I happened to come across this video again and upon reviewing it a second time, I have a hunch that your GM radio has Dolby B NR permanently enabled on the cassette deck, because during the MP3 player demonstration I can hear a "treble gating" effect very similar to that of playing a non-encoded tape with Dolby NR enabled. That reminds me of the fact that many pre-recorded cassettes from Sony-owned record companies in the '90s were still encoded with Dolby B NR even though the cassette shell and liner notes made no reference to it anywhere.
I once had a Bearcat scanner that would plug into my Pioneer 8-track deck. Also had a cassette adaptor sourced from the great JC Whitney to play cassettes in the Pioneer. I too like the ruggedness and features on the factory radio, probably the same chassis as on the Chevy Impala. I use a device from iSimple that goes in line with the power & data plugs and feeds an ipod into the radio on it's XM circuit. ID3 information is converted to data that emulates the XM feed. Best use for an old ipod
As long as it has the features I want - it works for me. 6 disc CD changer that plays MP3 CDs. RDS. Aux In. Plays nice with the iSimple. Looks like something no one will break in to steal.
No switch mode power supplies are designed for a no-load condition, that's why the usually put a resistor on the output to provide at least some load, however due to cost cutting the probably ignored it here, which doesn't surprise me a bit.
It’s not often you see people uploading videos of them actually using the cassette player and not sticking adapters in them, I use both cd and cassettes in my impala, mine has Dolby but I rarely use it😅
I had a 2004 Impala with that same radio except it only had a cassette player. There is no hookup for an iPod or mp3 player. You would have to get a cassette adaptor for such a device. I switched over to a aftermarket radio in my 2004 Impala in 2009 and the factory radio had no worn out buttons so perhaps GM addressed the faded out button issue in later model radios like this.
I quite like the stock unit in my Saturn, it even has a little shelf below it. Years ago (and still sitting in my garage), I bought the other cassette head unit Saturn offered for my model, it supports a CD changer they would mount in the trunk of the sedan models (mine is a wagon), but it actually has a physical equilizer. However, I would have to sacrifice that little storage shelf below my radio, as this one is twice as big. I believe it also had an anti theft code that could be set up.
I'd say that you could also buy an aftermarket radio (wouldn't be as sleek as an original radio though). I bought a Pioneer DEH-6400BT for my MB 270CDI (with the PIN-radio), made the radio keys for it and changed the radio. Now I have SD, USB, Bluetooth and AUX. I've never seen those MP3 players in a cassette, but I've seen ones with a 3.5mm plug.
It is refreshing to see that a person sticks to what they believe in and is not afraid to know enough about what their merchandise to share good information to others that may or may not be as learned...so thanks for sharing
Take a close look in the tape door. There may be a switch in there that detects high BIAS tapes. The late 90s, early 2Ks Delco tape decks had this. ;-) Dolby B NR may be automatic as well. The tape deck in my 91 Olds has auto Dolby B NR. Found this to be kind of interesting.
I didn't think car manufacturers still made tape decks for car stereos in 2007--interesting. Neat hearing Mickey Gilley on an FM station. Doesn't seem like any of the country stations in my area play the older artists/tracks anymore. Maybe Garth Brooks or George Strait once in a while, but for the most part it's all the newer stuff, which is not surprising obviously, but a lot of people miss the older country songs.
There were a few that held on as recently as 2010 from Mazda, Ford and perhaps other brands. For a while, the Classic Country music format seemed like it was enjoying a resurgence in popularity, but now it seems that most such stations have decided that the 1990s, with perhaps a brief visit to the 1980s every now and then, is what Classic Country should be. Sigh.
I love cassettes I use them almost every day! I'm wanting to do this with my 2006 chevy Colorado it has a CD player but I have hardly any of them an I don't particularly want to use an aftermarket radio I'm so glad to know that the factory radio can be reprogrammed at the dealer to work in different vehicles. Great video uxwbill keep up the good work!
That little mp3 player is pretty neat. I'm currently working on restoring the original factory top model radio for my New Yorker (bad solder joints) but has a perfect working cassette deck that sounds amazing. I can't wait to get it fixed and installed (already put new speakers in the car.) This is my first car with a tape deck in about 13 years or so. I truly miss playing all my old mix tapes on the road. Can't wait :)
Impatient? There is this wonderful button you can find with ease which allows you to seek or fast-forward the video! By the way: Other people do mind taking their time watching this video in real-time!
Using encoders like LAME you can create "freeformat" MP3 files at bitrates higher than 320 kbps, however, MP3 decoders/players are not required to support it, since freeformat is not part of the official MP3 specification.
No Dolby noise reduction? Even my 1998 Saturn has that on its cassette deck, but then again that was during the heyday of cassettes. And yes, I am still a fan of them too.
I find it quite curious that motor industry in the USA has been far slower to adopt RDS on car stereos than it has been here in the UK. Most of the cars being sold here in the late 90s had RDS as standard, only the most basic of vehicles did without it. My ‘98 UK spec Seville has it for example. By the early 2000s, it was practically universal on all new cars. It’s also curious that over here RDS is no where near as well utilised as it is in the states, since the RDS info often contains little more than the station name (for most stations that is). Just some facts that I thought you might find interesting.
The whole of the audio industry in the US has been extremely reluctant to offer tuners, radios, or stereo receivers of any kind with RDS capability. Many times it's deleted for the models sold here (and in Canada), but the artifacts in the display remain. It is frustrating and disappointing. I would have to think the US version of the '98 Cadillac Seville would also be equipped with an RDS capable radio. Indeed, the stations here that broadcast with RDS (and many of them do) don't utilize a lot of its capability. I've never seen traffic/alert or EON used, and even Clock Time is fairly uncommon.
I have several Delco radios as I collect car radios as a hobby of mine. ;-) The deck in my 91 Olds Ninety Eight, says, Dolby B NR, on the tape door. Some how it detects if a tape is encoded with Dolby B, and I have heard it swtich in and out at times depending on the gain level on the tape. I wonder if your deck does the same. You could try doing a test tape by encoding part of the recording with Dolby B and without. If it doesn't have it, you will notice brighter sound on the Dolby B part.
last time i looked at rds years ago not none really used it here. also the auto volume is kinda funny. wonder how that works if it is turned up all the way. it can't get louder to work i would think.
We put a combination radio just like that in my friends Grand Am. it had the option for a CD cassette, but it had an external Cassette deck. His car has the Monsoon amplifier system. It turns out all we needed to do is unlock the radio, and it works fine.
Cool video, Bill. Couple of random questions. First, what trim level is the Impala? can you do a video on it? And second, (well technically third) with all the music you play and the equipment you use to play music for this channel, why don't you make your own music or use free music? That way you don't get any strikes and you can demonstrate the music capabilities of anything you wish.
I bought almost that same model off the Internet. Legally. But it was to be used as a table radio with RDS. However I followed a UA-cam video about removing the Vin theft lock chip and it didn't work out well for me. It would only show error on display and theft lock led was constantly lit. I'm trying for a 2009 unit now from GM. Hope to bypass the lock again. I'm not stealing them so let me use them. I prefer the way these display lower case RDS letters vs my Pioneer DEH 4400HD. It does display all characters including at and exclamation marks. Where some lower end RDS units do not. It's all upper characters.
Surprised there's no dedicated Dolby button. Perhaps button 5 or 6? I noticed a type button down the bottom, as well as type written on the audio knob. Perhaps tape type selector there?
Do you ever clean the head unit in your cassette player? The combo units I had in my older Buicks tended to eat cassettes and jam if you did not keep them well maintained. Like you I used to enjoy making mixed tapes, but now I have them all on cd-rs.
Interesting device. I have a semi-modern CD/MP3 player in my old 80s car, but in some ways I'd really prefer to put a factory radio back into it. Something like this would solve the problem of me wanting 100's of songs on 1 device. The only similar devices I've ever used were those tape adapters in the 90s with a mini-phono plug on them. Unfortunately a CD player connected that way still pretty much sounded like a tape. How is the sound quality on these SD card adapters?
I mainly listen to my iPod and listen to the actual am/fm radio very seldom. 2 things annoy me. When my iPod is hooked up the radio doesn't get any information about my iPod and thus I have to change songs on my iPod which is hard to do at times. Whenever I go on the highway the volume goes up on the radio without me doing anything. It has big buttons and is easy to use. Most aftermarket radios have small buttons which annoys me. Are there any aftermarket radios with big buttons?
To UXWBILL, I now have a 2010 Impala with the basic factory radio without XM. Very similar to your Dad's Impala radio except I think, based on the trim level, that his sounds better with more features. Would I benefit if I changed it out for an aftermarket radio or am I better off keeping it?
yea my father has a 1991 caprice the radio is same it has a bulb but d o es not play the cassete it makes weird noises so it has a internal damage of some wire of radio I am not so electrician type to fix it I might unfortunately damage it more so my father is going to give it to some electrician to repair meanwhile my father bought a new 2013 toyota Rav4 the cars is flawless it has a single cd disc it has a pioneer sound system as well
Well, I wanna tell you this, that mesage you put at 11:25 really validates an aversion I have to CD players! I am under the impression that it costs only a few cents to add an 8th inch AUX input to a car radio, and costs tens of dollars to add moving parts to accomodate for outdated interchangeable media. And ya know, my only reason for ever using a cassette deck in this day and age is for using cassette adapters to enable MP3 player usage as if it was an "AUX input", and ya know, I'm happy enough using an AM/FM-only radio; seeing as some FM transmitters on the market enable me to use an FM frequency for an MP3 player. I go SOLID-STATE because I find it to be more reliable! And here's another thing, that cassette-shaped MP3 player you have kicks ass! If you wanna know about MP3 players, talk to me!
My 2002 Sony shelf system with dual full auto logic controls has the tape seek function. I wish I could come across a tape CD RDS combo. But it's rare. More rare getting it working on a bench setup.
Yeah, I think my tape deck does metal tapes too, at least sometimes when I insert my line in adapter, there is a MTL icon that appears below the clock on the LCD, but then it spits it back out. I assume this unit also does the automatic side changing too? mine does that, not sure how, must be a sensor or something in the deck.
That was a very good buy. Actually the aftermarket radio I got is pretty basic but does have a bluetooth option (which I don't use yet). I would have kept the factory radio if it synced with my iPod since it did everything else I wanted. I will just hang onto it and maybe I will put it back in the car before I sell it.
well uxwbill you never seem to disappoint in a video about the knowledge you have about everything so I find this video very interesting and less boring than some I have seen around youtube so with that bein said good job..now if only we could get a video of you thrashing that chevy in the mud haha
That tape mp3 player is brilliant. What I usually do is make MP3 CDs with 130+ songs on them. Albeit, only 2 of my 3 vehicles are able to play those as my Chrysler RB1 wants no part of anything "burned".
If you don't mind sharing how do you turn off the tape spill sensor? I use the tape as a AUX input for my phone and it just keeps kicking the tape back out it may have warn out.
The number 6 is Dolby nr on mine. also if you hold eject it tells the radio you just cleaned the deck. Depending on the vehicle there's other neat stuff you can do like if you turn off the radio and hold 6 it adjusts the loudness of the ding. or hold info it lets you change options of the car. I'd be interested in seeing you try these out in another video
Yep, I am an enthusiast of cassettes. When I replace my Ford Escape with a Dodge van, suv, or truck I'll replace the CD player with a cassette player. That is if the stereo isn't already cassette. My Ford Escape is CD and cassette but the CD player failed several months ago.
It's a hidden feature, it works if you burn a CD off of iTunes or a CD burner/other CD burning software with CD-TEXT compatibility. I've tried it and it displayed the information of the track, artist and album title.
+Khyree Holmes I burn all of my audio CDs with CD text enabled (verified on players that do support it) and this radio does not display them. Nor has any other like it that I've had in my possession (two single discs, this CD/tape unit and the six disc changer).
I can verify that some of the GM radios do infact have CD-TEXT feature functioning when playing a Burned CD, on my first truck, my 03 gmc sierra before i replaced the radio with a kenwood double din touchscreen i had the stock headunit with the bose system, the bose was replaced by kenwood speakers but still had the stock amp with the proper harness added for sub woofers and tweeters added so my steering wheel dials worked properly so it was basically functioning as if it was completely stock only with better audio, BUT when i played any CD's i burnt on my laptop off of lime-wire and frost-wire, if i did infact use the CD-text option on the Burner it would display the songs name and artist. But my newest truck purchased after totaling that truck which is my 2004.5 chevy duramax 2500hd it had the stock headunit installed when i purchased BUT was replaced by previous owner then returned before i purchased, the stock unit would not read CD-TEXT off the same exact cd that my first trucks radio did infact read it, the radios are identical to each other so i have no idea why one will and one will not. But i am replacing the stock radio on my new truck AGAIN with the kenwood double din unit that i pulled from the first truck but i will be wiring this radio up alot better with much better wiring and connectors, i have replaced my passenger hand side power port with a USB-AUX pop in styled port that connects into my radios own wires to make them stationary and easy to use instead of them having to be put in through the gloves box and even the console like i did on the first truck
Probably not. It won't fit right, the wiring may be different and there may be no easy way around the VIN based Theftlock system. A generic aftermarket radio with cassette is probably a better bet, if that's what you are looking for. None are made new any more, but you could probably find a good used or new old stock example. Just be aware that it may need repair due to age.
L0L.. I KNEW you'd go and get one of those.. I have one, and it's fun to shove in decks like yours, the deck in the old man's 01" Suburban just keeps switching tape sides in a failure of an attempt to play it. :D
something I thought about....you go to track 21, 22, and 23 and it plays the same track...do you think maybe it was just picking up the first number every time?..playing track 2 instead of 21, 22, and 23?
I think the facelift generation (2003-06) of the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa C (and D 06-14) locks its radios to the car itself like your chevy. The prefacelift (00-03) doesn't, relying on keycodes like most radios. I found that quite odd but I can see GMs logic in it, saves on a forgotten code if your battery craps out!
Did the original factory installed CD/Tuner have an AUX input on it? I know from previous videos that you have an iPod Touch, is there any particular reason why you chose to change the radio for one with a cassette deck as opposed to just using your iPod? Having asked that question, I can think of one reason already, that is, you'd be dealing with a cable running from your iPod Touch to the AUX input and this can pose some hazards in a moving car, this solution that you're using is safer.
It's interesting how factory decks have improved over the years from mediocre at best to pretty darn decent now, thanks to CD's, and later digital files (when kept at 320bps or greater) That said, I did the mix tape thing for years, then went digital via silver platters (CD-R) for mix CD's and never looked back, and today, those came homebrew CD's are now digital MP3 files on a thumb drive for my car. MUCH more convenient that way though I still do CD's from time to time.
I have a aftermarket Pioneer DEH4400HD Am/FM RDS HD radio. I bought it solely for the RDS receiver. Sadly its not as fancy as yours. Just PS info not text or PTY or Traffic.
***** very nice. I have a Ocean Boy 510 by Grundig. I paid dearly for on eBay many years back. Offers all RDS features including auto time set. Of course the stations time encoder must be set right. Lol.... Regards to SiriusXM. XM was always better at SQ than Sirius.
Have you ever seen a car with onstarr that has a cassette player its really neat my uncle has one. When there done with the call they rewind the tape back a little bit for you. My unlce has some 2004 car with the service still up.
Just curious, how old are you? I'm 21 but damned if I don't prefer a tape deck. I merely like being able to use a tape adapter for my phone so I can keep it looking stock, although I kinda need to get a new one since the tape player in my Lincoln keeps flip-flopping. :/
I was just about to add the same comment about the generator for the cassette mp3 contraption. Theoretically it could of used the cassette motor to assencially selfcharge.
in my last car I had a tape get stuck in the machine after I was either rewinding or fast forward, I went back to play it and then the radio part came back on and that was it. I pressed tape eject and nothing, I pressed the tape button and nothing. The CD part still worked, but no matter how many times I try to get the tape to work again or eject it, nothing would happen. What caused this to happen? My currant car has a similar deck system, but its little different as this one has the infinity sound system. I like to use the tape deck I just don't want it to break again. Do you have any tricks of recovering a tape that won't eject without breaking it?
You would have to remove the radio from your car, disassemble it and determine why the tape became stuck. It's possible that the tape was defective or became snarled within the mechanism. Also possible in older tape decks is the failure of belts, causing the mechanism not to work properly. Disassembly of the radio will also be required to remove the remains of the damaged tape.
great video by the way Anyway this happen shortly after buying the car used, and being it had a tape player I used a test tape that made from dollar store blank tape I bought many years ago and was nothing really important so I used it for testing out units before trying it out on my good tapes. So I didnt lose anything important. The one in my Currant car which is a 2004 Hyundai XG350 seems to work fine in play mode although I haven't tried the other functions yet, (Rew FF auto reverse) Anyway you seems be pretty knowledgeable about audio cassette players in cars, therefore I have one question of something I have been curious about for quiet some time now. many years ago I had a 1996 Dodge Caravan with a mechanical loading cassette deck (no loading motor) so it was kinda spring loaded or something. Anyway the deck worked well most the time, however every now and then it would goof up. This only happened when the tape was either just inserted to the player or one side ended and it auto revered to side B basically the tape would play oddly or too fast or something at that matter which made the tape sound like chipmunks or something. This problem went away when either pressing the auto reverse button or taking it out and putting it back in. This was a rare occurrence but it happen on serval occasions. Not that this was a problem or anything, but I'm just curious on what caused this to happen. has anyone else ever encountered this?
i have been looking on ebay for the mp3 cassette the ones i could find come with a foreign plug where on ebay can i get one like yours with a us plug thanks
It doesn't really matter for several reasons: 1. The included power adapter is (usually) of pretty poor quality. Get a better one. 2. Anything with a USB port will charge the player's battery, including your computer. 3. Regardless of what the adapter's power pins look like, it's almost certainly a universal voltage design. A suitable and very cheap adapter for the plug pins will work fine. 4. The player I received really didn't live very long.
The best you can do today would be to acquire a good quality personal stereo and play that into the line input of your car stereo, if it has one. Or buy a car old enough that it was still offered with a cassette player.
That's factory original. Instead of a key switch to turn the passenger's air bag off, which would normally go there, there is a sensor in the seat. (There's also a back seat since it has an extended cab.)
I happened to come across this video again and upon reviewing it a second time, I have a hunch that your GM radio has Dolby B NR permanently enabled on the cassette deck, because during the MP3 player demonstration I can hear a "treble gating" effect very similar to that of playing a non-encoded tape with Dolby NR enabled. That reminds me of the fact that many pre-recorded cassettes from Sony-owned record companies in the '90s were still encoded with Dolby B NR even though the cassette shell and liner notes made no reference to it anywhere.
There's nothing good on TV tonight so I'm watching these videos over again! I love your detailed explanations.
I once had a Bearcat scanner that would plug into my Pioneer 8-track deck. Also had a cassette adaptor sourced from the great JC Whitney to play cassettes in the Pioneer.
I too like the ruggedness and features on the factory radio, probably the same chassis as on the Chevy Impala. I use a device from iSimple that goes in line with the power & data plugs and feeds an ipod into the radio on it's XM circuit. ID3 information is converted to data that emulates the XM feed. Best use for an old ipod
I like the GM radios, they are so simple to use.. Much better than my parents touch screens which are hard to use.
I happen to really rather enjoy seeing the half hour marker in my sub screen when I load your channel!
Cool radio!!! My 2015 GMC Canyon doesn’t even have a DVD player!!!! LOL😅
As long as it has the features I want - it works for me. 6 disc CD changer that plays MP3 CDs. RDS. Aux In. Plays nice with the iSimple. Looks like something no one will break in to steal.
No switch mode power supplies are designed for a no-load condition, that's why the usually put a resistor on the output to provide at least some load, however due to cost cutting the probably ignored it here, which doesn't surprise me a bit.
It’s not often you see people uploading videos of them actually using the cassette player and not sticking adapters in them, I use both cd and cassettes in my impala, mine has Dolby but I rarely use it😅
I had a 2004 Impala with that same radio except it only had a cassette player. There is no hookup for an iPod or mp3 player. You would have to get a cassette adaptor for such a device. I switched over to a aftermarket radio in my 2004 Impala in 2009 and the factory radio had no worn out buttons so perhaps GM addressed the faded out button issue in later model radios like this.
25:18 I've seen those exact USB cigarette lighter adapters at the dollar store. Haven't used one though.
nice starbuck touch. nice old forgotten band
I quite like the stock unit in my Saturn, it even has a little shelf below it. Years ago (and still sitting in my garage), I bought the other cassette head unit Saturn offered for my model, it supports a CD changer they would mount in the trunk of the sedan models (mine is a wagon), but it actually has a physical equilizer. However, I would have to sacrifice that little storage shelf below my radio, as this one is twice as big. I believe it also had an anti theft code that could be set up.
I'd say that you could also buy an aftermarket radio (wouldn't be as sleek as an original radio though). I bought a Pioneer DEH-6400BT for my MB 270CDI (with the PIN-radio), made the radio keys for it and changed the radio. Now I have SD, USB, Bluetooth and AUX. I've never seen those MP3 players in a cassette, but I've seen ones with a 3.5mm plug.
It is refreshing to see that a person sticks to what they believe in and is not afraid to know enough about what their merchandise to share good information to others that may or may not be as learned...so thanks for sharing
Take a close look in the tape door. There may be a switch in there that detects high BIAS tapes. The late 90s, early 2Ks Delco tape decks had this. ;-) Dolby B NR may be automatic as well. The tape deck in my 91 Olds has auto Dolby B NR. Found this to be kind of interesting.
I didn't think car manufacturers still made tape decks for car stereos in 2007--interesting.
Neat hearing Mickey Gilley on an FM station. Doesn't seem like any of the country stations in my area play the older artists/tracks anymore. Maybe Garth Brooks or George Strait once in a while, but for the most part it's all the newer stuff, which is not surprising obviously, but a lot of people miss the older country songs.
There were a few that held on as recently as 2010 from Mazda, Ford and perhaps other brands. For a while, the Classic Country music format seemed like it was enjoying a resurgence in popularity, but now it seems that most such stations have decided that the 1990s, with perhaps a brief visit to the 1980s every now and then, is what Classic Country should be. Sigh.
Love those models for the great RDS tuner.
I love cassettes I use them almost every day! I'm wanting to do this with my 2006 chevy Colorado it has a CD player but I have hardly any of them an I don't particularly want to use an aftermarket radio I'm so glad to know that the factory radio can be reprogrammed at the dealer to work in different vehicles. Great video uxwbill keep up the good work!
I have never seen an mp3 player like that. I will have to try and get one. I have a 2003 Buick Lesabre with the the same radio as your Truck.
That little mp3 player is pretty neat.
I'm currently working on restoring the original factory top model radio for my New Yorker (bad solder joints) but has a perfect working cassette deck that sounds amazing. I can't wait to get it fixed and installed (already put new speakers in the car.) This is my first car with a tape deck in about 13 years or so. I truly miss playing all my old mix tapes on the road. Can't wait :)
will work in almost anything ...BUT a Caprice Station Wagon , at which point it sounds like a ticking time bomb and all that that implies ;)
Impatient? There is this wonderful button you can find with ease which allows you to seek or fast-forward the video!
By the way: Other people do mind taking their time watching this video in real-time!
That's a cool little accessory to have, and I like how the decorations around the spools look like a record playing.
Thumbs up for the Little Trees :D.
Using encoders like LAME you can create "freeformat" MP3 files at bitrates higher than 320 kbps, however, MP3 decoders/players are not required to support it, since freeformat is not part of the official MP3 specification.
Watch this in 144p at fullscreen. Now that's fun!
that car charger looks like those ones at walgreens for $5
No Dolby noise reduction? Even my 1998 Saturn has that on its cassette deck, but then again that was during the heyday of cassettes. And yes, I am still a fan of them too.
I find it quite curious that motor industry in the USA has been far slower to adopt RDS on car stereos than it has been here in the UK. Most of the cars being sold here in the late 90s had RDS as standard, only the most basic of vehicles did without it. My ‘98 UK spec Seville has it for example. By the early 2000s, it was practically universal on all new cars. It’s also curious that over here RDS is no where near as well utilised as it is in the states, since the RDS info often contains little more than the station name (for most stations that is). Just some facts that I thought you might find interesting.
The whole of the audio industry in the US has been extremely reluctant to offer tuners, radios, or stereo receivers of any kind with RDS capability. Many times it's deleted for the models sold here (and in Canada), but the artifacts in the display remain. It is frustrating and disappointing.
I would have to think the US version of the '98 Cadillac Seville would also be equipped with an RDS capable radio.
Indeed, the stations here that broadcast with RDS (and many of them do) don't utilize a lot of its capability. I've never seen traffic/alert or EON used, and even Clock Time is fairly uncommon.
My dad has something like this, but it allows him to connect his iPod to the car stereo using the cassette player.
I have several Delco radios as I collect car radios as a hobby of mine. ;-) The deck in my 91 Olds Ninety Eight, says, Dolby B NR, on the tape door. Some how it detects if a tape is encoded with Dolby B, and I have heard it swtich in and out at times depending on the gain level on the tape. I wonder if your deck does the same. You could try doing a test tape by encoding part of the recording with Dolby B and without. If it doesn't have it, you will notice brighter sound on the Dolby B part.
Thats pretty nice actually. There are theses adopters though that lets you plug an MP3 player like say an ipod into a tape player.
I think Batterymaker has the Digisette MP3 player you speak of.
It's probably sorting the tracks in the order you put them onto the memory. But.. repeating tracks is certainly weird
noticed there is a button on the radio labeled "type" which may allow you to select a high bias tape?
WHEN I BUY CDs i keep the oringinal cd at home ,in your case you can burn copies of
cd on CDRs a blank cdr is about 20 cents
last time i looked at rds years ago not none really used it here. also the auto volume is kinda funny. wonder how that works if it is turned up all the way. it can't get louder to work i would think.
neat little device, great video as always!
We put a combination radio just like that in my friends Grand Am. it had the option for a CD cassette, but it had an external Cassette deck. His car has the Monsoon amplifier system. It turns out all we needed to do is unlock the radio, and it works fine.
Cool video, Bill. Couple of random questions. First, what trim level is the Impala? can you do a video on it? And second, (well technically third) with all the music you play and the equipment you use to play music for this channel, why don't you make your own music or use free music? That way you don't get any strikes and you can demonstrate the music capabilities of anything you wish.
You will love this for a long time to bad no dolby s.
Great video. You are a very talented speaker and would excel in the field of education.
i like the cd tape combo
I bought almost that same model off the Internet. Legally. But it was to be used as a table radio with RDS. However I followed a UA-cam video about removing the Vin theft lock chip and it didn't work out well for me. It would only show error on display and theft lock led was constantly lit. I'm trying for a 2009 unit now from GM. Hope to bypass the lock again. I'm not stealing them so let me use them. I prefer the way these display lower case RDS letters vs my Pioneer DEH 4400HD. It does display all characters including at and exclamation marks. Where some lower end RDS units do not. It's all upper characters.
*****
So theoretically some soldering to either a 5v line or grounding it could bypass theftlock?
Yes cassettes are awesome and I really like them and they were a whole lot easier to take with you on the go!!!
Surprised there's no dedicated Dolby button. Perhaps button 5 or 6? I noticed a type button down the bottom, as well as type written on the audio knob. Perhaps tape type selector there?
***** That's cool. Sucks if you have a non-Dolby tape though. Will sound like mud.
Do you ever clean the head unit in your cassette player? The combo units I had in my older Buicks tended to eat cassettes and jam if you did not keep them well maintained. Like you I used to enjoy making mixed tapes, but now I have them all on cd-rs.
My 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo has almost if not the exact same radio.
but it would be awesome if that casette thing had a built in generator.
that works when you play
I guess your cassette player is somewhat camera shy! LOL!
I like that little gizmo, it's kinda popular on UA-cam.
Glad to see you got your oxide on, Bill! I'm a tape fan myself! It didn't take me long either to get a cassette player in the corolla here either.
Interesting device. I have a semi-modern CD/MP3 player in my old 80s car, but in some ways I'd really prefer to put a factory radio back into it. Something like this would solve the problem of me wanting 100's of songs on 1 device.
The only similar devices I've ever used were those tape adapters in the 90s with a mini-phono plug on them. Unfortunately a CD player connected that way still pretty much sounded like a tape.
How is the sound quality on these SD card adapters?
I mainly listen to my iPod and listen to the actual am/fm radio very seldom. 2 things annoy me. When my iPod is hooked up the radio doesn't get any information about my iPod and thus I have to change songs on my iPod which is hard to do at times. Whenever I go on the highway the volume goes up on the radio without me doing anything. It has big buttons and is easy to use. Most aftermarket radios have small buttons which annoys me. Are there any aftermarket radios with big buttons?
The MPEG-I Level 3 audio spec only supports up to 320bps MP3s. 512bps would be impressively out of spec.
To UXWBILL, I now have a 2010 Impala with the basic factory radio without XM. Very similar to your Dad's Impala radio except I think, based on the trim level, that his sounds better with more features. Would I benefit if I changed it out for an aftermarket radio or am I better off keeping it?
yea my father has a 1991 caprice the radio is same it has a bulb but d o es not play the cassete it makes weird noises so it has a internal damage of some wire of radio I am not so electrician type to fix it I might unfortunately damage it more so my father is going to give it to some electrician to repair meanwhile my father bought a new 2013 toyota Rav4 the cars is flawless it has a single cd disc it has a pioneer sound system as well
car adaptor is about 500ma at 5 volts
I'm not sure if your stereo supports it, but I burn an MP3 disc with 100+ songs on one CD.
Well, I wanna tell you this, that mesage you put at 11:25 really validates an aversion I have to CD players!
I am under the impression that it costs only a few cents to add an 8th inch AUX input to a car radio, and costs tens of dollars to add moving parts to accomodate for outdated interchangeable media. And ya know, my only reason for ever using a cassette deck in this day and age is for using cassette adapters to enable MP3 player usage as if it was an "AUX input", and ya know, I'm happy enough using an AM/FM-only radio; seeing as some FM transmitters on the market enable me to use an FM frequency for an MP3 player.
I go SOLID-STATE because I find it to be more reliable!
And here's another thing, that cassette-shaped MP3 player you have kicks ass!
If you wanna know about MP3 players, talk to me!
My 2002 Sony shelf system with dual full auto logic controls has the tape seek function. I wish I could come across a tape CD RDS combo. But it's rare. More rare getting it working on a bench setup.
Yeah, I think my tape deck does metal tapes too, at least sometimes when I insert my line in adapter, there is a MTL icon that appears below the clock on the LCD, but then it spits it back out.
I assume this unit also does the automatic side changing too? mine does that, not sure how, must be a sensor or something in the deck.
That was a very good buy. Actually the aftermarket radio I got is pretty basic but does have a bluetooth option (which I don't use yet). I would have kept the factory radio if it synced with my iPod since it did everything else I wanted. I will just hang onto it and maybe I will put it back in the car before I sell it.
Nice find :o) Glad you got one over the dealer, I never thought of those reasons for using tape :o)
lol i have almost the same, but with a fm modulation thing going on
well uxwbill you never seem to disappoint in a video about the knowledge you have about everything so I find this video very interesting and less boring than some I have seen around youtube so with that bein said good job..now if only we could get a video of you thrashing that chevy in the mud haha
That tape mp3 player is brilliant. What I usually do is make MP3 CDs with 130+ songs on them. Albeit, only 2 of my 3 vehicles are able to play those as my Chrysler RB1 wants no part of anything "burned".
COLD AS ICE!!!!!!! My dad knew Lou Gramm. He went to high school with him.
Hey uxwbill. Are you also able to repair car radios, tape decks, CD players, etc.? :) Thank you! :)
If you don't mind sharing how do you turn off the tape spill sensor? I use the tape as a AUX input for my phone and it just keeps kicking the tape back out it may have warn out.
My 2003 GMC Sonoma has that exact radio.
The number 6 is Dolby nr on mine. also if you hold eject it tells the radio you just cleaned the deck. Depending on the vehicle there's other neat stuff you can do like if you turn off the radio and hold 6 it adjusts the loudness of the ding. or hold info it lets you change options of the car. I'd be interested in seeing you try these out in another video
Yep, I am an enthusiast of cassettes. When I replace my Ford Escape with a Dodge van, suv, or truck I'll replace the CD player with a cassette player. That is if the stereo isn't already cassette. My Ford Escape is CD and cassette but the CD player failed several months ago.
That is an interesting product....I suppose an 8-track version would also be popular with 1970s era vehicles.
for some reason cheap chinese things seem to have pretty good audio. My cheap chinese tablet and netbook both sound great
Also the GM radios provide CD-TEXT.
+Khyree Holmes I wish that were the case. Here in the US market it does not appear to be.
It's a hidden feature, it works if you burn a CD off of iTunes or a CD burner/other CD burning software with CD-TEXT compatibility. I've tried it and it displayed the information of the track, artist and album title.
+Khyree Holmes I burn all of my audio CDs with CD text enabled (verified on players that do support it) and this radio does not display them. Nor has any other like it that I've had in my possession (two single discs, this CD/tape unit and the six disc changer).
+uxwbill Well, I guess the radio in my moms 2005 SUV has it only... I just thought most GM radios had it.
I can verify that some of the GM radios do infact have CD-TEXT feature functioning when playing a Burned CD, on my first truck, my 03 gmc sierra before i replaced the radio with a kenwood double din touchscreen i had the stock headunit with the bose system, the bose was replaced by kenwood speakers but still had the stock amp with the proper harness added for sub woofers and tweeters added so my steering wheel dials worked properly so it was basically functioning as if it was completely stock only with better audio, BUT when i played any CD's i burnt on my laptop off of lime-wire and frost-wire, if i did infact use the CD-text option on the Burner it would display the songs name and artist. But my newest truck purchased after totaling that truck which is my 2004.5 chevy duramax 2500hd it had the stock headunit installed when i purchased BUT was replaced by previous owner then returned before i purchased, the stock unit would not read CD-TEXT off the same exact cd that my first trucks radio did infact read it, the radios are identical to each other so i have no idea why one will and one will not. But i am replacing the stock radio on my new truck AGAIN with the kenwood double din unit that i pulled from the first truck but i will be wiring this radio up alot better with much better wiring and connectors, i have replaced my passenger hand side power port with a USB-AUX pop in styled port that connects into my radios own wires to make them stationary and easy to use instead of them having to be put in through the gloves box and even the console like i did on the first truck
Can I install this radio in my 2010 Silverado 1500?
Probably not. It won't fit right, the wiring may be different and there may be no easy way around the VIN based Theftlock system.
A generic aftermarket radio with cassette is probably a better bet, if that's what you are looking for. None are made new any more, but you could probably find a good used or new old stock example. Just be aware that it may need repair due to age.
Im working on a bluetooth mod for my factory radio in my 98 pontiac grand prix
You might consider making a video, if it's something you came up with yourself.
My phone's bulit in radio has RDS oh and some car stereo with RDS work with cd and cesstte player
oh, ok thanks for info. I didn't knew that this is possible, so I thought that he said 520 by mistake.
L0L.. I KNEW you'd go and get one of those.. I have one, and it's fun to shove in decks like yours, the deck in the old man's 01" Suburban just keeps switching tape sides in a failure of an attempt to play it. :D
something I thought about....you go to track 21, 22, and 23 and it plays the same track...do you think maybe it was just picking up the first number every time?..playing track 2 instead of 21, 22, and 23?
If you posted the link of the impala can you give me the link?
I think the facelift generation (2003-06) of the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa C (and D 06-14) locks its radios to the car itself like your chevy. The prefacelift (00-03) doesn't, relying on keycodes like most radios. I found that quite odd but I can see GMs logic in it, saves on a forgotten code if your battery craps out!
Would you ever sell the buttons off the single cd radio??
I've actually never seen a Casey's General Store here in Wisconsin.
Nice SkyFi 2 also
Did the original factory installed CD/Tuner have an AUX input on it? I know from previous videos that you have an iPod Touch, is there any particular reason why you chose to change the radio for one with a cassette deck as opposed to just using your iPod? Having asked that question, I can think of one reason already, that is, you'd be dealing with a cable running from your iPod Touch to the AUX input and this can pose some hazards in a moving car, this solution that you're using is safer.
It's interesting how factory decks have improved over the years from mediocre at best to pretty darn decent now, thanks to CD's, and later digital files (when kept at 320bps or greater) That said, I did the mix tape thing for years, then went digital via silver platters (CD-R) for mix CD's and never looked back, and today, those came homebrew CD's are now digital MP3 files on a thumb drive for my car. MUCH more convenient that way though I still do CD's from time to time.
Speaking of Impalas uxwbill what do you think of the new 2014 Impala
I have a aftermarket Pioneer DEH4400HD Am/FM RDS HD radio. I bought it solely for the RDS receiver. Sadly its not as fancy as yours. Just PS info not text or PTY or Traffic.
***** very nice. I have a Ocean Boy 510 by Grundig. I paid dearly for on eBay many years back. Offers all RDS features including auto time set. Of course the stations time encoder must be set right. Lol.... Regards to SiriusXM. XM was always better at SQ than Sirius.
Have you ever seen a car with onstarr that has a cassette player its really neat my uncle has one. When there done with the call they rewind the tape back a little bit for you. My unlce has some 2004 car with the service still up.
Just curious, how old are you? I'm 21 but damned if I don't prefer a tape deck. I merely like being able to use a tape adapter for my phone so I can keep it looking stock, although I kinda need to get a new one since the tape player in my Lincoln keeps flip-flopping. :/
I was just about to add the same comment about the generator for the cassette mp3 contraption. Theoretically it could of used the cassette motor to assencially selfcharge.
in my last car I had a tape get stuck in the machine after I was either rewinding or fast forward, I went back to play it and then the radio part came back on and that was it. I pressed tape eject and nothing, I pressed the tape button and nothing. The CD part still worked, but no matter how many times I try to get the tape to work again or eject it, nothing would happen. What caused this to happen? My currant car has a similar deck system, but its little different as this one has the infinity sound system. I like to use the tape deck I just don't want it to break again.
Do you have any tricks of recovering a tape that won't eject without breaking it?
You would have to remove the radio from your car, disassemble it and determine why the tape became stuck. It's possible that the tape was defective or became snarled within the mechanism. Also possible in older tape decks is the failure of belts, causing the mechanism not to work properly. Disassembly of the radio will also be required to remove the remains of the damaged tape.
great video by the way
Anyway
this happen shortly after buying the car used, and being it had a tape player I used a test tape that made from dollar store blank tape I bought many years ago and was nothing really important so I used it for testing out units before trying it out on my good tapes. So I didnt lose anything important. The one in my Currant car which is a 2004 Hyundai XG350 seems to work fine in play mode although I haven't tried the other functions yet, (Rew FF auto reverse)
Anyway you seems be pretty knowledgeable about audio cassette players in cars, therefore I have one question of something I have been curious about for quiet some time now. many years ago I had a 1996 Dodge Caravan with a mechanical loading cassette deck (no loading motor) so it was kinda spring loaded or something. Anyway the deck worked well most the time, however every now and then it would goof up.
This only happened when the tape was either just inserted to the player or one side ended and it auto revered to side B
basically the tape would play oddly or too fast or something at that matter which made the tape sound like chipmunks or something. This problem went away when either pressing the auto reverse button or taking it out and putting it back in. This was a rare occurrence but it happen on serval occasions. Not that this was a problem or anything, but I'm just curious on what caused this to happen.
has anyone else ever encountered this?
14:23 520kb/s? isn't 320kb/s maximum for MP3?
i have been looking on ebay for the mp3 cassette the ones i could find come with a foreign plug where on ebay can i get one like yours with a us plug thanks
It doesn't really matter for several reasons:
1. The included power adapter is (usually) of pretty poor quality. Get a better one.
2. Anything with a USB port will charge the player's battery, including your computer.
3. Regardless of what the adapter's power pins look like, it's almost certainly a universal voltage design. A suitable and very cheap adapter for the plug pins will work fine.
4. The player I received really didn't live very long.
thank u for the info
I need a cassette player for a modern car but nobody makes them
The best you can do today would be to acquire a good quality personal stereo and play that into the line input of your car stereo, if it has one. Or buy a car old enough that it was still offered with a cassette player.
what is that thing looks like a sound/audio controller on your seat ?
***** 12:47
how did you get/make the cubby hole under the ac vent to the right of the a/c controls?
That's factory original. Instead of a key switch to turn the passenger's air bag off, which would normally go there, there is a sensor in the seat. (There's also a back seat since it has an extended cab.)