Walkman Car Connecting Pack for MD Walkman and CD Walkman (Model# CPA-9C)

by Sony

Product Features

• Compatible with car cassette decks that have side tape opening
• Self-adjusting spring head and silent mechanism
• Ideal for use with Sony's MiniDisc and Discman CD players
• Mini-plug inserts into CD or MD player's headphone jack
• Works with non-Sony products
• The CPA-9C cassette adapter is ideal for listening to your CD or MP3 player through your car's in-dash cassette player.
• Plug the jack into your player and the cassette tape into your car's cassette deck to start enjoying your tunes while your drive.
• Compatible with decks that make you insert the cassette with the tape opening facing the side.
• Mini-plug inserts into your portable MP3 or CD player's headphone jack.
• Silent mechanism reduces mechanical noise on the road. Self-adjusting spring-loaded head maintains optimum contact with your cassette deck's tape head.

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Product Description

Amazon.com

The Sony CPA-9C cassette adaptor allows you to connect your minidisc or CD player to a vehicle cassette player. While this Sony product works best with Sony CD and MD players, the adaptor will operate with non-Sony products as well. There are a couple of key features to this adaptor which make it a fine choice. The first notable feature is the spring-loaded head. The head will automatically adjust itself to your vehicle's cassette deck, ensuring that the two heads have optimum contact and transfer the best possible sound. The second key feature is the silent mechanism. A silent mechanism yields less operational noise and a better quality MD or CD sound. This adaptor works with all cassette players which require you to insert the tape opening facing the side. The mini-plug inserts into a portable CD or MD headphone jack. The cassette adaptor is a cheap way to make your vehicle CD and MD operational.

What's in the Box
Sony CPA-9C Cassette Adaptor

Product Description

The Sony CPA-9C is a quality accessory for being able to listen to ipod & iPhone devices through your car's cassette player.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

234 of 243 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a good product gets a new life May 22, 2003

By K. Parry

I originally purchased this cassette adapter to listen to CD's in my Neon which did not have a CD player. This served its purpose well- great sound quality, the cassette was not loud in the cassette deck as a previous one had been, and I was finally able to listen to CD's in my car during the commute.
Eight months ago, I traded in the Neon for a Jetta which had both a CD and cassette player, so the cassette adapter wound up collecting dust along with my old cell phone and other assorted items in my electronics graveyard. But this week I purchased an iPod, and I also got an iRock FM transmitter to listen to my MP3's at work and during the commute. Unfortunately that is not the best product in the world. I contemplated exchanging the iRock for a Belkin FM transmitter, when it was suggested to me that I try a car cassette adapter. I dug through the electronics graveyard, and almost thought I had thrown this out when I found it. I plugged it into the headphone jack of the iPod, then played the cassette on my stereo. The sound quality is excellent on this as well.
This is an excellent product if you have a car with only a cassette player, and want to listen to CDs, or if you have an iPod and want to listen to MP3's cheaply and easily.
A piece of advice, though for those who need the adapter for their CD player: you may want to opt instead for an actual car pack, which has a cigarette lighter adapter for the CD player, otherwise you'll be burning through the batteries like crazy.

77 of 77 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Works with CD players, iPods, other MP3 players (3- stars) January 1, 2005

By Debbie Lee Wesselmann TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

This cassette adaptor couldn't be easier to use for playing music through car or stereo speakers. Cut the adaptor out of its plastic packing, stick it into a cassette deck, plug it into the headphone jack of your portable music player, and, voilà, music. It's really as simple as that. The adaptor requires no assembly or adjustments to work perfectly right out of the box.

This device works only with cassette decks that load with the tape to one side (not front loading), as the cable that connects to your portable device comes out of a short side, so check your cassette deck before purchasing this. The best part is that it works silently, allowing your music to sound as clear as it should. You can adjust the sound through your stereo or through the portable device itself.

I've used this both with a regular iPod and an iPod mini with great success. It's much better (and cheaper) than buying one of the FM stereo broadcasting devices because it's never dependent upon available airwaves and never needs re-tuning as you move from one radio zone to another.

Highly recommended if you plan on listening to digital music in the car. As long as your car has the correct kind of cassette deck and your portable device has a standard headphone jack, it will work without a hitch.

Update to review, several months later: This adaptor started making a clicking sound, and occasionally makes a terrifying electronic buzz that nearly scares me into accidents. It did spend the winter in the car, although my garage never gets below freezing. Unfortunately, I can't tell if this noise problem is because of my old car stereo or because of some electronic defect in the adaptor that cropped up after heavy use....

UPDATE: When I first wrote this review, reviewers were not allowed to edit the number of stars, so this remained a five-star review until today. Although I no longer use this product, it worked great for several months (five stars), but then developed the noise noted above (1 star). I gave it an average of three stars. Read more ›

102 of 107 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to use and works great November 1, 2004

By Robin Currier

This is one of those products that simply works great. I've been using mine for about a year with my Apple iPod and I couldn't be happier.

You simply turn on your car stereo, insert the adapter into your cassette player as if it were a tape, insert the plug into your MP3 player, and start up your music. Easy! In fact, I never even looked at the instructions that came with it.

I think the sound is pretty good and it always works.

I had tried an FM transmitter and, maybe because I live in a very populated area, could never find a free FM frequency for the iPod, so threw it away.

One of the reasons I bought the car I did was because it had a cassette player so I could use a cassette adapter. Some cars are starting to come with inputs for MP3 players, so I expect that will be the way to go in the future.

Being able to play my iPod in the car for my long work commutes has saved my sanity!

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars How to improve quality June 3, 2005

By Karczag

Cassette adapters are generally better than FM transmitters, especially in urban areas. The problem is that the cassette player in your car has seen better days, played many tapes and is magnetized. The solution is easy: buy and run one of the cassette head cleaner / demagnitizers on the market. A good one is Maxell A450 Cassette Tape Head Cleaner, $2.95 on Amazon (through Office Depot). It's done wonders in my car.

A final word about expectation management: any non-direct hookup, either through FM or via cassette adapter, offers limited performance BY DESIGN. Frequency response and dyanmic range for FM radios and magnetic tapes are by far inferior to what you can get with CDs and MP3 players, and the additional signal conversions (analog to magnetic and back, or analog to RF and back) don't help much either. So expect a good solution from a cassette adapter, but don't expect CD quality.