Cassette adapter or aux in?

[buffpants24]

I've had my Micro for about a month now. I want to use it in the car so I don't have to worry about changing CDs. I read that the FM tuners suck, so now I am leaning towards either buying a cassette adapter for about $20, or buying a new receiver with aux in for about $110. I know aux in would give me the best sound, but is the sound quality of a cassette adapter far behind? If the sound through a cassette adapter is not too bad, I will just get one of these (I would love to save $90

). Also, if I get a cassette adapter, which one should I get?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....1&type=product
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....5&type=product
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....6&type=product
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....4&type=product
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Maxel...oductDetail.do

Thanx

 

[yyoo]

Depends on the tape deck. Though I eventually went to a line-level input, I used to use a cassette adapter and it sounded just fine. In fact, I was kind of disappointed that there wasn't THAT much of an improvement when I went to line-in (just a bit tighter bass and more refined high end, but much more subtle than you might think). However, I've tried the casette adapter with the tape players in a couple of other cars and it simply sucked.

P.S. I recommend the Sony CPA-9C if you're going to go cassette adapter. Avoid anything by Monster.

 

[buffpants24]

I read that the Sony CPA-9C has harsh highs, no lows, and makes a constant humming noise. Is this true?

 

[yyoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffpants24 I read that the Sony CPA-9C has harsh highs, no lows, and makes a constant humming noise. Is this true?

The highs did sound harsher/less-refined with the Sony than with line-in and the lows were also not as pronounced, but, as I mentioned, it wasn't THAT much worse than line-in. As for humming, I didn't experience it and I think that may largely be a function of which player you use it with.

P.S. One reason I may not have many complaints about the bass is that my stock stereo doesn't have much bass to begin with. If you've got big subwoofers you might notice more of a diff. I don't know.

 

[buffpants24]

Have you tried any other cassette adapters? I heard that the ones made by Panasonic sound pretty good (hard to find though).
I am going to be using the stock CD receiver/tape deck, but aftermarket speakers. Hopefully the stock amp will be able to drive my new speakers...

 

[yyoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffpants24 Have you tried any other cassette adapters? I heard that the ones made by Panasonic sound pretty good (hard to find though).

I had one other model before the Sony that I used to use years ago with my old CD player but I'm afraid I don't remember what it was. As for Monster, I don't recommend them because of bad experiences with their RCA and mini-to-RCA.

 

[sc53]

I have a really good high end car stereo with Alpine head unit, Macintosh amps, Canton speakers, and JL Audio sub. I used the Monster cassette adapter for about 6 months until I upgraded my Alpine head unit with the new Alpine iPod interface and now have a direct line in from the iPod to the Alpine. With the Monster cassette adapter, I got GREAT sound and had no problems or issues with the adapter or the miniplug. I used the Sik Din on the iPod and connected the miniplug into the Sik jack, so I was using the line out of the iPod, not the headphone jack. When I got the expensive Alpine iPod interface, the sound was somewhat better but not drastically so. The biggest improvement was in the whole connection routine--I just plug the iPod docking socket into the Alpine's docking plug and stash the Pod in one of the compartments on the console, out of sight.

 

[wolfen68]

I use line-in nowadays...but before that I tried Sony, Magnavox, Phillips, a no name from XM Radio, and Rio cassette adapters. The Rio sounded the best but broke after a year (short in plug). I still have the magnavox and it works well enough for the $14 it costs.

Other than sound, they can be finicky from deck to deck as someone else suggested. Some have louder internal "gear" noise as well. I also found in the winter that some work in cold weather while others will not.

You'll have to experiment as you go....

 

[Nak Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yyoo I had one other model before the Sony that I used to use years ago with my old CD player but I'm afraid I don't remember what it was.

Using similar sony adaptor, CPA7 or something. My head unit have both cassette and aux in. For noisy car environment I don't think I'm able to hear any difference, unless car is inside garage with engine's not running. =)

 

[Joy Divisioner]

Your doubts about FM transmitters are well founded. They really are hit-or-miss from person to person as far as performance goes. My girlfriend originally bought an iTrip (based on reviews), and it was a piece. Very poor signal quality/interface -- just not a very good product (for her). She ended up trying again with the Monster iCarplay or whatever it's called, and it works great. I've heard of plenty of people having problems with these as well though, same people sometimes fare better with the iTrip.

But I digress...

I've always used the cheap tape-deck adapter that came with one of my Sony Discmen, and when paired with my quality stereo/tape deck, it sounds awesome. Up until recently (a few years), there wasn't a remarkable difference from CD to iPod/tape deck sound quality (though there was a bit). I'd say, save some money and go with the tape adapter before you drop a ton on a new aux-in.

 

[Nak Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joy Divisioner Your doubts about FM transmitters are well founded. They really are hit-or-miss from person to person as far as performance goes.

Forgot to mention on transmitters: FM audio works only up to roughly 15khz, so theoretically cassette adaptors have an advantage.

Edit - with good cassette unit, that is.

 

[steevc]

Neither of our cars has a cassette player these days, but one has a Blaupunkt that I chose because of the availability of an aux-in cable. The problem I've found with that on both an MP3 CD player and my Palm is that the volume is really low compared to the radio or internal CD. This results in me being deafened when a traffic announcement cuts in.

The other car came with a CD head unit with no aux-in, so there's no option for other sources without replacing it. FM transmitters are not legal in the UK.

--
Steve