I originally purchased this cassette adapter to listen to CD's in my Neon which did not have a CD player. This served its purpose well- great sound quality, the cassette was not loud in the cassette deck as a previous one had been, and I was finally able to listen to CD's in my car during the commute.Eight months ago, I traded in the Neon for a Jetta which had both a CD and cassette player, so the cassette adapter wound up collecting dust along with my old cell phone and other assorted items in my electronics graveyard. But this week I purchased an iPod, and I also got an iRock FM transmitter to listen to my MP3's at work and during the commute. Unfortunately that is not the best product in the world. I contemplated exchanging the iRock for a Belkin FM transmitter, when it was suggested to me that I try a car cassette adapter. I dug through the electronics graveyard, and almost thought I had thrown this out when I found it. I plugged it into the headphone jack of the iPod, then played the cassette on my stereo. The sound quality is excellent on this as well.This is an excellent product if you have a car with only a cassette player, and want to listen to CDs, or if you have an iPod and want to listen to MP3's cheaply and easily.A piece of advice, though for those who need the adapter for their CD player: you may want to opt instead for an actual car pack, which has a cigarette lighter adapter for the CD player, otherwise you'll be burning through the batteries like crazy. Walkman Car Connecting Pack for MD Walkman and CD Walkman (Model# CPA-9C)
This cassette adaptor couldn't be easier to use for playing music through car or stereo speakers. Cut the adaptor out of its plastic packing, stick it into a cassette deck, plug it into the headphone jack of your portable music player, and, voilà, music. It's really as simple as that. The adaptor requires no assembly or adjustments to work perfectly right out of the box.
This device works only with cassette decks that load with the tape to one side (not front loading), as the cable that connects to your portable device comes out of a short side, so check your cassette deck before purchasing this. The best part is that it works silently, allowing your music to sound as clear as it should. You can adjust the sound through your stereo or through the portable device itself.
I've used this both with a regular iPod and an iPod mini with great success. It's much better (and cheaper) than buying one of the FM stereo broadcasting devices because it's never dependent upon available airwaves and never needs re-tuning as you move from one radio zone to another.
Highly recommended if you plan on listening to digital music in the car. As long as your car has the correct kind of cassette deck and your portable device has a standard headphone jack, it will work without a hitch.
Update to review, several months later: This adaptor started making a clicking sound, and occasionally makes a terrifying electronic buzz that nearly scares me into accidents. It did spend the winter in the car, although my garage never gets below freezing. Unfortunately, I can't tell if this noise problem is because of my old car stereo or because of some electronic defect in the adaptor that cropped up after heavy use.
This is one of those products that simply works great. I've been using mine for about a year with my Apple iPod and I couldn't be happier.
You simply turn on your car stereo, insert the adapter into your cassette player as if it were a tape, insert the plug into your MP3 player, and start up your music. Easy! In fact, I never even looked at the instructions that came with it.
I think the sound is pretty good and it always works.
I had tried an FM transmitter and, maybe because I live in a very populated area, could never find a free FM frequency for the iPod, so threw it away.
One of the reasons I bought the car I did was because it had a cassette player so I could use a cassette adapter. Some cars are starting to come with inputs for MP3 players, so I expect that will be the way to go in the future.
Being able to play my iPod in the car for my long work commutes has saved my sanity!
Cassette adapters are generally better than FM transmitters, especially in urban areas. The problem is that the cassette player in your car has seen better days, played many tapes and is magnetized. The solution is easy: buy and run one of the cassette head cleaner / demagnitizers on the market. A good one is Maxell A450 Cassette Tape Head Cleaner, $2.95 on Amazon (through Office Depot). It's done wonders in my car.
A final word about expectation management: any non-direct hookup, either through FM or via cassette adapter, offers limited performance BY DESIGN. Frequency response and dyanmic range for FM radios and magnetic tapes are by far inferior to what you can get with CDs and MP3 players, and the additional signal conversions (analog to magnetic and back, or analog to RF and back) don't help much either. So expect a good solution from a cassette adapter, but don't expect CD quality. - Ipod - Automotive - Mp3 Accessories - Cass Conv Mp3'
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