What EQ setting do you have your ipod on to get it to sound the best? Until you change it you get a buzzing whenever any bass is played. Right now I have it on reduce bass and it sounds excellent, and it doesn't really reduce anything because the car audio takes car of it... sounds crisp and clear, except on a few songs if you listen closely. Nothing big, was just curious what setting you guys recommended. Thanks

 

I go "pop" as "rock" is too bassy as you've discovered. Haven't tried "reduce" but I'll see if it makes a difference.

BJ

 

I turn the EQ off to save battery life since the modulator I use (iTrip) sucks up battery power. When I do use the EQ, I set it to Rock and turn the volume on the iPod down a bit. I like bass.

 

I like bass too, but if you use a real FM modulator and EQ is off on your ipod, you'll run into a buzzing sound in your speakers everytime there is bass. Bass reducer doesn't reduce the bass of the song, it just reduces the excess that the ipod is producing to get rid of the buzzing. Can turn bass all the way up and the song sounds great. I keep my ipod plugged in to the 12v all the time.

Btw, BJ, reduce treble doesn't do anything... make sure you try reduce bass.

 

Agreed.....the TL is a severely treble challenged vehicle. If they had special parking spots for the treble handicapped, we'd all get nifty badges to hang from our rear-view mirrors.

BJ

 

I don't notice a problem. With treble reduce I didn't mean because the car is challenged, I said it because it doesn't do anything. Its a bass problem with the iPod and modulator, not a treble one.

 

For those of you with an FM Modulator, where do you have the cable running out from behind the dash? I'm not much of a hands-on personal, so I'll probably have a local stereo place do the install. My major concern is where to run the cable out of. I'm also in a lease, so I don't want to make any holes anywhere. Thanks.

Joe

 

Local stereo place did it for me. The wire comes out from the passenger side of the center console, where the plastic overlaps the carpeted hump thing right next to the passender seat. The switch is mounted on the center console in the passenger leg well.

 

Switch? I thought one programmed the FM Modulator to "take over" a station ID.

Joe

 

It does, mine takes ofer 89.1, but if I want to listen to 89.1, whatever it is, I would hit that switch and it would deactivate the modulator.

 

In all the cars I rented doing my old job, I just used a cassette adapter. What's wrong with those?

 

Cassette adapter sounds awful because....

1. Lacks dynamic range of FM.

2. Poor connectivity of tape heads to adapter contact area.

3. Wow, flutter, and hiss.

The $200 hard-wired FM modulator solution over-rides your FM tuner completely and is as close to crystal-clear as one can get without a direct input.

If you don't care about fidelity and just want the tunes in the car, the $10 adapter will suit you just fine...

BJ