by Courtney Shay

Created on: March 20, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

In this mp3 player generation, many people are making the switch in order to have all their music in one handy place. However, most cars aren't adapted to play directly from an mp3 player. Fortunately, there are several options that will enable you to hear your music from your car's speakers.

The first option is to see if your car has an audio port. If so, you can buy and axillary cable that will connect your mp3 player and play your tunes directly. However, many cars don't have this port, particularly older cars (including mine). But don't fret! There are other options.

The next best option, in my opinion, is a cassette adapter. You've probably used these before to connect a portable cd player to your car's tape deck. They can be purchased at most electronics stores. I purchased mine at Best Buy for 20 dollars. Basically, it's a tape with a wire on it. The wire will plug in to your headphone jack on your mp3 player. You pop the tape in the player, and voila! You have music. Just be sure to adjust your mp3 player's volume to a medium setting and use your car's volume adjustment. The only downside I've experienced with this method is that the songs seem a little muffled. However, I do believe it is still the best method.

Now, some cars don't have tape decks anymore. So if the first two options don't apply to you, your only bet might be an FM radio transmitter. The FM radio transmitter plugs into your cigarette lighter and also into your mp3 player. You turn on the FM transmitter and program which station you want to use. Then you tune in to that station on your car's radio. It does play your music, however, my experiences in using the FM transmitter are not that great. Loud songs seemed to be ok, but when I listened to quiter songs, I noticed quite a bit of static in the background. You can try several different stations to try to find the clearest one, but I didn't have any luck with mine. I truly felt it was a waste of money ($60) and reverted back to the cassette adapter. I do live in a large city, so conflicting radio waves might have something to do with the interference. I believe that in more rural settings where less radio waves are being used, an FM transmitter might be a better option.

Good luck!

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