How to play the iPod in your car

You are a music fan and got the iPod at the same time. Now, Would you like to enjoy the music on iPod though the car while on the go? You can take your iPod wherever you go.

Most people have an ipod (or some portable music device) and want to play it in their cars. Of course you can spend lots of money and buy one of those alpine or likewise expensive systems that help you do that. The only benefit of those systems is you're able to control your iPod through the dash/cassette/cd player that you have and you can see the songs that are playing (scrolling title/artist).

Now, here, I would like to introduce some easy way for you to enjoy music though car. It won't spend your music money. There are several ways to play an iPod on a car stereo. Depending on which you choose, it could be as easy as plugging in a wire, or as difficult as replacing your entire car stereo. The steps below range from the easiest and cheapest to the more complicated and expensive. Let me explain step-by-step.

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Method 1 - Cassette Tape Adapter

Cassette Tape Adapter - about $15.00
A cassette adapter, available for around $10 at most local electronics stores, provides an easy and straightforward method to hook an external device into a car stereo. Simply place the cassette tape in your car's tape player and the other end into the headphone or line out jack on your MP3 player. Make sure that the tape is playing forward and not in auto reverse. Turn on the player and play a song and it should output through your car speakers.

One of the drawbacks of this approach is a reduction in sound quality of the music. Although to the untrained ear, it is hardly noticeable. Also, of course, this approach requires that you have a tape player in your car, which is becoming much less common because of the pervasiveness of CDs.

Method 2 - FM Transmitter

FM Transmitter - about $25.00
An FM transmitter transmits the audio signal of the device that it is plugged into over a specific FM frequency. An FM stereo then can pick up the sounds as if it were a regular FM broadcast.

In order to get a transmitter to work with your MP3 player, it must be first plugged into the MP3 player's headphone or line out jack. If the transmitter has an on/off button, power it on. Examine the device and figure out the FM station that the output will be broadcast to. Tune it to a radio station that is not in use in your area. Typically, the lowest numbers on the dial are your best bet - 87.1 through 87.9.

The biggest drawback of this device is that it is sometimes hard to find an FM station that is fairly open that can be used by the transmitter. This is especially the case in urban areas. If the station is not clear, it can lead to a lot of static and interruptions in your music. If you live in an urban area, be sure to purchase an FM transmitter that allows you to transmit your signal to any place on the FM dial.

Method 3 - Line Out Through the Stereo

FM Transmitter - about $35.00
Though less common, another simple way to connect your MP3 player in your car is through a line in jack on your car stereo. Before you get excited though, most dealer shipped cars do not have an input jack in their car stereo. You can buy an aftermarket stereo that has an input, but that can obviously be cost prohibitive. If your car stereo had this feature, there would usually be an 'Aux' input or something similarly named on your stereo. Ask your dealer or consult your car owner's manual if you are not sure if your car stereo has an input jack. If the jack exists, just plug in your MP3 player to it and listen through the appropriate input on your car stereo.

Other ways?

there are other hardware ways to get the best quality music out of your ipod into your car stereo. There are also MP3-based hard drive stereos that are available for aftermarket purchase, but many car manufacturers are not yet offering them as an upgrade when you purchase a new car. Some newer cars have CD players that can play MP3 CDs, but you're still stuck carrying around MP3 discs and trying to navigate through the songs on them without any help but a label on the CD itself. So, unfortunately, for the next couple of years unless you want to spend quite a bit of money, your best bet for playing MP3s in your car is to use one of the methods described above.

Good luck to you. Enjoy you music!

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