I have two of these devices. The sony that I have cost $20 and clicks when I play it in my one car. In my other car, it always sounds like the dolby sound filtering is on. This one works and sounds better and was half the cost. Philips USA PH-62050 CD/MP3/MD-To-Cassette Adapter
I got the Philips Cassette Converter to run my iPod Shuffle in my '96 Saab 900 with factory equiped stereo and it works beautifully. Yes, it is true that the signal is not very strong, so you have to turn the volume up a bit, but even the little Shuffle can compensate for it and by no means do you need to fear forgetting to turn the volume down when you switch to Radio or CD. The sound quality is as good as the iPod delivers and you have no disturbing background noise. I also had no problems that the deck would eject the tape. I can recommend this product and it's good value for money (I didn't try similar one)
This adapter works fine with my mp3 player, at top volume there's slight background noise that can be taken care of with noise reduction if your car stereo has it. Sound quality is excellent and very consistent. It's much better and less expensive than a radio transmitter. I'm extremely satisfied with this purchase.
There are basically 4 ways to play your iPod in your car:
1) Newer cars (typically 2006+) have an aux input which you connect your iPod to with the right cable. A direction connection like this is the simplest, lowest cost, and best sounding option - but you need a newer car.
2) On most cars without a dedicated aux input, you can hard wire a connection in the back of the head units with kits from several manufacturers (USA Spec for example). This provides sound quality as good as item #1 but can get a little messy as the hardware needs to be mounted (usually under the dash) and can be fairly expensive (approx $200 hardware, $50 to $100 install)
3) You can use a FM modulator with any car that has an FM receiver. This is low cost simple option, but the drawbacks are well known: OK sound quality at best, issues with static and noise from nearby radio channels.
4) For cars that have a cassette tape deck (remember those?!) you can use a cassette adapter like the Phillips here. My older Lexus has a cassette deck and I chose this option before I invest in adding a hard wire connection (#2) as described above. I figured I would least try it for $21 and I am very impressed with the sound quality! I would call it near CD sound quality. There is no hissing or mechanical clicking of the gears in the adapter. I also purchased the Maxell cassette adapter since they used to make the best cassettes back in the day and to my surprise it sounded much worse and had a loud humming noise. So I am keeping the Phillips and returning the Maxell and just ordered another Philips unit as a backup for long trips!
I bought this product about six months ago, and I have been generally satisfied with its performance; however, about a month ago it developed an audible squeak whenever it was operating, and recently it jammed completely so that when I tried to use it the cassette player would auto reverse a few times and finally spit it out. I took the cassette apart to clear the jam, but within a few minutes of use it had jammed again, and I finally gave up trying to repair it. I used the product practically every day in the time I owned it, so I can't really say I didn't get my $15 worth, but I'm still disappointed that it died so quickly.
...for solving a new tech problem. Cassette tapes are almost as extinct as the 8-track ...but the cassette deck lives on in many factory installed car stereos ...pretty much lying dormant as the CD player gets all the use. Wanna play that new fangled iPod or MP3 player in your car but don't have a modern, high zoot car stereo you can just plug it into? Problem solved if you're lucky enough to have a cassette player as part of your setup. Turn on your radio (volume down) and simply slip this cassette adapter into the slot. Connect the mini-plug into the headset jack on your pocket-sized player and...voi-la! ...put that puppy on "Shuffle" and enjoy a just about endless supply of tunes. It's that simple.
I have two of these Phillips units; they work great and sound great. The Phillips is also one of the least expensive of the lot. All the adapters work the same and they will all probably sound the same ...so why pay more? The audio cable can be routed in one of three ways making it adaptable to just about any cassette deck made. You can route the cable out the left or right side and out the center of the back edge of the cassette shell. There are two large screws allowing you to use a dime to open the slot and realign the audio lead.
One thing you need to be aware of as you use this cassette. Many cassette players came with some type of noise reduction system (Dolby and others). When using this adapter you want to make sure the noise reduction circuitry is turned *off* ...otherwise the music will sound dull and have a slightly weird effect to it. Some factory cassette decks, like the one in my 2000 Jeep Cherokee, default the noise reduction circuit to the "on" position so you have to turn it off each time you insert the adapter. Or you can just leave the adapter in the player with no harm.
Another point for getting good sound is to make sure the volume level of the MP3/iPod player is not greater than about 75% of max ...there's a good chance you'll get distortion if the player is at full volume.
The only downside I've experienced so far has been the top label peeling up in the hot weather. The ends will curl up and the sticky side will attach to the cassette door as you try to eject it. Simply peel off the label, problem fixed. So fire up that old tech cassette deck and enjoy your new tech using some low tech. - Mp3 Accessories - Ipod - Mp3 Cassette Adapter - Ipod Accessories'
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