Me as well. I love cassettes, tape media in general (love my uoright Teak R2R deck). I have cassettes made on high-end stereos, Metal Maxell tapes that still sound awesome today. I play tapes from a huge collection regularly. Im so glad I have them.
Nothing can compare to the portable cassette players of the 80s, packed with features, very long battery life, Dolby, and as thin as a cassette box. Not to mention they sounded great.
Nice that somebody is making an attempt at producing good portable stereo ala the Sony Walkman. I was just doing a little cleaning out of my basement and I found my old Sony Walkman. I'll have to see if the thing even still works (probably needs replacement belts).
Seems like a silly question but, are you able to monitor the recording through the headphones? It seemed like you just plugged the cd player in and let it play but couldn’t hear what you were playing.
I have one of these and like it a lot. It sounds great and drives my full size studio headphones. It also connects easily to my wireless Aftershock head phones. It fits in Winter coat pockets or can be dropped in my backpack. I'm listening to entire albums again because of this player! I had forgotten how much I loved doing that.
Recordology, in my opinion, The new Portable sounded the best, followed by the Aiwa. As for me, I used to have a high End Aiwa like yours and I loved it. it was the nicest unit and sounded great, before that I had a GE and I Loved that as well. the Aiwa and the GE both had AM/FM radios and sounded great. I have a old Panasonic now from the 80's and it still works and I Love it!!!
Saw this unit on Techmoan and his review was "it could have been better". I was thinking "I am sticking to my vintage Aiwa TX377 and TX481", but after your review I think is a very good unit. My all time favorite was the Optimus SCP-43.
I've been hemming and hawing about picking one of these up, finally bit the bullet and bought one online today. Can't wait to get it and start going through my dads old tapes. As for maintenance on the device itself, as long as you are careful it doesnt seem too hard to get into the unit and replace the belts and battery, I've done similar replacements to devices in the past
Yeah thought the out put from all of them sounded a little phasey, so it could be the post mono mix as no portable unit has 100% perfect azimuth. Like to hear the We Are Rewind in stereo, but it at least sounds as good as the Aiwa. I'd test recording with a TDK D as the Scotch BX is not a great tape.
I went and watched the video again. That is "France" in EPCOT. You can even see the "skyliner" gondolas in the reflection of the window of the "Plume et Palette" place he is standing in front of at 18:31 into the video. Also, I checked a map of the France pavilion for EPCOT and I can see there that Plume et Palette place is (and it does indeed face the skyliner), as well as the Monsieur Paul restaurant I caught a glimpse of in the intro of this video. Same with that "Les Vins de Chefs de France" place that I also saw. Good one, "Mr. Record-ology" 😄 Anyway, that does not take away from the true purpose of this video that it appears that somebody is truly making an attempt at producing a good quality portable stereo cassette player/recorder like the venerable Sony Walkman of the "good ol' days". Also to add, then again, what it would seem to cost me to visit Disney for a week, I might as well actually GO to France!
This thing sounds great. I was worried that it looked like it was made by teenage engineering and it would cost about $2k but I am very pleasantly surprised 👍
As someone who owned a ton of Walkman's back in the day... I really love the design... it's definitely a thing of beauty, colours are great too! My ONLY reservation is that there is no battery door so that you could swap out the rechargeable batteries for your own batteries, rechargeable or otherwise, as it kind of shoots the whole "eco friendly" argument in the foot, given that in four to five years, the unit will become redundant as the battery will have died and is sealed inside! Planned obscelescence is NOT environmentally friendly, sorry guys!
I was quite impressed - and I had seen the corresponding TechMoan video earlier and there is no question in my mind that the model you tested is a finer unit. It would be really nice if it had an erase head that only functioned when making a recording, plus meters that enable a proper level to be set when recording. I know it would be more expensive but the improvement in quality might well be worth it.
Great sound, fit and finish are excellent. I use mine through my " aux" input on my car stereo. Works well with my Bluetooth headset. This unit is somewhat basic, but has high quality internal parts. I recommend this for anyone looking to get their cassette mojo back.
I'll be sticking with my classic JVC full logic tape deck I've had for over 20 years now, the things a beast! Full auto stop, auto reverse, Dolby B and C, it was simply one of the best you could get at the time it was released. I hardly listen to my mix tapes anymore, but I'm not going to spend upwards of $170 or more for this one to enjoy them....they need to add more features for it to be worth that lofty price.
I have an Akai HX-R5 that’s in dire need of repair, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything, especially after seeing this deck with the same-ol’ cheap Chinese mechanism. Peace.
I bought a "We Are Rewind" cassette player/recorder in mid-June, 2023. I took a while for it to be delivered, but It works well, and I'm happy with it. I'd recommend it to any portable cassette player enthusiast. I'm not fond of the buttons.
Hi Record-ology, I am thinking about buying this cassette player, but I still have one question. In a reply to one of the comments below, you state that the battery is socketed and so replaceable without having to unsolder the old and soldering on the new battery. Are you sure of that? If yes, I think I will go for it; it still seems a little difficult to replace the battery (especially because of those plastic taps you have to bend in order to get the cassette door of), but it seems doable I guess. Kind regards and thanks in advance for your answer Geert
Yes both this and the Fiio CP13 are socketed and serviceable. You will need a bit of padded 3m adhesive tape but those batteries will last for a long time. If you haven’t seen our video on the Fiio check that out first. Same mechanics and head but a better amp albeit with no Bluetooth. Both will surprise you with their quality. People just don’t get it until they get their hands on them.
@@Recordology Thank you very much for this helpful reply. Upon reading this, I placed my order and choose the We Are Rewind player (as you may remember from te Revolution Go video, the bluetooth connectivity is a very big plus for me).
@@RecordologyToday, my "We are rewind" player came in and I played a bunch of tapes on it to break the mechanism in. And I have to say: it plays very well, but I had to give it some time (with the first tape or 2, I had terrible wow and flutter each time the tape was nearly at the end, maybe the clutch driving the take-up reel was not as fluently as it should, putting an irregular load on the mechanism). But now that it played for a while, all those problems are gone; I had to adjust the motor speed a bit as it ran a little bit too fast after the break in time. So, very nice and cool player all in all; thank you very much again for your nice and honest review! Oh eh before I forget: the auto stop as implemented in this player is something that does not work on all my tapes; it relies on tape tension to move the little triger inward, but whenever the capstan and pinch roller (in combination with the tape material I guess) are too slippery to have enough traction, tape tension is too low to move the trigger and the auto stop doesn't work. But, no big deal for me; I am very happy with this little player anyway!
@@Recordology If you are in contact with them, it would be nice to know. I think the design has a lot of potential. I would prefer that the rechargeable battery was easily replaceable. Even as it stands now, I really like it.
Meh. $160 seems like a lot to ask for a tape recorder that's not really a Walkman or a deck, doesn't work with earbuds and is basically meant to be disposable when the battery dies. I'm happy to leave this one to the "cassette culture" kids.
If only I could get my Sony Walkman from 98 made in Malaysia to work again 😢 Lying in a box of electronics and other equipment in the back of the family home now, next to my Dad's defunct original Walkman from 83! Always loved cassettes - growing up in the 90s in the Middle East, there were only a handful of record shops, and Cds were way pricier than cassettes at that time. I looked after my cassettes well, and made mixtape after mixtape of all the songs I loved. I'm interested to see whether this new revamped Walkman can bring back those memories for me !
True, Techmoan did a review. However, I think that while it would be nice to be correct out of the box, he should have adjusted the motor speed to address the wow and flutter going over 0.2. Having the ability to adjust the motor without having to take it apart is nice.
What is the "upgraded, latest and greatest version" about? Has there really been a major improvement/upgrade ? I´ve heard about this claim recently but couldn´t find any official info on this topic. The We Are Rewind Team doesn´t mention it at all on facebook. I have the early model right after the final launch and i´m rather dissapointed to be honest. The treble response it cut off aggressively at probably 12,5kHz and it really is missing out a lot of details in the audio. The wow&flutter however is actually very decent, just below 0,2% after a run in. Anyways, the Mulann B-1000EW seems to sound much better. There´s no motor whining noise and a significant better frequency response but the two players clearly have the very same playback head based on part no. So i assume there´s a major difference in the amplification circuit. The Rewind would be so much better if it had the frequency response of the mulann, which btw. is a lot cheaper and sold directly from recording the masters. Anyways i´m sticking to my Sony WM EX 674, EX 615, EX 505, DD11 and of course my Denon DRM 800 stationary 3-head HiFi deck for quality recordings. Modern prerecorded albums don´t sound a lot better on vintage equipment anyways, since they´re just as poor as the modern tape players.
Thanks for this nice review of this device. If there are coming a "model 2" in the future, i'll hope it will be without the recording function. Recordings with DC-BIAS and permanent erasing head is a joke, and i don't like playing my tapes "safety" with a permanet magnet so near the tape. Remove the recording function, as it's now, and upgrade the auto stop function to the "full scale" , without that white "pin" in the tape path. But still, I like the ambition 🙂
Credit where credit's due - they clearly put some effort into this. I have to say though I'm looking forward to the day when I see a brand new recording cassette deck with an AC driven electromagnetic erase head, rather than the permanent magnet unit. I imagine the main reason we don't see this with new decks is simply because nobody manufactures a cost effective electromagnetic erase head anymore.
No stereo sound in the demo audio. I understand that it may not record in stereo via the aux input but what about an industry standard prerecorded stereo cassette from a record label.
been wanting a tape deck for my car that isn't super noisy, the cheapy one I have from Amazon is not cutting it and trying to find an old tape deck to wire in is just more hassle than it's worth.
Verdict in a nutshell ... Back to the drawing board i'm afraid. Too many important features missing, No Dolby, No Full Auto Stop, No Quartz locked direct drive, No mega bass, No Auto reverse, No tape counter. Operational buttons are far too cumbersome and the double belt drive is just asking for trouble, should be operating from a quick battery change source (2AA 1.5v battery's) or USB powered. Semi sealed internal rechargeable battery will prove expensive to renew at the end of it's service life.
No more Dolby chips are manufactured. Even if a company wanted to start its own production which is costly on its own, it wouldn't work because Dolby no longer license their noise reduction system for cassette tapes.
There arent going to be those features because cassette is not a leading format like it nearly was back then. All the big manufacturers were involved. I would be happy with a quality player that had little of those features. Get an old quality player with most of those features, it will be worth it.
Of course it's compatible to every Tape Type. The Equalization does nothing than change the Frequency Response to a different curve. Because of Type II, Type III and Type IV tapes played back with 70 Microseconds, while Type I Tapes are at 120. That means Type II/II/IV will sound a bit harsh on a unit which just plays everything at 120 Microseconds. It can sound over-brilliant and subjective in many opinions it's even better than played back as it should, BUT you also got 4 dB more hiss on the highs, that you wouldn't have if you could change the Equalization to High Mode. This plus Motor Noise and BT Interferences makes this unit uninteresting to me. Also the fact, that it has a high wow and flutter without moving and will add more if it's moved and there is no Anti Rolling on it. The thing with the Auto Stop also is very poor. I know that even most High Quality Walkmans of the 80s and 90s (I had many of those) have noticeable Wow and Flutter but they are still better, than this thing, if they are serviced. There is no better one than the Sony Walkman DD Lineup. They have a W&F like a HiFi Tapedeck, sound very good and have very solid Anti Rolling. If you once had one of those every other unit lose against them. I wish they'd add a Full Auto Stop, Anti Rolling Mechanism and an Equaliziation, also, the Motor/BT Noise needs to be eliminated. On a good Walkman the only disturbing thing is the Tape Hiss. I also don't need a recording function. I got a High Quality Tapedeck and wouldn't use a Walkman for Recording, just for playback. So they could sell a playback only Version a bit cheaper. It's really cool, that they are so enthusiastic to develop such a thing nowadays but for the high price I expect a high quality product that not only has a metal shell. It also should have high quality components on it.
a very good tape player I don't use tapes enough to be worth spending $200 but if you use it a lot and that's something you want it's cool I have a little bio static saving it's called portable and it's fine for voice dictation and I would only cost me about $16 now that the 1799 think I ddo have a portable tape player and CD player my best kind of an old-fashioned modern boombox is pretty nice has a double cassette but nowadays the cassette market isn't big enough to spend the money for me I usually get myx on eBay and my blankets that on Amazon old stock thanks
I Gotta Call B💩S on 5yrs Non Replaceable Batt Life 😮 The Actual Tape Drive Mech. is Gonna Croak In Less Than 18 Months😢 Just In Time To Buy Next Years Model/Version🐷🐙😭😞😰🐼🐯📼🎅
Every one of the cassette players you show - including the French on - all use the same internal mechanism and heads. The difference is in the housing, blue-tooth and rechargeable battery - However, you have no access to the battery so when it dies, the entire unit dies. Personally, I feel its way too expensive the price point should be about $79.00 in my opinion.
Close! The heads are different (some stereo some mono) and the flywheel can be plastic or copper which makes a BIG difference! Also, the batteries are usually replaceable and socketed vs. soldered to the board.
Maybe trying to bring back the portable cassette player might not be a good idea, because Sony created such a high standard. However, I'm not saying that trying to bring back the cassette is a bad idea, but maybe an attempt at a full size deck with AC BIAS recording. The same mech thats easily available today, with a heavy flywheel and decent motor. The electrical components wouldn't be limited to a small enclosure, so something good could be engineered. What one might end up with is the professional type TEAC W 1200.
They definitely set a high standard! I think the fly wheel being made out of metal on. This is one of the primary reasons it does. Such a good job. Also quality amplification.
Cassette Decks are still being made by Teac, however they don't have Dolby anymore and some reviewers on RUclips think they are not as good as the older decks, but some will buy them because they are branded, and brand new so won't suddenly stop working.
Good question! I would prefer a rechargeable battery because it would save money on replacing alkaline batteries. However, I would prefer that it be user replaceable like this one. Granted it’s not as simple as opening a tabbed panel… But with a little bit of common sense, and a screwdriver it can be done… The battery is socketed so it does not require any soldering.
@@RecordologyI think they rushed this. They could’ve had a rechargeable battery and a battery compartment for regular batteries. Another option are rechargeable lithium battery packs than can be replaced like regular batteries.
Thanks for the demo - it's terribly disappointing - improved sound sure - but that is more due to the OEM mechanism than anything rewind did. It's 2023 and only real option is for a 20 year old player still.
Eh, definitely not a quality player. Found the same mechanism at an AliExpress listing. It’s a novelty item. People who want something like a Walkman, don’t get something LIKE a Walkman, just buy an FX from the 2000s.
That’s a common misconception. The current mechanism that is available is simply a framework and is absolutely fine. The issue comes in when company spec out a lower quality, mono head or/and a cheap plastic flywheel. This unit uses a quality stereo head and a copper flywheel. Guaranteed to impress you if you give it a listen.
@@RecordologyEven so, 150 euros is too steep for a Walkman You could buy an old deck and amp for that price off of a local store, a Goodwill, or Facebook Marketplace. And also, why is the famous RUclipsr whose first two letters are VW banned lol?
Follow up and full sound test Direct Feed Stereo - We Are Rewind! #cassette #tape #retro
ruclips.net/video/VvhT-zIUw2w/видео.html
So glad cassettes are coming back. For me they never went away . They have a slightly diffetent sound compared with other media and I love it .
Me as well. I love cassettes, tape media in general (love my uoright Teak R2R deck).
I have cassettes made on high-end stereos, Metal Maxell tapes that still sound awesome today. I play tapes from a huge collection regularly. Im so glad I have them.
These need a leather case with a neck strap so I can carry it outside....
Nothing can compare to the portable cassette players of the 80s, packed with features, very long battery life, Dolby, and as thin as a cassette box. Not to mention they sounded great.
i want them so badly back you cant imagine😭😭
@@DarkSorrowDark_Sorrow Yes I can 😂
@@01chippe i did order today a few us tapes😎🤙 good ol 90s
Nice that somebody is making an attempt at producing good portable stereo ala the Sony Walkman. I was just doing a little cleaning out of my basement and I found my old Sony Walkman. I'll have to see if the thing even still works (probably needs replacement belts).
Hey I actually have this and I really enjoy it! The ESTIMATE battery life is 10h, but it actually lasts a few DAYS and it takes 4h to fully charge
Seems like a silly question but, are you able to monitor the recording through the headphones? It seemed like you just plugged the cd player in and let it play but couldn’t hear what you were playing.
You cannot monitor as you record. It is just silence. Kind of weird.
I have one of these and like it a lot. It sounds great and drives my full size studio headphones. It also connects easily to my wireless Aftershock head phones. It fits in Winter coat pockets or can be dropped in my backpack. I'm listening to entire albums again because of this player! I had forgotten how much I loved doing that.
Recently, I found a milk crate full of my old cassettes from the ‘80s through the ‘00s. I need to get a new cassette player soon.
Just watched this video and immediately ordered one! Mr. Recordology, I trust your judgment!
Recordology, in my opinion, The new Portable sounded the best, followed by the Aiwa. As for me, I used to have a high End Aiwa like yours and I loved it. it was the nicest unit and sounded great, before that I had a GE and I Loved that as well. the Aiwa and the GE both had AM/FM radios and sounded great. I have a old Panasonic now from the 80's and it still works and I Love it!!!
those 90s walkmen were built perfect..the sound was excellent
Saw this unit on Techmoan and his review was "it could have been better". I was thinking "I am sticking to my vintage Aiwa TX377 and TX481", but after your review I think is a very good unit. My all time favorite was the Optimus SCP-43.
It seems that they have fixed the problems Techmoan has revealed.
those 90s walkmem were built perfect..the sound was excellent
I've been hemming and hawing about picking one of these up, finally bit the bullet and bought one online today. Can't wait to get it and start going through my dads old tapes. As for maintenance on the device itself, as long as you are careful it doesnt seem too hard to get into the unit and replace the belts and battery, I've done similar replacements to devices in the past
I ordered one from France , I can’t wait to have a brand new portable cassette player that is finally as good as the one I had in the 90s
Mine just came in the mail today and it’s is brilliant
Awesome!
For some reason all of your direct feed samples are in mono. I noticed this in your most recent turntable videos, too.
I have to track this down….not sure where it’s getting mixed down. YT is showing it as mp4a.40.2 but not sure of the stereo status.
Yeah thought the out put from all of them sounded a little phasey, so it could be the post mono mix as no portable unit has 100% perfect azimuth. Like to hear the We Are Rewind in stereo, but it at least sounds as good as the Aiwa. I'd test recording with a TDK D as the Scotch BX is not a great tape.
France in EPCOT maybe, lol. No Enoch Light music? INCONCEIVABLE! The new one does sound good. Another great video!
I went and watched the video again. That is "France" in EPCOT. You can even see the "skyliner" gondolas in the reflection of the window of the "Plume et Palette" place he is standing in front of at 18:31 into the video. Also, I checked a map of the France pavilion for EPCOT and I can see there that Plume et Palette place is (and it does indeed face the skyliner), as well as the Monsieur Paul restaurant I caught a glimpse of in the intro of this video. Same with that "Les Vins de Chefs de France" place that I also saw. Good one, "Mr. Record-ology" 😄 Anyway, that does not take away from the true purpose of this video that it appears that somebody is truly making an attempt at producing a good quality portable stereo cassette player/recorder like the venerable Sony Walkman of the "good ol' days". Also to add, then again, what it would seem to cost me to visit Disney for a week, I might as well actually GO to France!
This thing sounds great. I was worried that it looked like it was made by teenage engineering and it would cost about $2k but I am very pleasantly surprised 👍
What song did you use on Groovy Sounds of Yesterday , I know it’s a Fardemark video
Hi, yes it’s a Fardemark video.
Search for « Groovy sounds of yesterday - Reel to reel mixtape ».
You’ll find the song at 30mn. 😉
As someone who owned a ton of Walkman's back in the day... I really love the design... it's definitely a thing of beauty, colours are great too! My ONLY reservation is that there is no battery door so that you could swap out the rechargeable batteries for your own batteries, rechargeable or otherwise, as it kind of shoots the whole "eco friendly" argument in the foot, given that in four to five years, the unit will become redundant as the battery will have died and is sealed inside! Planned obscelescence is NOT environmentally friendly, sorry guys!
❤ will recommend them to our label fans.
Looks like cassette tapes is back on action since vinyl comeback!!😄
Oh god it's so good! 😊❤ The sound quality
From what I’ve heard, the AIWA is indistinguishable from the orange thing in playback. The other two are pretty far away apart from each other
I was quite impressed - and I had seen the corresponding TechMoan video earlier and there is no question in my mind that the model you tested is a finer unit. It would be really nice if it had an erase head that only functioned when making a recording, plus meters that enable a proper level to be set when recording. I know it would be more expensive but the improvement in quality might well be worth it.
Great fantastic review, hope to get one of these..
Great sound, fit and finish are excellent. I use mine through my " aux" input on my car stereo. Works well with my Bluetooth headset. This unit is somewhat basic, but has high quality internal parts. I recommend this for anyone looking to get their cassette mojo back.
Back in the day i preferred Aiwa to Sony they were awesome!! Especially the home ones!!
Awesome and very cool very fun❤ the new one definitely sounded very good 👍🏻 nice 😮
I'll be sticking with my classic JVC full logic tape deck I've had for over 20 years now, the things a beast! Full auto stop, auto reverse, Dolby B and C, it was simply one of the best you could get at the time it was released. I hardly listen to my mix tapes anymore, but I'm not going to spend upwards of $170 or more for this one to enjoy them....they need to add more features for it to be worth that lofty price.
I have an Akai HX-R5 that’s in dire need of repair, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything, especially after seeing this deck with the same-ol’ cheap Chinese mechanism. Peace.
This is a portable. Anyone who already owns a deck and has no need for a portable player won’t need it.
i see nothing on the we are rewind site about a new version. do you get the latest? how does it work?
Thank you for this video. Very very interesting ! I'm gonna order mine...
How can you we tell which version we have?
I bought a "We Are Rewind" cassette player/recorder in mid-June, 2023. I took a while for it to be delivered, but It works well, and I'm happy with it. I'd recommend it to any portable cassette player enthusiast. I'm not fond of the buttons.
Mine still works flawlessly....I love it!
Hi Record-ology, I am thinking about buying this cassette player, but I still have one question. In a reply to one of the comments below, you state that the battery is socketed and so replaceable without having to unsolder the old and soldering on the new battery. Are you sure of that? If yes, I think I will go for it; it still seems a little difficult to replace the battery (especially because of those plastic taps you have to bend in order to get the cassette door of), but it seems doable I guess. Kind regards and thanks in advance for your answer Geert
Yes both this and the Fiio CP13 are socketed and serviceable. You will need a bit of padded 3m adhesive tape but those batteries will last for a long time. If you haven’t seen our video on the Fiio check that out first. Same mechanics and head but a better amp albeit with no Bluetooth. Both will surprise you with their quality. People just don’t get it until they get their hands on them.
@@Recordology Thank you very much for this helpful reply. Upon reading this, I placed my order and choose the We Are Rewind player (as you may remember from te Revolution Go video, the bluetooth connectivity is a very big plus for me).
@@RecordologyToday, my "We are rewind" player came in and I played a bunch of tapes on it to break the mechanism in. And I have to say: it plays very well, but I had to give it some time (with the first tape or 2, I had terrible wow and flutter each time the tape was nearly at the end, maybe the clutch driving the take-up reel was not as fluently as it should, putting an irregular load on the mechanism). But now that it played for a while, all those problems are gone; I had to adjust the motor speed a bit as it ran a little bit too fast after the break in time. So, very nice and cool player all in all; thank you very much again for your nice and honest review! Oh eh before I forget: the auto stop as implemented in this player is something that does not work on all my tapes; it relies on tape tension to move the little triger inward, but whenever the capstan and pinch roller (in combination with the tape material I guess) are too slippery to have enough traction, tape tension is too low to move the trigger and the auto stop doesn't work. But, no big deal for me; I am very happy with this little player anyway!
Does it mounts variable speed?
In what ways has this version been upgraded since the original release? I have one of the original blue models.
They have not specified.
@@Recordology If you are in contact with them, it would be nice to know. I think the design has a lot of potential. I would prefer that the rechargeable battery was easily replaceable. Even as it stands now, I really like it.
That thing does sound better than both those other players, its like the best of both of the first two tested.
i love the bass booster walkmen
6:40
Lol.im same way! Every device i have that came with a clip doesnt have it installed 👌🏽
Meh. $160 seems like a lot to ask for a tape recorder that's not really a Walkman or a deck, doesn't work with earbuds and is basically meant to be disposable when the battery dies. I'm happy to leave this one to the "cassette culture" kids.
It works great with earbuds but yes it is expensive.
@@Recordology Specs on the web site says it doesn't. I assume it means BT earbuds, maybe it works with some and not others.
If only I could get my Sony Walkman from 98 made in Malaysia to work again 😢 Lying in a box of electronics and other equipment in the back of the family home now, next to my Dad's defunct original Walkman from 83!
Always loved cassettes - growing up in the 90s in the Middle East, there were only a handful of record shops, and Cds were way pricier than cassettes at that time. I looked after my cassettes well, and made mixtape after mixtape of all the songs I loved. I'm interested to see whether this new revamped Walkman can bring back those memories for me !
True, Techmoan did a review. However, I think that while it would be nice to be correct out of the box, he should have adjusted the motor speed to address the wow and flutter going over 0.2. Having the ability to adjust the motor without having to take it apart is nice.
What is the "upgraded, latest and greatest version" about?
Has there really been a major improvement/upgrade ?
I´ve heard about this claim recently but couldn´t find any official info on this topic.
The We Are Rewind Team doesn´t mention it at all on facebook.
I have the early model right after the final launch and i´m rather dissapointed to be honest.
The treble response it cut off aggressively at probably 12,5kHz and it really is missing out a lot of details in the audio.
The wow&flutter however is actually very decent, just below 0,2% after a run in.
Anyways, the Mulann B-1000EW seems to sound much better.
There´s no motor whining noise and a significant better frequency response but the two players clearly have the very same playback head based on part no.
So i assume there´s a major difference in the amplification circuit.
The Rewind would be so much better if it had the frequency response of the mulann, which btw. is a lot cheaper and sold directly from recording the masters.
Anyways i´m sticking to my Sony WM EX 674, EX 615, EX 505, DD11 and of course my Denon DRM 800 stationary 3-head HiFi deck for quality recordings.
Modern prerecorded albums don´t sound a lot better on vintage equipment anyways, since they´re just as poor as the modern tape players.
Judging by the techmoan video, it has significantly less whine now
Greetings Record ology. Hope everything is Good. Question: can you connect a pair of active speakers to that player?
Thank you! Yes absolutely!
How is sound out? I have live recordings that I want to burn to cd
I kinda wish there was a belt clip!
I was playing my cassette from start to finish on one side and it stopped the player completely idk about you but it works for me 🤷♂️
Wow everyone had that Sony Walkman back in the 80s and 90s. A decent unit however it was ubiquitous in the drug store blister pack.
Be nice if it had audio outputs for speakers.
You should be able to plug active speakers into the headphone socket no problem . I do that with my tape unit and it works fine .
@@ry491absolutely do not need a separate speaker output
I want to see cassette tapes become popular again. So many people say they’re outdated technology, but that’s kind of redundant. Your friend, Jeff.
The Memorex CDX II is actually a Cobalt doped ferric type 2. Not a true Chrome type 2 tape. However, it is a good type 2 cassette.
Thanks for this nice review of this device. If there are coming a "model 2" in the future, i'll hope it will be without the recording function. Recordings with DC-BIAS and permanent erasing head is a joke, and i don't like playing my tapes "safety" with a permanet magnet so near the tape. Remove the recording function, as it's now, and upgrade the auto stop function to the "full scale" , without that white "pin" in the tape path. But still, I like the ambition 🙂
Can you turn cassettes into digital files with this thing?
I heard a tiny bit of wow and flutter on the aiwa, maybe its belts are wearing out.
Credit where credit's due - they clearly put some effort into this. I have to say though I'm looking forward to the day when I see a brand new recording cassette deck with an AC driven electromagnetic erase head, rather than the permanent magnet unit. I imagine the main reason we don't see this with new decks is simply because nobody manufactures a cost effective electromagnetic erase head anymore.
Heard wow/flutter/flanging on the new one. Sounded crisp but sounded as if the heads have a crosstalk problem.
Then need to send Techmoan the new version, if it is far better than the original unit.
No stereo sound in the demo audio. I understand that it may not record in stereo via the aux input but what about an industry standard prerecorded stereo cassette from a record label.
I did another video with a better direct feed test.
3:43 door is bent on the corner..
been wanting a tape deck for my car that isn't super noisy, the cheapy one I have from Amazon is not cutting it and trying to find an old tape deck to wire in is just more hassle than it's worth.
This would be a good one!
Aiwa such an high end player i prefer using it more
Well, who needs this?
Just stream, this is so 80's 😅😊
I bought this to record my dawless Lofi music production.
i would like a new logic controlled slim line,like sony ,aiwa,panasonic used to make.
Verdict in a nutshell ... Back to the drawing board i'm afraid. Too many important features missing, No Dolby, No Full Auto Stop, No Quartz locked direct drive, No mega bass, No Auto reverse, No tape counter. Operational buttons are far too cumbersome and the double belt drive is just asking for trouble, should be operating from a quick battery change source (2AA 1.5v battery's) or USB powered. Semi sealed internal rechargeable battery will prove expensive to renew at the end of it's service life.
No more Dolby chips are manufactured. Even if a company wanted to start its own production which is costly on its own, it wouldn't work because Dolby no longer license their noise reduction system for cassette tapes.
There arent going to be those features because cassette is not a leading format like it nearly was back then. All the big manufacturers were involved. I would be happy with a quality player that had little of those features. Get an old quality player with most of those features, it will be worth it.
It’s 150$, it’s portable, it records and it has bluetooth
All sound mono to me, what happened?
Does it have a real mabuchi motor?
Of course it's compatible to every Tape Type. The Equalization does nothing than change the Frequency Response to a different curve. Because of Type II, Type III and Type IV tapes played back with 70 Microseconds, while Type I Tapes are at 120. That means Type II/II/IV will sound a bit harsh on a unit which just plays everything at 120 Microseconds. It can sound over-brilliant and subjective in many opinions it's even better than played back as it should, BUT you also got 4 dB more hiss on the highs, that you wouldn't have if you could change the Equalization to High Mode. This plus Motor Noise and BT Interferences makes this unit uninteresting to me. Also the fact, that it has a high wow and flutter without moving and will add more if it's moved and there is no Anti Rolling on it. The thing with the Auto Stop also is very poor.
I know that even most High Quality Walkmans of the 80s and 90s (I had many of those) have noticeable Wow and Flutter but they are still better, than this thing, if they are serviced. There is no better one than the Sony Walkman DD Lineup. They have a W&F like a HiFi Tapedeck, sound very good and have very solid Anti Rolling. If you once had one of those every other unit lose against them.
I wish they'd add a Full Auto Stop, Anti Rolling Mechanism and an Equaliziation, also, the Motor/BT Noise needs to be eliminated. On a good Walkman the only disturbing thing is the Tape Hiss. I also don't need a recording function. I got a High Quality Tapedeck and wouldn't use a Walkman for Recording, just for playback. So they could sell a playback only Version a bit cheaper.
It's really cool, that they are so enthusiastic to develop such a thing nowadays but for the high price I expect a high quality product that not only has a metal shell. It also should have high quality components on it.
The issue is good luck finding one of those players from the 80s that are still functional
The tape was backwards of you clother Look you can See it 😅 nice Walkman
a very good tape player I don't use tapes enough to be worth spending $200 but if you use it a lot and that's something you want it's cool I have a little bio static saving it's called portable and it's fine for voice dictation and I would only cost me about $16 now that the 1799 think I ddo have a portable tape player and CD player my best kind of an old-fashioned modern boombox is pretty nice has a double cassette but nowadays the cassette market isn't big enough to spend the money for me I usually get myx on eBay and my blankets that on Amazon old stock thanks
Recorded in the French town of Epcot (pronounced ep-coh).
😂😂😂
The thing I hate most is that they promise the battery life to be 4-5 years and you can't change it :/
I Gotta Call B💩S on 5yrs Non Replaceable Batt Life 😮
The Actual Tape Drive Mech. is Gonna Croak In Less Than 18 Months😢
Just In Time To Buy Next Years Model/Version🐷🐙😭😞😰🐼🐯📼🎅
I want one, why?, because it's COMPACT!!.
HOW CAN YOU TELL A NEW MODEL FROM THE OLD MODEL? MODEL NUMBER?
NGL but that transparent stereo looks like something you'd give to someone in prison.
New is... new, even the quality Aiwa had audible flutter/wow problem related probably to old belts.
Every one of the cassette players you show - including the French on - all use the same internal mechanism and heads. The difference is in the housing, blue-tooth and rechargeable battery - However, you have no access to the battery so when it dies, the entire unit dies. Personally, I feel its way too expensive the price point should be about $79.00 in my opinion.
Close! The heads are different (some stereo some mono) and the flywheel can be plastic or copper which makes a BIG difference! Also, the batteries are usually replaceable and socketed vs. soldered to the board.
I never really found a good walkman type device. They were all hissy, even more when engaging the tonal controls.
Maybe trying to bring back the portable cassette player might not be a good idea, because Sony created such a high standard. However, I'm not saying that trying to bring back the cassette is a bad idea, but maybe an attempt at a full size deck with AC BIAS recording. The same mech thats easily available today, with a heavy flywheel and decent motor. The electrical components wouldn't be limited to a small enclosure, so something good could be engineered. What one might end up with is the professional type TEAC W 1200.
They definitely set a high standard! I think the fly wheel being made out of metal on. This is one of the primary reasons it does. Such a good job. Also quality amplification.
Cassette Decks are still being made by Teac, however they don't have Dolby anymore and some reviewers on RUclips think they are not as good as the older decks, but some will buy them because they are branded, and brand new so won't suddenly stop working.
Probably an 18650 battery in there.
How come no Dolby,mega base,mo full auto stop i can say many more and to big many more things i could say
Powering only with a rechargeable battery is a deal breaker. In twenty years it’ll be worthless because the battery’ll be run down.
It’s replaceable.
@@Recordology What would you prefer if buying a device?
Good question! I would prefer a rechargeable battery because it would save money on replacing alkaline batteries. However, I would prefer that it be user replaceable like this one. Granted it’s not as simple as opening a tabbed panel… But with a little bit of common sense, and a screwdriver it can be done… The battery is socketed so it does not require any soldering.
@@RecordologyI think they rushed this. They could’ve had a rechargeable battery and a battery compartment for regular batteries. Another option are rechargeable lithium battery packs than can be replaced like regular batteries.
Thanks for the demo - it's terribly disappointing - improved sound sure - but that is more due to the OEM mechanism than anything rewind did. It's 2023 and only real option is for a 20 year old player still.
Tell all sound the same
Techmoan lost all credibility as a tech review channel, I'd rather watch your reviews anyway.
Now that's pretty lame quality for 149 dollars.
That new walkman look like someone from 50`s design it. Ugly as hell. I will never buy this
позор позор позор, это деградация полная.
Eh, definitely not a quality player. Found the same mechanism at an AliExpress listing. It’s a novelty item. People who want something like a Walkman, don’t get something LIKE a Walkman, just buy an FX from the 2000s.
That’s a common misconception. The current mechanism that is available is simply a framework and is absolutely fine. The issue comes in when company spec out a lower quality, mono head or/and a cheap plastic flywheel. This unit uses a quality stereo head and a copper flywheel. Guaranteed to impress you if you give it a listen.
@@RecordologyEven so, 150 euros is too steep for a Walkman You could buy an old deck and amp for that price off of a local store, a Goodwill, or Facebook Marketplace. And also, why is the famous RUclipsr whose first two letters are VW banned lol?
It is pricey. Agreed there! What’s this about VWestlife? He is not banned.
@@Recordology Edited my original reply to include it, but it got deleted.