Saturday, August 31, 2013

Mac/PC USB Wireless FM Transmitter for Home Stereo Audio

Mac/PC USB Wireless FM Transmitter for Home Stereo Audio
  • Links computer music to any car or home stereo without cables or wires
  • Transmission of the computer music to audio equipment which has FM reception function
  • Mini hi-fi, CD radio cassette recorder, car stereo, etc. can be used as wireless USB speaker for personal computer
  • USB bus-powered, no battery or AC adapter required

I was hoping for a simple FM transmitter that would retain a clear signal for at least 30 feet with a hope for up to 100 feet. This is NOT that transmitter. After 10 feet the signal was full of static. Within 10 feet, someone passing between the transmitter and receiver created static. Simply put, this was a not a reliable or useful device to create a decent FM signal.

Buy Mac/PC USB Wireless FM Transmitter for Home Stereo Audio Now

This device was supposed to transmit a good FM signal to an radio in the house, but it didn't even get to one that was 10 feet away from it. It was a total disaster.

Read Best Reviews of Mac/PC USB Wireless FM Transmitter for Home Stereo Audio Here

I wanted to be able to listen to my favorite radio stations on my office stereo, and my favorite local station often has static, plus I wanted to listen to stations all over the world with high quality sound. I originally wanted one of those systems that would communicate directly with my wireless router, so I wouldn't have to have my PC on. Those systems are fairly expensive, most over $100, and from reviews, seem to have issues. So, I thought, this is an inexpensive solution, and the one review at the time was positive, so I decided to give it a try. I don't really spend much time in my home office without the PC on, so that didn't seem to be a problem.

Anyway, this is a perfect solution if you want to listen to Internet radio on a stereo system. Sound quality depends on the station, presumably the bitrate, so it's not always great but if the stream is of good quality, the sound is wonderful. I've tried comparing the sound quality of stations I can get locally with their online versions, and you do pay a price. The depth of sound just isn't there, but the complete absence of static more than makes up for it. And for me, there's no alternative. Also, the fact that it streams audio from the PC means I can keep a large list of stations I want to access on the PC, which I think is far simpler than trying to do that on a component that communicates directly with the router.

Setup was a breeze, I literally just plugged it into a USB port, set the dip switches to the frequency I had chosen, set my tuner to that frequency, and that was it. Well, also had to adjust the volume on Windows, it thinks this is a pair of USB speakers, and the default volume was low, so increasing it meant that the volume on the stereo matched that of local radio stations. But really, it could not be simpler. Of course now all the audio from my PC goes to the stereo, it would be nice if I could confine the audio I want to go there to the transmitter and the rest of the audio to my PC speakers, but haven't figured out a way to do that. Not a big problem though. And, the audio from this decvice can be picked up on the other stereos in my home.

One quibble: The information I had at the time I ordered did not tell me what FM (tuner)frequencies could be used. I read an online review from some stereo publication on the device, where the author was actually in the UK (I'm in the US). He had said that the allowable frequencies were at the low end, around 89 MHz, so no trouble finding an unused frequency, which is necessary. When I received the transmitter, however, I found I was restricted to 5 frequencies around 107 MHz. I live one hour north of New York City, so finding an empty frequency in that range is a challenge. I had only one choice, 107.3, not used by a local station but there was significant bleed from others. However, when I plugged in the device, the carrier wave instantly overrode that noise, so it's not an issue, but I think it would make much more sense to use the lower end of the band. Someone near a big city might have trouble finding an unused frequency in the upper end. Or, add another dip switch to allow more combinations, and thus more possible frequencies.

Otherwise, I think this is a great product, and probably the best, most cost-effective solution, if you want to listen to Internet radio (or anything else from your PC) on a conventional stereo system.

Want Mac/PC USB Wireless FM Transmitter for Home Stereo Audio Discount?

This is the first time that I have felt compelled to write a review... mostly because I felt a lot of trepidation about buying this transmitter based upon the existing reviews. I was also a bit daunted when it arrived with multilingual packaging and semi-illiterate translated English instructions. What a surprise when it installed and worked... beautifully... just as stated in the instructions! Now... understand... this transmitter is only USB powered... don't expect it to reach throughout an entire household without static or hissing... but in my case, I've got it installed on a laptop at my desk... with an FM stereo system 8 feet away that's got speakers all throughout my home... so I can now listen to my own Windows Media Player playlists, Pandora, YouTube... anything my laptop can access, without draping wires across the room! I'm ecstatic! Be smart... it's programmable for several different FM frequencies, so pick one that isn't overshadowed by a local radio station and it should work fine! And since it's unencumbered by batteries or an AC adapter it's really easy to move from one computer to another... my son can plug it into his computer and listen to his music on his nearby stereo! Just don't expect this to make you a radio station... the range IS limited!

I have my stereo system on the opposite side of the room from my computer, approximately 50 feet away. Originally, I had planned to run wiring to my stereo system so I could play the mp3s from my computer on my stereo system. After realizing how much wiring I would have to mess with, I decided to try this home stereo transmitter. The write-up only says it works for Windows 98, 2000 and XP... and since I have Windows 7 64 bit, I wasn't sure it would work on my computer. The good news is Win 7 recognized this usb device right away. The bad news (depending on view) is that it automatically silences my PC speakers when plugged in which makes for a mild nuisance that it must be unplugged whenever I want to hear my PC speakers. It has several different channel selections. I've only tried it on one so far. It worked... but the sound is not terrific. It might be the station I selected, but there is a lot of static, and I have to turn both my PC sound and stereo sound up to hear the music I am transmitting. I seriously doubt that this would work at all if there was any sort of obstruction between the stereo and the transmitter (there goes my dreams of a pirate radio station LOL). I wasn't looking necessarily for high-end audio, so for me it is ok. It doesn't require any extra power aside from the USB which was a pleasant surprise. I also like this better than a similar battery transmitter I tried previously. The battery transmitter I use to own worked fine, but I forgot to turn it off, and the battery leaked in the transmitter damaging it. If your looking for a cheap transmitter that is relatively effortless to use, but has only mediocre to bad sound quality, this is probably a good option. If your an audiophile who wants hi-quality sound... don't bother with this product.

No comments:

Post a Comment