat gold connectors and PVC overmolding to provide a durable product.

Although the cable is stylish and well-made, it can only perform as well as the MP3s being fed through the cable. Many audiophiles complain about the inferior quality of MP3s to CDs. This concern is warranted when the MP3s used function at 128 Kbps, as the heavy-duty speaker equipment may amplify the imperfections inherent to weaker MP3 encodings. But when the Kbps are bumped up to 192 and beyond, these imperfections cease to be a problem.

If iPod owners don't want to use RCA cables, they can instead take advantage of USB cables. First the iPod must be connected to a computer, using either FireWire¨ or a regular connection. Then, the computer must be connected to a stereo system using a USB connection. Not all stereo receivers have compatible USB ports, but newer receivers are more likely to exhibit compatibility. Once the connections are made, the iPod's music can be sent to the stereo system using iTunes and the USB connection

Car Stereo Systems

Connecting an iPod to a car stereo is just as easy as integrating an iPod with a home stereo system. Several options abound for the avid MP3 listener, the first of which is a simple FM transmitter that can also be used with home stereos. The FM transmitters are inexpensive and fairly easy to use. The transmitter is connected to the iPod's headphones jack and transmits music from the player to an unused FM frequency on the car stereo. The listener needs only to select empty FM bandwidth and let the transmitter do the rest.

Several of these transmitters exist that are compatible with the iPod and tend to require two AAA batteries. The first of them, the irock! 300W (www.myirock.com; $29.99), which exhibits eye-pleasing juxtaposition of gray and black colors, can only be tuned to the four FM frequencies between 88.1 and 88.7, which severely limits the irock!'s utility in dense metropolitan regions where radio stations may exist on those frequencies. The irock! does work well in rural areas, but may not be a sage choice for urban dwellers.

The second of these transmitters, the SoundFeeder SF121 (www.arkon.com; $24.99) functions in a broader spectrum of FM frequencies-88 to 95 MHz. The SoundFeeder is a small, boxy, all-black electrical component that may not excel at aesthetics, but gets the job done. The range of FM frequencies allows greater flexibility and provides urban dwellers with a better option than the irock!.

The last of the FM transmitter entries is the iTrip (www.griffintechnology.com; $34.99). The iTrip differs from the other two transmitters in that it requires connecting an iPod to a computer and briefly running some installation software. Once the software finishes running, the iPod has a new playlist with a series of files named after FM frequencies installed on it. These frequencies range from 88.1 to 107.9, providing the user with maximum frequency flexibility when using the transmitter. The iTrip itself is a small, cylindrical electronic device about the size of an index finger that attaches snugly to the top of the iPod. It's colors match the iPod and are the most aesthetically impressive of the three FM transmitters.

As with home stereo systems, the sound quality of MP3s in cars is limited by the aural quality of the MP3s themselves.

The FM transmitters further confound the sound quality by subjecting the MP3s to the vagaries of FM radio. The sound quality is for the most part average, similar to a radio station, but a far cry from a CD being played on state of the art speakers. Also, the available frequencies can change depending on where the listener and his car are. Driving from the countryside to a major metropolitan area will adversely affect the available frequencies and may require the listener to tweak the FM station being used to listen to MP3s.

Another inexpensive way to listen to MP3s while driving is an old-fashioned cassette adapter. Xwire Gold's iPod Cassette Adapter (www.extrememac.com; $19.95) and Belkin's Mobile Cassette Adapter (www.belkin.com; $24.99) are both decent options. The adapters come with a cable attached to the cassette which is inserted in the iPod's headphones jack. The tape can then be used with a cassette deck. The adapter is not as convenient as the FM transmitter, as it requires a car stereo with a cassette deck, which is becoming increasingly harder to find. But the adapter doesn't suffer from the capricious irregularities of FM radio.