iTrip vs. Tunecast II vs. Cassette Adpater

[Lukano]

I finally received the 3G 15gig iPod that I won a while back, and am just going about deciding on how I want to set it up in my car.

I don't travel a lot, but when I do it's for at least 3+ hours so quality is fairly important.

I have an original Tunecast, and it's not bad... but far from great. Lots of noise in the city (small city at that) and has to be literally 2-3 feet from the external antenna placement to get rid of the vast majority of the static.

I've tried cassette adapters in the past, and have not had a ton of good luck. Both times in recent memory were el-cheapo models from Walmart, and both had issues. One would only play mono sound and had a lot of distortion (lots of bass, muted or flat treble) or alternately would only play through the passenger side speakers.

I originally started debating between the Tunecast II and the iTrip, but then the Belkin Cassette Adapter caught my eye and I was curious...

Any thoughts? (Also, note that it's a 1995 Chrysler Intrepid with stock head-unit and no money to be replacing it within the forseeable future. If someone happens to know offhand if the stock deck has inputs capable of wiring up an adapter to plug my iPod in directly, please let me know!!! I'd love it... But until I can find the time to take the deck out to check, I need a shorter-term solution).

[bhb399mm]

I think most people in the forum, including me, find cassetta adapters superior to FM mods....

the belkin cassette adapter is a great unit. not the best solution for all, but it works very well. i used it for a few weeks before i got my hardwire instal done in my jetta (check my signature)

as far as your situation, if your intreped has a factory cd changer, or your head unit has cd changer controls, you can use a PIE X3 Aux Input Adapter (http://store.myradiostore.com/piex3auxinad.html) to trick your head unit into thinking audio is coming from your ipod, not your cd changer. i know alot of people who have had good luck with this unit. an entire PIE X3 setup will run you around $100.

If you dont really wanna invest that much in your instal, i sugest either the Monster Cassette Adapter (http://www.monstercable.com/computer/productPageComputer.asp?pin=2182) or the Belkin Mobile Cassette Adapter (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=201526&pcount=&Product_Id=153161). Either unit will work better than the old ones that you got at WalMart. Both are about $20.

I would also sugest getting the Belkin Auto Kit (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=T6715LL/A) which will both power/change your ipod in the car, and give you a line out source (to plug the tape adapter into) to listen to your music - a line out will give much better sound than the headphone jack which uses the ipod's internal amp.

good luck!

[trunkguy]

I just stopped using my cassette adapter as the connection is getting a bit old and the sound is breaking up.

At least now I have an iTrip I can leave my iPod in the glove box out of the way.

[Jette]

If a cassette adapt. is better than the FM transmitter, that must be REALLY bad. I once bought an adapter, returned to the car excited to start up the tunes. Sounded so bad I immediately took it back. It's a shame to take something as expensive as an iPod, with quality as great and a CD, then run it into a cassette quality output. Might as well go by cheap tapes.... hee hee :)

[retro]

I was pleasantly surprized to find the cassette interface sounded so well.

[dazednconfused]

there is a big difference between adapters
my sony now infinitely better than a cassette adapter that came with my cd player, which did hiss a lot (the sony sounds inbetween a radio signal and a cd)
also, try using the sik imp rather than the belkin