Tape adapter should be just as good. If it’s not, you probably have dirty heads or are using it wrong (wrong side, NR on, etc).
The tape adapter is legit just a wire that connects to a tape-head inside the cassette body. That’s it. It’s head-to-head.
Most of the noise and artifacts in tape are a result of the tape itself. No tape, no noise. Consequentially if your tape deck has Dolby Noise Reduction or a similar feature, it should probably be turned off.
My 2000s-era cars don’t* have tape decks, unfortunately. I say “unfortunately” because they also don’t have line in, USB, or Bluetooth, so their AM/FM/CD car audio units are, in 2025, objectively inferior to the AM/FM/cassette ones in my 1990s-era cars.
* Present tense because I still own cars from the '90s and 2000s. I refuse to own any car capable of violating my privacy, which is every new car.
It’s okay. My car is covered in cameras and has a mobile broadband connection to the mothership, so it’s probably tracking your glorious 90’s swag wagons without your consent anyway.
Anyway, sorry about that. I’d tape the cameras up but then the car complains a lot.
We were using this well into 2010 or so. Better audio quality than an FM tuner as long as the electromagnet wasn’t overheating.
The best option though was to get an inline FM injector and plug it in where the antenna plugged in. Perfect audio.
Tape adapter should be just as good. If it’s not, you probably have dirty heads or are using it wrong (wrong side, NR on, etc).
The tape adapter is legit just a wire that connects to a tape-head inside the cassette body. That’s it. It’s head-to-head.
Most of the noise and artifacts in tape are a result of the tape itself. No tape, no noise. Consequentially if your tape deck has Dolby Noise Reduction or a similar feature, it should probably be turned off.
Relevant Technology Connections: https://youtu.be/dH4n8fUjtLQ
My 2000s-era cars don’t* have tape decks, unfortunately. I say “unfortunately” because they also don’t have line in, USB, or Bluetooth, so their AM/FM/CD car audio units are, in 2025, objectively inferior to the AM/FM/cassette ones in my 1990s-era cars.
* Present tense because I still own cars from the '90s and 2000s. I refuse to own any car capable of violating my privacy, which is every new car.
Is this you?
*Is this GNU?
No, but he’s right.
Let me introduce you to the Citroen Ami/Opel Rocks-e/Fiat Topolino, where the entertainment system is a literal bluetooth speaker in a cupholder.
Yeah, but we’re talking about cars. I think the Ami is legally something like a dune buggy
I haven’t seen it in ANY of the dune movies though…
Super reasonable. We had a 2004 Honda Pilot at the time, which still had a tape deck.
I swear, even ebikes are starting to get all these GPS tracking features 😅 such a dystopia.
Luckily most cars with cd players made after 2007 also included an aux port.
It’s okay. My car is covered in cameras and has a mobile broadband connection to the mothership, so it’s probably tracking your glorious 90’s swag wagons without your consent anyway.
Anyway, sorry about that. I’d tape the cameras up but then the car complains a lot.
My nokia n95 had a small integrated FM transmitter.
Tanked the battery but was fun to play with