If you’re like other iPod Classic owners, you long for a way to listen to your music in your vehicle when you don’t have a built-in auxiliary jack.

You really have two options, the first is to listen with headphones. Most states are now aggressively attacking the rights of people inside vehicles and listening to headphones will soon be illegal. The second option is to connect your iPod classic to an FM transmitter.

A transmitter takes the music or audio from your iPod and converts it into a radio signal, once it is transformed into a radio signal, the FM radio will be able to play it on the same frequency setting as your wireless transmitter.

This allows you to play your music and stream it from your iPod Car Adapter to any FM radio. It safely transports your music and makes it safer to listen to in your vehicle. Which in the end will make you a safer and happier driver, because everyone likes to listen to their traffic jams while driving.

But there is a little problem that I should try to explain to you, in case you didn’t know, not all transmitters are built or designed the same. They each have their own unique abilities and some are better than others.

Breaking them down to the core, there are three main differences at the core of every iPod car FM transmitter. The first is distance, the second is sound clarity, and the third is FM frequency selection. They are all linked together by broadcasting your music through an FM radio.

Let me explain how distance correlates to sound. Most transmitters will transmit audio from a selected source from 15 to 30 feet, which is fine for in-car use. That’s when you get out of the confines of your vehicle and want to listen to your iPod Classic and you’re in for trouble.

For example, let’s say you want to play your music through your home stereo and listen to it on the FM radio on the second floor of your bathroom. Well, if the second floor is more than 30 feet away, the broadcast signal will never reach the radio. It will work fine on the home stereo if it is within 30 feet, but will not work on any radio outside of 30 feet. The longer the transmission distance, the better the FM transmitter.

When it comes to sound clarity, you want to replicate the sound you’d hear with headphones. Bringing all of the above elements into play, a stronger transmission signal leads to a cleaner reproduction of sound. The ability to choose any frequency outside of the public FM band allows you to select the clearest signal.

In conclusion, three vital elements must be present when looking for an iPod Classic FM transmitter, with all three working together to give you the best sound transmission. You’ll be left listening to a constant stream of static.