Owning an Apple iPod gives one the option to listen to music anytime and anywhere. A lot of people love to listen to their iPods music on their cars stereo system, and there are several different kinds of adapters that enable one to achieve this.
Apple iPod owners are notorious for carrying their iPods with them wherever they go. It is hard to argue with such habits since the iPod is a marvelous Portable Music Player (PMP) that has some excellent features to offer, plenty of space for tons of music (160GB being the highest) and an excellent battery life to match that. What this means is that iPods can be ported around wherever one goes to listen to your favorite music on the go, and this also increases the need to find multiple sources to charge the device.
One of the most popular places to use iPods is your vehicle, since many people have some excellent stereo systems installed in their cars. Even people with average stereo systems would prefer to listen to their iPod music on the car stereo speakers rather than the earplugs of the iPod. This enhances the listening experience, and it also allows other people present in the vehicle to enjoy the music as well. The good news is that there are tons of good iPod adapters meant to be used in your car amongst other iPod accessories that will allow you to achieve this purpose.
Cassette Adapters
This is a really economical option for iPod owners as well, and it simply makes use of the cassette players that some people still have in their vehicles. One end of the adapter plugs into the headphone jack of the iPod, and the other end plugs into the cassette player of the vehicle. The sound output is pretty good as well, and these adapters cost around $20.
FM Transmitters
This is probably the cheapest option that you have at your disposal. An FM transmitter is very simple to attach in a vehicle and it costs as little as $15. What the transmitter does is that it receives the audio output from your iPod, and then creates a private radio station which is picked up by your vehicles stereo system. The only problem is that the sound quality is not the best possible since the radio signal needs to be weak enough so that other vehicles do not pick it up. Moreover, there are some very strict laws in place that govern radio signal transmission.
Line-In Port Stereos
New car stereo systems come with this feature and this is the simplest way to connect an iPod to a car stereo. The Line-In port is a port that connects with the headphone jack of the iPod through a simple wire, and this produces the sound from the iPod on the stereo once the stereo mode has been turned to Auxiliary. If your stereo does not have this feature, maybe you should consider buying a new one that does.
RCA Adapters
Every car stereo that has a CD player will have an RCA port at the back of the stereo. These are similar to the RCA ports that are present on home audio systems, and connecting them to an iPod is very easy. You will need to open up the back of the stereo and locate the red and the white ports that appear together. A wire that connects the headphone jack of the iPod to this RCA port is very easy to purchase, and the sound quality that is produced will be excellent.
There are plenty of pros and cons to each of these adapters, and the ultimate decision will depend on how much money you are willing to spend. The best option is getting a new stereo that is designed specifically to support an iPod connection, but this is an option that will cost a fair amount of money. If you are willing to shell out such an amount, then you can enjoy the best possible audio output from iPod through your cars stereo system.