Connecting a Auxiliary input to a tape cassette head in a boom box

[Dave N.]

Hey All,

I wanted to ask if any one here has used the input from a old tape cassette head to convert to a stereo input for a MP3 player on a boom box?

I have an old Sony boom box that I want to convert the tape head connection over to a auxiliary input to connect my MP3 player as I don't use cassettes any more and the CD player is crapping out so I figure I could just use the tape head connections to convert to an aux in and plug my mp3 player in that to use. This old Sony boom box still sounds good but needs an update to current technology

Thanks

Dave

[BackwardsBoB]

Good idea.

You can probably find a better point to cut in farther up-stream. There's probably a gain stage and some kind of filter after the head that you don't need. You'd need a scope and you'd need to take the unit apart and keep it running to find it though. You'll probably find the right signals at the selector switch that chooses tape/AM/FM/CD or whatever.

[Dave N.]

Thanks for the info Bob,

The problem is its logic controlled for the functions so finding the connections at the logic switching would require a schematic.

Is there any way to take the wiring from the circuit board feeding the playback head and adding maybe a few components to make this work?

I'm sure there is a certain electronic requirement the output of the MP3 needs as well as a certain requirement of the input too.

Thanks

Dave

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Hi Dave,
I can suggest you a shortcut I used on my wife' s car stereo ( which has a cassette player ) to connect an Mp3 player, the good news is no work is required whatsoever, I just purchased an input adapter which actually is a sort of fake cassette to insert in the cassette slot... it has a small stereo head inside which is driven by the player' s audio signal, this head gets right in front of the car stereo' s head so the audio signal is passed to it by induction - no holes, no opamps, no sweat. I just paid a bare 5 Euros for the gizmo, and it does its job pretty well....

If you' re a die-hard DIY addict or if such a gizmo is not available in your area you could always try to build one from scratch using an old cassette , a stereo head, some shielded stereo cable and a 3,5 mm ( 1/8" ) stereo jack....all you need is to be very careful about the head alignment inside the fake cassette...

Hope this helps

Best regards

Bob

[David Schwab]

I've had good luck wiring line-in jacks to the volume controls on boom boxes in the past. They often seem to be located right before the power amp section.

Those cassette adapters work fine also. They look just like a cassette, and have a small tape head type of transducer, and a cable with a mini jack. We had one in one of our previous autos so we could plug our iPods into the stereo system.

Then on a second newer car which didn't have a cassette player (only CD) we used a wireless transmitter. You can get them for iPods also.

Happily our new car has a line in jack!

I don't know why they don't put them on boob boxes anymore. We kept an old Sony boom box just because it has a line in, even though its CD player no longer works.