Customer Reviews

iriver AFT 100 Mobile FM Transmitter

5 star:		(402)
4 star:		(273)
3 star:		(71)
2 star:		(65)
1 star:		(89)

 

 

This little FM modulator actually works well, even in an area with crowded radio spectrum such as San Francisco. Unlike some other modulators by Monster, Belkin, and Griffin, the AFT 100 lets you select ANY frequency, not one of a few factory presets. I simply found an empty frequency on my radio, adjusted the AFT 100 to match, and it sounds great, with no discernable noise or interference. Auto power-off is a nice feature, since I tuck my unit out-of-sight in the armrest.

I use this device with both my iPod Photo and my iRiver IFP-890T. It's convenient and works well. Recommended!

When I bought the iRiver H10 Music player, and I use Yahoo! Unlimited Music, I can figured I could download an unlimited amount of music. Thats great when I am walking to and fro from school, but when I drive, i also wanted that music as well. So I looked around, and the iRiver AFT-100 was the most expensive model

I drive a 04 Mazda RX-8, and it has no tape player, or an auxillary input. The only choice was to use an FM transmitter.
On a good note, it does its job, and it does it relatively well. The audio clarity was really good, and I am an audio buff myself. The only drawback is that it you still can hear some static beneath the music if its quiet. For example, if you play Alicia Key's "If I Aint Got You", her piano introduction is also accompanied by some slight static, but this is when it is a quiet part of the song.

The bad thing is that, well its FM. It isnt going to be as clear as a CD, but if you have no choice...you have no choice. Another drawback is that you have to fiddle with you mp3 player so you can find a good balance of mp3 volume, and your car's volume. Once you find that balance, you'll never touch it again. But one more thing, the bass isnt all that swell, but its something you can probably live with.

SOME HELPFUL TIPS!
-A LOT of people are moaning about the static (I even touched on it above), but the truth of the matter is that if your driving 70 MPH on the freeway, chances are VERY VERY slim that you'll hear static. The car's noise, on top of the road, on top of the rattling that goes on while your driving will eliminate the static noise...TRUST ME!
-A good way to broadcast the music is that I found that if you choose a station that has slight static, and slight music, set that to your fm tunner. I've gotten better results tunning my iRiver to a station that is half and half
-Another thing is that it DOES shut off by itself. This is a smart feature that iRiver implemented because it wont kill your car's batter if you leave it on accedentally. BUT if you, say, get a phone call, and pause your music and more than 30 seconds passed by, the thing will shut off, and then you hear that station that was half static and half music with your car's volume at like 75%...Then you have to unplug it, and plug it back in...a small drawback but it is okay by my book.
-Place it as close to your antenna as possible. Like for my car, my antenna is built into the rear windsheild. When I plugged the iRiver to my second cigarette adapter which is closer to my rear windshield, I got better reception.
-The mp3 player that it is attatched to is the antenna on the device, again, the closer it is to the antenna, the better the quality of the sound
-I tunned it to one station driving from Los Angeles CA, to Orange County CA (Irvine actually), and it worked very, very well. It was 91.9 FM

Listen, if you have a cassete player, then chances are your better off with a Cassete adapter. This iRiver AFT-100 does a really swell job at being an FM tuner, b/c it does have the power to outpower other stations, but remember it is ONLY FM QUALITY...if not a tad lower.

This was an honest review of the AFT-100 and I hope that I have helped.

After trying the Belkin Tunecast, both I and II, I laid out the money for this one -- Hooray! It works! I live in a suburb just north of Chicago and drive through 3 'burbs on the way to and from work -- radio stations come and go. The IRiver lets me set 3 so as I drive I can switch easily between stations. There is a little static (mainly between tracks), but for a FM transmitter, this is probably the best you can do for the money. For those of us out there without a tape deck in our car, this is the best way to go. (If you do have a tape deck, just get a tape adapter).
The price may seem high in comparison to some other transmitters, but the advantage of being plugged directly into your car (no batteries!) is worth it. Plus, the auto on and off is great. Now, when I want to play my Rio Carbon I just turn it on, plug in the IRiver cord and turn on my radio -- easy easy easy.

I am so glad I bought this!

I agree with most reviewers here, that the great features of this device include the ability to have three presets that you can program. Being in Los Angeles, it is easy to switch between the "Valley" or "West LA" as you drive around.

Yet, there is one nagging "feature" of this unit that drives me crazy: The unit turns itself on or off based on the feed from the Line Out of your MP3 device. Now, if you listen to music that has small bits of lower tone (such as a Pink Floyd album or classical pieces) or Vocal recordings, you will find the device will quit temporarily until the volume picks up again and it turns itself back on (which will then spit out evil radio static when a moment of lower tone or "peace" is trying to be accomplished on piece of music or voice. The line connector from the device, which plugs into the MP3 device, also seems of poor quality -- sometimes I have to jiggle or twist the cheap connector just to make it engage the device (which has once again turned itself off because it is not receiving a line input). I wish that this automatic turn-on/off based on line feed could be turned on or off -- to me, if this feature was not there it would be a great FM transmitting device.

Like all of you, I read the reviews and noted many had problems with poor audio quality.
Some had problems in congested Cities with wall to wall broadcast stations.

I'm a retired Broadcast Engineer so I like to think I have a pretty good ear and my unit works great.

It does have a few quirks worth mentioning and these may contribute to the problems mentioned in the other reviews.

First off, the folks that built this unit opted to use the cord running to the player as the units transmitting antenna. You may find that moving the unit around on the seat of the car can change the strength of the signal being received by your car radio.
This is really a poor arrangement but I'm not sure what can be done about it. I find that I often wrap my MP3 player cord around a compass I have glued to the windshield which is just inches from the FM antenna embedded in the glass. The resulting signal is now strong enough to overcome even some of the very strong local stations.
Very "Rube Goldburg" but effective.

Next is the issue of audio quality.
Seems like these units have no audio limiting or processing.
What you put in is what you get out.
Also it should be noted that most all FM receivers have a maximum bandwidth for each channel.
These little transmitters can exceed the maximum channel width many times over with just a little extra volume on your player.
What makes things complicated is that may of us enjoy a favorite
tone or equalization applied to our tunes.
Internal pre-sets may boost the low and high frequency tones to suit our
tastes but the boosted lows and highs easily pass outside the maximum
bandwidth the receiving radio is equipped to handle.
The result is baaaaadddd distortion.

So, whats the answer?
I set my player for absolute flat audio response. This means that audio going to the I River is the same strength at all tone levels. I've also made sure that I don't color (boost highs and lows) any of my tunes when I record them.
Once the signal gets to my FM radio, however, I can adjust the tone of the unit in the car to suite my tastes.

I also measured the accuracy of the radio signal generated by this little transmitter and found it to be pretty darn close to what was indicated in the window and very stable.

If they wanted to really make this a fabulous device they should install an audio or modulation limiter. I should also mention that too much audio drives the stereo generator a bit nuts and I think they do mention not to run too much signal to the unit.
It would be better if it was automatic, though.

I sure hope this info helps. I tried to loose most of the technical jargon.....I'm still using and enjoying my unit more than a year later.

PP

I was hesitant to get these FM Transmitter devices when I got my iPod because so many people say they don't work (especially if you live in a metro city). After reading through the positive reviews on the iRiver AFT 100, I decided to take a chance. Let me tell you, it works!

I'm using this with my iPod Mini. I live in Los Angeles which is packed with radio stations. I use the frequency 89.5 and it sounds great. Can't compare with a CD of course, but it's like a clear radio station.

Here are some tips I have to share:
1. Use a frequency around the 88 - 90 range. They're less occupied.
2. Don't turn your iPod volume up all the way. Too loud will cause static. Leave it at about 30 to 40% and instead turn up your radio's volume.
3. Repositioning the cable (such as moving it from one side of your car's console to the other side) can help improve reception.

Good luck!

I read a bunch of bad reviews about the Belkin transmitter and figured there wasn't a good one out there. Plus, I've got a Creative Zen Micro and everyone seems to have iPod-friendly stuff only. I found the iRiver in a bargain bin and bought it cos it was cheap. What a great buy!

Plug it into the headphone port of any MP3 player, stick the iRiver in your cig lighter, press play and you're away. I use the default 107.9FM, although you can use any blank, static "station" and simply tune the digital iRiver in. You can save 3 "stations", so you can quickly change between them if your signal fades. I've never needed more than one. The signal is strong and, to be honest, sounds no worse than my regular radio. In other words - great. (I use this for around 5hrs a day in LA and haven't had a signal problem once. A friend in the area had an iPod with it's FM transmitter and had a poor signal from day 1)

One tiny gripe: the unit only broadcasts when it detects an audio signal, and switches off when that audio ends. It won't happen between songs (too quick), but if your first song starts off softly, it may take 10-15 sec to register. Which means 10-15 sec of loud static. But that's a minor thing. I just set my radio to mute until my player's been playing for a few secs, then unmute. No hassles. For the cost of a new CD you've got your digital music collection in the car - worth every penny!

I bought this to replace the SIIG unit I bought before and stopped using after about two weeks. The unit fits neatly into what used to be called the cigarette lighter socket and takes advantage of the car's beefy DC supply to deliver a high quality signal that doesn't get swamped by other stations. This beats the pants off things like the SIIG which ran off a single AA battery that had to be replaced every 3-4 hrs.

The look of the unit is great and is a nice match to my iRiver player. The three preset frequencies are a great idea although the signal is so good that I've not yet been forced to change frequencies.

Another nice feature is that the frequency can be set to anything in the range rather than just the 3 or 6 hardwired ones that other devices offer. It'll even tune to "even" frequencies like 88.2 (broadcast stations are restricted to "odd" ones like 88.1, 88.3, etc.) but that is only of interest to you if your radio can be tuned to them which mine cannot.

If you own an iPod there are probably better choices out there that can interface better with your player and do nice things like recharge it. If you own one of the other players this is a great device for in-car usage.

PROS:
- uses cigarette lighter power, no battery to worry about and, because it's stuck in your lighter, no fiddling with where to put it. awesome for in-car use.
- can use any FM band (not just a select few like some FM transmitters). good for cities where a lot of frequencies are being used, gives you more options. digitial tuning a major plus (some all band transmitters use analog knobs, YUCK!)
- 3 presets. nice if you need to switch between your favorite unused frequencies (sometimes there is more interference on one freq than another).
- easy to use & the display is easy to read in the light or in the dark.
- stylish, if that matters to you. :)

CONS:
- automatically turns on when there is audio coming from your audio player and automatically turns off when there is no audio. although iRiver incorporated this as a FEATURE, it is a pain in the ass when songs have long silences or even quiet parts. YES, it will SHUT OFF on you right in the middle of a song if it is too quiet. this is the only reason i give this 4 stars instead of 5. desipte this drawback, i think you should buy this without hesitation.
- not useful if you want it for anything other than a car, because it uses cigarette lighter power only. barely a con, however.

This was a gift from my son, who is the techie in the family and who assures me it works better than the comparable Belkin, Griffin, etc. models. Whatever, it works. Set-up time was no more than ten minutes, and I've noticed no drift or fading in the audio while driving in a media-saturated area between Chicago and Milwaukee. This pocket-sized device doesn't take batteries, but should I wish to use it in the house, my son tells me that a simple, inexpensive adapter from Radio Shack will do the trick. I'm still pretty happy with my car's CD player, but should I join the MP3/iPod revolution, I'm ready.