Jensen MCR-100 cassette tape recorder review & test

Same thing as the Onn ONA13AV504, Coby CVR-22, and Sylvania cassette recorders.

[gncberk]

i love how your videos are never changed. no fancy stuff no yelling to get subscribers. can't tell if this video is from 2008 or 2018. that's what i call a style. hats off sir!

[somecoder]

It does warm my heart that manufaturers still make these things, despite their shortcomings.

[tealover]

I was looking for tape recorders on Amazon (just doing something while in quarantine, although _might_ actually consider buying one), and most of them had 3.9 star reviews. A lot of the written reviews where saying "stopped working after a day"-"recipient was very displeased"-"do not waste your money", but at the same time there were positive reviews, and I wanted to see this in action. This video really helped, thanks.

[uxwbill]

I've shot most of the video for a review of the Onn version. I should finish it.

[lindaeasley]

I've used my black Jensen pretty regularly since the middle of 2019 and its still going strong 👍
This may be the best made contemporary shoebox cassette recorder around

[life]

Am I the only one who finds it therapeutic watching this guy's videos?

[Thethduke]

westlife thank you for your no intro videos, your camera work and audio is always excellent

[douglasallen]

I don't know about you, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by the performance of that cassette recorder - not bad at all, especially for what it really is!!!

[CrypticArchives]

this would be perfect for recording raw black metal rehearsal demos

[billruppert]

First, I'm amazed they still make cassette recorders and second, I love that color.

[jamesslick]

The "remote" feature on this type of tape recorder usually just cut power to the motor (at least "in the day"). This design seems to straight up cuts of the power supply.

[CoolDudeClem]

Pretty good for something modern, does look a little cheap though so probably wont last long, at least they used AC bias.

[Stjaernljus]

Looks like a good fit for loading tape games.

[Hogstuff]

I actually used those same Onn tapes to record music (both off the radio and from my main Spotify playlist) and the sound quality you can get out of one of those is surprising if you've got good equipment. For reference, I used them on a Denon DRR-M10 and a Technics RS-TR232 which I both picked up from Goodwill. I wanted to see if the recording worked on both of them, which it did.

[nigelcarrington]

Excellent review, thanks. You covered everything. I used to have a Bush TP 60 Cassette recorder. It had a variable mic-aux in recording level control with an agc override at the top of the level wheel. It was great for gently fading in and out on record. The agc was a lot more sensitive than the jensen, so, when clicked on, there were no ugly in volume peaks.Taught me a lot about field recording techniques and had a high quality separate mic, together with a line in socket, making it possible for me, way back in 1969, to record directly in from a separate fm radio tuner . The speaker quality was high. Solid piece of kit. I miss it a lot.

[IBrianrish]

YAY More cassette videos keep it up I love these :)

[wwall]

It sounds a lot better than I thought it would, I used to use a Panasonic player like that on my school bus the other kids loved it, I had all the latest songs from the radio, great memories. Thanks for the video.

[jorgekeys]

I'm so glade I found your video. Hearing the play back of the audio gives me reassurance now in purchasing my own recorder. To add, I had no idea having it plugged in and charging whistle recording would create a buzzing in the play back. You just saved me from an unknown(to me at least) mistake I could have made.

[strawberryjam]

It looks like an oversized Gameboy colour.

[ThriftyAV]

I have to admit that my Polaroid turntable review borrowed some ideas from your Crosley Cruiser review... But my new Onn Tape Recorder unboxing and review was NOT borrowed from this vid of your Jensen (pretty blue color BTW). In fact, I just found this video today as I was seeing how my new vid was performing in search. Good vid, bye the way. I wish I had watched this first, and I would have known that these two recorders are indeed the same! It seems we like much of the same stuff... Good vid.