Old VS. New Portable Cassette Player!

How do new portable “Walkmans” compare with my trusty old Sharp JC-170? Watch this video to find out!

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I wish cassette would make a proper comeback like vinyl

[aureliaconn]

Auto reverse was a life changer. My cassette player of choice was a Sony Walkman WM-33 in blue. I loved that machine, it had a three band graphic equaliser.

[ThisGuyFrritz]

I got a Sony TCS-310 for Christmas. My dad knew that I wanted some walkman-type tape recorder. It came in handy when recording stuff in stereo. Some years later, the motor began having an issue: it wasn't quite as steady as it used to be and my dad doesn't think it was fixable. I was OK with that. I don't think I have that anymore.

Anyhoo, as a "replacement" for the TCS-310, I got this Christmas present: An Aiwa JS247. Unlike the Sony, the Aiwa has an AM/FM radio, as well as Super Bass. It also has 3 switches: "TAPE/OSC" for Metal/CrO2 (PB) and Normal tapes, "Pause" and "Band" (for AM/FM Mono and Stereo). It came with it's own stereo microphone, but it got lost. I would have to use a spare microphone for recording. The Aiwa I still have in my room today, looking almost like new. It's been quite a while since I've used it. So, especially after seeing this video, I gotta see how it still works.

[Joshtheweatherman]

Discman days were the good ole' days, grew up taking it with me to school and listening to some music on breaks!

[ScarletAmethyst]

The main concern with newer cassette players is some portable cassette players and boomboxes tend to only be in mono even if the player has a headphone jack (Walkman) or has two speakers (boomboxes) which Techmoan and VWestlife proved with their videos. Unless you have a test tape or can look at the head, you may never know if the product is mono or stereo. A test tape which plays audio on one channel can determine if it's stereo as a stereo player will only play audio on one side while a mono player (at least a mono boombox) will play it on both speakers.

[kennethpotts]

I have been cleaning my attic out low and behold I found my portable cassette I had in the 70's , a GE AM/FM cassette player after cleaning the battery compartment It Still Plays!

[AussieTVMusic]

Speaking of copywrite music I got a video block by Don Henley because it had an organ cover of an eagles song. I had to laugh over that one.

[peacearchwa]

In 2019-2020, I went through a kick of buying walkman players. Some were new (Jensen SCR-68C, ezCap 318), one was near-new from eBay with original packaging (Sony WM-FX290), others were various used Sonys acquired from eBay or thrift stores. You are generally right that most of the earlier players had better sound quality, tended to stay close to the correct speed/pitch, and reasonably low w&f. However, "vintage" units are two to four decades old. Mechanical parts either are worn out from intense use or abuse, or deteriorated from sitting unused for decades in a damp or hot environment. Ditto for electronic circuits and controls. Some people don't have the skill or desire to self-repair old units: what seems like an easy replacement of a belt to a hobbyist might seem like an insurmountable hassle to a casual listener lacking skill with micro-screwdrivers and very tiny components. So for those folks: I have used my Jensen and ezCap players a fair amount for casual listening. I found them kinda acceptable and in my own experience the functions all work. But if you really want cassettes for music and don't demand "walkability", I'd skip current walkmans and instead buy a Sony CFD-S70 micro boombox. The CFD-S70 cassette mechanism is genuine Tanashin. It plays and records cassettes fairly well. The CD player and tuner functions are satisfactory. The CFD-S70 sounds very good via headphone output - or even connected via headphone output to a nice 2-channel stereo receiver and speakers - but lackluster through its internal speakers. Final thoughts: of my own collection, my favorite units in working condition are a 1999-vintage Optimus SCP-96 (Dolby, Auto Reverse and 3-band EQ made by Aiwa) and my originally-purchased-in-1990 Panasonic RQ-V175 (Dolby, AR and 3-band EQ). Those units sound very good indeed.

[MatthewBrannigan]

Sharp/Optonica have always been a good make for cassette players, not the best, but consistently good. Even their rock-bottom-of-the-line units are going to be decent, so I'm not surprised the performance of the JC-170GY was respectable. My favorite brand for portable cassette players back in the day was always AIWA, they couldn't be beat as far as quality v price was concerned.

[AndyP]

The D-131 was my first Discman too! My wife bought it for me for Christmas.

[Trance]

I was skeptical of that Sharp at first, really concerned about the condition of the belt, but looks like its fine! Sounds great! The Retekess just sounds kind of thin and lifeless for music, obviously intended for voice recordings. I just find it crazy that they put the auto reverse and two way motor mechanism in it but couldn't bother to put a stereo head in! UNACCEPTABLE! LOL.

[TorontoJon]

I went a bit nuts in the late 90's and early 2000's by buying vintage cassette decks on eBay or from thrift stores because I had a modest cassette collection and l loved the industrial design of vintage stereo equipment, so I purchased decks by Bang & Olufsen, Harman/Kardon, Sony, Pioneer, Akai, Aiwa, Sansui, Toshiba, Nakamichi, Mitsubishi, Tascam, etc.

They are still a lot of fun and it seems there might be a brief comeback for cassettes these days as another generation becomes interested in them. It'll likely just be a small niche market, but that's okay. :)

[robbalboni]

i had a lot of cheaper models back in the day but they were adequate for what they were, they did the job and sounded ok. i bought a sony walkman years later when they were starting to phase them out a little bit and i still have it. the new ones can be really cheesy and sound crappy but i guess that is all that is available these days. buying a vintage model is the way to go i guess as long as it is in good working condition, but a lot of them can be really pricey. thanks for another interesting video on portable cassette players. take care

[douglasallen]

My first personal stereo system was a Lenoxx Sound model 1129 radio and cassette player, though the first one I really loved was a Philco model 800K that I got from my still wish I had that one right now!!!!

[TorontoJon]

12:20 I still have my original Sony Walkman (which even had a Canadian maple leaf motif as a product sold in Canada) and it still works perfectly. It pre-dated MegaBass, had no Dolby noise reduction features, and was only a cassette unit (no AM/FM radio like other more advanced Walkman units), but the point is, it still operates perfectly after all these years.

A year or two ago, I bought four or five other Sony Walkman units with the better features I listed and I timed my eBay purchases well because at one time, people were paying $40 to $60 for a vintage unit, but I took advantage of a brief window when I was buying units for $15 to $25 each at the most and then later on, people went nuts again paying $40 to $80 a unit again. So, timing and patience can pay off. :)

[radiorobertakaandy]

Sharp serial numbers in the past usually go....first number is the year, and the next two numbers represent the month, so 1037453 would be March 1981 or 1991, if we are looking at older products mr Recordology.well that I know is how it goes with old boomboxes.another interesting and nostalgic show.always a pleasure to watch.

[krazykat]

Had a Panasonic RQ-J11 cassette player in the 80’s. That thing had some heft to it, you could tell it was a serious quality piece of kit that could not only be used to enjoy music but also double as a weapon in a pinch.

[rich_edwards]

I just dug my childhood Walkman (a Sony BF-44 acquired as a Christmas present in 1989) out of a box of junk in my basement. It's pretty scratched up from use but I have ordered new belts (as they'd both stretched), cleaned the head, captain, pinch roller and headphone socket / volume control, greased the gears, and am looking forward to seeing how it sounds after 32 years. Old is gold!

[OntariosElevatorssince]

The cover of that "Authentic German Band Marches" tape uses the same font as Meat Loaf for his album covers, such as the "Bat Out of Hell" trilogy, which are amazing rock albums. I recently picked up a blue Sony Sports walkman.

[jamesmcdonough]

I have my cassette recorder from high school I am amazed it sounds so good as it does. it is nothing special. the only bad thing is it doesn't have is audio out. When I was growing up mono was the norm if you had stereo you had something special. MP3 on a small device like that seems so much easier.