Topic: Listening to JB3/DAT/MD in car

[Cooker]

i wouldn't even consider buying an aftermarket deck, living in the city. Detachable face or not, that screams "steal me". theives know where there's an aftermarket deck there's usually aftermarket amps and speakers.

i'm probably gonna look into an FM modulator, one that doesn't transmit, but you plug the antenna lead into it, plug it into the antenna jack on the radio, and plug your portable into the RCA inputs. sound in these is typically better than the transmitters, you just have to make sure you ground it to the radio or you get engine noise.  most people will find the fidelity in your FM tuner is pretty decent, not higher than the preamp section but much higher than the tape heads.

one other option for me is a kit to plug into the cd changer input for my honda head unit - you can get them on installer.com but they are like $100 - a bit high to still have stock sound...

what i'd really like to do is get a fatty head unit, mount it recessed 1", slice the faceplate off my honda radio and glue half a cd onto it. we used to do this when i was an installer (back then we used tapes, mostly)

[Digital Quality]

If you have a factory head unit with unused cd changer controls, you can get a cable that runs the audio into the changer audio input. One manufacturer is blitzsafe http://www.blitzsafe.com/blitz_catalog/blitz_catalog.html It gives you RCA inputs for your player.

They even have a method if your cd changer is present although it is more complicated and may not sound quite as good.

Edit: Doh jinx

[nickgregory]

another manufacturer of the rca input through the changer is

www.pie.net

[Ed.]

thanks ed, but I am extremely happy with my Alpine deck--it does all you say your does plus an extra amp out, crossover controls from the deck interface.  BUT, I also paid quite a bit more for it, and no aux in  

haha, good call, i'd stick with the alpine.

cooker: if you have full coverage/comp on your car, why worry about having it broken into?  a cheap aftermarket stereo could easily become a foldout dvd player in the paperwork.  heh, seriously tho, i live in lansing which isn't all that bad, but i've drove and parked my car in some of the crappiest places in detroit and i've never had a problem.  i don't even have an alarm.  i should probably knock on wood now, next time i go to a concert, all my shit is gonna get stolen.

[Cooker]

$150 deductible for comprehensive - not to mention the fun that picking glass out of your seat for weeks brings

[Cooker]

bought the P.I.E. CD changer / aux input adapter for my honda radio today. i plan on mounting a female 1/8" in the back of the dash pocket under my radio. i'll post the results when i finish!

[Sean Gallemore]

i use the radio transmitter in my HD recorder.  just gotta find the right station

[Scuba Jeremy]

I cheated and got an MD recorder in my dash. Even when I upgraded to DAT, I continued to patch my MD into my system so that I had a copy to listen to on the way home. The recorder works great for taping radio broadcasts as well, the radio tuner gets excellent reception, and the recorder is built right into receiver, so there is no loss in any connection. The only recording loss is in the ATRAC format itself, which for an FM transmission, is not even noticable to my ears.

I would like to install an RCA patchbay between my CD changer and my head unit though, it would be nice to be able to plug in my DAT or my MDLP player.

Everything from the MD recorder to the CD changer are Sony XPlod, so I think there is a box to patch in a TV tuner, but I haven't seen one for sale anywhere in a long time, and I think the box itself is like $100. So I'm still just better off patching my MD for the instant car copy.

Nothing like rolling down the windows after the show and blasting the nights tape.

[Patrick]

Jeremy,
How in the H*ll did you get a MD recorder into your dash?  I really would love to see a pic or two of that, because that is something I could do.

+T for patching your MD from your DAT.  That is a very ingeniuos (sp?) idea.

...and you're right.  I'm sure that is a wonderful feeling to listen to the show's tape minutes after it has happened!

BUT, I have another suggestion for all of you.

Instead of all of these FM transmitters and everything, why don't you just buy a cassette adaptor that plugs into your tape player in your car.  Sure, it won't sound amazing, but then again, the whiz bang FM transmitters are unecessary and WHAY overpriced.

...or am I the only one here that still has a tape player in my car???

[Sean Gallemore]

they used to sell MD car decks

[Scuba Jeremy]

This is the head unit that I'm using. I was able to purchase the very last unit from Crutchfield a few years back, and it has not been available anywhere that I've seen since. These suckers are pretty hard to find, but I love this thing so much!

It is still possible to buy MD decks for your car with the option to install CD changers to connect to it to, but not since the C800REC model has recording been available, only playback. I would ditch this model only if a new head unit with MDLP and recording were available. Otherwise, I just keep all of my MP3 needs in the stereo setting when I transfer them to MD.

[johnw]

bought the P.I.E. CD changer / aux input adapter for my honda radio today. i plan on mounting a female 1/8" in the back of the dash pocket under my radio. i'll post the results when i finish!

I think this is similar to what I'd like to do. Is this the model # ALP/AI-RCA? What retail store did you get it from?

I see Crutchfield has it for $15

[Cooker]

I got the HON-AUX, which was $45 from the first retailer linked to on the pie.net site.