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Which sounds better? FM or cassette deck adapter?

I

iamtrout

Diamond Member
I'm poor and can't blow money on an MP3 head unit right now, so I've got two choices for listening to MP3's in my car:

1. Wireless Audio Transmitter like http://icehw.net/review.asp?id=152 that works by plugging into the MP3 player and then transmitting a FM frequency which your car radio can then tune into,

2. Regular cassette tape deck adapter thingy.

So the question is which audio format has higher fidelity, FM or cassette deck thingy? I'm hoping to get at least some bass out of this...
 
Same, really, IME.

EDIT: If there's a difference at all (not that I noticed one), the cassette adapter is probably the one that most consistently produces the highest quality sound.
 
I had an fm transmitter once, it didn't work, stupid cheap pos. Anyways after that I bought a sony cd player that included a cassette adapter and it works like a charm for anything i plug into it (cd, ipod). Quality is quite nice too.
 
Is there a way to get rid of the background hissing sound from the cassette adapter? If you increase the volume does the hissing increase with it?
 
Every time I compare CD audio to cassette audio I always notice a distinct background... ummm... I guess "hissing." Ok, lemme put it this way... with CDs, on a silent portion of a track I hear just that, silence. With cassettes on a silent portion of a track I hear a faint constant background noise.
 
Originally posted by: iamtrout
Is there a way to get rid of the background hissing sound from the cassette adapter? If you increase the volume does the hissing increase with it?
Click to expand...
Dolby noise reduction. It's on pretty much any cassette player from the last decade or more. 😛
 
Originally posted by: manly
Originally posted by: iamtrout
Is there a way to get rid of the background hissing sound from the cassette adapter? If you increase the volume does the hissing increase with it?
Click to expand...
Dolby noise reduction. It's on pretty much any cassette player from the last decade or more. 😛
Click to expand...

yup...on most car decks its turned on by pushing one of the FM preset buttons while playing the tape..should be labeled.

-Vivan
 
*comes back from my car* There's something underneath my record button that says "Dolby B NR" Woohoo! Belkin Tunecast II? Noooo... conflicting opinions!

What's the audio difference between CD and FM/Tape?
 
Originally posted by: iamtrout
I'm poor and can't blow money on an MP3 head unit right now, so I've got two choices for listening to MP3's in my car:

1. Wireless Audio Transmitter like http://icehw.net/review.asp?id=152 that works by plugging into the MP3 player and then transmitting a FM frequency which your car radio can then tune into,

2. Regular cassette tape deck adapter thingy.

So the question is which audio format has higher fidelity, FM or cassette deck thingy? I'm hoping to get at least some bass out of this...
Click to expand...

Go for the FM transmitter. From my experience, I've noticed that the tape adapter usually had a lot of white noise during playback when the music was soft (especially with classical music).
 
FM Transmitter < Cassette Adapter < AUX input

Applies to XM Roady's as well 😉

What kind of headunit is it? With some newer factory units you can purchase a PIE adapter and give yourself an AUX input.
 
Originally posted by: vshah
Originally posted by: manly
Originally posted by: iamtrout
Is there a way to get rid of the background hissing sound from the cassette adapter? If you increase the volume does the hissing increase with it?
Click to expand...
Dolby noise reduction. It's on pretty much any cassette player from the last decade or more. 😛
Click to expand...
yup...on most car decks its turned on by pushing one of the FM preset buttons while playing the tape..should be labeled.

-Vivan
Click to expand...
Gah. Dolby is worse than the ambient tape hiss (which is really not a problem if you use high-bias metal tape). Dolby just makes everything muddy, the sound loses its crispness.

ZV
 
Anyone know if all Casette Adapters are created equal?

Im using a 7-8 year old Sony casette adapter w/ my Sirius PnP unit and if i use it first thing in the morning, it always grinds like a beyotch.
 
Originally posted by: aphex
Anyone know if all Casette Adapters are created equal?

Im using a 7-8 year old Sony casette adapter w/ my Sirius PnP unit and if i use it first thing in the morning, it always grinds like a beyotch.
Click to expand...
Probably the gears inside the adapter. The two "holes" are linked so that when the drive hub turns the one, the other turns too and provides resistance as well as turning the second spindle. This is to prevent the players with auto-reverse from thinking that the tape is over and reversing all the time because the non-drive spindle isn't spinning.

OK, that made very little sense, even to me, but hopefully you'll be able to wade through it.

ZV
 
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