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In Reply to: RE: walkman to car usb input posted by texana on October 01, 2019 at 22:18:03
Like you, I really like to play cassettes in my car. I still dub LPs, this is most of my tape collection...I don't have very many pre-recorded cassettes.
After a number of years of placing a walkman on the passenger seat in my 2010 VW Golf, I got fed up. So here was my solution: dump the factory double DIN CD changer and replace it with 2 single DIN units in its place...a single DIN Kenwood Excelon CD receiver with a NOS Kenwood tape deck receiver. It's a great combination: a modern receiver with full bluetooth capability, it will play single CDs (I do this sometimes), and it has this spotify,pandora crap that I will never use....BUT...it has a rear AUX input, which I feed the dash mounted tape player into.
Right now, if I want to play a tape, I just select the AUX input on the Kenwood Excelon...and I can play tapes.
Thing is, Kenwood is the ONLY manufacturer currently producing a head unit with REAR AUX input...nobody else does.
So my suggestion is go aftermarket, get a Kenwood Excelon single DIN unit, and wire it up with another single DIN tape player (you can find them on fleabay, just keep watching for them), and you are done. It's the best thing I ever did for my car audio!!
As an aside, the Kenwood tuner sounds better than the stock VW unit, the CD player does too...there isn't much downside as I see it.
Incidentaly, I sold the idea on all this to the wife with "well dear, I need to do this so that the bluetooth works properly, so you can get a hold of me all the time when I am driving".
There's nothing like the sweet sound of a nice chrome or metal tape you dubbed playing in your car!
Cheers
Grant
Follow Ups:
Thanks Grant for understanding my predicament. Your remedy is on my list. My options are: keep the current vehicle until the wheels fall off, buy new and swap sound system, or buy used with factory aux input. My understanding is that the USB input is digital only, so I searched for and found a cheap ADC (analog to digital converter) that is powered by USB, but it's output is either coaxial or optical, and I can't find a patch cable for either of those to USB. I don't really want to buy a new vehicle and instantly throw another $$$ into it to fix a $10 problem. But will do what it takes to fix the problem, and the auto salesmen seem sympathetic, but there's nothing they can do. Will look for the Kenwoods.
I now record music to cassette from my phone's headphone jack via YouTube and TuneIn Radio app. If I really like a band I will buy the CD or vinyl, but mostly it's free, and fun to make 90 minute tapes using Maxell, Sony or TDK metal, one song at a time, and almost nothing you would hear on American radio (unless I go nostalgic). Oh, and the sound quality is very good, friends always think I'm playing a CD. In the house, Vinyl Rules, but still spend most time recording with little or no loss of quality.
If you are OK with having the walkman sitting on the passenger seat to play tapes, there are a number of brands of single DIN head units that still have a front panel Aux. input. Pioneer units for sure. After many years I got fed up with it! Had to pull it out, plug the 12v power in & connect the Aux. Can't do it with a passenger there.
But if your next car only has a single DIN then replacing it with another single DIN isn't a big deal...I'm getting the impression more cars are coming with double DIN head units to facilitate the "rear camera" screen which might be required for mechanical certification in some jurisdictions? Personally, I've been driving for over 40 years without a rear camera, why would I need one now?
Anyhow, for an older camera-less car with a double DIN space installing the 2 single DIN units in there works great. Can't be happier. And like I said, the Kenwood Excelon 702 & 502 are the only "current production" head units with rear Aux inputs which allows this.
Grant
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