This review looks at the GrooveTransmit FM transmitter from Cygnett. This small gadget allows you to play your iPod or other MP3 player through your car FM stereo.
Main Features
- Play your iPod or iPhone music and audio books through your car FM stereo
- Easy auto-tuning technology finds the best FM frequency for optimum sound
- Strong & flexible gooseneck cradle for secure & adjustable positioning
- Automatically charges and connects iPods and iPhones – no batteries required
- LCD display for easy night viewing
- Plug in other MP3 Players or Mobile Phones via 3.5mm Audio in Socket
- Stores up to 4 of your most used Channels
- Wide transmission range (88.1 – 107.9MHz)
Box Contents
This is what the box looks like.
Opening the box reveals the following:
- Cradle
- Gooseneck for plugging into cigarette lighter socket
- Audio cable
- Quick start guide
Installation
Setup of the GrooveTransmit firstly involves adjusting the cradle to match the size of your iPod or other MP3 player. The cradle looks like this.
On each side of the cradle are up and down arrows which can be used to select an FM frequency. There is also an auto-tune feature where it will automatically select an available FM frequency on your car stereo.
There are 4 preset buttons for storing favourite frequencies. These can come in useful when driving along if a radio station starts to interfere with the transmission, you can switch to another preset frequency.
At the bottom of the cradle is an audio in socket, using the supplied audio cable you plug your iPod or other MP3 player into the cradle.
At the top of cradle are two small foam pads for keeping your iPod or MP3 player in place. These foam pads retract out as follows to accommodate different sizes of MP3 player.
In the centre of a cradle is a small circular pad which is adjusted from the back of the cradle. This is used to further hold the MP3 player in place.
The back of the cradle looks as follows. There is a small release button for adjusting the foam pads on the front of the cradle. There is also a small turn button for adjusting the circular centre pad mentioned above.
At the bottom of the cradle is a slide in socket for connecting the gooseneck.
Setup of the GrooveTransmit was so far so good with our iPod held firmly in place. Installation in the car was another matter though.
The first problem we found is that the gooseneck was too big for our cigarette lighter socket. We found it a very tight fit, in fact when we tried to remove the gooseneck it literally pulled out the cigarette lighter socket with it.
We’ve tested numerous other gadgets in the same car, such as sat nav devices, and never encountered this type of problem before.
The second issue to bear in mind is that device is not really suited for vehicles where the cigarette lighter socket is next to the gear stick.
In our car it was very difficult to change gear with the GrooveTransmit in place. We tried moving the GrooveTransmit in various different angles but could not find a decent position where you could safely operate the gear stick.
This device is best suited for vehicles where the cigarette lighter socket is positioned on the dashboard, as shown below.
Even though this device wasn’t suited for our vehicle, we were still able to test it out.
The auto-tune feature worked first time. The GrooveTransmit selected an available frequency, we tuned our car FM stereo to the same frequency and we were then able to listen to our iPod. Sound quality was excellent with no interference.
Summary
This is an interesting looking device that works well, but if the cigarette lighter socket in your vehicle is anywhere near the gear stick then we’d recommend not buying it.
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8 responses so far ↓
1 Financial Planner // Jul 21, 2009 at 5:46 am
I am going to get the new ipod thouch and i would like to know if there is any ipod FM transmitter that is compatible with the ipod touch and if there is not. what is the best FM transmitter that i can find at a low price with good sound quality. Thank you for your time.
2 eric // Aug 11, 2009 at 11:50 am
even with the auto tuning capability, i find that there is alot interference from other fm channels which gets annoying after a while. makes me think that i should have spent the extra few hundred dollars and bought a hard wired ipod dock
3 Dean // Aug 11, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Yes, that is always going to be a problem with this type of technology, especially where the FM band is congested.
4 Modern-Gadets.Com // Aug 12, 2009 at 2:03 am
Great Stuff..
Keep Your Good Work Going..
Regards!
Boblee
Modern-Gadgets
5 present-technology.com // Nov 18, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Its pretty good. I just love it. Really nice stuff.
6 JR // Nov 28, 2009 at 8:50 am
Although I managed to get music playing thru’ quite easily, I could not seem to get the phone side to work – my caller’s voice only came thru the iPhone 3Gs speaker, not the car speakers as expected.
7 internetten para kazanma // Dec 27, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I have this device. Encourage those who are interested. I never experienced a problem.
8 Simon Bartlett // Oct 3, 2011 at 10:01 pm
Could you advise me if there is a similar bit of kit that i would be able to connect to my Samsung Galaxy S2?
Simon
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