[Gluegun]

Hey, I'm wondering, what is the best quality portable cassette/radio player? Like, a new one? Thanks!

I'm looking for hopefully analog tuning, build quality, headphone jack quality, tape quality, radio quality, both am and fm, radio RANGE, battery life, the works.

Or should I be looking for something that just doesn't suck?

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Unfortunately, Gluegun, manufacturers have been steadily phasing out cassette Walkmans. With the currently-new models, you'll have to settle for either a mediocre-performing digital-tune radio or a crappy cassette player with no autoreverse and only the very basic features. You'll just have to compromise and buy one that doesn't suck.

 

[Gluegun]

CRAP! Alright, how about something that's recently discontinued?

How about some kind of non-major manufacturer? Optimus?

There are a REALLY good amount of Sony Walkmans out there, new ones, are any of them good?

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

How about some kind of non-major manufacturer? Optimus?

Radio Shack (aka Optimus) doesn't really make much of their own stuff anymore -- it's all either rebadged stuff, or stuff that other manufacturers (RCA, Phillips, Sangean, Koss) make for them.

 

[Gluegun]

Well? What about all of the gazillions of Sony's? Anything mediocre there, in, like, the $160 range?

 

[Braver]

I notice a distinct lack of current information on "walkmans" on the internet...it's just not current technology anymore.

with $160, I'd say get yourself an mdp man. they don't usually come with radios in em tho. but do you really want the hassle with a too big and heavy player, no easy track-to-track searching, no labeling, no editing possiblities, degrading tapes, bad soundquality and all that just for the sake of a radio?

and really, why do you want to listen to radio anyways? the last time they played any half-decent music on the radio was..err..well it must've been before I was born

! (sorry bout that, thats "just, like, my opinion, man")

 

[Gluegun]

This. Is. For. My. Dad.

He listens to cassettes, and radio, AM and FM.

He wants something that doesn't suck, gets good reception, is sturdy, etc. etc.

This is to REPLACE two godlike old sony walkman's, both of which broke.

 

[Braver]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gluegun This. Is. For. My. Dad.

woo, chill dude, you didn't mention that before! I mean...yeezz...

Quote:

I'm looking

Quote:

should I be

get one of those expensive Sony player then. they probably don't suck that bad, and buildquality looks good. might even be aluminum. be sure there's some Dolby Noise-Reduction on em, I found that mandatory when I was using cassettes. don't think there have been any major improvements in the cassette area.

 

[Gluegun]

Er, yea, braver, sorry 'bout that.

No harm done?

I just didn't get enough sleep last night.

 

[Braver]

just try and stay polite when I don't know stuff you haven't told me okay, and remember I can't read your mind and this here text and internet stuff ain't helping to much either.

otherwise, no harm doen

 

[ronzoni]

Gluegun, get one of the better Sony cassette only players and then get the Aiwa CR-Ld101 lighter size radio. See the "radio-only" thread.

I have the Sony EX5 cassette with the Mirror finish it was one of the best they made, quartz controlled motor drive, Dolby NR, lighted remote control, etc. It sounds much better than the bulk of the crap Sony sells or anyone else for that matter. If you have a high quality cassette recorder you can make tapes that sound very good. In fact see this thread for an older review.

http://minidisc.amulation.com/whathifi_s30_r30.html

Sony has some newer models that have some of the features and quality of this unit. I bought an extra one of these on closeout because I thought it might be the last of a quality portable cassette available.

 

[redshifter]

these don't have radios, but sony still sells the wm-d6c and wm-d3 (which i have). they are pro recording walkmans, and i got the d3 for $150 refurbished. the sound quality is on par with a good home deck, and they make great recordings. i also have a sony dd9 walkman, which was about $500 in yen back when it was new in the mid nineties; it is a god-like walkman with 2 quartz lock motors and dolby b & c. sangean makes a nice radio with a pll tuner, plus it is tiny. i think i saw the same radio at radio shack under a different name.

 

[Gluegun]

Erm, having both a radio AND a tape player is of supreme importance....

we have two old, kickass walkmans. But one has a non working tape deck, and one has a non working radio.

So I need something with BOTH.

 

[jedai]

Gluegun, I am very happy with Panasonic RQ-SW88V and Koss ksc-35 on it. It is all metal construction except a few places; very ruggid and current model, $79.95 MSRP. RQ-SW99V and RQ-SW99VK would be similar; they come with funny looking headphones that may not appeal to your daddy. You can find these models at

http://www.prodcat.panasonic.com/sho...ategoryid=1827

I tried quite some walkmans until I find this gem. Budget Sony models are not as ruggid. FM reception is quite sensitive but somewhat defective. On strong passages of quiet music such as piano, the sound annoyingly breaks. Sony models tend to have a lot of features for the price, but they are poor in fundamentals unlike the Panasonic's.

The Panasonic models don't have Dolby-NR, but I never miss those bells-and-whistles of Sony models. FM reception, which is digital tuning, is not as sensitive as Sony, but it gives rock solid sound. I even enjoy the white floor noise on FM. Tape playing is also very good. It is floating mechanism construction which you can feel by tapping your finger on it with tape in. I personally feel the sound on this walkman is better than that on my Panasonic CDP. It runs very long on a single AA battery. I think you won't be disappointed with them. Give them a try; they are everywhere. I got mine from www.jandr.com on a good deal.

 

[rkw]

There are a couple of high quality portable cassette decks on the market. These were designed for professional use, especially to make live on-location recordings, and run off D-cell batteries.

The Marantz-Superscope PMD430 lists for $699 and has 3 heads and tape bias fine adjustment: specifications, image

The Sony TCD5PRO2 (image) goes for a whopping $1,460! I purchased one many years ago for around $300-$400 (the earlier version without PRO2 designation).