AUDIOVOX FMM100 FM modulator with isolation transformer

So basically this is a fantastic way to add an auxilliary device to your current car stereo with the most minor of modifications. It's especially fantastic when you don't have any other way to wire things in, such as harness patches, aftermarket systems that replace the CD changer, or a new headunit. This is the second unit I've installed. The first was about 6 years ago in my '85 Mustang (keeping it all original). This one went in a '98 BMW (essentially no other options at all). Easy install each time. Be aware that for non-domestic vehicles, you may need an antenna adapter. My Mustang just plugged right in, but the BMW required antenna adapters. Required for install: a 12v switched power source, a ground connection, and a 1/8" to RCA phono cable from RadioShack. Plug the antenna into the modulator, plug the modulator in the back of your radio, and mount the on/off switch for the modulator somewhere accessible. Done. Sound quality has always impressed me with these. Sure it's not the same as a direct connection into your system, but for not having to hack anything up, lose your CD changer, or spend $$$ on a new headunit and install, it's great. I get no hissing or extraneous noise whatsoever in either car. Picky people and audiophiles will say that sound is decent, but lacks the full range and clarity that for instance you would hear out a CD in the car. Also, like the radio, audio does sound a little muddled and not as crisp as a CD. I agree. But to put it in perspective, this modulator is 20 times better than a wireless FM transmitter (no noise, no batteries, better sound) and 100 times better than no iPod/mp3 player. Overall, I feel the sounds is very good and I will be very happy with it for years to come. I've been using it in my Mustang for years now, and will do the same in the BMW. Don't forget you can tailor the sound for your system using the EQ on your iPod/mp3 player and adjustments on your headunit. I put my iPod on Treble Booster, bumped the treble and bass a little on the headunit and it sounds very very good. I gave the sound quality 4 stars, but it deserves 4.5 (at least the way it is installed and adjusted for in my systems). Overall, for $30, this thing gets 5 solid stars from me.

Couldn't make it work at all. I even set up a test on the bench to no avail. I finally threw it in the trash can where it belongs.

There were a number of questions asked about which make/model of car this would be used in so that the "proper" style would be delivered. This was to fit a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan but when it arrived the antenna fittings were completely wrong and could not be installed. I had to make a second purchase(not from this supplier) for the proper patch cord. When I asked about the issue I was pretty much blown off.

Before placing the order for a FM modulator, I spent a great deal of time researching what FM modulator would work in my Chevrolet Malibu 2004. Even so, I received a modulator, which I could not connect to the GM car stereo. Unfortunately you will only find out about the compatibility in the middle of the installation, after having removed all of the front trim, glove box, and car stereo. The antenna plugs of this FM modulator do NOT fit on the plugs of the 2004 Malibu (too big). After this frustrating discovery, I first went to Radio Shack (based on another review) to buy adapters: none found. Only with the help of my coworker, an electrical engineer, I was able to replace the plugs of the modulator. This required soldering the tips of the plugs, cutting off the plugs, assembling the right plugs, including more soldering. At least the FM modulator works very well: not CD quality, but much better than the wireless FM transmitter. So if you don't mind to spend several hours installing the unit, I would recommend this product.

Alright, this just came in a few days ago. (props to car toys, shipping time wasn't bad at all, given that the product was shipping from Washington, and I'm in Jersey.) Anyway, I installed this product today, and was pretty impressed. Installation was a breeze, I didn't use the proprietary plug for the power, I snipped and stripped the wire and wired it to the fusebox under my steering wheel. Overall, installation took about 15 minutes. 10 of those 15 minutes was the disassembly of my center console and getting the actual stereo out. The cable diagram was extremely easy to understand, and it is very much possible to go through the installation through common sense alone without use of the instructions. It's simple, take out your antenna, plug it into the modulator, plug modulator into the antenna. Then find a power source and a ground. Sound quality was pretty good. I expected it to be worse to be honest. In comparison to the tape deck I was using beforehand, it did fall slightly slightly short. To the casual ear, the difference is completely unnoticeable. I only state that there is a slight difference because I'm one of those people who can tell the difference between 320kbps and 256kbps mp3. Basically, you can make up for the loss in sound bandwidth by upping the intensity of the EQ in your stereo and having higher quality mp3 files. With this product, i was able to just barely match the same sound quality of a griffin smartdeck by just bumping the bass and trebles a few notches higher than where they were previously at. There is still that very subtle "emptiness" so to say. I'm very picky with my sound quality, but I'm 100% sure that most people will be satisfied with this product. I mainly bought this because I was sick of the mechanical noises my tape deck made whenever it was in use (clicking, scratching inside) and it was easily noticeable over the music unless you cranked up the volume, which obviously isn't what I wanted to do ALL THE TIME. My tape deck was also beginning to fail. It would randomly switch sides of the tape and cause my music input to not play. Also, I hated that ugly wire coming out of the tape door. This product gave me everything I expected it to give me: 1. no background noise (clicking tape deck) 2. ability to hide wires and keep everything neat and organized 3. deliver consistent good sound quality for a low price Ease of use gets a 4, because it is extremely easy to use once it's installed, but the installation itself may be a turnoff for some. The fact that you have to tear open your dashboard, get behind your stereo, and tap into your car's electrical system may be daunting for some. Not everyone hardwires radar detectors and head units for friends all the time like I do. It's not a difficult installation by any means, but if you feel uncomfortable doing it on your own, then find a friend who can do it for you. Just don't pay someone to do it, because anything less than $5 would be a ripoff as it's 10-15 minutes of work at most. A little more if you put the effort to hide the wires and mount the switch and an actual input port behind your dashboard to make it look legit. For now, I'm leaving all the wires hanging around and taped under the steering wheel to somewhat hide them. I'll save the wire hiding and hole drilling and such for another day. I would rate sound quality as a 5, but the quality isn't as good as say, a legitimate auxiliary port on a stereo. Obviously the bandwidth limitations of FM limit the quality of the sound more than a tape deck does, and there is a subtle "hiss" in the background, and I stress that the difference is there, but not noticeable for most people. If I were to analogize in terms of video, I would say the difference can compare to that of normal RCA video (the yellow video cable) and S-Video (the round circle cable). If you're an audiophile, the difference will be night and day. If not, it'll sound well more than adequate. Either way, it's a great way to have the convenience of an auxiliary input for your stereo which doesn't have one, without the need for a new stereo head unit and it doesn't put a hole in your wallet. All in all, I'm very happy with this product.

Before purchasing this Audiovox FM modulator, I was one of many struggling with the woes of not having an aux input to play my mp3 player in my car. I tried three different FM transmitters (two Griffin ones and one Monster one), and none of them worked as advertised. I am very particular when it comes to sound quality, and I always found myself frustrated, and, in some cases, endangering my life as I struggled to get the transmitter to work while driving (pretty silly, I know). Luckily, I found a writeup on FM modulators, which peaked my interest enough to start investigating them. I found this Audiovox FM modulator, noticed the fair price (about 35 bucks when everything was said and done), and purchased it. Everybody who gave this product a positive review is 100% correct. It works just as advertised--if not better. The sound quality is comparable to a CD's, and is virtually noise-free in my car (a '98 Buick LeSabre). The unit is small and comes with everything necessary to install it (outside of antenna adapters for certain car models). Perhaps best of all, it allows you to avoid removing the factory radio and installing a new one, which usually ends up looking tacky, regardless of how good of a job you do. The console is still original, yet a new feature is available. How cool is that? However, no solid review comes without it's share of gripes. If you do not have any experience installing/removing a car radio, this will probably present you with a somewhat lofty task. It took a friend and I (both of us have minimal experience with car radio installation) roughly 2 1/2 hours to install the modulator. These hours consisted of finding out exactly which wires to use to hook it up to a 12V power source and buying antenna adapters, since the ones in my Buick were different from those used on the unit. Also, mounting it may be an issue, but it did not cause me any problems. Overall, this FM modulator is an excellent workaround for those who don't want to install/purchase a new radio or spend an unfair amount of money on a barely functional FM transmitter. Considering most "good" transmitters sit in the 45-60 dollar range, I ended up getting a much better product for less money. This is the first day that I have used this product. So, if it conks out on me, I'll update this review with more information. But, so far so great!

I bought this to connect my iPhone to my car stereo. It worked alright (still SOME static) for 6 months. Then, everything started getting really quiet, so I had to turn the volume to the max both on my iPhone and stereo to hear anything. I'm guessing the internal amp went out. I'm not gonna buy another one of these, so now I gotta figure out how to get audio again!! If it hadn't failed, I'd probably give it 3-4 stars. It's a decent way to get external audio into your OEM stereo, but since I could still hear static, I wasn't very impressed. Nice stereos are fairly cheap, so I think that's a better route to go.

Pro: 1) Does the job far better than those junky FM transmitters that everyone tries first. Here in the crowded FM spectrum of Chicago other stations were always overpowering my Sirius radio, but since installing this unit there has not been a peep of interference. 2) Reasonably priced on Amazon at about half the ridiculous retail price at Best Buy. (Similar, but not identical products.) Con: 1) To install it you have to take the dash apart, drill holes in the panel, etc. If you happen to be good at such things (or if you don't care about cosmetic blemishes from not being so good) then OK. This is a whole Saturday afternoon for the average consumer. 2) The connector for the power on/off toggle switch is cheap and allows the pins inside to float around far too much, for an intermittent connection. I had to take the dash apart AGAIN and use a tiny screwdriver to align the pins precisely so I could tape the connector and make it solid. 3) The signal input to the unit is via RCA connectors, the designers assuming we would be tapping off of an amplifier, when it seems obvious that what most people want is an AUX IN 3.5 mm stereo jack for playing ANY external source that has a headphone jack. I bought one at Radio Shack and wired it in myself, which again is fine as long as you have the expertise. I guess given the name "Movies to Go" maybe they intended the product for playing the audio of portable DVD players over the car stereo, but a headphone splitter for each kid in the back seat seems like a much cheaper and easier solution. They should have included a 3.5 mm jack in the kit to give us our choice. 4) Could be louder. Spoken word sources such as audio books and podcasts are barely audible over traffic noise, at least in my car. Music seems better. This is using the same iPod, by the way. Overall a good unit and I'm glad I bought it.