First International Digital Irock 300W review: First International Digital Irock 300W

The Irock Wireless Music Adapter 300W has one simple function: to send audio from any device with a headphone jack to any FM tuner. If you've ever wondered how to connect your portable audio player to your car stereo without using a cassette adapter, you'll appreciate this compact unit--even if it does degrade audio quality slightly in the process. The Irock Wireless Music Adapter 300W has one simple function: to send audio from any device with a headphone jack to any FM tuner. If you've ever wondered how to connect your portable audio player to your car stereo without using a cassette adapter, you'll appreciate this compact unit--even if it does degrade audio quality slightly in the process.

Small and slick
First International Digital made the 300W highly compact since it's meant to accompany a portable audio device. Besides being small and lightweight--3.0 by 2.0 by 1.0 inches and 2.24 ounces--it's free of rough edges and fits easily into a pocket. The only controls are an on-off button and a four-way switch to toggle among 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, and 88.7 on the FM band in order to avoid interference from local channels. A 7-inch cord with an 1/8-inch plug connects the device to your audio source and can be tucked neatly into a jack on the back of the unit when not connected.

The 300W couldn't be easier to use: insert the cord into an MP3 player, your computer's sound card, or anything else with a headphone jack, and any radio within 10 feet will pick up the music once you've tuned it to the corresponding frequency. With an analog tuner, getting a clear signal requires a little fiddling with the dial. Digital tuners work great but only if they can be set to a channel manually. If your digital tuner must use the seek function to find channels, you're out of luck; the 300W doesn't broadcast a strong enough signal to be found automatically.

The resulting sound isn't perfect, but we would never expect audiophile quality from an inexpensive FM transmitter. There's no noticeable distortion, just a slight hiss that barely clouds the music.

A handy companion
If your car has a radio but no tape or CD player, the 300W is practically a necessity. But wire haters and gadget fans alike should pick one up as well since being able to connect your portable audio device to a radio is easily worth the $30 asking price.