iPod nano modded to play inside 8-track player, blow minds with ease (video)
By Darren Murph 
posted June 7th 2010 6:56AM
posted June 7th 2010 6:56AM
Oh, sure -- they've a place in history, but the 8-track ain't got nothing on the record player when it comes to retro audio sources. This, however, is no vanilla 8-track deck. The Mad Hacker decided to add a little 2-oh-oh-to-the-dime to his Channel Master by modding a Beach Boys deck to connect to his iPod nano. He even threw a headphone socket and USB port on the front for listening on the go and charging (respectively), but the real amazement comes when you plug the thing in. Somehow or another, he hacked the 8-track to transfer iPod signals into the antediluvian source, providing a bona find plug-and-play solution that's (way) more awesome than practical. Seriously, it needs to be seen to be believed -- lucky for you, the video demonstration is just a click away. 
Wow
@Giac
I haven't heard the actual word iPod come up in such a long time. I thought it said iPad nano
@Giac i was surprised when i heard rob zombie playing on an atrac playa lol
Thats just awesome ^_^
/me wants one
@Zgmatty It just made me realize how incomplete my life is. There is now a void inside me, that needs to be filled with the awesomeness of the iTrack. I will be sad every day until the end of days. :(
My brain! nuuu
Sweet. Who has 8-track any more? :L
@KLANDA
Your Grandfather, in his car.
My father actually bought a car with what must have been the last 8 tracks in it. In 1990.
@SmokemeaKipper
wow, in that case, I want one in my first car!
i'm thinking, the ultimate retro.
Although, I probably wont even get a CD drive. More likely a cassette player
Holy Santa Claus Shit!
@ShakeyBonez
.."Hello youtube, this is the mad hacker here"
comon that is the best self-intro ever.
@Punisher Plum Someone took the username on youtube first :( He had to with madhacker2
That plus remote to control the ipod from couch equal WIN
he needs to market this thing. it's "retro done properly"
@Wiggy Fuzz
I don't even think 8-Trackers players are still sold, let alone anyone still having one around. But cool none-the-less.
Oh no he di-int just use the beach boys for his project...
Horrible digital zoom.
I like how the 'junk' 8 track that was just lying around was a beach boys track.
@dingledow
the heads were junk, 8 tracks have tape in them.
WANT!!! Does the Mad Hacker sell his creation?
Nice project! But if you "take it on the road with you" your probably gona look like a bit of a tool though
Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne > Beach Boys any day :). Also, I second that Tuomas; digital zoom ftl!
"Living Dead Girrrrrl"
God, it's been a long time since I have heard that album
@angermeans
hahahaha f*ck yeah SO HARDCORE
super ironic that it was in the Beach Boys cartridge too
Very cool! I I have a top of the line Akai 81_D 8 Track player/recorder
It would be cool to slap in the I-Track to it!
I noticed in the video your turntable is sitting directly on your amp!
Your turntable SHOULD not be set up in this way!
Set it up on a solid table or better yet a specially designed turntable stand!
Putting it on top of the amp affects the playback in a negative way.
Turntables have to be completely isolated from any vibration whatsoever!
Even the motor of the turntable can affect the quality of playback of your LP's if it causes unwanted vibration!
@prg333
The guy is using 8-tracks. What part of that indicates he is concerned about sound quality? ;-)
Coming soon from Apple... the 8 track iPod dock
I was working in the lab late one night when my eyes beheld an eerie sight, from my slab my itrack player began to rise, and it did the mash. But, apple killed it because it was too cool and they did not think of it first.
I don't get it. Maybe I'm just being obtuse, but isn't this just an 8-track version of the cassette tape adaptors that were popular in the 1990s (and beyond, for those of us with older cars), with the added inconvenience of not being able to disconnect your iPod from it?
@BobLog3
I am assuming he used the innards from one of the old cassette versions and switched it from the tape heads to the 8 track heads.
Unfortunately most 8 tracks recess the tape farther so he really needs a remote unless he wants to use it on any other 8 track player.
I think this is awesome.
As a lover of vintage stereo equipment I would like to point out that a great deal of the 1960-1970s equipment produces awesome sound and can be repaired quite easily.
They really don't make them like they used to.
Tandberg 5040
EPI 202's
I wonder if he could (or has?) set it up so that the turning mechanism of the 8-track turns a generator which can charge the ipod.
Hmmm tape pre-emphasis comes to mind, I suspect that the highs would be exaggerated and though the play circuit has a bass cut, there might be some increase due to the field produced by the send (?) head, but the freq response of the play circuit is not linear so the fidelity is in question unless he added some passive eq in the send circuit or used the iPod's eq feature.
Another consideration is that of alignment of and between the 2 heads.
He should have sacrificed a Mantovani cassette instead of the Beach Boys... But oh well so it goes.
You can easily ear the difference between 'ol 1/4" tape and mp3 (or aac). Magnetic tape still have the warmest sound !
He modded that iPod into an 8-track cart, not an 8-track deck. The deck is the thing you plug the cart into, and the deck is unmodded.
It'd be great if he could charge the iPod from the moving pinch roller on the cart.
hahahahaha...... and 90% of the population say, "What's an 8-track player?"
HOW DARE HE CALL THE BEST OF THE BEACHBOYS JUNK
@KrazyCalvin And then he goes and plays rob zombie... ugh...
That iPod sounds real tinnie when you compare it to the real 8-track.
They do make adapters that would let your regular cassette tape play on the 8-track player. I am sure you could make an MP3 adapter out of one of those.
I always like 8-tracks, it's too bad the tapes don't last very long.