View Full Version : Horrible Newer Tech Roadtrip+ 87.9
Well I just got this thing and I am very dissapointed. I live in Long Island, NY. The hiss coming out of the radio is incredible. You cant hear it when the stereo is turned down obviously but when I need to increase the ovume to listening levels it is terrible. I got this thing mainly for audiobooks and it is simply not suitable. THing is that with this thing unpugged my radio picks up an 87.9 radio station! I thought it wasnt legal to broadcast that in NY since it wasnt one of the three cities listed on the site. ALso the radio station is being broadcasted on 87.7 its just that I can hear it on 87.9. But once I plug in the roadtriup yes it over powers it bu there is a lot of noise in the background. I am totally bummed out by this because my friend let me borrow his Monster, and if I select the appropriate station it is much better. I am worried about getting the monster because perhaps it is only my local radio station that broadcasts 87.7 and u can hear it on 87.9 as well (some jewish station). Because I read that this roadtrip is supposed ot be more powerful than the monster. Ughh I am so confused. What are my options now. I have a Bose HU and the $120 option foy my Maxima is way too much $$ to use the aux adapter. Should I try an fm modulator. If so which one? Im sorry for the long post I am just so frustrated with this. It was supposed to work good here and got great reviews. Ughh... How can I find out if that radio station is legaly broadcasting?
fondoo
06-06-2005, 10:44 PM
any fm transmitter you buy will be the same thing. and i was going to buy that newer tech roadtrip+. thank god i didnt. i purchased a whole new headunit with an AUX cable. i think ur best bet is to buy a new headunit if you want excellent sound quality.
Uhm didnt I just say tha tI used a monster my friend let me borrow and it worked fine but on a different station. I know I wont get excellent sound Im looking for good sound. If it sounds like the best radio station reecption Im happy. I want to be able to listen to audiobooks without a crap load of hiss in th background. But even music is hard to listen to with this, but the monster is fine because I can select a different channell. I thought this newertech is supposed to overpower the radio station. So can any1 help me out with the questions in my firs tpost? Whether this is a legal broadcast etc...
rogermexico
06-07-2005, 01:25 AM
Crowded markets are a tough sell for the FM transmitter. The newertech has been a champ here in LA, but it is a crapshoot.
The problem isn't the newertech, but it is limited to the one channel, so if the monster works best for you, sounds like that's what you ought to go with. I'd go for the icarplay wireless+, which will give you the greatest range of available channels for tuning (and hence the greatest likelihood of finding one that works).
Can't help you with whether the station is legal or not, but if it's just a strong signal on an adjacent channel they're likely to be legit, but just too strong where you are.
Good luck!
Thats the thing. Ts not that strong on the main channell either! The main channell has also a lot of statc just not as much as the one need!
By the way what is the difference between all the monster icarplay ones? Also any1 know of a goo dplace to get 'em cheap?
rogermexico
06-07-2005, 01:32 AM
icarplay wireless has limited channel selection; icarplay wireless+ has full digital tuning, but does not go down to 87.9; both charge the ipod in addition to transmitting on FM.
froogle search and/or pricegrabber should be able to set you up on pricing.
Thanks guys. But here is a wierd thing I noticed today! tuned to the station that 87.9 on my radio. And it was some jewish station yesterday and now it is Russian! How can that be? Can 2 stations share the same freuquency. I could swear the guy is talking in Russian now. Could it be that they are illegaly prodcasting on this channell because the sound is not clear its still very staticky.
okay here is what discovered thus far after playing around with the monster. Now the monster sounds clear and the roadtrip is very noisy. Now here is the interesting part.
When I pluged the roadtrip in, and tuned to 87.9 but did not connect the plug to the ipod yet. The radio was totaly silent. At full volume you can hear slight noise but not much. Now as soon as I pluuged the iPod in even though it was paused, the noise became MUCH louder and I can hear the same static I Was complaining about earlier during the song. When again I unlugged the iPod at full volume while having the roadtrip connected the hissing disapeared, and when I totally unpolugged the roadtrip the static form the radio broadcast came back....
So I basically the noise is not being generated by the roadtrip per se, but by the iPod itself. Interestingly enough, when I did the same test with the monster. When I tunred it on but did not have the iPod plugged in, it was just as quet as the roadtrip and produced the same slight hiss at full volume; but when I plugged the icarplay into the ipod, the nose level remained the same and did not change....
So basically I believe that the roadtrip+ has no problem transmitting but for some reason picks up extra noise from the iPod. Is there any way to fix this? Does all this make sense? Is it possible have a defective unt and a replacement will be better? s this the famous ground loop that I keep readng about? Thanks everyone for reading and your help is greatly appreciated. So lets hear it.
jenfromuva
06-07-2005, 11:22 PM
I had trouble with my roadtrip+, so I called Newer Tech's customer service line and explained my problem (I heard thumping noises in my car instead of music in both speakers). I sent back my defective unit, and just received a new unit yesterday. My new unit works perfectly! There are a lot of stations in the Chicago area, so I was worried. I would suggest calling their customer service line and getting another unit before giving up on the roadtrip+ for good.
just called tech support. He basically had me fill out an RMA form online and said that they would mail t to me without me having to send it back. Does that make sense? I have not recieved any confirmaton emails yet.
jenfromuva
06-08-2005, 02:26 PM
That should work out - my experience was different (they sent me a new product and I sent them mine with the RMA on it), but I also live in the same metropolitan area as tech support. They will likely send you a confirmation email soon. Newer Tech is pretty fast in sending the replacement device, and they seem pretty helpful. Good luck! and post what happens.
Well got my new unit in and same problem... When no iPod is connected it fine as soon as I connec the ipod I hear static and all the noise of the ipod like when the hard drive spins up and everything. Ne1 know how to fix this before I send it back for a refund?
Try another iPod first the problem might be your iPod not the Roadtrip.
k will do. Ill let u guys know
jenfromuva
06-13-2005, 06:31 PM
It also might be due to your area - if you can, try it in a different area. If that's not possible, try to reposition the roadtrip's plug in the power thing to see if you can get better sound that way. Good luck!
vinz0r
06-13-2005, 10:05 PM
Mine doesn't even charge. It shows the lightning bolt sign but the battery icon isn't "filling up", just like it was charged. But I know for a fact it's not charged. It's random. Sometimes it charges sometimes it doesn't. Going to return it.
L Supreme
06-13-2005, 10:37 PM
I'm having the same problem with the hissing. I just got mine today, I've already sent a request for a rma to exchange it. I'll give em one more shot then I'm asking for my $ back.
portmaster1000
06-16-2005, 05:18 PM
I received a new unit today to replace a problem of a "loose" connector on my first unit. However, there is a still great deal of
feedback when connected with my ipod. Here is what I have observed:
I know the line-out pins of the ipod's connector slot are on the left hand side (front of ipod facing you) and the recharge pin(s)
are near the right side. When I slowly start to attach your product with the left side connecting first (I hear the music but the
recharge symbol doesn't show) I get a VERY CLEAR signal. As soon as the power pin connects and the recharge symbol appears I
instantly get a lot of distorting high pitched feedback.
The feedback is definitely coming from the recharge feature.
PM1K
vinz0r
06-17-2005, 03:35 AM
That previous post was interesting. We should forward this to NewerTech.
portmaster1000
06-17-2005, 01:04 PM
I've replied to my first RMA email and sent that information. No response yet but I'll keep ya posted.
PM1K
L Supreme
06-18-2005, 01:57 PM
I got my 2nd one & the hissing is still there, but now there is static whenever the wire moves. I'm gonna return this & get a Neo Ion.
vinz0r
06-25-2005, 01:47 AM
I received my replacement. Green LED got changed to Red LED. Signal is much stronger and cleaner.
If I plug in the left side of the connector, the signal is very clean. If I plug it in fully, I can hear feedback from the charging function.
I might just plug it in using the left side of the connector.
OR
Has anyone successfully modified their RoadTrip+ to incorporate an ON/OFF switch in order to control the charging function? That could help A LOT!!!
jjp72
06-28-2005, 02:00 AM
anybody know if the 87.9 roadtrip+ is compatible with an iskin? i need a case for my 4g 40gb and have been looking at the iskins, but i want something that i can keep on when using my ipod with the roadtrip+. anybody have any other case suggestions to use in conjunction with the roadtrip+ and a 40gb?
thanks.
zarvox
08-08-2005, 09:01 PM
Does anyone know if the loose plug/noises when it moves problems with the Roadtrip+ have been fixed yet?
I'd like an inexpensive FM transmitter that can use 87.9 and charge my iPod, and the Roadtrip+ sounds great except for the problems mentioned in this thread and the "noise when jostled" mentioned in the review here.
Thanks for any comments and experiences on this.
AstrosJeff
08-09-2005, 04:34 PM
I got one about a month ago, and had most of the same problems. On top of that, the plastic casing was coming apart, and I often lost one side of the stereo sound (probably due to some sort of short).
I ditched it and went for the Kensington Digital FM Transmitter instead. It gives a much clearer sound, and still charges and transmits all in one piece.
Oh, and both of them (Kensington Digital FM and Newer Tech Roadtrip+) work with iSkins, though the Newer Tech was a tight fit.
zarvox
08-10-2005, 03:57 PM
Thanks AstrosJeff. It's too bad there are so many quality issues with the Roadtrip+, I guess that's why it's cheap. :) I'm not sure I want to spend $60 for the Kensington though, especially since it makes it harder to use 87.9.
frankhs
10-29-2005, 05:20 AM
I have a 5th generation ipod video (but I think this experience is the same with 4th generation ipod photos).
I plug in my roadtrip to my ipod, charges and transmits fine. When backlight goes off, hissing starts. Spinning the controller also puts minor noise in the line out.
danny_w
11-01-2005, 11:46 PM
I just got my Roadtrip+ today and did a very quick check with my nano. So far I am extremely impressed just sitting in my driveway. I just plugged it in, set my radio for 87.9, and plugged in my nano. Absolute silence. I then pushed 'play' on the nano and got music thru the stereo! I had heard that many people had to reset the nano to get anything at all out of the dock connector, but not mine. I live in an area (Austin) that has radio stations on both sides at 87.7 and at 88.1,but no discernable problems so far. I can tell more on the morning drive, and will post again tomorrow. I really didn't expect much for $28!
P.S. For those who might be interested, it also fits great with the Agent 18 case.
P.P.S. Tried the Roadtrip+ on the way into work this morning and it worked great! Since I will be using it mainly around town (I don't travel much) it seems like a great solution to me. I'm sure the hardwired units like the neo are better, but for $28 versus $200 I think the Roadtrip+ does a great job.
danny_w
11-01-2005, 11:52 PM
Originally posted by vinz0r
I received my replacement. Green LED got changed to Red LED. Signal is much stronger and cleaner.
So the newer units have a red LED? I just got mine tonight and it has a green LED, but it sounds very crisp and strong just sitting in my driveway. I will test it on the drive in to work tomorrow.