what’s this plastic card trick?

 

I think it’s putting a credit card below the cartridge whilst you are ejecting it………..

”
But all I get is error codes. Put CDs in the cartridge, put the cartridge in the player, hit the "Tape/CD" button and... "EE-02". Try to eject the cartrdige, and if it doesn't eject I get an "EE-01" code. Slide a piece of plastic under the cartridge, it pops out, and I get the "EE-02" code again. Close the trunk, go inside, have a Newcastle.
“

 

Tape was the worst. Annoying hissing, concerns with leaving them in the car in the summer, the eventual tape eaten up, and the required cleaning every year. Tapes were the worst.

I would always opt to buy vinyl, then record it onto a tape so that when it got eaten, as they eventually all do, I could replace it for the cost of a blank tape.

This was, of course, not by choice. CDs weren’t out then and once they did come out, I trashed all my cassettes gleefully, never, ever considering using them again. It was the worst.

 

The only tape player I have left is in my Jaguar! I have a tape in the car that I use to force start the (original) head unit when it decides to go out. Then I realize just how bad tapes were. And not because it is U2 Joshua Tree. Back in the day I recorded vinyl onto high grade blank tapes for better fidelity. Never bought factory tapes.

New Sony head unit is waiting patiently to take over the duties. That will mean retirement of the CD changer - which still works. It needed the worm gear repair.

CDs have better fidelity than much of the digital streaming sources available now. You must subscribe and pay to get the higher fidelity. I might sign up for Sirius XM with the new head unit. That could be fun.

 

I've had SiriusXM for the better part of 15 years. Love it. Although there are benefits with Spotify and using all of the stored music I have on my iPhone, sometimes it's just better to listen to some good old fashioned (commercial-free) radio!