Has anyone had experience with these things, do they serve their purpose well or do they destroy the audio quality. Getting handed down an BMW and I don't want to get rid of the nice stock head unit or event want to the know the price of changing it.
>>14837746
>An old BMW
They work really well, I've seen a few people who had them back in the day and the audio quality was really rather impressive.
How old of a BMW are you getting OP?
>>14837751
Thanks nigga
>>14837755
2003 and well taken care of but I only need it for a few years and its free so I have no worries taking it and driving it to oblivion as my first car.
Yeah, they work good. Way, way better than an FM transmitter.
>>14837781
>2003
>cassette deck
???
They work pretty good but also note a lot of tape head units also have a controller for a CD changer that can be modified easily into a direct aux jack which is even better
>>14837782
This
I used to use the 4 dollar ones from Walgreens for years, they lasted maybe a year but the plating would wear out on the jack. They were someone noisy.
Now I have a 20 dollar bluetooth one. It is a lot quieter. Lasts around 4-6 hours per charge. May seem annoying if it dies on me, but then I just listen to my exhaust instead. Sounds great as well.
These work great, i've been using this one for 5 years, still better than my old FM transmitter
>>14837746
Worked great in my '94 commodore.
>>14837787
Hyundais had cassette decks all the way till 2009, with no CD if I remember correctly
>>14837746
I have an E36. Reverse RDS is fucking shit. These cassette adapters are also shit. Lots and lots of static. Just buy any aftermarket radio and it will most likely be better than what you have currently. That being said, >>14837782 is also right, they're better than an FM transmitter.
Some people do some magic where they add an AUX cable to the cassette player, you can look that up as well.
I used one for my CR-V for years, and audio quality is about as good as playing from a CD as long as you don't go dollar store cheap
>>14837746
get the Sony walkman ones
>>14837810
only get nickel plating
I've got 8 year old trs jacks that work just fine
>>14837828
Fair enough, but that's a Hyundai, not a BMW.
>>14837867
Acura did too
>>14837746
See if there's an aux adapter that plugs into the CD changer port on the back of the radio. Then you could flush mount the input somewhere else. If you charge the device from the12v outlet while playing music you could get some interference that could be fixed with a ground loop isolator
>>14837838
>chrome
>skype
enjoy being part of the botnet
>>14838252
Chrome is safe, right?
>>14838262
>anything associated with google
>safe
Congrats on the E39/E46, they're the best BMWs.
Whenever you get it, pull out the head unit and check the production date on the back. I believe if it was produced past 09/2002 you can get a cable for like 10 bucks that wires the aux directly into the head unit, and then you can flush mount it right below the climate control module.
>>14837746
Buy this
Open the back
Remove all the anti jammer gears
put back together
enjoy your music
>>14837781
That's odd my '00 e46 had cd, may be you're in yuropstan
>>14837819
this anon is right those fm transmitters are shitty trash.
>>14837746
Yep, 93 miata with cheapest one off amazon
>had to blow compressed air into the tape deck when I got it
>different phones sound better at different volumes (60% on my iphone)
>had to adjust bass and treble but sound is way past acceptable now
Basically tinker with it and don't mind the occasional pops, very well worth the $5 - $10
>>14837746
These are great. I really wish my current car had a tape deck because now I'm stuck with a shitty FM transmitter.
>>14837746
These are shit, don't listen to these deaf idiots if you care about audio quality one bit.
I've tried a few and always a disappointment in whatever car they're used, even if the car has the shittiest of shit speakers. I would never dread my audio-system with this crap.
Just get a new HU and you'll be glad you did, it's not worth keeping some stock shit BMW head unit and listen to degraded audio when you could just get a nice new HU and enjoy aux/bt/usb/handsfree.
>get cassette adapter
>listen to fuzz rock
>sounds the same
>>14838252
Who the fuck cares?
>>14838829
I never have a problem with them
people out there must be using the china cheap ones + never cleaning or aligning the cassette head
>>14837746
I used one for years in my old s10, it works really well if you aren't an audiophile
>>14837746
Audio quality wont be amazing but i doubt a car with a tape deck would have amazing asudio anyway
>>14838941
this
>>14838252
/g/ autist plz leave
It seems that if you're ever so slightly electrically inclined you can wire the aux cord straight into the radio in place of the tape deck using its connector.
>>14837746
You should put the new head unit in the glovebox, then.
>>14839450
Cars that come with stock AUX input in the glove compartment are autusitc as fuck. How in anyway is that convient.
>>14839669
Feels more like an afterthought.
>oh shit
>all the cool modern cars have aux
>where should we put it?
>idk, the glove compartment
>>14839669
>>14839731
it keeps the aux out of the way, so you don't have like 10 wires hanging off the your shitty miata's dash
>>14838252
you're insufferable, anon. Kill yourself
>>14837746
I still have one of these, I don´t use it anymore since the new car comes with mp3.
>>14840026
Wow great fucking contribution to the thread -_-
I picked up a few for pennies, they work great so long as you aren't expecting it to sound as good as the radio. It's a tiny bit flat and staticy but I'm autistic and it still doesn't bother me.
I use one in my Miata and I'd say the quality is the same as direct line input as long as the player and speakers are nice.
I'm not sure what the people in these threads are talking about; The audio quality is poor compared to CD and arguably radio. I've got a Bose sound system installed and I notice a significant difference between my cassette adapter and my CDs. It's not as clear or sharp as other formats.
That said, I don't mind it too much, and while the difference is noticeable it's definitely not debilitating. Make sure you have good quality audio files, though.
>>14837746
It's really good for what's its worth. If you don't want a new head unit right away the quality is actually great. It's probably FM quality though. Also you can't get the most out of your speakers. Try playing a CD and compare it to those and you will immediately see the difference. Bass for example can't get as high as it can and will sound blown out at certain levels but with a CD (or aux cable) these levels can be achieved with no problems..
I had this for 2 years with my 93 Camry and now 9 moths with my 03 Camry. I'm going to replace my head unit soon since I'd rather have the convenience of Bluetooth and aux. And the better quality.
work fine, just get cheap ones, i once bought a 20 dollar one and it flat out didnt work while my cheap one worked wonders, and 2003 cassete tape bmw in the same sentence makes me confused
My car has CD, Aux and Bluetooth. Guess which one I use?
IDK how you niggers survived before bluetooth. I would use Aux (it sounds a little clearer?) but the buttons on my steering wheel don't change the tracks on my phone in Aux.
>>14838448
My 2003 e46 has a casette player and a cd changer in the boot
>>14843489
I used one of those CD Cassette adapters and a walkman for a few months on my first car before it died and then I bought a car with a CD player and that was great for a decade.
Then my record store closed down 3 years ago, so my only option for new music in the car became burning downloaded music onto CDRs or using an FM transmitter for my phone. Both of which kind of stuck. Now I'm in the market for something new, and I'm definitely getting something with Bluetooth standard.
>>14837746
They're alright, just dont put the device you're plugging it into on max volume.
>>14837746
OP, it's a cassette, so it's analog. It works like a DAC; converts the digital signal to analog, which has superior sound. Dont you know anything about music?
>>14837828
Hyundai isn't BMW and my 05 Accent had CD.
>>14839669
shotgun does the dj work anyway
+ reads maps and Fends of car jackers
>>14837787
Lexus was still putting cassette tape players in there SC 430 in 2010.
>>14843561
>being this retarded
Oh wait, 4chan.
>>14837746
make sure the deck is clean and they'll be allright
>>14837746
There are digital bluetooth changers that will get OEM head unit up to modern standards.
>>14843579
>shotgun is DJ
lel
>>14840004
You're away that you can unplug AUX cables and then put them in the glovebox when you DON'T need them instead of having to keep your glovebox open when you NEED them?
I have used one for many years. If you get a good one they sound great. Or at least as good as the stock radio will on a car that has a cassette deck. People complaining about the bass and distortion usually dont know how to use line sources from their phone or haven't cleaned the heads in their tape deck or the head on the tape adaptor. Buy a decent one. Turn the eq on ypur phone to flat. Most phones eq the sound for headphones or phone speakers and it will cause distortion outputting to the radio. Turn the volume down on your phone or whatever until the distortion goes away. Then turn up your radio. Too much volume will cause distortion from signal saturation. Ive used 3 dollar chinese ones and 20 dollar ones. The cheap ones can sound good but ypur gambling on the build quality. The more expensive ones usually just work better and longer due to build quality. Not design.
Also for aftermarket radios in my opinion the only way to go is with usb input for mp3. Nothing is easier than loading up a thumb drive with mp3s and plugging it in and playing them. Plus any stereo with usb in will probably have an aux in.
Looking for a head unit with aux/usb
what should I get that doesnt look insanely ricey?
>>14846129
The last headunit I bought didn't even have a CD slot. USB or aux only. Why bother with CDs in this day and age?
I bought one. It had decent audio quality, or at least good enough for me because I'm not an audiophile. However it frequently flipped from side-A to side-B and back while playing music which cut out the audio for a couple seconds. Also the gears were really loud, so I opened it up and removed all that shit. Now when I put it in my stereo, it plays for a couple seconds and then ejects it out for some reason, possibly because it's not sensing the gears moving. I tried a normal cassette and it won't play right anymore so I guess my player is fucked.
>>14837781
>03
>bmw
>Cassette deck
If its an 03 a swap to a CD unit should be easy as fuck.
