fm radio + ipod = crazy delicious (?)

June 13, 2006 10:07 AM

Is there some gadget that will allow me to listen to FM radio on my iPod Shuffle?

I've absolutely fallen in love with my Shuffle, but if there's one hitch in our relationship it's that I'm starting to miss my old girlfriend, NPR. Is there some way that the three of us could all get together? I've looked around on electronics sites and what not to no avail.

posted by CRM114 to technology (15 comments total)

How about NPR podcasts?
posted by k8t at 10:14 AM on June 13, 2006

You can download radio program podcasts to listen to on your iPod. And you can broadcast from your iPod to your FM radio using iTrip or similar gadgets (so your iPod digital media will play over your car or home stereo receiver without a cable). But I don't think there's a devise that converts your iPod into an FM receiver.
posted by GIRLesq at 10:28 AM on June 13, 2006

First google hit - ipod fm receiver
posted by grateful at 10:33 AM on June 13, 2006

Grateful, that one doesn't work with the Shuffle. I assure, I have tried obsure and arcane methods like Google before posting to AskMeFi.
posted by CRM114 at 10:35 AM on June 13, 2006

Honestly, your Shuffle doesn't have a whole lot to offer to an FM receiver to make its job easier. Seconded the advice re: podcasts. Also you might want to consider something like Replay Radio which will allow you to capture content from Internet radio stations including NPR for use on your player - I can't endorse it though as I haven't used it.
posted by teleskiving at 10:37 AM on June 13, 2006

At the risk of telling you what you may not want to hear, you should totally check out Replay Radio (windows) or Audio Hijack (mac). Both will allow you to record NPR streams to listen to on the go. In some ways, it's not as good as having an FM transmitter -- but in other ways, it's much nicer.

You can set up a whole day's worth of Prairie Home Companion episodes to listen to in loops!
posted by rossination at 10:48 AM on June 13, 2006

Apple's Radio Remote --- not for the shuffle, but it is a solution for Nano and iPod owners.
posted by nathan_teske at 10:54 AM on June 13, 2006

And if you're looking for NPR content, This American Life recently switched their archive from streaming Real Audio (yech!) to streaming MP3s. It's relatively easy to figure out how to download the source MP3s. I have something like 12.5 days of Ira Glass, now.
posted by nathan_teske at 10:57 AM on June 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

Isn't your question really "How do I listen to NPR on my ipod"?

In which case, I think the best solution is "subscribe to the podcasts". They're free, they have lots of shows available, and the quality is likely to be much better than what you would get from a tiny fm receiver.
posted by empath at 11:40 AM on June 13, 2006

Actually, many of the NPR shows make you pay for the downloads, like This American Life or Car Talk.
posted by Atreides at 11:56 AM on June 13, 2006

It might be cheaper just to buy a new MP3 player with an FM receiver. You could probably get one for $50-$100, which is only slightly more than outboard FM receivers for regular iPods.
posted by GuyZero at 12:51 PM on June 13, 2006

Or you could just pick up a tiny FM radio from the Dollar Store and carry it with you. If you lose it, no big deal--just buy another one.
posted by hades at 4:07 PM on June 13, 2006

Second on hades suggestion -- you can get those cheapie FM radios for like $5.99.
posted by davidmsc at 6:16 PM on June 13, 2006

Great ideas, all. And the dime-store psychoanalysis is pretty spot on; all I want is NPR, not other radio.
posted by CRM114 at 7:06 AM on June 14, 2006

all I want is NPR, not other radio.

In that case, download the CBC podcasts too!
posted by GuyZero at 8:10 AM on June 14, 2006