Unleash That iPod

Whoever thought the iPod would revolutionize music the way it has? While this cute little gadget offers immense advantages in mobile music, a place that was missing out on its functionality was its utility in the car. No longer though. Read on for a few minutes to get the run down on how to utilize this fantastic device to listen to music in one of your favorite places – your car! Here’s how to get the best of both worlds.

Using your iPod in this manner frees you from the shackles of conventional CDs and tapes since it allows you to download music in unlimited quantity from the internet. You can thus harness the explosive power of music software to enhance your listening experience. The free music software that comes bundled with the iPod would already allow you access to the plethora of songs/music on your PC, and get a fresh lot when you get bored with the old ones.

If you are lucky and the car audio allows a connection with the iPod, all you may need to do is look for that cable and attach it to the dashboard jack. Some may require you to use the auxiliary jack.

If you are buying a new car, make sure you check for the availability of this feature, or you may well end up paying a couple of hundred extra for the privilege of setting up the connectivity. Some car companies have this feature pre-installed, while other will require you to go in for an upgrade of sorts.

Now let us look at the options available for those of us who have already invested their surplus cash in the iPod and cannot afford to buy a new, compatible audio system. Make use of one of the several options enumerated here.

Depending on your level of interest, you can try any of the following to work out that connectivity. Make a direct connection between the car audio and the iPod to allow you to use the full functions of your iPod, and is the recommended solution. Some car connection kits use a simple cable to connect the iPod (either of the dock connector or the earphone out jack) to the auxiliary input jacks provided. Others may utilize the CD changer port found behind several car radios. Added features with some of the kits are dock mounts, or auxiliary controllers and displays. A little more research and consultation with an expert is likely to land you with a good deal.

If you own a slightly older version of car audio in the form of a radio with a cassette player, a cassette adapter will do the trick for you. Typically, these adapters look like a tape with a cable attached, and work by transferring the audio output signal from the iPod to the read head of the cassette player. Switching to ‘Cassette’, and pressing play will allow the iPod music to play over your car speakers.

The next method is to use the FM transmitter to transmit to your car radio, which in turn uses an unused FM frequency to do so. While it enjoys the advantage of being wireless and easily portable, there is a definite loss in music quality. Another problem is finding a free FM channel in a busy city environment, though none of these deters this solution from being the most popular one as of date. The advantage of portability perhaps outweighs the other disadvantages.

So go ahead and reap the benefits of technology by using any of the methods outlined above. Spread the good word, and meanwhile, appreciate that melody when you go out on the next long drive!