mp3 connection for tape deck

delanest

I dont know if this is taking the piss with backward compatability but ...

Has anyone ever heard of a connection for a car tape deck that can be connected to an mpg player ?

Would be handy, save me buying a diskman and connector, besides I hear they skip quite a bit as well.

declanoneill

afaik it's a standard connection that just plugs into the headphone jack, so any one should do. Alternativly you could get a Belkin FM transmitter and listen to it via the radio.

delanest

cool, so where would I pick one up ?

prospect

I think the Belkin FM transmitter is illegal in europe (piracy laws?!??? which is pretty dumb because they only have a range of about 10m), but i bought one in NY for about $25. So maybe buy on the i-net.
They work on any device with a headphone jack, not just MP3 players.

dahamsta

Strictly speaking it's illegal in Ireland (it's not a Europe-wide thing), but can you honestly see your local Garda knowing the law in this area.

You can have my Belkin FM transmitter for half what they cost on Amazon. It was rubbish.

adam

mathie

I bought one off this guy.

Quick shipping too

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3293&item=5768999791&rd=1

bazz26

I think the I-POD has a similar device called the I-TRIP which transmits to the FM tuner in the radio. I think this only broadcasts up to 80m and the cops are only interested in transmiters which broadcast over 100m.

prospect

In terms of legality, i don't think the cops are a concern.
But finding a retailer who stocks an illegal item could be a problem...

delanest

"You can have my Belkin FM transmitter for half what they cost on Amazon. It was rubbish."

What was the problem - quality of sound ?

green-blood

oh hamie where do I collect

Alkers

I have one of those tape connector thingy's you can have for a tenner if you want. They don't cause any skipping whatsoever but you can only get tape quality out of them.

OLDYELLAR

What seriously , its still tape quality??Would ya be better off to just buy a new car stereo so ?Im in two minds about it , I was thinkin great I can play the mp3 player in the car save me some money but if its still bad quality , Im confused now.

cormie

this is all you need cheap and does the job fine.

If you have a CD player in your car, it may have an AUX in cable for a cd changer, you can get a cable that goes from headphone jack to AUX in which would be better quality

OLDYELLAR

Na its a casette player , hopefully it wont sound too bad with that yoke from argos.

cormie

They're fine, I use one and it does the job.

OLDYELLAR

oh ok cool , thanks cormie

Guy:Incognito

OLDYELLAR wrote:

What seriously , its still tape quality??Would ya be better off to just buy a new car stereo so ?Im in two minds about it , I was thinkin great I can play the mp3 player in the car save me some money but if its still bad quality , Im confused now.

It's like copying a Video to dvd, it can only be as good as the original. In this case your playing onto a tape, it cant actually improve the quality, just keep it at tape quality.

prospect

OLDYELLAR wrote:

Would ya be better off to just buy a new car stereo

But then the new stereo is only as good as the speakers, and they only get good sound from a decent amp thingy etc. etc.

My bro uses the belkin fm transmitter i got in NYC, and he finds it grand. The quality is more than good enough for a car, and he can use it in ANY car with a radio. The Cassette one could not be used in a car with a dash mounted CD player (I know you can get dual dash/tape ec, but these are getting less common)

If you want perfect sound then you should plan spending big money, but if i was you, i'd try and get the transmitter and use your existing MP3 player and any radio (in a car or house or on the beach etc.) you want.

delanest

do argos sell the transmitters ?

Guy:Incognito

No, they're illegal.

delanest

why are they illegal ?

ds20prefecture

delanest wrote:

why are they illegal ?

Because you would be an FM broadcaster without a license. Granted, only someone within 10 foot of you could tune in, but still.

I used the iTrip with my iPod, but in the end hardwired it into the autochanger port of my Blaupunkt stereo. This cost about €40, including charger for my iPod. If you don't have a head unit with CD autochanger capability, use the tape thingy, or change the head unit.

LegacyUser

prospect wrote:

My bro uses the belkin fm transmitter i got in NYC, and he finds it grand. The quality is more than good enough for a car, and he can use it in ANY car with a radio. The Cassette one could not be used in a car with a dash mounted CD player (I know you can get dual dash/tape ec, but these are getting less common)

I bought the Belkin TuneCast Mobile FM Transmitter while living in the US for around $30. This unit wirelessly connects portable music players to the car or home stereo. It broadcasts at four FM frequencies, 88.1, 88.3, 88.5 or 88.7Mhz, with a range of up to 30ft. For some reason it doesn't seem to be available from any of Belkin's websites bar the US.

As far as I can remember I read somewhere it isn't for sale in Europe due to strict radio broadcasting laws, and in essence this is an FM transmitter. See

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=201526&pcount=&Product_Id=140984

for specific details.

The only place it would be available for sale would be through the internet.

Genghis

cormie wrote:

this is all you need cheap and does the job fine.

If you have a CD player in your car, it may have an AUX in cable for a cd changer, you can get a cable that goes from headphone jack to AUX in which would be better quality

Cormie, I would like to get one of those AUX / Headphone Jack cables you mention, but I can't find one in the Maplin online catalogue. Do you know where else I might pick one up?

Incidentally, those tape adaptors are very hard to get ... I seen one recently for €30! A couple of years ago you'd pick them up for €2 in you local 'pound' shop.

LegacyUser

Genghis wrote:

Cormie, I would like to get one of those AUX / Headphone Jack cables you mention, but I can't find one in the Maplin online catalogue. Do you know where else I might pick one up?

Incidentally, those tape adaptors are very hard to get ... I seen one recently for €30! A couple of years ago you'd pick them up for €2 in you local 'pound' shop.

I presume what he's talking about is a standars 3.5mm to 3.5mm jack cable. If so, something like that should be available for €4/5

http://www.peats.ie/cgi-bin/shop/db.cgi?view=1&id=6917&type=6&path=11x153x329

Genghis

bruachain wrote:

I presume what he's talking about is a standars 3.5mm to 3.5mm jack cable. If so, something like that should be available for €4/5

http://www.peats.ie/cgi-bin/shop/db.cgi?view=1&id=6917&type=6&path=11x153x329

I wouldn't have thought so ... my understanding of an AUX cable is one with 8 or more 'pins' on the head. I could be wrong, but I doubt a 3.5mm jack is used as the headset in the car would need to be able to control the CD changer / player (both external to the headset).

LegacyUser

Genghis wrote:

I wouldn't have thought so ... my understanding of an AUX cable is one with 8 or more 'pins' on the head. I could be wrong, but I doubt a 3.5mm jack is used as the headset in the car would need to be able to control the CD changer / player (both external to the headset).

My bad, you are right, I was thinking of a Line In which I've seen on the dash of some car stereos. either an 8 pin connection or a RCA (red & white) connection could do the trick

cormie

Genghis wrote:

Cormie, I would like to get one of those AUX / Headphone Jack cables you mention, but I can't find one in the Maplin online catalogue. Do you know where else I might pick one up?

Incidentally, those tape adaptors are very hard to get ... I seen one recently for €30! A couple of years ago you'd pick them up for €2 in you local 'pound' shop.

I don't have a link to the AUX thing I'm talking about, maybe go into an electrical store and just say you want to connect a headphone jack to the AUX in part of a car stereo where the cd changer usually goes.

Yeah, it's terrible, the tape adaptors used to be really cheap. The cheapest I can find is catalogue number 534/2488 of Argos or try maplin as their UK site sells them for £5, which is about €8:)