With Direct Deck you have two separate volume controls the one on your car stereo system & the one on your portable audio player The way you adjust them will affect the sound quality Too much volume from the portable player may overdrive the cassette deck causing distortion If this happens adjust the portable player volume down & adjust the stereo system volume up to the desired level Too little volume from the portable player may result in low output or no signal at all from the car stereo In this case increase the volume of the portable player