I thought it was still broken coz that test tape sounded like ass to me. I guess it was either the way the audio output was configured or it's just meant to sound like that. Glad he fixed it though. The man deserves a good working Walkman after all his efforts.
It's a bizarre tape to use for testing playback - it sounds exactly like a slow-running deck with chronic wow and flutter. I thought the player was done, and then he's like "phew, sounds great!".
Here's me with extra information on that cassette that came with the Walkman, for the curious. It reads "ロス・プリモス 全集雨の城ヶ崎", which can be translated to "Los primos, Jogasaki Rain, Complete works" That's all, great video!
when I read that I was like "Los Primos? Is that some Japanese listening to a Spanish or Mexican band" - but no, it's a Japanese band which just happens to be made of 5 people.
Found my WM-34 a month ago, owned it from it was new, I chose it for the Dolby-B NR. Hooked it up to my stereo, and it worked fine (some unstable tape speed though) until I tried fast fwd, then the belt fell off the motorpully. Still I'm impressed, I used it fairly much, and it has been lying arround in humid conditions, and in temp. from -20 to +40 deg. Celcius.
I have so many of these to fix, I’m kinda new and you’ve no idea how much I appreciate your videos, I know to you it’s just another Walkman, but to me it’s an online university course 🤣. Thank you so much for all your effort.
Just got this walkman from an online auction and this video was really helpful, mine came in almost the same condition except a bit of corrosion on the terminals.
Omg this takes me back. I had the recorder walkman and carried a Sony battery backup that held 2 c batteries which had a belt clip. The screws on that model would make Apple criticize how difficult it was to repair! Looking forward to a video on that Walkman!
I usually just record a 1khz test tone onto a blank cassette using a good quality recorder, then play that back into an oscilloscope to do speed alignment. You might be able to get away with using a frequency counter app or even Audacity to verify the 1khz output.
I use similar technique for adjusting speed. I record from digital on my trusty deck, then play both my digital copy and the tape trying to sinchronize them.
That tape you got inside the player is a pretty good quality Sony. That HF-X is from approximately 1990, Japanese Domestic Market (JDM), a true superferric. Congrats on getting that unit up and running again, hopefully it gives you many hours of great playback.
I often find with this era of small Sony Walkmans that one side plays with more wow and flutter than the other. The reason is that one pinch roller stays engaged until you open the lid and remove the cassette. Many have been left with cassettes in them long term, denting one pinch roller and causing the distortion in one direction.
I love how you make retro cool! I remember back in the day, this type of Walkman design really appealed to me. That was probably after I got a Philips "portable cassette player" (Walkman is trademarked, of course) though. That Philips was an AQ6528 with all the bells and whistles: Dolby B, autoreverse and an AM/FM tuner. But it was big and heavy. I think a classmate of mine even jokingly said to me I walked around "with a fridge" in school once. And although it sounded good, it ran a tiny bit slower with some tapes (Maxell XLII-S for example) which was a pain.
I posted this before watching the last part where you had to adjust the speed trimmer. But now that I have, I have to come clean: I actually adjusted the speed of my Philips as well. It actually had a tiny hole in the bottom, giving access to its speed trimmer so it could be adjusted with a tiny flathead screwdriver. I actually did this sometimes, when I switched tapes. Ohhh the "fond" memories. ;)
I've fixed hundreds of these units aver the years. That screw by the battery compartment is almost always missing. It's very short to stop it interfering with the gumstick battery - its really not necessary. You're right abut lucking out... it's a nice unit!
This video reminded me of a Sanyo M1118 my parents had years ago at home. Don't know what happened to it, but nostalgia definitely hit. I wish we still had it :(
Fun fact! The style of music on the included tape is "enka". This genre is popular with old people in Japan, and since old people are, well, old, they're most commonly sold on cassette tapes, since that's what their customer base knows how to use. Which means that yes, cassette tapes are still used in Japan, even today!
I had that small blue one, had a dent in the exact same place, pretty sure it was right at that point where you would lean over a table with it in your pocket. The Japanese version looks different, ahh nostalgia. The Bass BOOOST :)
I was able to track down a EX 618 a while ago, which is basically 100% the same device, but rebranded as EX 618 for whatever reason. It´s definitely a nice machine but i had a lot of issues with it. The mechanics was stiff and needed a lot of lubrication, also the motor bearing was entirely dry and possibly also worn out. Had to dissasembly the motor to lubricate it. Now it´s running quiet again but oh boy what a pain it was to remove the glue, remove the stator board and glue it back together... It´s not performing as good as my collection of EX 670/672/674 players (wow&flutter) but definitely has a lovely design.
That's awesome bro You remind me of my teenage years in 90s I used to buy broken walkmans and fix them and sell them to friends I had over 120 walkmans all brands but most Sony I also love the earphones that slides to comes with Sony and panasonic Sony aiwa panasonic grundig sanyo pioneer Philips toshiba and more Sony and aiwa walkmans were the Best
Thank you so much for this video. It motivated me to move on from my WM-F100III (a similar model to your R202) and onto the EX511 (mine is in black). I noticed something odd about my model, that being that its default "side A" is with the tape side A facing inward. This means that if I have side A facing, put it in the non-continuous play mode, and start playing side A, it will stop after only that side since I guess it's programmed to think that the side facing out is side B. I wanted to know if your model has that quirk too or if it only applies to some WM-EX511 units, though I am pretty sure yours does too just from watching the clip near the end of you showing off the tape you got with the unit.
1:08 at there beneath the head is a microswitch that detect the indent for the fifth screw on each cassette. This is what I call a side detection switch. Basically more flexibility of play mode.
Just discovered your channel today, and now, teach us your ways! Can you have a video of your tools and workstation for electronics repair? That would be fantastic.
You can make a test tone tape yourself, there are youtube vids of certain frequencies and record off that, it's not the same as a calibrated tape, but if you're confident that recorder is okay then you'll be adjusting your walkmans to the same speed as that at least. I have a 3kHz tone and a free spectrum sound app, and it's good enough for my ears. Oh, and if you have a junk Sony minidisc player those are a great source for that size screw!
I have restored over 50 walkmans and only had 2 that could not be fixed. your left pinch roller is toast. Has a crease in it. You need to re lube the capstan shafts and replace those pinch rollers and sometime it is just the tape you are using, try another. Some walkmans like some tapes and some don't :)
Someone has probably suggested this but you can also record a test tape with a single frequency tone on that other deck. Since that one's presumably playing at the correct speed it should work and you can adjust the speed like that. Won't be as good as a professional tape from a calibrated machine but might be better than that BPM method
Since you've already got a nice home deck you can use as a reference, you can just record a test tone on a tape yourself and use that for calibrating these Walkmans.
I might need to invest in one of these. The MidWest in the midst of Ice Storms and frequent Internet Blackouts, and I have had to resort to Ethernet and Vienna Sausages. 2021 is not all they hyped it to be.
Got two identical Sony players, that I just can't get either one working. Thankfully I didn't spend a whole lot of money on them. So, I went back to eBay and decided to splurge a little bit and buy more costly, well serviced player. Along with another middle of the road Sony that does work and one gamble with an untested machine. I got a cheaper Panasonic that I want to enjoy, but after replacing the belt, and adjusting the speed, it just doesn't want to stay at the proper setting. It just feels like 2% too slow. No matter what I do. Time to try some new units.
You will want to re check the capstan pulleys and the motor pulley on that walkman. You will hear WOW with certain songs like from queen with slow piano. The video showing the belt moving I can see uneven movement. Not hard to clean them.
if your repaired good deck has decent speed stability, you could record the speed test tape yourself on it too by the way, I guess it's worth a shot and if you're mostly listening to stuff recorded with the deck you made the calibration tape with, setting them both to the same speed is all fine, even if both end up slightly off.
Calibration of decks is relative. You should record a 3KHZ tone on the deck you'll be using the most to produce your music. Then use a phone app or audio editor on a computer to view the frequency during playback. Adjust to 3khz and you're good. That way tapes played in your Walkman will be playing at the right speed for the recording and chances are if tapes recorded by your deck sound good, tapes recorded by other decks sound just as good. So don't worry too much about dropping cash on a calibration tape just make your own.
I've got this Sony WM-34 that needs a new belt. Would love to get a belt for it but shipping would be more expensive than the belt itself. And I don't even know if it works correctly
Hello! I have a WM-525 and I changed the belt, and I don't know if the speed needs to be adjusted or where it can be adjusted? On an older walkman, you could control the speed of the motor with a small screwdriver. I couldn't find a repair video for this type. thanks
The belts from Marian (Fix your Audio) is very expensive due to covid. Shipping to Australia is around $45 aud for a $10 belt :( I have bought alot of belts from Marian prior to covid.
Don't know how to explain my problem, but I'll try. I have a Sony CFD-S03CPL with working radio and cd player, but the cassette player does something weird. I have assumed that the motor is ok because the rewind and forward functions work properly, but when the play button is fully pressed (like if I was trying to listen to some tapes) the motor almost stops or runs very slow. For it to work, I have to block the play button (without being fully pressed) for the cassette player to work at the appropiate speed (when the play button is fully pressed, sometimes the motor almost stops). It's a pitty because this player is the only one that I have that lets me burn some tapes when I want to test them. Thank you in advance for the help
Colin is probably the only person I know of who can tell if Vaporwave is playing slowly.
I thought it was still broken coz that test tape sounded like ass to me. I guess it was either the way the audio output was configured or it's just meant to sound like that. Glad he fixed it though. The man deserves a good working Walkman after all his efforts.
@@PJBonoVox haha yeah that's how that style of music sounds. I found it an odd sample to test playback speed myself hehe
Me: Oooh, that doesn’t sound right. Unless it’s...
Colin: I guess I got lucky this time, because it sounds fine.
Me: ah...of course it’s Vaporwave.
@@nickwallette6201 lol
It's a bizarre tape to use for testing playback - it sounds exactly like a slow-running deck with chronic wow and flutter. I thought the player was done, and then he's like "phew, sounds great!".
Here's me with extra information on that cassette that came with the Walkman, for the curious.
It reads "ロス・プリモス 全集雨の城ヶ崎", which can be translated to "Los primos, Jogasaki Rain, Complete works"
That's all, great video!
Hand written japanese is just something that mesmerises me.
:O
アイちゃん、他(and others/etc.)が抜けてるでぇ。
its Ross instead of los
Colin: "Someone's been in here."
Dankpods: "That's gimmick infringement."
2:47 seems like *SOMEONE’S BEEN IN HERE*
Lol im not the only dank pods fan here!
nah mate, it's been in 'ere
Bluetooth mode....
Ope
it was probably craig
The name of the artist is "ロス・プリモス" The whole song can be found here: ruclips.net/video/BnkyA_ZR2Is/видео.html
Thanks!
when I read that I was like "Los Primos? Is that some Japanese listening to a Spanish or Mexican band" - but no, it's a Japanese band which just happens to be made of 5 people.
@@xerzy AJAJAJJAJAJA
T h a n k. You!
That chip is made my Mitsumi, not Microchip. They have remarkably similar logos.
The more you know🎆
And its the motor speed control chip
I was thinking "man that tape is playing slow with ridiculous flutter" but then i remembered you are into vaporwave :p
Same here -- especially because I've had cassette players with bad motors that make everything you play on them sound like vaporwave.
@@vwestlife yeah, my old wm-ex110 had a crazy amount of wow & flutter
It's nearly always fun discovering forgotten media in old machines like this.
No joke, that japanese audio tape sounded leagues better than the first one you made
A quality cassette - I'd call that a mini win finding that inside!
Congrats on finally having a working walkman!
Yay, you lucked out with an easier fix this time!
why does it say this comment was made 3 days ago even tho the video was made 40 mineuts ago
@@elizabethm78 patrons get to see the video a couple days earlier
@@ColinJK ok
Found my WM-34 a month ago, owned it from it was new, I chose it for the Dolby-B NR. Hooked it up to my stereo, and it worked fine (some unstable tape speed though) until I tried fast fwd, then the belt fell off the motorpully. Still I'm impressed, I used it fairly much, and it has been lying arround in humid conditions, and in temp. from -20 to +40 deg. Celcius.
So happy to see you got a W here. You were due!
I have so many of these to fix, I’m kinda new and you’ve no idea how much I appreciate your videos, I know to you it’s just another Walkman, but to me it’s an online university course 🤣. Thank you so much for all your effort.
I’ve found that the late 90s-early 2000s full logic sony walkmans seem to be more relyable than the earlier ones, and are often easier to fix
Haven't used a walkman in a long time but i'm loving these videos.
Just got this walkman from an online auction and this video was really helpful, mine came in almost the same condition except a bit of corrosion on the terminals.
I must be getting old; the first tape you played had me thinking this Walkman is a basket case.
i've almost forgot the warm and smooth sound of tapes!
While I like dramatic repair, it's good to finally see an easy win relative to the others. Great job Colin!
Omg this takes me back. I had the recorder walkman and carried a Sony battery backup that held 2 c batteries which had a belt clip. The screws on that model would make Apple criticize how difficult it was to repair! Looking forward to a video on that Walkman!
I usually just record a 1khz test tone onto a blank cassette using a good quality recorder, then play that back into an oscilloscope to do speed alignment. You might be able to get away with using a frequency counter app or even Audacity to verify the 1khz output.
I use similar technique for adjusting speed. I record from digital on my trusty deck, then play both my digital copy and the tape trying to sinchronize them.
That tape you got inside the player is a pretty good quality Sony. That HF-X is from approximately 1990, Japanese Domestic Market (JDM), a true superferric. Congrats on getting that unit up and running again, hopefully it gives you many hours of great playback.
Great video, and those close-up shots of the walkman are gorgeous!
I often find with this era of small Sony Walkmans that one side plays with more wow and flutter than the other. The reason is that one pinch roller stays engaged until you open the lid and remove the cassette. Many have been left with cassettes in them long term, denting one pinch roller and causing the distortion in one direction.
That’s a really nice Walkman! Glad to see it was an easy fix this time!
Very nice work on this one. Even the little ding looks good.
Oh yeah Walkman time
Everybody stop
Walkman time.
Might want to go over the pulleys with isopropanol. Lots of wow and flutter going on :)
I love how you make retro cool! I remember back in the day, this type of Walkman design really appealed to me. That was probably after I got a Philips "portable cassette player" (Walkman is trademarked, of course) though. That Philips was an AQ6528 with all the bells and whistles: Dolby B, autoreverse and an AM/FM tuner. But it was big and heavy. I think a classmate of mine even jokingly said to me I walked around "with a fridge" in school once. And although it sounded good, it ran a tiny bit slower with some tapes (Maxell XLII-S for example) which was a pain.
I posted this before watching the last part where you had to adjust the speed trimmer. But now that I have, I have to come clean: I actually adjusted the speed of my Philips as well. It actually had a tiny hole in the bottom, giving access to its speed trimmer so it could be adjusted with a tiny flathead screwdriver. I actually did this sometimes, when I switched tapes. Ohhh the "fond" memories. ;)
I've fixed hundreds of these units aver the years. That screw by the battery compartment is almost always missing. It's very short to stop it interfering with the gumstick battery - its really not necessary. You're right abut lucking out... it's a nice unit!
Sweet win on the Walkman… portable deck and a free vaporwave tape… Score 😁
It sounds awesome and nostalgic...I got to fix my Walkman!
This video reminded me of a Sanyo M1118 my parents had years ago at home. Don't know what happened to it, but nostalgia definitely hit. I wish we still had it :(
I'm really glad you finally got an easy repair! Great video as always 👍
I thought that this Walkman was done for when it started playing. Turns out the music is supposed to sound like that :D
Great job Colin, you giving me the idea to dig up my old walkman a WM-ex70 with similar mechanism... Thanks !
Nice glad the repair worked out.
Tubemongers has practically new ones. Bought one last year, loving it!
I like your style of explaining and video taking.
Fun fact! The style of music on the included tape is "enka". This genre is popular with old people in Japan, and since old people are, well, old, they're most commonly sold on cassette tapes, since that's what their customer base knows how to use. Which means that yes, cassette tapes are still used in Japan, even today!
Not a bad find, I got a similar model and diagnosing it is a nightmare
I had that small blue one, had a dent in the exact same place, pretty sure it was right at that point where you would lean over a table with it in your pocket. The Japanese version looks different, ahh nostalgia. The Bass BOOOST :)
2:47 "Seems like someones has been here"
dankpods flashback
Friday and a new Video! Nice! Here we gooo!
I was able to track down a EX 618 a while ago, which is basically 100% the same device, but rebranded as EX 618 for whatever reason.
It´s definitely a nice machine but i had a lot of issues with it.
The mechanics was stiff and needed a lot of lubrication, also the motor bearing was entirely dry and possibly also worn out.
Had to dissasembly the motor to lubricate it.
Now it´s running quiet again but oh boy what a pain it was to remove the glue, remove the stator board and glue it back together...
It´s not performing as good as my collection of EX 670/672/674 players (wow&flutter) but definitely has a lovely design.
This man has the voice of Vision from Avengers 😂
I really like what was on the tape you got with the walkman as well!
That's awesome bro
You remind me of my teenage years in 90s I used to buy broken walkmans and fix them and sell them to friends
I had over 120 walkmans all brands but most Sony
I also love the earphones that slides to comes with Sony and panasonic
Sony aiwa panasonic grundig sanyo pioneer Philips toshiba and more
Sony and aiwa walkmans were the Best
Since there were no Caps or other parts to replace (other than the belt), you seemed... a little miffed.
STILL, great video's. 😉👍
“Someone’s been in here” ;)
Sounds good too, hardly any hiss
Choice of capacitors was probably due to cost. As well as the caps being cheaper, they are easier to solder which further reduces manufacturing cost.
I really loved this model. I will work on getting one of these.
Thank you so much for this video. It motivated me to move on from my WM-F100III (a similar model to your R202) and onto the EX511 (mine is in black). I noticed something odd about my model, that being that its default "side A" is with the tape side A facing inward. This means that if I have side A facing, put it in the non-continuous play mode, and start playing side A, it will stop after only that side since I guess it's programmed to think that the side facing out is side B. I wanted to know if your model has that quirk too or if it only applies to some WM-EX511 units, though I am pretty sure yours does too just from watching the clip near the end of you showing off the tape you got with the unit.
1:08 at there beneath the head is a microswitch that detect the indent for the fifth screw on each cassette. This is what I call a side detection switch. Basically more flexibility of play mode.
Just discovered your channel today, and now, teach us your ways! Can you have a video of your tools and workstation for electronics repair? That would be fantastic.
Great video
You can make a test tone tape yourself, there are youtube vids of certain frequencies and record off that, it's not the same as a calibrated tape, but if you're confident that recorder is okay then you'll be adjusting your walkmans to the same speed as that at least. I have a 3kHz tone and a free spectrum sound app, and it's good enough for my ears.
Oh, and if you have a junk Sony minidisc player those are a great source for that size screw!
Great job Colin, you deserved a win after your recent run of bad luck :)
Some nice Japanese Enka music there. I wonder who owned it.
The tape plays Japan Enka
Glad to see you have a win for a change 😎
I have restored over 50 walkmans and only had 2 that could not be fixed. your left pinch roller is toast. Has a crease in it. You need to re lube the capstan shafts and replace those pinch rollers and sometime it is just the tape you are using, try another. Some walkmans like some tapes and some don't :)
Someone has probably suggested this but you can also record a test tape with a single frequency tone on that other deck. Since that one's presumably playing at the correct speed it should work and you can adjust the speed like that. Won't be as good as a professional tape from a calibrated machine but might be better than that BPM method
That was my first thought, but my working home deck hasn’t been calibrated either. Kind of end up in a catch-22 unless I buy a known-accurate tape.
Great video , would suggest a wow&flutter test gear for cassette repair
Yeah! I got two similar Sony walkmans. Both needed a new belt. Other than that I am happily enjoying them.🙂👍
Beautiful model.
Hey Colin, It's everyone, How's it goin'?
I'm pretty sure that remote port with the headphone jack is the same proprietary Port they even used on the PS4 controllers "EXT" port
Since you've already got a nice home deck you can use as a reference, you can just record a test tone on a tape yourself and use that for calibrating these Walkmans.
You could detach with hot air the 20.3mm sticker and move it down a bit just to have the dent covered.
IMO its a horrible idea to test a walkman using vapourwave. I thought it was completely broken at first, running far too slow
Lol me too!
I heard this and thought "Aww, the pinch roller is eating the tape!" - no, that's what it was *supposed* to sound like...
I might need to invest in one of these. The MidWest in the midst of Ice Storms and frequent Internet Blackouts, and I have had to resort to Ethernet and Vienna Sausages. 2021 is not all they hyped it to be.
Can't wait to see you restore the other players in the package. ;-)
Got two identical Sony players, that I just can't get either one working. Thankfully I didn't spend a whole lot of money on them. So, I went back to eBay and decided to splurge a little bit and buy more costly, well serviced player. Along with another middle of the road Sony that does work and one gamble with an untested machine.
I got a cheaper Panasonic that I want to enjoy, but after replacing the belt, and adjusting the speed, it just doesn't want to stay at the proper setting. It just feels like 2% too slow. No matter what I do. Time to try some new units.
Nice video . Can you do a video about those APM speakers ? And do you have some ?
I lucked out, it's working fine...
*Vaporwave plays*
Sounds pharqued to me 😂
love the music on the tape
I get the feeling that test tape you made would make everything sound broken 😂
You will want to re check the capstan pulleys and the motor pulley on that walkman. You will hear WOW with certain songs like from queen with slow piano. The video showing the belt moving I can see uneven movement. Not hard to clean them.
if your repaired good deck has decent speed stability, you could record the speed test tape yourself on it too by the way, I guess it's worth a shot and if you're mostly listening to stuff recorded with the deck you made the calibration tape with, setting them both to the same speed is all fine, even if both end up slightly off.
a bonus hf-x! nice.
Calibration of decks is relative.
You should record a 3KHZ tone on the deck you'll be using the most to produce your music.
Then use a phone app or audio editor on a computer to view the frequency during playback. Adjust to 3khz and you're good.
That way tapes played in your Walkman will be playing at the right speed for the recording and chances are if tapes recorded by your deck sound good, tapes recorded by other decks sound just as good. So don't worry too much about dropping cash on a calibration tape just make your own.
I used to have this such nostalgia
I've got this Sony WM-34 that needs a new belt. Would love to get a belt for it but shipping would be more expensive than the belt itself. And I don't even know if it works correctly
Happy Valentine’s day ❤️🧡🧡💚💙💜💝💟
10:25 TRUST THE PROCESS
If you clean the flywheels from the remnants of the old belt, the detonation will be less
That test tape was so horrible I thought for sure the player was not fixed :)
Hello! I have a WM-525 and I changed the belt, and I don't know if the speed needs to be adjusted or where it can be adjusted? On an older walkman, you could control the speed of the motor with a small screwdriver. I couldn't find a repair video for this type. thanks
The belts from Marian (Fix your Audio) is very expensive due to covid. Shipping to Australia is around $45 aud for a $10 belt :( I have bought alot of belts from Marian prior to covid.
Does anyone know what the song is playing in the background during the repair?
The chip logo is by Mitsumi and not Microchip. Both are close, but Mitsumi's is rounded.
nice repair
I used to work for a Sony warranty repair centre and we'd call those plastic walkmans "Lego Walkmans".
I have the WM-607 and looks like to be the same transport mechanism. I need to replace the pinch rollers becaus they are very bad, but I cant find it.
It sounds like it has a lot of wow & flutter, probably needs new grease for the capstan
Colin, Im currently stationed in Japan and have some Hard Off stores local to me if you need me to look for anything in particular.
Don't know how to explain my problem, but I'll try. I have a Sony CFD-S03CPL with working radio and cd player, but the cassette player does something weird. I have assumed that the motor is ok because the rewind and forward functions work properly, but when the play button is fully pressed (like if I was trying to listen to some tapes) the motor almost stops or runs very slow. For it to work, I have to block the play button (without being fully pressed) for the cassette player to work at the appropiate speed (when the play button is fully pressed, sometimes the motor almost stops). It's a pitty because this player is the only one that I have that lets me burn some tapes when I want to test them. Thank you in advance for the help