Tech Spotlight

Two devices stream music in older vehicles

Special to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - 01/30/2015  - The iTrip Aux Play + Charge + Control (left) and the iTrip Bluetooth In-Car Audio Receiver offer musical solutions to those who don't have Bluetooth streaming capabilities built into their vehicles.
Special to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - 01/30/2015 - The iTrip Aux Play + Charge + Control (left) and the iTrip Bluetooth In-Car Audio Receiver offer musical solutions to those who don't have Bluetooth streaming capabilities built into their vehicles.

What's a road trip without the right music? For me, it's very boring.

There's nothing like preparing the perfect road trip playlist. The only problem is finding the best way to play it in the car. Those with newer or more high-end vehicles likely will already have Bluetooth capabilities built into their car, which makes it easy for them to wirelessly transfer music. But those with low-tech wheels either have to burn shortened playlists to compact discs or rely on gadgets to play the music.

where it’s @

The Griffin iTrip In-Car Audio Receiver requires a 12-watt charging port and 3.5mm auxiliary port in the vehicle and Bluetooth wireless on the smartphone or music device. The product retails for $49.99. The iTrip Aux Play + Charge + Control requires charging and auxiliary ports and an Apple device with a Lightning connection. It also retails for $49.99. More information is available at griffintechnology.c….

Griffin Technology has products available for those who don't have Bluetooth available in their vehicles' audio system. I've tried out two of the products, both of which require an auxiliary port in the car to function. Older cars may be lacking this port, but most newer cars have them, which basically look like a headphone jack.

The first product is a universal device, the iTrip Bluetooth In-Car Audio Receiver. This small device includes a 2-foot auxiliary cable.

The receiver is only about 2 inches long. It fits into the car's 12-watt charging port -- what used to be the port for the cigarette lighter. When inserted, it is almost flush with the dashboard, so it's not intrusive. The device features a small auxiliary port and a Bluetooth connection button on the front. That's it.

The receiver powers up when the car turns on and automatically makes itself discoverable and easy to connect to. Once connected, the device remembers the phone or music player, enabling it to connect each time the car is turned on.

The auxiliary cord plugs the receiver into the car's audio jack, which allows the receiver to send the music from the device to the vehicle's stereo system.

The iTrip receiver is a very basic device, but it works as expected. I didn't have any problems, and the music sounded great. It's a nice solution for those who need a bare-bones Bluetooth receiver. The only issue is that it doesn't charge the phone, and it occupies the car's charging port, so the phone or music player being used as the source will need a long battery life.

Griffin has another product for those who have battery life issues. The iTrip Aux Play + Charge + Control is similar to the iTrip receiver, but it doesn't need Bluetooth to be used.

Unlike the iTrip receiver, the iTrip Aux isn't universal. It's made to work only with Apple smartphones and tablets with Lightning connectors.

The iTrip Aux also requires a charging port in the car and an auxiliary port. It comes with an auxiliary cable to connect the iTrip to the car's auxiliary port and has a Lightning cable built in to connect to the iPhone or iPad.

The device is about 3 inches long, so it sticks out a bit more from the dash compared with the iTrip receiver. The extra room provides space for the control buttons. The back of the iTrip Aux has a large, round button in the center and a ring around that button that serves as two more buttons. The center button controls the play/pause command, and the ring buttons move the music track forward or backward.

Because the iTrip Aux uses a Lightning connection, it can charge the phone or tablet while playing music. I didn't have any problems charging an iPhone while playing music. Actually, it charged it a bit faster this way, because the phone wasn't trying to stream a wireless Bluetooth signal at the same time. Bluetooth is notorious for draining a phone's battery.

Once again, the iTrip Aux worked as advertised.

And, I love that it charges the phone as it plays. It's a huge bonus. I also like that it has controls on the receiver for playing and track movement. However, my issue with this is many jacks are low on the vehicle dash, so the driver would have to lean or take their eyes off the road to use the controls. That's not a good thing. It's not really the fault of the iTrip it depends more on the design of a vehicle's interior.

There is a step to take with the iTrip Aux when setting the volume.

When a phone transmits over Bluetooth, the receiving device sets the volume. So the volume is easily adjusted using the car's controls. With the iTrip Aux, at first I was concerned because the volume seemed so low. That was because the Lightning port works much like the headphone jack, in that the volume is based on the settings on the phone. In other words, I had to nearly maximize the volume on the phone to hear the music properly in the car. Once I did, I was able to control the volume from the car's controls.

One other note: Neither of these devices is designed to take phone calls. Both recommend using a Bluetooth headset in case calls come in, if cellphone use while driving is allowed by law where you're traveling. In Arkansas, for example, it's not allowed in school zones. Just to be clear, I'm not recommending talking on a cellphone while driving, and certainly not without a hands-free device.

For those who want to set a playlist and hit the road, both of these devices will work well if the vehicle in question is lacking a Bluetooth connection. Both iTrip products work as they claim, and they certainly keep the music flowing. Either product will help keep that road trip from being boring.

After all, a good road trip is even better with a great soundtrack.

Melissa L. Jones can be reached via email at mljones72@me.com.

SundayMonday Business on 02/02/2015

Upcoming Events