Review: iTrip Nano - Griffin Technology
What fun would an iPod be without the portability? You like to take it in the car, to the gym, your friends house, etc. In-car hardwired solutions sound fabulous, but they don't offer the ability to broadcast your iPod to any FM stereo.
Griffin Technology is the first company that comes to mind when I think of iPod accessories. My first Griffin product was the iTrip. I purchased it when I bought my first iPod in 2005. The iTrip fit on top of the iPod and looked very cool. After Apple introduced the iPod Nano, they had to design a new interface that would accommodate the Nano's ports and keep the slim look of the Nano without making it too bulky. Their solution is the iTrip Nano: A sleek FM transmitter that matches your iPod.
Quick Setup:
It doesn't take a genius to figure out how to work the iTrip. You unwrap it & slide your iPod onto the docking & headphone connector.
Immediately the Tuner screen pops up, and this is where you can set your preferred playback station simply by moving the iTrip wheel on the side of the unit. You see the frequency on your iPod display. Once you are on the station you want to transmit to, you press the side of the iTrip and it locks in the station.
This is a nice change, considering my old iTrip required you to select a playlist that shows all of the frequencies available, and then you play the one you want, and it tunes the iTrip to it. It was cool at first.. but now it's a hassle. This on-screen solution is executed perfectly and it's a welcome change.
If you continue to press the button, it moves you through a series of iTrip options. The first screen shows the last 3 stations you were tuned to. This is great for quickly choosing a new station you've previously used, if for some reason you start receiving some interference.
Also on the menu is a choice of stereo or mono. Monural will provide you with a little stronger signal and higher sound quality, but you would only want to use this if you are listening to spoken word or podcasts. Choose stereo if you want to hear music or podcasts with a wider frequency response. Most listeners will leave it set to stereo.
The last menu has a few options. A basic EQ, Auto Play (starts up the iTrip playing as soon as you select a frequency), and the country you are in: USA, Europe, or Japan.
Sounds Good:
When I compared the sound quality to my older iTrip, the new iTrip Nano is on par, if not better. The reception is strong enough to transmit inside a room or your car. FM quality is never going to match the fidelity from a hard wired connection, but the iTrip did a pretty decent job on all of the radios I tested it with. It didn't perform well with our under the counter kitchen radio, and I am not sure why. I assume it was from some type of RF interference within the kitchen. Performance in the vehicles, however, was solid.
Depending on your geographic area, your reception quality will vary. I have found that if you choose a frequency in the middle of the FM spectrum (95-102 range), you receive higher quality sound. However, if you live in an urban area, these stations will most certainly be in use, and you may find yourself fighting to keep a strong signal, especially if it's a high powered radio station occupying that FM frequency. If you are in a rural area, the world is yours, since you probably have several stations to choose from, you will benefit the most.
Finally, to help provide the best signal, Griffin uses a 'Smart Sense' technology, which automatically adjusts the iPod's volume to achieve the best sound quality. I really like this feature. On my older iTrip, I am constantly fiddling with the volume to increase of decrease it to try and get a better sound out of it.
Looks Better:
The iTrip Nano doubles the thickness of your iPod Nano, and adds 1/2 and inch of length to it. Being that the Nano is already extremely small, this may not be a problem for you. I have heard mixed opinions on this, but it still fits comfortably in my pants pocket, and that is what I use to gauge my comfort level.
There is only one color to choose from - black. Picky iPod users may not like how it looks if they have the white iPod Nano. Griffin shows an example of the contrast on their website, and in my opinion, it looks fine. Just like the Nano, the iTrip picks up it's fair share of finger prints, so wiping it down is going to become part of your diurnal tasks.
Problems:
If you normally keep your Nano in a case, you might as well forget it. You now have doubled the thickness of the nano and no longer will it fit in your existing case. You can take it in and out of the case, and attach to the iTrip as needed, but this will quickly become a hassle. Griffin has included a tiny drawstring bag that you can slip your iPod into, but it's not going to protect your nano if you drop it, since it has no padding at all.
The micro-grip suction sticker on the iTrip makes it an arduous task to release the Nano. With the suction piece covered, it slides on and off with minimal force, but with it in place, I felt like I was going to break the nano every time I removed it from the iTrip. I recommend you don't peel the piece of tape that comes on the the suction sticker. I used the iTrip Nano for several days before I realized what that micro-grip suction sticker was, and I had no problems at all with it falling off of the iTrip.
The bottom of the iTrip has a mini-usb connector for charging your ipod while it's connected to the iTrip, but unless you buy a third party cord, it will do you no good. iPod Nanos ship with a standard USB -> iPod dock connector, and this is how you charge & sync it to iTunes.
My biggest complaint is the force required to unseat the iPod when it is connected to the iTrip. I would like to see some sort of eject button on the bottom, just to push it out a tiny bit. It wouldn't take away from the good looks of the iTrip, and would give me a little more confidence that I am not breaking my dock and headphone connector with each removal.
Summary
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The radio transmitter I use for my Nano is the DLO TransDock Micro. It works great as well. Plus I love that DLO stands for Digital Life Outfitters; makes me feel sporty or something.