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Editor-in-Chief, iLounge Published: Thursday, June 14, 2007 Category: Cassette Tape Adapters, iPhone Accessories |
Over the last several years, one company rapidly became synonymous with premium-priced, bling bling audio and video accessories - the sorts of parts people would find connecting their brand new home theater components when they told a Best Buy or Circuit City salesperson to spare no expense. Whether it was $59.95 for Monster Cable’s gold-tipped Xbox cables when Microsoft’s reference version sold for $19.95, or $49.95 for “gas-injected dielectric” FireWire cables that could be had for $3.99 as no-frills generics, we’ll admit to having been somewhat skeptical of the premium products based on their prices alone in the past.
But we’ve recently had the opportunity to put a number of Monster’s iPod accessories through their paces, and we were pleasantly surprised by a number of them. Many of the products compared favorably in price with other companies’ accessories, and worked at least as well. The results below speak for themselves. Updated 6-14-07: Monster has introduced an updated version of the iCarPlay Cassette Adapter that’s also compatible with Apple’s iPhone. Pictures are shown at the bottom of this review, which was originally posted on May 13, 2004.
Enter the iCarPlay
In addition to car chargers and cables, Monster sells an in-car Cassette Adapter called the iCarPlay - a grey audio-cassette shaped device that plugs into a vehicle’s cassette tape deck and connects via a black 3.5-foot audio cable to one of two output sources. The iPod’s headphone jack can be used as the output source, but audiophiles generally prefer to jack in to the iPod’s line-quality Dock Connector output by way of an adapter. (This can be accomplished easily using Monster’s Ultra-Low Profile Charger, Belkin’s iPod Auto Kit, or SiK’s imp car charger.)
We compared Monster’s Cassette Adapter with two physically similar offerings - one was a cheaper ($9.95) Coby-brand Cassette Adapter (black-colored), and the other was a Sony-brand CPA-9C Cassette Adapter that varies in price (also black-colored), our prior favorite. Monster’s product outperformed Coby’s adapter and tied Sony’s in performance, displaying relatively little audio distortion even when pushing the test car’s audio system. While Cassette Adapter solutions as a product category are not likely to match the crystalline performance of vehicles with in-dash auxiliary ports or more expensive head unit modifications such as Dension’s ICELink, Monster’s is currently as good as it gets for an inexpensive part.
Only Small Question Marks
Our only reservations with the Cassette Adapter are modest ones. First, like Belkin’s Mobile Cassette Adapter ($24.99), Monster’s choice of a grey color for its cassette molding contrasts with both most companies’ black adapters, and standard iPod white. When sucked inside of our tape deck, it left a small grey slice visible that Sony’s adapter, for example, did not, and whether this matters to you will of course depend on personal taste and the color of your vehicle’s interior. We wish Monster had kept the cassette molding black, like both the attached cable and its charger peripherals, to unify the theme.
Second, Monster’s Adapter sells for $19.95 virtually everywhere, which is surely $10 better spent than on Coby’s product. But prices on Sony’s Adapter vary from store to store, infrequently as low as $9.95 or $10.95, most commonly $17.95 to $19.99 at bricks-and-mortar retailers. At the same price, Monster and Sony adapters are evenly matched, but where the Sony’s sold at a discount, it has the edge.
Summary
Years ago, Monster might have priced itself out of even the iPod’s higher-than-average-bracket market, but its offerings are close in price to its competitors: we couldn’t recommend the $9.95 Coby Adapter, but at $19.95, the iCarPlay is comparable with Sony’s Adapter, depending on where you shop. If you’re in need of an cassette adapter in a rush and the iCarPlay’s available in a store near you, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it - but if you’re not in a rush, want to save a few dollars, and can afford to hunt around a bit, Sony’s CPA-9C might be a cheaper alternative.
iCarPlay Cassette Adapter for iPod & iPhone
In June, 2007, Monster Cable unveiled a modestly updated version of the iCarPlay Cassette Adapter that promises compatibility with both the iPod and iPhone. Photos are shown here.
A Note From the Editors of iLounge: Though all products and services reviewed by iLounge are "final," many companies now make changes to their offerings after publication of our reviews, which may or may not be reflected above. This iLounge article provides more information on this practice, known as revving.
I have found that using the Monster’s Ultra-Low Profile Charger, SiK’s imp car charger, or the dock overdrives the tape adapter with most if not all brands of cassettes and causes distortion.
Did you try this with a one of the above or did you try the Belkin AUto kit. The reason why the Belkin does not distort is because you can lower the preamp so it doesnt overdrive the tape...however my ears tell me that you lose a lot of quality using the belkin as compared to using the Dock, Monster’s Ultra-Low Profile Charger, or SiK’s imp car charger. THey all are much cleaner line out solutions.
I have a problem my cassette adapter - when I pop it in it automatically reverts to the radio, I have tried everything. Can anyonre offer any solutions
I have exactly the same problem with the cassette adapter reverting to radio, and likewise have tried everything. The weird thing is that it works in one car but not in the other. Any suggestions?
just pluged mine in my bettel today and I only get one audio channel. SUX. bad design, the audio cable gets cramped up inside the tape player.
Some cassette adapters seem to 'stick' - the wheels turning round inside catch, making an auto reverse deck think the tape is at the end, changing the direction back and forth non-stop. Maybe your player is doing something similar, thinking the tape has stopped and reverting to radio?
I couldn't fix the adapter to run smoothly so I took it back and got a new one, which runs fine.
Hello, can anyone tell me about a cassette adapter that works on an auto-reverse deck? Thanks very much.
Hey, does anyone know if you need a special kind of cassette adapter for an ipod, or would the same one that worked with my discman work with an ipod?
I have a Monster cassette adapter for my ipod. The car's tape player kept fillping between sides before ejecting the tape in error. I opened up the adapter (5 screws) and found that one of the gears was too tight to spin freely. I lightly sanded the inside of the gear until it moved without much effort. Reassembled the tape adapter and now it works perfectly. Very nice sound quality.
I got a Monster cassette. The sound quality is good, but the cassette runs with such loud mechanical noise. When I pop the cassette in, the noise was very loud and it sort of die down a bit. The noise will go on and off. In the first few times I use it, the noise level came down to OK level after a few minutes. However, now it just keeps making noise. The noise is so noticeable regardless I am playing some techno or classical piano. It may just happen I got a defective unit but other users here seem to have quality issue as well. I know it is not a hi-end product but for $20 it should be better manufactured and QCed. I have switched to a Maxell cassette adapter and it has been fine. The Maxell is quiet and the sound quality is the same as the Monster. I've also used the cassette adapter that comes with the Ten Technology's Flexdock. That one is quiet too but the sound quality is flat and with distortion.
I had serious problems with Monster adapter. Moving the wire even a little bit causes terrible loud popping sounds. The Sony version works with no problems.
I didn't have any issues with the sound quality, but my tape deck didn't seem to want to keep the adapter in. I thought it was a problem with the tape deck, but it keeps regular tapes in fine. I replaced it with the Sony, and so far so good...
I just bought the Monster iCarPlay today hoping I would get bettetr sound than I've been able to get with the AirPlay FM transmitter. I wanted the Sony cassette adapter, but the store didn't have it so I took a chance on Monster. Unfortunately it hasn't worked out. In my Audi A4 I only get sound out of one channel, plus there is a low-level hum that it noticeable between tracks. A regular cassette works fine, with sound coming out of both channels plus the AirPlay sound richer. Part of that is because it plays out of both channels, but the Monster adapter also seems to over accentuate the treble. Very disappointing. It's definitely going back to the store.
Hey Guys, I had the same problem. your cassette player needs to be auto reverse because the tape only plays on one side. On some tape players it automatically flips the tape side over. As mine didnt have auto reverse, i just opened up the cassette using the screws and had the wire coming out the other side of the tape so that i could insert it the other way. Now it works perfectly. Give it a go
Bought the Monster iCarPlay Cassette Adapter a few days ago and imediately had trouble with it only playing one audio channel. you have to eject and reinsert the player for it to "sometimes" work. A poorly made item. I wouldn't buy it again.
I tried this one out and no matter what i did there was terrible static and low outout. My car stereo was at max and the music was very quiet. This thing is a piece and i don't recomend it to anyone. I luckily found an old sony tape adapter i had lying around from an old discman. It sounds about 1,000 times better than the monster.
I tried three songs with this in the parking lot of the Best Buy I bought it in and then immediately took it back. I wasn't expecting great audio quality, but this still dissapointed. I could hear an annoying humm the entire time, especially during time between songs. Volume and clarity were also poor. Do not bother!
The Monster iCarPlay is a great car accessory. I recently purchased a new 5G iPod and originally bought the Griffin SmartDeck tape adapter, but it made way too much noise in my tape deck and didn't interface properly with my car stereo as advertised. I returned it for the Monster iCarPlay Wireless plus which was by no means worth 80 dollars, which i then returned for the Monster iCarPlay tape adapter for 20 dollars. The Monster iCarPlay cassette adapter is by far the best car adapter I have used, and a great value. The sound quality is much better than any FM transmitter because it is a direct wired connection. It is also much easier to use than any other FM transmitter. Despite iLounge's review, the iCarPlay looks good with my car, but I have a gray interior.I highly recommend it over any other product.
I have had bad luck with tape adapters lately, so I decided to test this one in the parking lot before I left the store. Sorry to say, it didn't work. Just spit the tape out, saying error.
What I find even more dismaying is that this product has a picture of a Beetle on the front, which would lead you to believe it will work in a Beetle. Wrong again. It went straight back to the store.
This is the 2nd Monster iCarplay tape adapter I have owned, and now twice I have an worthless adapter. The tape plays for about 20 seconds, then ejects with an ERROR message. Cleaned the tape and tape deck with compressed air, still the same problem. The original one I bough 2 years ago, I figured something was wrong with it. So Today I got a new Nano and have heard the bad stories about FM Transmitters, so I picked up the Monster at Best Buy. Same deal, its absolutely usless. I have a 2004 VW Jetta, with the Monsoon sound system.
the output was great, absolutely clear. it's just that mechanical sound that you can hear when the volume is turned off. but when you turn your music off, ofcourse the noise will ne masked. but i'd rather have no noise at all. what brand is better for this problem?
When I first purchased my iCarPlay, I had problems using it in every tape deck I owned, and after spending $20 on it I was very disappointed, especially considering Monster's reputation. Fortunately, I tinkered around with it a bit and found that the single channel issue was resolved by playing the tape on the unmarked side b. My next issue was the mechanical noise, which I could hear in my car with my iPod playing even at moderate volumes. I decided to try removing all of the gears inside which upon further examination I realized do absolutely nothing other than spin and make noise. So I opened the adapter, removed the gears, switched the cable to the opposite side of the cassette and closed it back up. The now-gearless adaptor doesn't work in all decks, but it works silently in both my '97 Jetta and my friend's '92 Camry with great sound quality. Hope this helps someone...
Puchased the Monster iCarPlay casette adapter today at Best Buy. I should have tried it in the parking lot before I left the store. The first selection from my iPod sounded gread then the audio quality degraded to a fuzzy, distorted reproduction. After reading all these reviews, I'm not sure I would have purchased. I will take it back tomorrow. I don't know whether I'll give Monster another shot, or opt for another brand like Sony, etc. All I know is this one is trash.