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RE: walkman to car usb input

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John Elison

In Reply to: RE: walkman to car usb input posted by texana on October 01, 2019 at 22:18:03

I own a 2018 Toyota Camry XSE and it has both a USB port and a 3.5-mm analog input to its stereo.
I think you should probably get rid of the cassette in favor of a hi-res digital Walkman because they sound much, much better. I have a FiiO M11 Quad DSD Walkman that I plug into my Camry's analog stereo input and it sounds fantastic. I prefer it over a USB flash drive, but my Toyota will playback up to 24/192 PCM digital from a USB flash drive. You really should explore a new DSD digital Walkman because it will trounce a cassette Walkman.
I also own a fifteen thousand dollar turntable with a thousand dollar phono cartridge and a four thousand dollar phono preamp, so I understand your enthusiasm for analog. However, a FiiO DSD Walkman will put a cassette Walkman to shame. Anyway, check out a Toyota Camry XLE or XSE and I think you'll find they still have an analog 3.5-mm input to their stereo system.
Good luck,
John Elison
FiiO M11 DSD Walkman at Amazon (Open in New Window)

Edits: 10/07/19

Follow Ups:

RE: walkman to car usb input - texana 18:42:05 10/07/19 (4)
Thanks John. I lurk Vinyl Asylum and learn from your respected posts. From my research, it appears that both Toyota and Honda 2019-2020 are dropping the 3.5mm analog input from their sound systems. Maybe not all vehicle models but I think so, and I want to buy new. When you upgrade your vehicle, this may be a factor for you too. My concern is not really about sound quality in a car, I use bluetooth for my phone and various music apps and CD, and surprisingly, the Sony cassette player with Dolby B and Metal IV selector is right up there, minus the ease and convenience. My guilty pleasure is capturing music to the highest quality cassettes using a Nakamichi Dragon in a Herron tubed system. I looked at the digital walkman you linked and will consider that for future use, but for now, I have about 1500 cuts of music recorded over 10 years that would be all but impossible to transfer to digital storage, much of it unidentifiable with Shazam or Sound Hound.
- RE: walkman to car usb input - John Elison 14:06:22 10/08/19 (2)
  Well, I was driving home from a listening session at my audio buddy's home and I decided to stop in at the Green's Toyota dealership in Lexington, KY where I bought my Camry XSE. I took a look at a 2020 Toyota Camry XSE and you're absolutely correct: No AUX input; only USB. I didn't look at a 2019 model Camry, but I looked at a 2019 Avalon and a 2019 Corolla. Each of these 2019 models had both a USB and an AUX input to their stereo systems. Consequently, if you're looking for a good deal on a brand new 2019 Avalon, it definitely has the AUX input you require. If you're willing to buy a brand new 2019, you might want to check out the Camry because it might also have an AUX input; I didn't get a chance to check it out, Anyway, both the 2019 Avalon and Corolla have it.
  
  The salesman I talked to is Isaiah Hall at Green's Toyota of Lexington, KY. He said he'd make you a fantastic deal on a brand new 2019 model with an AUX input. He also said you don't need to live in Lexington or even in Kentucky. Just send him an email and he'll fill you in on the details: hall.isaiah87@gmail.com
  
  Good luck,
  John Elison
  - RE: walkman to car usb input - texana 21:02:12 10/09/19 (1)
    I may do that and I will also watch my local Toyota dealers for clearance sales on 2019 models. Thanks so much.
    Joel
    - RE: walkman to car usb input - Uskoke 23:28:48 10/16/19 (0)
      My car stereo has an aux in input!It cost 40 euros and I bought it at Praktiker (like Home Depot in USA).it's a chinese unknown brand, but it's quite good compared to the OEM tape deck that the car came with! (2000 Hyundai Atos).It has a USB and an SD card input and radio. I installed it myself, goes without saying!
- RE: walkman to car usb input - John Elison 21:51:46 10/07/19 (0)
  Well, I bought my new Camry about 18-months ago and I suspect it will last another few years, possibly the rest of my life. I'm sorry to hear Toyota deleted the analog input from their car stereos, but that's not a deal breaker for me because I don't have any cassette tapes remaining. I got rid of my two Dragons in the mid 1990s after buying a Sony DAT Walkman in 1991. I used my Dragons exclusively to record vinyl LPs, but I didn't like the wow & flutter of my cassette Walkman's. I'm very sensitive to wow & flutter. I had no problem with my two Dragons but I couldn't find a cassette Walkman that would play piano music without noticeable wow & flutter. That's the reason I bought a Sony DAT Walkman. I expected it to sound like a CD player but I decided I could put up the digital artifacts if it provided perfect speed stability. I was taken completely by surprise after hearing my first vinyl recording to discover it exhibited no digital sonic artifacts. All my DAT copies of vinyl sounded just like vinyl to me. That's when I decided to replace my Dragons with DAT recorders. I've never regretted switching to digital although I sometimes wish I had kept one of my Dragons. ;-)
  Good luck,
  John Elison
  
  Edits: 10/07/19

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