A Realistic alternative? - The Minisette-11 stereo cassette recorder

How does the Realistic Minisette-11 portable stereo cassette recorder, which I got for $39 at a thrift store, compare to the Sony TC-D5 recorders, of which even broken ones sell for up to $399 on eBay? Let's find out...

Time flow:
0:00 Introduction
0:59 Features & controls
3:31 Specifications
5:09 Replacing the belts
7:15 Record/playback switch
8:27 Playback tests
9:30 Recording voice
11:19 Recording music
13:17 Conclusion
14:14 Why it flopped

Download the manual:

Techmoan's video on the Sony TC-D5:

Featured music:

Sanyo AMSS Demonstration Tape

Ralph Font & His Orchestra - Tabu

Joe "Fingers" Carr - Hey Mr. Banjo

#cassette #recorder #repair

[markwrightrf]

It's funny to think that during my days in commercial radio back in the nineties and noughties, we were armed with "broadcast quality" equipment to take out into the field, sometimes costing thousands. We'd never consider consumer brands, let alone bargain brands like Radioshack. Fast forward to 2023 and TV and radio news is full of low-fi, stuttering Skype/Zoom/Teams connections via the contributor's webcam and shaky, incomprehensible content submitted by the audience. To my ageing ears and by today's standards, this is surprisingly impressive!

[dosdude]

I got extremely lucky, and found a Sony TC-D5M at a Hamfest for only $5. It was completely dead, but I found a transistor on the main power board that was bad, and replacing that got it back up and running again. A few new belts, and it now works absolutely perfectly.

[milfordcivic]

I miss Radio Shack and all the other electronics stores. But since everything has been integrated into a 6" demand for physical media is very small. I'm glad to have had the privilege to live in times when there were no cell phones or different times.

[larryeffler]

I still have the Minisette 11 I bought new in 1982 or 1983. It lived in my college backpack to record classes and playback Rush tapes as I walked from class to class. Later, it served as the cassette deck in my home stereo after a drunken friend dumped a beer in my Technics deck!

[joekrisocki]

I think the reported frequency response is for the built-in condenser mics. The direct turntable hookup sounded great for me playing this through my home stereo.

[mrnmrn]

The permanent magnet erase head will not make the recording much noisier. It's DC bias and the ALC what makes a lot of noise, but fortunately this one has AC bias. The only problem with the permanent magnet erase head is that the erasing efficiency can be low, so if you re-record a cassette which was recorded at high levels before, the previous recording might still be audible in the background of the new recording. This is especially true with Type-II tapes. Don't forget that an AC erase head can consume a lot of power, IIRC between 0.5-1W, or up to 2W with Chrome tape, and that is a lot for a portable tape recorder operated from a few AA batteries. It would decrease the battery life drastically.

[TheOriginalCollectorA]

Sounds better than it seems, stereo playback certainly helps a lot. For a budget machine, it’s actually pretty decent! Like you said, that permanent erase head isn’t ideal, but otherwise it’s still an interesting unit. Also cool that you got it with the case!

[Markimark]

Realistic is good alternative portable cassette player from the early 1980s! The build quality is really good, and it’s not too expensive!

[jasonschubert]

Even though you have many videos like this, for some reason this one really reminded me of the hours I have spent in front of a stereo watching the reels turn around, and watching for the leader tape when you were hoping to fit a whole song in! I could literally smell that tape being opened as well! 😄

[error]

I bought the mono version, the Minisette 9, last year in Brussels. Beautifully made device, I think by Sanyo, as the majority of the components in mine are that brand. My machine was apparently well loved by its previous owners, because the head is quite worn and it had a faulty speed controller. When I did get it to play normally, I found it makes pretty decent recordings for what it is. The auto level recording is good enough to handle a direct connection between the mic input (the only one it has) and the headphone output of a laptop.

[jamesslick]

I worked at RS at the time, I remember VERY WELL selling one of these! An (acoustic guitar playing) street "busker" wanted something a bit easier to lug around for recording himself than a "boombox". (Carrying a guitar case and a 1980s boombox was a PITA if using public transportation.) Of course, any number of small cassette recorder models would have worked, But he NEEDED stereo! When I showed him THIS exact model, he was THRILLED Boy, THIS was a quick sale! He loved the little sucker! (Bought some Ni-Cds and a pair of inexpensive mics too). 👍👍 Today, a Tascam DR-05X and a mini tripod would be just the ticket for that use case.

[luiselcollectorofficial]

Hi vwestlife I’m 13 and currently collecting cassette tapes I really enjoyed the recommendations you’ve been giving me I’ve been watching ever since I was five years old big fan!

[restorerestoration]

I just realized that I got this unit in early 80's. It did the job for casual use and was reliable. Couldn't complain about it at that time...

[christo]

To put that 8khz frequency response in perspective, the Victor Orthophonic mechanical reproducer introduced in 1929 has 10khz of frequency response.
The erase head doesn't really matter with new tapes. You can always erase your tapes in a different machine. The AC bias is nice too. DC bias would categorically disqualify it. But the wow and flutter and frequency response are deal breakers IMHO.
In the form factor, this is a suitable replacement, but not in any other way.

[masterargentox]

Not bad for a portable cassette recorder made by Realistic. What's more, I would love for the new decks to have the same manufacturing quality as this recorder.

[musicom]

Got an AIWA AD-F800 which must be like a holy grail cassette recorder. Literally the pinnacle of semi-pro cassette recorders.
My FIRST stereo cassette deck (which I also still have) was the Realistic SCT-12. Was/still is an incredible quality unit for its price ($80) in 1980... Probably the last time I used either. Looking for a SONY DAT 670 Tape Recoder? Love your channel, fellow New Jerseyan...

[bobblum]

Thank you, I enjoyed the video, good overall coverage of the unit with real-world examples.
My favorite part was when you demonstrated the turntable and pointed out the amplifier. I looked over at my nightstand where my own _Optimus_ SA-155 was recently put into use to play white noise overnight to help me sleep. It looks just like yours except yours says _Realistic_ instead.
🙂👍

[bentbilliard]

Lovely review. I'm super annoyed with the prices of broken equipment on ebay theses days. Gladly you can still find great deals like this when you go for the smaller brand or no name stuff. I recently got a nice stereo cassette player for 25 bucks in a second hand store, that wasn't working. All i had to do was to solder one cable back on. Works like a charm.

[briangoldberg]

The other issue is that the TCD-5 have a rubber idler tire that is bonded to the underside of the pinch roller idler wheel, and there exists no replacement for it. The only solution to getting them repaired is to remove it and send it to someone to have retooled on a lathe. You have to know how to remove the thing and put it back by yourself and you have to find someone who can glue a new tire to the idler and turn it down to the correct size. Absolutely all of them use that tire, and they are all getting slippery. They still "work, " but a lot of tapes which offer slightly more resistance will either trip the mechanism and shut it off, or (if you're less lucky) they eat your tape :(

[gideon]

I found a Minisette 9 new in box on eBay a year or two back. Great for re-living my childhood loading games into a refurbished ZX Spectum.