Scosche FM-MOD02 Universal Audio Input FM Modulator for iPod, Satellite Radio or Portable Music Player

by Scosche

Product Details

User's Guide [794kb PDF]

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User's Guide [794kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 1 x 0.5 x 0.5 inches ; 11.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001QBG614
• Item model number: FM-MOD02
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (145 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #938 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

plug your source into the FM-MOD02's auxiliary input or RCA inputs, then tune your FM radio to the selected frequency. You can switch between two different modulation frequencies, 87.9 MHz or 88.3 MHz, for the best possible reception in your area.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Works Mostly as Advertised, February 24, 2010

By 

Alexius - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scosche FM-MOD02 Universal Audio Input FM Modulator for iPod, Satellite Radio or Portable Music Player (Electronics)

Works pretty much as advertised: far better than wireless FM, not as good as an auxiliary port.

Basically, if your car's head unit (radio/CD player) doesn't come with a built-in external auxiliary port, you have four options to connect your MP3 player: (1) FM wireless, (2) FM wired, (3) aux port (if available), or, (4) a new radio.

Option (1) is useless; as to option (2), the Scosche FM modulator is probably the cheapest one you can find. There are some better FM modulators (eg, with 8 programmable freqs), but they are quite a bit more expensive. Options (3) or (4), which are also more expensive, offer much better quality. If sound quality is important to you and you're willing to spend the extra cash, look into hooking up through the aux port (if your car has it) or replacing the HU (these days, fairly decent radio/CD/MP3 players are not very expensive).

If you go for this FM modulator, there are a few things you should be aware of.

First, the device consists of the modulator itself and a (very) cheap plastic switch housing, containing the switch which turns the device on and a 3.5 mm female jack for audio input. The housing connects to the modulator via a Molex connector (for the switch) and two RCA jacks (for the audio input). The wires connecting the switch housing to the modulator are insulated, but unsightly and you definitely do not want them exposed. (You connect the MP3 player via the provided 3.5 mm male-to-male cable.) If you listen to the radio, you will likely need access to the switch, because reception of AM and some FM stations can be severely degraded with the modulator on.

Second, mine came with absolutely no instructions or diagrams, and Scosche provides no support on their web site. If you want to do the installation yourself, you're on your own. It's not too difficult -- if you know what you're doing. Basically, you take out the head unit, splice the red wire into an available +12V line (eg, cig lighter), and the black wire into a good ground. Connect the modulator's antenna jacks in-between the antenna and the car radio (here, depending on your car, you might require an antenna jack adaptor). Find a good location for the switch housing, attach the modulator securely, connect the switch and the RCA jacks, choose one of the two FM freqs available, put everything back, and you're good to go.

Third, the switch housing is poorly designed and made out of very cheap plastic. Its back is open (picture it as a cube with one side missing), and the housing itself is too short relative to the depth of the switch and connectors. That severely limits the choice of location for mounting the switch housing, if you don't want to have exposed cables. The housing is mounted by means of a piece of double-sided adhesive tape (provided).

Overall, installation is not too difficult, and, if you can do it yourself, it's worth it. If you have to pay for the installation, consider first an aux port or a new radio/CD player, which provide better sound quality.

Some reviewers complain of humming and/or background noise. I'd be inclined to blame that on a bad installation -- if installed with a good solid ground, this shouldn't be a problem.

Another complaint is that sound volume is too low. In a sense, that's not really the modulator's fault -- it's a basic mismatch between the electrical characteristics of the modulator's audio input and an MP3 player's output; and that's because the latter is designed to drive headphones, not to provide a line-level audio signal, while the former expects a line-level signal. (Test the modulator with any device, such as CD or DVD player, which provides line-level output, and you'll find that the volume level is within normal limits.) You'll have the same problem (volume too low) with any device not designed specifically to handle a headphone signal as audio input.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This thing works great, just a little difficult to install, April 26, 2009

By 

J. Santiago "jas32" (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scosche FM-MOD02 Universal Audio Input FM Modulator for iPod, Satellite Radio or Portable Music Player (Electronics)

This, I believe, is absolutely the best way to play your Ipod or MP3 player through your factory radio. I have tried using a wireless FM transmitter and a cassette adapter and neither one of those worked well. With the wireless FM transmitter, it was difficult to find an open station to operate it static free while the cassette adapter deteriorated the sound quality so much it seems that everything is muffled. This wired FM Modulator works great. No loss of sound quality while maintaining static free operation. The downside of this kit is the relatively difficult installation process. If you have had experience of replacing a radio in your car, then this should be a piece of cake otherwise it may be best to have it installed by a pro. Over the years I have installed about a dozen or so car radios and this one still took me about 2 hours to install as I literally have to remove the factory radio to access the antenna connector. Finding a switched battery positive lead and ground is probably the next difficult part. Once those are accessed, the rest is fairly easy. The good thing is, after you get it working, its all worth it as this thing works flawlessly. One more thing, this unit uses the old style antenna connectors. Since most new cars now use a locking proprietary connector you will most likely need a set of antenna adapters to complete the installation.

UPDATE: After using this product for a few months, I noticed a slight and constant hum when the volume is turned down. This is only noticeable when the vehicle is idling or moving at a very low speed. Once you get going, most of the other noises in the car drowns out this hum. Just wanted to point this out to make sure I did not mislead any one. I would not change my rating because of this issue as it still performs to its intended purpose.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Low cost solution for car with no AUX input, November 29, 2009

By 

Alganis "Mr. Picky" (West Chester, PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scosche FM-MOD02 Universal Audio Input FM Modulator for iPod, Satellite Radio or Portable Music Player (Electronics)

All what you see in picture came in the box.

This is a low-cost solution for cars with no AUX input. I use it with my garmin 660 GPS with MP3 player. No more CD burning.

Few things:

1. Sound Quality:
is better than cassette adapters and MUCH better than wireless FM Transmitteres,
but expect a lower sound quality comparing to Cds and clear local FM radio stations.

2. installation:
Depending on how easy to find a power source and to uninstall your car radio to get an access to the antena input.

3. power button is great , it turns off the whole unit not only the outlet , to give a chance in case you want to switch to a local station with the same preset frequency. remember to stick the AUX input at a lower level of your dash to avoid the strong beam that comes from green power button( seen in picture) at night.

4. it by pass other FM stations with or without turning the device off ( great advantage, I remember I had to turn my sirious radio off that worked on the same idea to cut the interruption) in other words you still can switch between your assigned station for this unit and your local FM radio stations without having to turn off the device.

5. reasonable price comparing to my local audio store.

6. the humming sound is not a big deal as I drive a compact car with some road noise.

In my case I have a 2005 Suzuki Aerio SX with no AUX input. It took me an hour to:
a. remove the two plastic covers on both sides of the radio. warm the car inerior first to make it easy to pull them out from the dash.
b. un screw FOUR screws of the radio.
c. three screws for the storage to get an access to the cigarette lighter outlet.
d. unplug the radio harness, radio antena, hazard , and AC control unit.
e. unplug the cigarette lighter plug and fit the red wire where the black and white wire , and of course fit the black with the black for negative, plug back the cigarette lighter wires. NOW you have the power. No wire cutting or slicing needed.
f. pass the AUX oulet below the storage before you screw it back and stick it to the buttom of the drawer.
g. plug the Antena adapter.
h. test the unit before you put every thing back.
i. return the the radio back in its place, and don't forget to plug back any thing you unpluged.

now you can enjoy having an AUX input without sacrafising your factory system.


I Hope you found my review usefull, Please vote and make a print out too if you have the same car, as there are NO MANUAL comes with this device.