Favorite iPod Accessories Approved by Matador Board Members?

[mashuguna]

Sometimes I'm just amazed by what a cottage industry the iPod has spawned in terms of peripherals. Since members of the Matadore Board tend to be arbiters of good taste and technical wizardry, I'm curious what, if any, iPod device (i.e. any gadget not included in the iPod's original packaging), you find you can simply not live without. This can be something as costly as the Bose SoundDock or as silly/whimsical as a Nano sock.

P.S. For what it's worth, I still haven't found an iPod FM tuner/broadcaster for the car that performs effectively on a conisisten basis.

[bitterfruit]

P.S. For what it's worth, I still haven't found an iPod FM tuner/broadcaster for the car that performs effectively on a conisisten basis.

Neither have I. That's why a tape adapter or a car deck with an aux in is essential.

The Bose noise cancelling headphones go with me almost everywhere especially on flights over an hour.

[cheshycat]

For home listening, I use one of these between the 'pod and the stereo:

http://www.amusicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=AMUFIX10V3

It actually does make the 'pod sound more like a worthy source component.

[Miss Tasty Princess]

I think a hammer would be a good accessory.

[mashuguna]

Thanks, ChesyCat....I gotta get my hands on one of those Tube Buffers....pricey, though....

[Patrick]

The iPod is not approved by me personally, just by everyone I know.

Patrick

[9000]

The iPod is not approved by me personally, just by everyone I know.

Patrick

do you prefer wearing a fanny pack full of CDs around?

[bitterfruit]

do you prefer wearing a fanny pack full of CDs around?


Thanks for causing me to spit due the unexpected laughter.

[george]

do you prefer wearing a fanny pack full of CDs around?

i believe he prefers calibrating his home setup to actually listening to music ;)

i have the bose sound dock and sure e3c headphones, both of which get a lot of use, but thte most practical accessory i've got is my iskin ipod condom. it's great. i've been carrying my current ipod with me everywhere for 2 years and the screen doesn't have the faintest scratch because of this little wonder.

[mashuguna]

i have the bose sound dock and sure e3c headphones, both of which get a lot of use, but thte most practical accessory i've got is my iskin ipod condom. it's great. i've been carrying my current ipod with me everywhere for 2 years and the screen doesn't have the faintest scratch because of this little wonder.

Those Sure e3c headphones are top-rated, but man, they ain't cheap...I've often been impressed by the SoundDock for asthetic reasons, but always questioned whether that kind of $$$ produced such great sound quality.

[george]

i have the bose sound dock and sure e3c headphones, both of which get a lot of use, but thte most practical accessory i've got is my iskin ipod condom. it's great. i've been carrying my current ipod with me everywhere for 2 years and the screen doesn't have the faintest scratch because of this little wonder.

Those Sure e3c headphones are top-rated, but man, they ain't cheap...I've often been impressed by the SoundDock for asthetic reasons, but always questioned whether that kind of $$$ produced such great sound quality.

like i said, both get a lot of use, but neither were worth the price in my personal opinion.

[9000]

i have the jbl on stage donut speaker thing, which kinda sucks, but is a third of the price of the bose sound dock. the jbl creature speakers are better and cost about $60 now. the ipod earbuds and every apple variation of them blow.

[mashuguna]

i have the jbl on stage donut speaker thing, which kinda sucks, but is a third of the price of the bose sound dock. the jbl creature speakers are better and cost about $60 now. the ipod earbuds and every apple variation of them blow.


True dat (on the iPod earbuds and every variation of them available)...I've often admired the JBL on-stage contraption because it is som much cheaper than the bose....I have the creature speakers, which are alright, but obviously not portable whatsoever.....

[Lukas]

The iTrip isn't great but it performs its function. The best component for the car is definitly that old tape contraption that was once used for discmans.

[winterversion]

Why is the ipod considered the default portable player these days? Granted, I've never owned one myself, but I do have a little Sony "Bean" that plays mp3s, has a radio, and a USB port, so I can also store school stuff as well as music. It's tiny (about the size of a small cigarette lighter), cute, and a great little device.

[tinobeat]

its sort of the default portable player for mac users, as its really unfriendly to any non-ipod devices. I kind of like the idea of getting a different kind, but its not really an option. I mean, aside from a discman (I've been tempted to get a new one of those, however as a lower-hassle alternative)

also, Apple's marketing department is better at their jobs than the marketing departments of their competitors

[george]

it also helps that it's a great, stylish gadget with a genius interface.

[tinobeat]

that's somewhat true as well, but a lot of that perception does have to do with the marketing, again.

I do agree that the iPod interface is the smoothest, but its also because its the one I got used to first. the Creativelabs stuff and even some sony stuff is just as stylish, just not as smoothly marketed.

[Elijah]

I've often been impressed by the SoundDock for asthetic reasons, but always questioned whether that kind of $$$ produced such great sound quality.It produces mediocre sound quality, but at a tremendous volume. Both the Altec Lansing IM7 and the Kipsch iGroove sound a million times better, and are about the same size. Their only drawback is that they don't go quite as loud. They're also cheaper than the Bose SoundDock.

Considering it's price and size, I'm very impressed by the JBL On Stage (the donut). It's not going to sound better than a direct out to your stereo, but it's a wonderful thing to have in a hotel room, or in the guest room at your in-law's.

As for indispensable accessories, you need need NEED a protective case; preferably a silicon or hard plastic one that you never need to take off if you need to dock the thing on one of the above mentioned speaker systems. If you breathe on an iPod sans case, it's going to lose its slick look very quickly.

When I was 11, I got a toy microphone for Christmas. The way you got the sound into your stereo was by tuning your FM receiver to 88.7, and the microphone transmitted it into the tuner. It was such an unbelieveable joke, because even with the microphone's 12" antena touching the tuner, the signal was never better than fuzzy. When I saw the Griffin iTrip, I was amazed, because I couldn't imagine that it could possibly work any better; and from what I hear, it doesn't.

[frank]

I'm looking at this thing:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/HOT-NEW-Apple-Video-iPod-Series-Battery-Power-Pack_W0QQitemZ5854798745QQcategoryZ48680QQrdZ1QQcm dZViewItem

as a combination extra battery pack/AC charger. My headphones draw more current than the craptacular earbuds that apple rates their battery life against, so for any sort of long trips on a plane, auxilliary power is a real concern.

[Lukas]

At camp last year some people had solar power pads exclusivly made for iPods. Really cool looking things and they did the job too.

[mashuguna]

I gotta agree w/ TinoBeat, Apple is just the marketing juggernaut right now and I wonder if Sony will ever be able to reclaim the mantle in the portable audio space...

The solarpowered iPod device thing sounds SWEET...the dumbest device I've seen has to be the iPod remote.....

[Elijah]

At camp last year some people had solar power pads exclusivly made for iPods. Really cool looking things and they did the job too.This one (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/7200302/wo/HU6w49fzxPw42PpFniyjUW7CDu7/3.0.19.1.0.8.25.7.11.4.3)?
.

[bitterfruit]

This one (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/7200302/wo/HU6w49fzxPw42PpFniyjUW7CDu7/3.0.19.1.0.8.25.7.11.4.3)?
.


That's a session specific link.

[Elijah]

That's a session specific link.Oops. Sorry.

This then: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BD1A6Y/002-3630625-1376806?v=glance&n=172282

[Lukas]

that's the fella

[rhoops]

i realize this maybe kinda ghetto, but i've always just used that good 'ol 1/8 inch headphone jack to 2 RCA inputs cable. . . like this (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2110497&cp=2032058.2032231.2032280&pg=2&parentPage=family) of course i'd just by one from sony for 10bucks i know monster is good and all but i wouldn't spend 30bucks on that cable. doesn't everybody else do this? i mean, why spend all the money on those docks?

[Elijah]

The dock is a total waste of time.

[mashuguna]

The dock is a total waste of time.

At 40 bones, it's certainly no bargain (then again what items slapped with the Apple label are?), but a complete waste of time? I dunno, sometimes it's easier to juts slide the pod into the dock than mess with USB/Firewire cables, gnome sane?