Home > Consumer Reviews > Monster Cable RadioPlay Car Stereo Wireless FM Transmitter (MBL-FM XMTR)

Now that my faithful old car cassette receiver won't stop reversing tape direction, I haven't been able to use a cassette adapter for my mp3 player. So I tried this Monster FM Transmitter, and I'm sorry to say the sound is nowhere near as good as the cassette adapter. The frequency response is good, but unfortunately there's beaucoup de noise and harmonic distortion as well. Loud rock music doesn't suffer too badly, but if you're a lover of classical music or acoustic jazz, I doubt you'll find this rig very listenable. For a company known for its high-end cable products, Monster also seems to have very poor customer support, if my experience is any indication. I am still awaiting a reply to my email asking how to improve the unit's reception to minimize distortion. Does any company make a car CD receiver with a stereo miniplug input for mp3 players? That would be ideal! Otherwise, if you have a cassette receiver, get a cassette adapter; if you have a CD receiver... well, the Monster won't make you very happy...

I was looking for an easy solution for listening to my MP3 player in my car. I had heard that FM transmitters are not the greatest solution so this item wasn't at the top of my list. But when I was at Best Buy the car audio guy insured me that he had tried and returned every FM transmitter Best Buy carries except for the Monster one. Of course, I took his word for it.

Then I hooked it up in my car and it worked! Sounded good and I was happy. The next day I used it and had to switch the station to get a better reception. This was not what I wanted to do every time I want to use it! But still, it worked fairly well. I was still a bit skeptical though because I live in a fairly rural area and there is not much to interfere with the reception. A few days later I drove to a more populated area and received static for about half the ride! Completely unacceptable as far as I'm concerned so I took it back to Best Buy and got my money back.

Overall, it worked about 80% of the time with no major problems but then again, that's in a fairly rural area.

I suppose if you have no other choice, this is a decent option. But I can't recommend it with 100% confidence!

I rented a couple of cars with standard whip antenna and it seemed to work ok - thought there was more background hiss than I would like though. Moreso than a cassette adapter.
My crown victoria, with antennain the windshield gives poor reception, compared to off-air radio. Since I listen to classical music (quiet passages) it's a bit tedious.
Aalso the restriction on number of tunable channels is less-than-desirable. In urban areas all the pre-sets may be taken.
If I paid about $25 forthe thing I'd say it was a reasonable deal, but not worth the $50 CompUSA price.
Sales guy recommended it - next time I'm buying where there's no restocking fee!

Ever since Monster decided to mass-market everything that they possibly could, their quality has been steadily declining. This product doesn't even live up to what I expect from a budget brand.

The transmission strength seems very low, it seems very hard for the car's radio to lock onto the signal. Even after managing to get the car's stereo to tune in properly, there is considerable hiss and distortion. In addition to that, the sound level is very low, so you need to crank your car stereo volume way up, which only amplifies the background hiss and distortions more.

I replaced with with a Belkin Tunecast II. The signal from it is clearer (almost as clear as a regular broadcast radio station), stronger, and louder. All around a better device.

I sell electronics for a living and test FM transmitters on a regular basis. The Monster unit is what I personally use instead of the Irock, Belkin Tunecast, Belkin Tunecast II, and more.

Why you ask? Because it is easy to use, provides a wider frequency range then most others and is more compact. I can't believe the reviewer that "tested" the units with no live signal--he missed out the the difference in sound reproduction, something that my wife and I noiced right away when comparing units side by side--back to back of the exact same song.

The Monster scores with:

+ Easy to use (no LCD to "try" and look at while driving)
+ Provides a wider frequency range then others (more bass)
+ Is one unit (nothing to loose)
+ Very little drifting (loosing a singal from lack of a solid frequency lock.)
+ Takes up less space then other models


The Monster's weak points are:

- It is noiser then some other brands (I still use it because of the wider frequency range, which overcomes the extra hiss/noise)
- NO FM Transmitter will sound as good as a tape adapter or cd player
- All FM Transmitters will have reception issues in some areas, normally it is fixed by switching the frequency used.
- Can be somewhat expensive

So I recommend if you are going to use a FM transmitter, perhaps purchase 2 or even 3 models and compare them side-by-side while listening to the same source. I am guessing that many will hear what my wife and I did and keep the Monster.