apocryph.org Notes to my future self

Portable Media Player & Car Audio — Should it be this hard?

I’m considering upgrading my current portable media solution (a dated Sony MiniDisc player, the old 5 hour kind, dated but oh-so-cheap) to a more trendy microdrive-based player. I’ve narrowed the field to the Apple iPod Mini, and the Creative Zen Micro, with the Zen in the lead based on better features, replaceable battery, and not being the iPod.

With either model, I’ll need a way to play audio in the car. My MD player came in a car kit, which included a cassette adapter (yes, my car is that old), a mounting pouch, and a cigarette lighter power adapter, plus a remote that mounts in the center console. I don’t strictly speaking require the remote, but some sort of adapter for my in-car audio system, a mount of some sort, and a charging solution are mandatory.

The charging situation is pretty easy; car chargers are available in all conceivable permutations, and are reasonably cheap. The mounting problem has also been solved innumerable ways for both the iPod and the Zen Micro.

However, the audio integration is where it becomes complicated. The naive solution is to use an FM transmitter, either 12v or battery powered. It plugs into the headphone jack of your player, and transmits the audio on an FM station. You then tune your car radio to that station, and hear your music through your car radio.

This is great, but for a serious problem: the audio sucks. In urban areas it can be hard to find an unused FM station so the transmitter can operate without interference, and even w/ a clear FM band, the FM transmitter operates at such low power that random static interference is still a problem, particularly if your FM antenna is at the back of your car.

The other alternative is an FM modulator, which installs in your car between your antenna and your radio. This is the option I’m leaning towards, as it is the least shitty option I can come up with.