How do cassette adapters work?

[EscapeVelo]

I was wondering how those cassette adapters work....the ones that you can use to hook up a cd player or iPod to a cassette player.

 

[Ed in Tx]

Ones I've seen have a head inside the cassette shell adapter gizmo you put in the player. The head basically serving as a primary of a transformer goes up against the player's head, the player head would be the secondary part of a transformer. Might be some additional components to boost treble to get close to the usual audio equalization used with cassettes in rec-pb.

 

[goldear]

I've always wondered if those units had any sort of EQ network to compensate for the PB EQ inside of the deck, but I've never opened one up to see.

 

[EscapeVelo]

So any recommendations?


Guide Review of Cassette Tape Adapters for MP3/CD Players


Best of Breed

Sony CPA 9 (CPA-7, CPA-6)
Philips PH-62050W
Panasonic RP-CC20
Monster iCarPlay AI-800
Radio Shack Gigaware


Special Features

Griffin SmartDeck


Fair

XtremeMac
Maxell CD 330
Aiwa CAP-6
Belkin
RCA AH600
GE
Coby CA-747
Rocketfish CPA3
Griffin Direct Deck
XM/Sirius

No Information

Nexxtech
JWin
Dynex

Not Recommended

Scosche



The Panasonic seems like a gem. I found this review of it, here. Reports of high build quality.

The Sony CPA-9C has Frequency Response rated 50Hz-20,000KHz....but people complain of hum and mechanical noises. Sony seems like it would produce a good head inside its adaptor (if they are producing it themselves). The older Sony Discman CPA 6 might or might not be of better overall quality.

The Maxell CD-330 gets good reviews on Amazon, though the Sony CPA-9C gets better.

Philips and Aiwa seem like strong brand names on these devices.

Coby CA-747 has a coiled cord, which may help with tangled wire syndrome, as well as rejecting hum.

The Monster iCarPlay has a nice gold plated jack, shorter cord, and reported less mechanical noise, though still possible hum. High build quality.

The Gigaware also has gold plated plugs and good reports of build quality...plus a Motion Sensor however that helps.


Rocketfish seems to have a model number similar to the lessor Sony CPA3. Still a decent device.

Griffin Direct Deck gets mixed reviews at best.

Reports of poor build quality on the Dynex.

 

[Bigears]

Positively the least desirable way to add an AUX input to any device. Huge noise floor and severely compromised dynamics. Which one is best? They all suck...they can't help it:yes:

 

[EscapeVelo]

Positively the least desirable way to add an AUX input to any device. Huge noise floor and severely compromised dynamics. Which one is best? They all suck...they can't help it:yes:

Even worse than an FM transmitter?

 

[goldear]

No. They're not as bad as the FM transmitters. FWIW: The fidelity of the unit which I used on occasion many years ago exceeded my (somewhat low) expectations. That's not to say that it sounded great, but I would not say that it was awful (at least inside of the very noisy environment of a car) either. Sorry, but I don't recall which unit I used to use.

 

[EscapeVelo]

New information on the Sony Cassette Adapters...

The CPA-9C is made in China and well documented inferior product quality to the one made in Japan, the CPA-9

The CPA-7 and CPA-6 are likewise probably made in Japan...back when these were more commonly used and made.

 

[Jon_Logan]

They aren't so bad.

When I used to work for a well known noise reduction company, we used those things all of the time to test cassette tape machine's Encode/Decode (back to back) performance. It was used with an Audio Precision that first swept to get the amplitude vs frequency plot with the adapter (we called them "flux couplers"). The first pass frequency response wasn't too dang bad. Maybe within 1.5dB with a little tilt in the top end. No low frequency aberations, like head bumps that you'd expect.

We were using one's made by Sony. The only real problem I saw with them were level differences each time the heads would come up and mate. So level repeatability was it's weak spot.

Flux couplers or FM transmit coupling?? Flux coupler any day.

 

[EscapeVelo]

Thanks!

I think Ill pick up a Japan made Sony and a Panasonic (havent confirmed where made though). The Panasonic seems much harder to find.

The Maxell CD-330 is Made in China, Ill pass. Same with Coby (though I really like the coiled cord).

The Monster iCarPlay and RS Gigaware seem really nicely built with nice plugs and thicker shielded cords, however, Im not so sure about the quality of the tape heads in them. So sticking to Sony and Panasonic.

I hope this review and thread is helpful to others in the future.

 

[EscapeVelo]

I found this shootout test review of cassette adapters at ilongue interesting. The Chinese made Sony CPA-9C gets top billing along with the Monster iCarPlay. They trashed the Coby CA-747 on reliability/build quality.

Fall 2005 Cassette Tape Adapter Shootout

By Jeremy Horwitz Editor-in-Chief, iLounge

Sony CPA-9C CD/MD Cassette Adaptor with Self-Adjusting, Spring-Loaded Head ($14.99): Reviewed in our past Buyers’ Guides, Sony’s option remains our top pick in this category thanks to its great longevity, low base level of noise, and low mechanical grind sounds. Other than the fact that the signal to noise ratio here is comparatively high, CPA-9C’s audio sounds very much the same as the majority of its competitors. But aggressive shopping can locate it for $10 or less. B+

Monster iCarPlay Cassette Adapter ($19.95): In performance, Monster’s iCarPlay Cassette Adapter is virtually indistinguishable from the less expensive CPA-9C, boasting the same spring-loaded cassette head mechanism and the same low base level of noise and mechanical grinding sounds. Despite its gold-plated headphone port cord, which CPA-9C lacks, there’s nothing else special about its sound. Its gray body and black cable may go better or worse with your car’s interior than CPA-9C’s darker body, but on price, Sony has the edge. B

Coby CA-747 Dual Position CD/MD/MP3 Cassette Adapter ($9.95): This is the quintessential “I found it in an electronics store and bought it because it was cheaper than the Sony” cassette tape adapter; it is often sold for as little as $5, and isn’t worth that price. In addition to a medium base level of noise and a high level of mechanical grinding sound, the Coby units we’ve tested have had problems and broken faster than competitors. The only redeeming feature is a detachable, stretchable audio cable that can be positioned for different types of tape decks - unless you need it, skip the Coby. We consider this a last resort option that we would never recommend to our readers. D

 

[Fred Sanford]

When I used to work for a well known noise reduction company, we used those things all of the time to test cassette tape machine's Encode/Decode (back to back) performance. It was used with an Audio Precision that first swept to get the amplitude vs frequency plot with the adapter (we called them "flux couplers"). The first pass frequency response wasn't too dang bad. Maybe within 1.5dB with a little tilt in the top end. No low frequency aberations, like head bumps that you'd expect.

We were using one's made by Sony. The only real problem I saw with them were level differences each time the heads would come up and mate. So level repeatability was it's weak spot.

Flux couplers or FM transmit coupling?? Flux coupler any day.

The only one I've used with decent results was an old MIJ Sony as well. Many other brands gave fits to the auto-reverse sensors in car tape decks, and had intermittent results. Can't seem to find it to give you a model #, but it'll pop up soon. It's only recently been replaced with an AUX in jack in my van.

je

 

[EscapeVelo]

The Sony Cassette adapters seem to be the most widely lauded....and its widely available still, even new (at least the Chinese made version).

I didnt know about this one and added it to the list above...though very rare apparently.

Aparently the Philips recieved very high marks from iLounge as well....they liked it better than the Sony CPA-9C, the long time reigning champion.

Fall 2005 Cassette Tape Adapter Shootout

XtremeMac iPod Car Cassette Deck Adapter ($19.95): We’ve tested two versions of the XtremeMac cassette adapter, the first of which (iLounge rating: C) is no longer shipping (but may be found used on eBay or the like), and features an L-shaped headphone port connector and a medium base level of noise. The second and currently shipping version, with a straight (I-shaped) headphone connector, is a definite improvement, with a low base level of noise and low level of mechanical grind, just like Sony’s CPA-9C. Like the gray Monster iCarPlay, the white-bodied XtremeMac may stick out a bit in your car, but its black cable might not. Though we were on the edge of B and B+ ratings for this one, we’ve commonly seen the XtremeMac model available at a price comparable to the Sony, and its inclusion in XtremeMac audio kit bundles is a welcome sight for people who need the other cables. B+


Philips PH2050W

Pros: An inexpensive, widely available cassette tape adapter that offers best-of-class audio performance by category’s standards, and uses an innovative cable repositioning mechanism to guarantee compatibility with both side- and bottom-loading tape decks. The most compatible such adapter we’ve tested.

Cons: Like all other cassette tape adapters we’ve tested, does not offer CD-quality audio output; still has a small amount of hiss-like noise that’s evident when speakers are turned up.

 

[Johnsnow]

I was wondering how those cassette adapters work....the ones that you can use to hook up a cd player or iPod to a cassette player.

A tape connector is just the shell of tape with an inside compose head. It has a short lace which twists persistently, however stores no information. A sound link, generally with a 1/8-inch earphone plug, is appended to the tape shell and is utilized to enter sound sign from an outer gadget. At the point when the gadget sends sound through the link, it is transmitted as an electronic signature. When this sign reaches the compose head inside the connector, it is changed over to an attractive field. The field is then perused by the tape work area, changed over back to an electronic sign and sent to your vehicle's speakers.

 

[revox-b77]

8 years and finally an answer.
Thank You!

 

[62vauxhall]

When common, those things made me think of astronauts in 1950's "B" movies - touching helmets together to talk to each other.

 

[Ronald1973]

I have a Phillips that I bought at Goodwill for $5 several years ago. Noisy as all get out. It's stuck (literally) in a cheap AM/FM/cassette radio that I use to listen to music in the bathroom when I'm taking a bath. It does a fine job for that. The poor tape player eats tapes, so I wouldn't dare put one of my tapes in it, so that fills the bill.