As an audio guy, it always pains me when I read stuff like this on a forum. Using ANY adapter is just one more erosion of what people accept as decent sound quality.
Music sources have always been measured by two references: Frequency response, and Signal to noise.
Frequency response is typically seen as a measurement of the sources ability to reproduce the distance between the lowest low frequency, to the highest high frequency, measured in hertz (Hz)
The normal human ear can hear a range between 20hz to 20,000 hz (most commonly referred to 20 kilohertz, or 20 khz)
A super low thud from a bass guitar, kick drum, or bass machine can easily reproduce a 20 hz note, and is more often "felt" by us, rather than heard.
Conversely, a 20khz note is a super bright ting of a cymbal, or the noise your ear hears as a ping when a tuning fork is struck.
Every musical instrument, including a human voice falls between those two ranges.
Signal to Noise is the sources ability to convey that signal w/o adding anything else (in the form of distortion) to that signal conveyance. Think of that as a percentage.
So, as an example: If you sat in front of band making a recording in a studio environment free from any other noise clutter, that would be 100% authentic. The S/N would be 100db. You'd be able to hear everything, from the lowest low to the highest high.
A CD copy of that session would be at the 90%, or 90db S/N. The frequency response would be between 10-22khz (beyond human hearing)
A Cassette copy of that session would be at the 70db S/N. W/ a 30hz-18khz FR. (when played back on a high quality, home cassette deck)
A FM broadcast of that session would also be around 70db, w/ even less FR more like 30hz-15khz.
Now, when you add in the old factory radio which was notoriously bad in the mid 80's, you can also subtract about 10% from anything rated above.
Lastly,...add in the degradation of a cheap adapter, and you get a flaming pile of crap.
A cheap dollar store cassette adapter will probably show actual S/N in the 60-65db range, w/ a FR somewhere in the 50hz-15khz range
A FM modulator placed in line of the antenna will be even worse, 55-60db, w/ a lousy FR at 50hz to 13.5-15khz.
If your radio has an aux input on the back (which some factory head units have) use it. The S/N, and FR will be best that way, as it is a direct audio connection. I cannot tell what that input source is rated at though, but it will be as close to CD quality as you'll get. The pic of that female aux jack wired into the front trim is just a quick way to connect your listening device w/o having a cable laying around that is hooked to the back of the factory aux input.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-1mCjqJz...d_quality.html
When talking about the compressed music files that you have on your phone, and depending on how badly they were compressed will also make for a crappy sounding end result, but that is a whole "Nother" lecture.
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