This RFID Cassette Player Is a Touch Above the Rest

After seeing the Juuke music player that we covered a few months ago, Matty Bee was inspired to create his own RFID music player using an old cassette deck as the housing. This device follows the same basic formula as the Juuke, using a DFPlayer mini to play songs from a selection stored on a microSD card, with an Arduino Nano used for control instead of an Uno.

Selections are made through a number of RFID cards, on which this hacker placed labels for the different stored songs and albums. These cards are read by an RC522 module, and the build also features a pair of interface buttons.

The original volume potentiometer adjusts the volume output, on speakers that are repurposed as well. In fact, the project was undertaken in such a way that the cassette player could be returned to original form if needed, thanks in part to the rather generous internal space available in electronics of old.

One interesting bit about this gadget in particular is that cards can be used to trigger both an “A” and “B” side, just like flipping an actual cassette or even record. A/B modes are chosen via one of the interface buttons, and indicated by an LED.