Maxell CD-330 CD-to-Cassette Audio Adapter
From Maxell
Connects to the headphone or auxiliary output of a portable player any portable, plays through the cassette deck
- Color: Black
- Brand: Maxell
- Model: CD-330
- Released on: 1995-06-13
- Dimensions: .20" h x 4.00" w x 7.30" l, .50 pounds
Now you can listen to any portable audio device--your CD player, MP3 player, DVD player, minidisc player, digital voice recorder, you name it--through your car or boat's cassette deck. Just plug Maxell's CD-330 cassette adapter into a standard .125-inch headphone jack, slide the faux cassette shell at the other end of the fixed audio cable into your cassette deck, and hit play on your portable device. It's guaranteed to work with all vehicle cassette decks, and it's covered against defects by a lifetime warranty.
Great for what it is.
I use this adaptor to connect either a 5th gen iPod or iAudio U2 to my wife's BMW 5-series. The 528i has a cassette in the front and CD changer in the trunk. The soud quality from this Maxell is as good as it gets for tape adaptors. It will never be as good as using a dedicated line-out on the source plater to line-in RCA jacks on a good headunit (which I do in my car). However, those cars without any line-in connections on the amp/headunit, the next best thing is a tape adaptor. I've tried a few tape adaptors and this one has some of the lowest signal noise and virtually no mechanical clicking. It also boasts a high signal-to-noise ratio when compared to other models out there. It is also compatable with cassette players with a picky auto-switch feature.
Those of you with this unit (or any tape adaptor) and an MP3 player; I HIGHLY suggest you invest in a dedicated line-out adaptor (through the dock connector on recent iPods). This will give you much better sound quality than going through the headphone jack. It will also alleviate the need to volume match the output on the mp3 player to that of the volume level on the car system.
A word to the wise: As for the "An electronics fan" user who posted his awful review of this adaptor...ignore that review. I highly doubt any real electronics fan would keep blown speakers in his/her car. I also have trouble taking audio quality advice from someone who clearly doesn't care or understand proper audio staging/imaging, bass reproduction, EQ setup or the quality of his speakers. The fact that his speakers buzz with this tape unit shows the person a)needs new speakers, b)is outputting via a poor CD/MP3 player, c)isn't volume matching the signal or using a dedicated line-out, d)knows very little about audio.
great sound
I did a lot of investigating before buying this product. I ended up buying it mainly because it was the only one with decent reviews that I could find in stores. However, I am not disappointed at all. The sound isn't quite CD quality but it's pretty darn good and definitely better than a regular tape. I don't have an FM adapter but from what I read, the cassette adapters have a much better sound.
The other big bonus is that it doesn't matter which way the larger opening is on your tape deck because this adapter has a latch you can open on the bottom to change the cord over to the other side if needed. Warning, some brand name adapters will only work in tape players facing a certain direction! Every once in a while I have to put the tape in twice for it to work right; otherwise I haven't had any other problems with this and it gives my mp3 player a great sound! Another tip: if you don't have an equalizer on your car stereo or mp3 player, what you can do is adjust the volume on the player and your stereo to balance the bass and treble (for me, if I have the mp3 player sound lower and the car stereo louder, I'll have more treble...and a little more static, too).
As an aside, I doubt the product itself was the problem for the person with the bad car speakers who reviewed this product negatively.
Hey, it works
Once I got into the mp3 thing, I needed to find a way to play this stuff in my car. The Radio Crap cassette adapter ($20) failed miserably, as in my car (BMW) the auto-reverse mechanism would kick in, I would get a "tape error" message, and the unit would shut down.
This adapter has a simple one way gearing that fools this mechanism rather than spinning freely. I have no problems with the sound quality, and it's half the price of the Radio Crap. I wish I had known about this before heading over to the Shack.
