Tape Player Old Fashioned Tape Player
Rewind! A guide to the best portable cassette players
Written by
Jason Kennedy
Published on
March 24, 2017
Category
Features
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Having rounded up the best home tape decks, audiophile guru Jason Kennedy turns his attention to the market for portable cassette players.
At that place can't be a more than affordable way to become into analogue audio than a portable tape player or Walkman as they were known back in the twenty-four hours. With prices of new and previously loved examples coming in below £xx, these devices are great value and the better examples produce sound quality that is very appealing.
In much the same mode that Apple dominated the mp3 market in the Noughties, Sony was the brand to beat in personal cassette players back in the Eighties. Sony players boss the second hand market, which is a testament to the build quality of the machines that it started making in 1979 and continued to produce upwardly until 2003 when Apple tree's devices changed the mode nosotros mind on the move.
As with whatever vintage electro-mechanical device a portable record player needs to be in good condition if it's going to requite reliable service. Thankfully a lot of personal record players were made in Nippon to a very high standard which is why so many are still working today up to 30 years afterward. But if you want a trusty source of portable sounds I recommend going for one that'due south in the all-time status you tin can afford.
While Sony was the leader in the field, a number of other Japanese companies made good quality players and brands including Aiwa, JVC, Panasonic and Sharp are worth considering. Aiwa was the second biggest histrion and was strong in tape technology and then their machines correspond practiced value.
The new tape players on the market are nigh all built for transferring cassette to mp3 via a USB connection, which is handy if you lot want to digitise your tapes but the build quality on offering doesn't really inspire good audio.
Prices on eBay tend to exist on the high side compared to alternative sites like eBid which also has a good selection, but most of the good quality models can be found at that place. Walkmans command the highest request coin with the metal cased examples going for surprisingly high figures. Information technology's too worth trying Gumtree.
For those prepared to get upward early on Lord's day morning, the local boot fair is where the prices are ever going to be nigh competitive albeit you tin't ever tell if they are working properly.
Tape decks are prone to mechanical problems and information technology's a skillful idea to test things like playback speed (by listening), fast forward and backward before buying. All simply the most exotic have standard 3.5mm headphone jacks so auditioning can be done with whatsoever earphones. If you have high end 'phones however bear in mind that non all portable record players volition have the ability to drive them properly.
Groov-e
Toll: £18
One of the few contemporary personals that doesn't have USB out, the Groov-e is a recorder and player with AM/FM radio and built in speaker and microphone. Information technology doesn't accommodate more than bones ferric tape and build is very plasticky, but its newness should confer reliability, although buyer reviews don't always dorsum this upwardly. Don't expect amazing smashing sound.
Aiwa PX297
Price: £23
Featuring Aiwa's DSL long term hearing protection engineering, this automobile reverse player works with chrome and metal tapes and has a music search facility to help notice private tracks. Its alloy case gives a quality feel which probably reflects sound quality.
Ion Tape2Go
Price: £25
Designed to catechumen tapes to digital files with a USB output aslope the headphone connection, the Tape2Go accommodates chrome tapes and comes with software for Windows or Mac PCs. Online reports are mixed but none advise great audio quality and consistent tape speed seems not to be a given, but at the price (and apparent build quality) this is hardly a surprise.
Sony WM EX194S
Price: £40 – £seventy
One of the final Walkmans to be built, the WMEX194S is a fairly bones player just it incorporates technology that provides extremely smooth tape speed and depression power consumption. This gives it a claimed 25 hour playing fourth dimension from ii AA batteries, which combined with skilful sound quality makes information technology a pop choice. Or for a cheaper culling, check out footling sister model WM-EX180 which has a groovy build quality for price.
Marantz PMD-222
Price: £90 – £150
The PMD-222 is a more than compact and affordable version of the PMD-430. With just one VU meter and not so many connections it'southward withal a decent fleck of kit, an XLR socket for a mic plus both line and headphone outputs makes information technology a tape recorder to exist proud of. It can be run on batteries or a power adapter, some examples on sale don't have the latter but they can be purchased for £x.
Sony Walkman WM-EX20
Toll: Variable
Dubbed the thinnest Walkman ever at 17mm thick, the WM-EX20 was an anniversary edition produced in 1999. It has a stainless steel body and originally came with matching headphones. Naturally information technology had all the bells and whistles on the features forepart, including MegaSurround for a 3D effect, a wired remote, loftier speed rewind and forwarding and MegaBass. In some quarters this car goes for big money but its fame is far from universal and prices can be remarkably depression.
Sony WM-D6C Walkman Pro
Toll: £140 – £195
Sony's Professional person Walkman is 1 of the about desirable tape recorders ever fabricated. Not merely considering its build quality is so high or that there are and then many features squeezed into its meaty course, only ultimately considering it sounds so adept. There aren't many cassette decks that inspire enthusiasts to wax lyrical near sound but this is ane of them, perchance the simply 1 that isn't a Nakamichi. Used by professionals to portable supervene upon reel to reel recorder in the Eighties information technology retains a cult following but, thankfully, has not featured in any sci-fi movies to date.
Marantz PMD-430
Price: £240 – £370
More portable than personal this Marantz is a fully fledged record recorder with VU meters for level, iii heads and all fashion of connections for home stereo and headphones. Information technology'due south a professional standard recorder with high build quality so the price is higher than most.
Sony Walkman TPS-L2
Price: £500 – £800
The first Walkman has gained something of a cult following since information technology featured in the film Guardians of the Milky way, as a outcome this fairly bulky machine goes for silly coin online. For case the just model on eBay UK at the time of writing was bidding at £76 with several days to become fifty-fifty though information technology was marked as not working. Functional examples have prices from over £500. Suffice to say that if it didn't take this status the cost would be a tenth of that figure.
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