Sony Cassette Adapter for MP3, MiniDisc, and Discman Players Reviews

• a good product gets a new life

  
  By A2IY49V4ARN4HC on 2003-05-23
  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.
  
  

• Easy to use and works great

  
  By A11NOO384U6BTX on 2004-11-01
  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!
  
  

• Works with CD players, iPods, other MP3 players

  
  By A23GFTVIETX7DS on 2005-01-01
  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.
  
  

• Works great with iPod

  
  By A30NZYWSJ5WT7I on 2002-10-31
  I found this a great way to hook up my iPod to my rather ancient car stereo. The sound quality is suprisingly good, considering that it has to be trasferred across several interfaces. The bass is a little weak sometimes, but I'm not sure if that's the fault of this device or my stereo.
  
  

• How to improve quality

  
  By ATY769PX8MF4E on 2005-06-03
  
  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.
  
  
  
• Trick: play tape in correct direction
  By A3OO6JC6490I3Y on 2005-11-19
  I originally purchased a Monster tape adapter for my wife. It was great the first time we used it. Then every other time the unit itself was very loud. You had to have the volume up very high to drown out the noise from the adapter. I took it back and got this Sony. Wife tells me she can barely hear the music, even with the Nano and radio controls all the way up. She also says the unit is very noisy like the Monster. I tinker with it physically in the tape slot. The tape player changes direction and my eardrums burst. Apparently, one of the tricks to these things is to make sure the tape player is operating in the standard direction. Most tape players have the ability to rotate their wheels either direction. These tape adapters work best in the standard direction. I guess that is why people have either been rating this product as 5 stars or 1 star. Make sure you use it with the tape player in the standard direction. I left it at 4 stars because there is a slight operational humming noise, but I still think this is much better than an FM transmitter, especially in cities.
  
  
• Expensive, But Worth It
  By A3L9I1K68YMI3P on 2002-01-23
  I decided to buy this cassette adapter for my Sony D-E220 portable CD player. It works great, I haven't had any problems with it yet. It works even better than I expected. Everytime I use when riding in my car I get room-filling sound as you would expect from a top-quality brand. It also comes with a long warranty, labor for 3 months and parts for 12 months.
  
  
• this adapter sucks!!
  By A3NFB794XGDU9R on 2002-11-21
  Really.I've got nothing against Sony (I've got a lot of great Sony gear), but this is a really bad cd adapter compared with other CHEAPER ones.I've got a Sony discman, but with this adapter for my car radio, everything sounds so compressed.It cuts all low frequencies that I can hear with other adapters, and the high response is too hifi.
  
  
• not dependable, but sometimes the quality of sound is great
  By AY7RG4TBUXPB7 on 2004-04-03
  I have been using this adaptor with my portable mp3 player, at times the sound is great. On other days, there is a loud background hum that seems to have something to do with electric interference from within the car. I have to move the mp3 player all over teh car and find a position in which the hum is minimal, but it is still there. This is really a hassle, needless to say. But like I side, on other days, it is fine. I know that it doesn't have to do with the mp3 player or quality of the ripped files as the same song one day may sound great and on others has a distinctly loud hum that varies with the positioning of the unit in the car. Also on days that the 'hum' is present, even if I disconnect the miniplug from the player, the background hum persists, so this cannot be attributed to the mp3 player. I find this puzzling. Does anyone have any advice or at least an explanation for why this happens?

  But when it works, it works very wel.l Even with the annoying hum, I would consider the sound quality superior to am FM transmitter or perhaps more appropriately stated, less annoying.
  
  

• Quality per dollar is Great!!!
  By A11XMQ8XL6QD9N on 2004-11-19
  Got one from Fry's electronic in different package but it was Sony CPA-9C. Many customers complained about no sound or humming sound or they have to volumn up their radios. This is a solution. First of all, it's not this stuff's fault. I read the instruction then tried to switch the direction of the tape player (by pressing |<< >>| at the same time). It does work and work really fine.
  
  
• Have an iPod? This is the one!
  By A3G8PUF5WWYL8H on 2005-01-04
  I have used the FM modulators-not useless, but close. Continual fussing with them is a real pain and sound quality is poor to fair. Tried several cassette adaptors--If I hit a bump with one the left had side of the stereo would go out. Then I'd have to eject it and push it back in to get both channels working again. One adaptor my tape player didn't like and would try to switch from side to side-autoreversing direction because the deck thought the "tape" was over. My old Sony cassette adaptor have the manual adjust thing to eliminate cross talk which was more fussing that made it not worth it. This new cassette adaptor from Sony has worked perfect--no more cross talk, no more losing a channel when I hit a bump, no more of my deck thinking the "tape" is over. It does really seem to be self-adjusting. I wish there was a better solution for me to use my iPod in the car like the new adaptor that BMW sells. It would be great have it hard wired directly into the stereo and safely stored in my glove box able to control it from the head unit. Until that solution comes, this is a very cheap and surprisingly decent alternative.
  
  
• Worth the Extra Cost
  By AWX8WC37VTMNX on 2005-03-14
  I have been trying to find a good way to play my iPod Mini through my car's stereo (which is a radio/cassette/CD player). First I tried Griffin Technologies iTrip. The iTrip probably works well-enough in non-urban areas, but here in the San Francisco area, there aren't any stations on the FM band that aren't clear enough (not being used, or get bleed-over from neighboring stations) -- so I got bad reception and static constantly (driving between San Francisco and Sacramento), no matter what "empty" stations I tried to tune it to. Then I tried an inexpensive ($5?) Radio Shack cassette adaptor (tried 3 of them actually), and none of them worked well in my car steroe -- bad audio. So, I popped for this adaptor, which is relatively expensive, but it works great -- the audio is perfect. I recommend this if other technologies or less-expensive adaptors have not worked for you.
  
  
• Lasted two months
  By A2FWZ58M6IQMD7 on 2007-06-14
  For as much as people rave about this and the sound it produces, I was really disappointed. I knew there would be a decrease in sound quality, but it was HUGE. It literally sounded like I was playing tapes again. So to me, I didn't find the need to use it unless I had long road trips.
  
  However, it has stopped working after sporadic use over two months. I tried it in two different cars, and it just keeps popping out with "error" messages. Sigh...
  
  
• Awesome product
  By A1CJ3HKLEB9DVW on 2004-10-01
  Very impressed. I was looking for something to hook my mini ipod to my car stereo. I was looking into fm transmitters but had read that most people were unimpressed with the sound quality and lack of free air waves to tune it in. I read a review of this and for the cost I thought I'd try it. It sounds great, no background noise or interference, just good quality sound. I would highly recommend this to anyone
  
  
• Great . . . While It Lasted
  By A27CHILBK6HIL2 on 2005-10-31
  I am a Sony devotee, I love Sony and it is my brand, and I was enjoying the product for what it did. I was able to listen to my ipod in my car and it was great, but recently I started to hear clicking. A regular ticking with a pretty consistant period, and it drives me crazy. I tested my ipod with headphones and it played perfectly, my radio played perfectly so it wasn't my speakers. I just find it frustrating that it only lasted for 5 months or so.
  
  
• broke after only a few months
  By AQGRC5IGF3GQF on 2006-11-14
  This cassette adapter stopped working after only a few months. Not recommended.
  
  
• better adapters are apparently cheaper
  By A2A6HORL0TOQXN on 2004-07-11
  i bought this unit out of a best buy. i chose the more expensive sony name because my previous adapter's wiring was becomming faulty, and i thought i could count on the name to deliver a better product. turned out to be a bad idea.

  not only is the previously-mentioned dull hum noise absolutely mind-numbingly frustrating after about 5 minutes of play, but the volume is so low. the treble is way to high, and the bass portion is bearly audiable, even when messing around with the mp3 players controls or the deck's controlls manually. turning up the volume on the deck only makes the humming get louder. turning up the volume on my mp3 player does nothing but waste battery life. other people have said that you can't expect so much out of a tape deck, but out of the 3 cassettee adapters ive owned (the others being cheaper and lasting for at least a year) this has definately been the worst.

  this is the first review ive written, but i had to contribute after this disappointment.
  
  

• This Sony adapter works great
  By A3JE5RO600KW17 on 2004-09-20
  I just got an XM Roady receiver for my car, and I have a stock tape/cd unit. The Roady came with a cassette adapter, but it made a bit of mechanical noise. I picked up this Sony cassette adapter, and it's absolutely silent in my cassette deck.
  
  If you need to get an auxiliary source into your car sound system, and you have a cassette deck, I don't think you could do better than this.
  
  
• Unless you would like to shell out 200 bucks...
  By A9XCUXJS4NZR0 on 2005-03-31
  Unless you would like to buy a direct adapter via your car's cd changer port(if you even have this option) for 200 bucks which also requires professional instillatio, I would highly recommnend this product, the sound is choppy if you turn your cd player/mp3 player up itself instead of the car radio itself but otherwise it's about an 8 out of 10(10 being CD quality). The FM iTrip is horrible(unless you live in the middle of no-where) and so does all the other FM transmitters. Your best bet at hooking your ipod, other mp3 player, or CD player to your car is this
  
  
• Doesn't work with all stereos
  By on 2004-03-15
  My adapter works great with most cassette decks, including one car stereo. But I recently purchased a 2004 Toyota and the Toyota tape deck spits the cassette adaptor back out with a message "Damaged Tape". In other words, this product doesn't work with all tape decks.

  I recognize that the problem may be with the Toyota cassette deck. However, I called Sony customer support and they were not able to resolve the issue. (I was hoping placing a piece of tape over part of the cassette might be a solution.) When Sony sells remote controls, for example, they list which televisions are compatible. They should do the same for this type of product.
  
  

• This Cannot Be a Sony
  By A1GDGQ7BEKU7AM on 2004-06-28
  I've been using cassette adaptors for years, and this is by far the worse one. Shame on Sony. The adaptor is almost identical to others in all aspects but out-of-the-box sound. Low-end is almost non-existent, while the high-end is overbearing. Try a Panasonic cassette adaptor instead for better bass and overall quality.
  
  
• GREAT SOUND, GREAT PRICE!!
  By AKIKUGMQZ5NRY on 2005-03-28
  I just received the cassette today, put it straight into my Honda CR-V cassette deck, plugged it into my Mini iPod, and it sounded great! I've been contemplating getting an FM transmitter, but they cost a whole lot more, and I read too many bad reviews for city use.
  
  I was worried about some of the negative reviews for this product, but decided the price was worth a try. I couldn't be more satisfied with this product.
  
  Perhaps, it's because I have a new car with a new cassette deck, so this is the ideal scenario. I can't say how it would work on an older deck/player. My guess is that it's going to play as good as your cassette player is. Of course, it's not going to sound like a CD. After all it's being played through the cassette player. It played quietly without any hissing sound. Make sure you turn off the Dolby or else it will sound more muffled.
  
  As with your cassettes, the directions recommend you not leaving this in your car when the temperatures get high. I'm sure that would destroy the quality of the sound. The directions also warn that this may not work on all car cassette decks.
  
  My only gripe is that it didn't come with a case to protect it.
  I'm going to get one of my old cassette tape covers and get it protected. I'm going to have to file down the corner of the cassette tape case where the wire of the adaptor sticks out, so it won't crush the adaptor cord. Then I'll just wrap the cord around the case.
  
  Hope it works as well on your system as it did mine.
  
  
• The price is right
  By A1TXAURUUFMHEH on 2006-09-15
  Sony has done an excellent job with this adapter, even if `excellent' need only mean adequate given the simplicity of the device. The highlights of this particular adapter are threefold: its durable construction - the cord, plug, and tape casing are all built well enough and attached securely; the no-sticker design - my last adapter had a brand-sticker on its face which dislodged itself in my tape deck, causing a pointless headache; and its price - cheap. Obvious enough, right? And as far as sound is concerned, the tape mechanism is quiet, and the sound is just fine using both my Sony Walkman and my Sandisk Sansa.
  
  One would think that, in both form and function, very little could go wrong with a car tape adapter. Take my advice and don't risk an off-brand purchase from your local retail store to discover otherwise. My first adapter wasn't built according to the higher standards of quality Sony enforces on its products. With what I would consider a normal level of wear and use, the plug had ripped off the cord, not to mention heat causing the sticker to peel off inside the deck as I've mentioned above. And it cost twice as much! Quite silly.
  
  It goes without mentioning that we're in an age where radio is unbearable and everyone has access to an mp3 player. If you, like me, don't drive a car with a standard CD player, this bargain-priced adapter should be a no-brainer.
  
  
• How to fix the 'spit out' problem
  By A2WLF0EI21V8WS on 2005-06-02
  I too had the problem of the car cassette player spitting the tape out. What you have to do is break off, file off or otherwise remove the little cogs on the inside of the two holes in the adapter. This way the spindle in the cassette player will feel no tension, so will carry on 'playing' happily. I was quite proud of myself when I worked this out! ;-)
  
  
• For those having some troubles...
  By A1WP96EYF40GI1 on 2005-07-28
  I bought this over a year ago for my car cassette player. At the time I had a Sony Full Logic player, for some reason it kept spitting out my cassette adaptor. At work I drive a truck, and one of them has a cassette player in it, and I never had any trouble using it with my adaptor. So I recently bought a Kenwood cassette player for my car without Full Logic control, and my cassete adaptor has 0 problems, no more spit outs!
  
  However, when I first stuck my cassette adaptor in and turned on my MP3 player, the sound was horrible. I had to turn up my stereo full blast and it only seemed to play on the right side speakers. BUT then I had a revelation, I pressed the buttons that switch the tapes sides, and voila! I had to turn the volume down from 35 to 10! It was so load!
  
  So if anyone reads this that has posted problems, and for anyone that buys one, just press the button/s that switch your tape over and you should have great sound. And if you have problems with spit out, it may be your Full Logic control.
  
  I love this thing so much I'm going to buy another for my portable cassette player. One in the car, and one that stays at work. Enjoy.
  
  
• Absolute junk
  By A1CDRS1GDBW2F7 on 2005-11-21
  When I wanted a cassette adapter to hook my MP3 player to my car stereo, I decided to buy a name I thought I could trust - Sony. I thought wrong. I received the adapter, plugged it into my player then popped the cassette into my tape deck. From the sound it made, I thought my cassette player was ruined.
  
  Just for the record, my vehicle is a three year-old Toyota with a factory installed system. I rarely use the tape deck, but when I have used it it works perfectly.
  
  I looked at the other reviews online, went back out to my car, turned the Dolby NR off and changed the side of the tape that the player was trying to read and still got the same wretched noice and the player constanly trying to flip back and forth from side A to side B.
  
  At this point, I was sure the problem was in my player. Then I borrowed a generic apapter from a friend. No problems with the generic one that had already been used for hundreds of hours, but the brand new Sony cassette adapter has yet to play for one minute.
  
  As a matter of fact, after looking at the Sony adapter sitting in the CD cubby hole in my car for nearly 3 months, I got fed up and threw it in the trash can at the car wash. Which is exactly where it belonged!
  
  
• Worthless
  By A88B9EGPN55D2 on 2006-01-02
  I bought this to play my iPod in the car. At first, it worked fine, but after three days, the sound would only come out of the left speaker. After a week, it stopped working completely, and would only make clicking sounds when playing. I thought this would be better than purchasing a much more expensive FM transmitter for the iPod, but after this, I see the money would have been worth it.
  
  
• Works well
  By A4H4KYSM2KQ85 on 2007-05-23
  This is a great way to listen to your iPod (or even Walkman) in your car. Just stick the adaptor in your tape deck, and plug the cord into your music device. The sound quality is great, and you don't have to fiddle with changing stations like you do with the FM adaptors. We have used this device for 6 months with no problems.
  
  
• Sounds great
  By A165XJQINZBBTC on 2004-08-07
  I've been using the CPA-9C with a Creative Nomad Zen NX in a 1996 Honda Accord. I have the volume on the Nomad at 50%, and Dolby off on the car's deck. With this setup, the audio is excellent - clear in the high range, and good bass. I haven't experienced any hum or clicking. While driving, with the engine and road noises, I can't tell the difference in sound quality between this setup and the car's CD player. I'm very happy so far with the adapter.
  
  I can't yet comment on the durability of the CPA-9C, but with care it looks like it will last.
  
  
• Great For iPod!
  By A3K8Y0PAI5W08N on 2005-07-31
  I bought this on the recommendation from a reviewer for an iPod adaptor. I had bought the Belkin FM transmitter (which cost me over $30), and it worked for about a month before it went all wonky on me and decided it didn't like to play out of my right speaker.
  
  When I bought this product I was so happy that it worked..a nd a nice, rich sound (unlike the tinny sound coming from Belkin's adaptor) emmanated from my speakers. It's been a couple months and I am still 100% happy with my choice to buy this!
  
  I have a 20G iPod but I am sure it will work for a mini as well!
  
  

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