Cassette converter? Opinions

Hi everyone,

I've recently got an old C3 LX 1.4 2002 petrol manual.
I'm sharing all details about the model because any tips or advice will be appreciated but what I'm currently most interested in is the following:

I got the car with the original audio unit - a cassette player luckily I have a proper CD unit (Mutant) with all the features one would need - USB, SD card, built-in mic, etc. After I've installed the unit I got all the issues you can read about in the other sections of the forum but that's not my problem. I don't feel like going through all the hassles of rewiring, additional connectors, adaptors, etc. What I really want is to keep the original looks as much as possible (yes, I am a former Rover owner) and install the original unit back but at the same time enjoy the sounds of drum and bass (not so many artists publish their music on audio cassettes these days) while on the road so my question is would one of these cassette to aux devices work. Bear/bare in mind I have a spare Chinese mobile phone that I currently use as a sat nav (3200mA immortal battery and excellent GPS accuracy, 8gb of memory and SD slot) so apart from it being a sat nav it can also become a mp3 player as well. The question is would it work (transmitting music from phone to original player via cassette to aux device) and if yes, what impact would it have on the quality of the sound (original system)? Anyone who tried this?
I can't be bothered by the hanging cable (I'm planning to fit it along the line of the actual unit and somehow hide it as much as possible). The device costs peanuts so even if it doesn't work it won't be much of a loss.

Any experience in that field would be much appreciated

Also, my English is not the best, so in case something isn't clear just pop the question and I'll try to explain in other words.

Thanks!
Alex

Hi alextunw

alextunw wrote:my question is would one of these cassette to aux devices work.

Yes, one of these Tape to aux converters (on Amazon) do work. I am not so sure about 'drum and bass', the audio stages in the tape player are still only built for tape and the speakers are sill the standard units, but, yes, it will work.

alextunw wrote:Bear/bare in mind I have a spare Chinese mobile phone that I currently use as a sat nav (3200mA immortal battery and excellent GPS accuracy, 8gb of memory and SD slot) so apart from it being a sat nav it can also become a mp3 player as well. The question is would it work (transmitting music from phone to original player via cassette to aux device) and if yes, what impact would it have on the quality of the sound (original system)? Anyone who tried this?

Yes, it will work and sounds as good as it did on tape.

Thank you!
I just ordered it, will post pictures or a link to a video once it arrives in case anyone else is interested.

Hi Alex

If the cassette adaptor doesn't work out you could try an FM radio adaptor. You plug your device or connect it with bluetooth to the adaptor and it broadcasts a localised radio signal that you can pick up on your radio just like any other radio channel.

I've never had either type of adaptor myself but I've helped others use them and from what I've heard the FM radio adaptors give better sound. This will no doubt vary from car radio to car radio depending on the quality of the tape cassette player and radio receiver.

alextunw wrote:Thank you!
I just ordered it, will post pictures or a link to a video once it arrives in case anyone else is interested.

Thank you

Missing Lincs wrote:If the cassette adaptor doesn't work out you could try an FM radio adaptor.

I have one of these FM transmitters (from ebay with a SD card full of MP3 and it works very well.
You need to find an unused FM frequency and tune both the C3 radio and the FM transmitter to the same and no wires or leads are required between the two units for music from the SD or USB to play through the C3 radio.