Jan Leow's Press Blog


Red Fox MP3 FM Modulator for playing MP3 files, Pt 2.

Judging from the number of comments that I received about this Red Fox MP3 FM modulator, I think I might put in a few pointer about using this device.

The Red Fox MP3 modulator that I bought could use both the SD/MMC Card as well as USB flash drive. The size limit for SD/MMC card is 2GB, while for USB thumb drive 4GB is usable. So far the USB drive that I tried that has no problem with the Red Fox MP3 Modulator are:

  • Dell (M-system) 512MB
  • LG 512MB
  • Kingston 2GB
  • Toshiba (U3 enabled device) 4GB

Red Fox MP3 FM Modulator for playing MP3 files


Some people (including the sales guy) reported that they had some problem with the PenDrive. IMHO, it could be the dual partition that is causing the MP3 FM modulator to misread the correct partition, that’s why some salespeople recommend to reformat it. But I think that would not do the trick because even after reformat, the partition still exists. You need to remove the partition. There are two partitions because it is used by PenDrive for you to secure the data by providing a password feature similar to that of U3 enabled flash drive. I believe the partitions can be removed. A quick check at the PenDrive website did not reveal how it could be done. Since I do not have PenDrive to play with the suggestion here may or may not work.

You could plug in the PenDrive into your PC, and use the Windows Disk Management (right click the Computer icon on your desktop, click manage, and look for Disk Management). See if you could remove the partition and reformat from there.

Another thing to watch out is that there should not be other file types especially at the root location. If you really have to multi-use your thumb drive, I would suggest dumping your other files into a subfolder, hopefully it would not confuse the MP3 FM modulator player.

Some people suggested replacing the fuse. I don’t see any reason why it needed to be done. Perhaps the cigarette lighter socket gave out too much power and power surge the device? I’m not too keen on opening up my device just to check see if there is any fuse inside. But so far I have no problem with the power supply from my car cigarette lighter socket.

Just for the readers’ idea, this is my current setup for using the Red Fox MP3 FM modulator:

  • Kingston 2GB – enough to store 350 songs at 160kbps bit rate.
  • I don’t mix with other type of files
  • using folders to separate albums was no problem at all and good for organizing the mp3 files
  • so far so good, I just left the MP3 player in the socket with the thumb drive plug in while starting the car.

Best of luck to all you users who plan to play MP3 in your car using the Red Fox FM Modulator!

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16 thoughts on “Red Fox MP3 FM Modulator for playing MP3 files, Pt 2.”

  1. Hi Jan,

    I brought 1 too but can it play the songs by choosing the folder as what I have copy from notebook ?? If not it will display all the songs and I can’t choose the folder as I set earlier.

    Thanks a lot for your great advised.

  2. hi bro,
    i buy this red fox modulator too. but i’m facing da problem on how to repeat the track song coz
    on its cover it’s shown dat it has repeat mode.

  3. Hi Jan,
    Your review is very well done. Appreciated it very much.
    I found your web after purchasing RedFox FT20D, one of the top listing in Google.
    Cheers!

    Hi kLik,
    There are 3 functions available from it (press and hold the ‘Play’ button)
    Single song repeat (pix: Character 1)
    All song repeat (pix: Character A)
    Random selection (pix: Character R); R for ‘Random’ not ‘Repeat’

  4. just stumbled upon your website and found it most interesting. i am a blind individual and i am most interested on audio equipment. i wonder if you know of any retailer that sells internet radios. i am especially interested in the roberts 2001 internet radio, although other brands will also suffice. should you wish to contact me, my phone numbers are as follows tel. 0379848560
    mobile, 0166359800
    many thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

  5. Does anyone know how to organize the sort order of songs on the flashdrive?. Once I used to arrange the songs on the flashdrive using a software called Muvo, I think
    The reason is that I like to listen to Audio books in my car and the play order is important. Now I use a very tedious method of copying the songs to the flashdrive in the order of play
    Thanks for any help

  6. hello bro,
    i planning to purchase a new mp3 fm modulator, any new spec now?
    1) how about the max capacity of thumbdrive supporting?
    2)how about the new bit rate now?
    3)and where can get the cheap price for it?
    hope listen from u asap.
    Thank you.

    1. Dear Nollice,
      I’m still using the same old Red Fox MP3 modulator for the past 1 year. So far so good though sometimes it would not start up. Could be getting old or worn out.

      No idea about the max capacity, but I wouldn’t push it to max knowing these made-in-China thingy is not made for such hi-cap. However 2GB thumbdrives may soon be not available the way prices are coming down.

      Bit rate is up to you. For me 160kbps is good enough whether it is in the PC or MP3 player. 128kbps is kinda poor, 96kpbs is bad (but quite ok if you are listening to motivational talks) and of course 192kbps and above is overkill.

      There are some new and cheaper models out in the market going for about RM24 (ALL IT Hypermart). Quality is anybodies guess. You just have to try it out.

  7. Hi,

    Thanks for sharing this info with us, it’s really apreciated.

    Now, I listen to mp3 audio books in my RedFox (FT284-CC , 4GB internal memory). The issue with me is that when I turn off the car, then turn it back on, it will play the audio book from the beginning, and will not continue fromt he point where I last left it.

    Any suggestions?

    Thanks.

  8. hi, i jz bought this fm modulator, but i have a problem. i dunoe how to switch to other folders. i press and hold the play and i saw the folder words, but i do not know what to do after that. could you please help me?

  9. Please i need your help, when i plug it to my PC there was a virus alert and i made a big mistake, i formated the device and before that it can not work at all, i think i delete the files that make it works.

    Please let me know if i can do anithing to solve my problem, my pc does not recognize it.

  10. Dear Ale,
    You mean you formatted your USB thumbdrive? Unless the USB drive uses special encryption software like U3 or something, after formatting it, it will become a normal USB drive. Some people prefer it that way. To make it back to original you will need to download the USB software/format program from the manufacturer to restore back to its original state.

    If your MP3 player cannot read it, very likely you have format it to a NTFS file system. You need to format it to a FAT32 file system for the MP3 player to read it. No need to download the format software from the manufacturer if plan to keep the USB drive simple.

  11. Hi looked for a reply to the question how do I change the folders on my Red Fox MP3 FM modulator SD mmc USB using the buttons on the unit it self but no one has posted one. Can you please help me or give me a link to get an instruction book
    John
    Cardiff, Wales, GB
    30/4/2011

    Use the remote control that came with it. The F+ F- refers forward to next and previous folder. No buttons available on the unit itself.
    Cheers!
    Jan
    2/5/2011

    Thanks for for taking the time to reply to my question

    I think on the remote with mine its the 100+ 200+ buttons that change the folders. I guess these must be F+ F- ? anyway for the money its a fun little gaget.

    take care and thanks again

    John (Wales UK)

    Dear John,
    I think yours is the older version. The new ones comes with F+ F- to change folders forward and backward. There are some newer ones where it can continue from where the songs left off which is very useful if you are listening to audio books. My current Redfox MP3 can read up to 16GB USB drive though I using an 8GB USB drive currently and it can’t con’t from where it left off except start from the beginning of the song after restarting the car. Can’t quite fit my entire 30GB MP3 collection but still it is more than enough!
    Jan.

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