[REVIEW] Jensen SCR-75 portable cassette player
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2020
- Yes, I'm reviewing a product instead of an album. But you can listen to albums on this! My old Sony Walkman went kaput so I decided to shell out on this extremely high end badboy.
My apologies if the sound quality example clips blast your eardrums out. I only listened to it after I started this upload and might've made it a bit too loud. Just turn your volume down a little, and it still gets the point across :)
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Instagram: @travislausch
Twitter: @lauscho1
On that Sports walkman, there is a screw to change the playback speed of the player, you can adjust it as it is playing so you get the right speed
I wish it was the 90s again so that we can enjoy those Sony and Panasonic portable cassette players I remember I had 6 portable cassette players 3 Sony 2 Panasonic and one Panasonic one. But im going to try this portable cassette player you review I'll give one a try I wan to listen to my old cassettes. Thanks for the video. It helped me. I can live with the noise.
Plaease give me one
HAHAHAHA I died when you give us that suggestion to the earbuds! But hey thanks for the thorough reviews and thoughts about this. I'll be buying this tomorrow😁
Thanks for the review. I bought the previous model, the SCR-68C. My results were similar to yours. Eventually I bought a couple of used Sony(R) Walkman(R) players from the '90s and they sound a bit better. Problem is, those Sony players are 20 to 30 years old and over time the electronic and mechanical components malfunction due to wear, tear, old age etc. Connected to my living room stereo system, tapes play acceptably well through the Jensen but tone quality is kinda flat, connecting one of the Sony Walkmans is noticeably richer, and connecting an old Technics cassette deck it's better still. In short, I still have the SCR-68C and it still works okay. Yours has one improvement: the SCR-75 has a separate Output jack which probably has slightly cleaner, lower distortion output for connecting to a home audio system or to a car audio system.
yea thats the issue, 20-30 yrs of age on electronics are not good. Caps leak and the functions start to fail. Its sad but a reality. I am looking to buy a walkman but these used ones on eBay i am double thinking. Might have to just buy a new one that has fresh electronics in them.
I just now purchased this same cassette player for 19 dollars , at target. And I have a question for you. Do all cassette player manufacturers use the same style motor and mechanisms. I wish they could upgrade the systems .
For the most part, they do, but there are improvements that can be made since each mechanism is modular. You could use higher-quality motors, better amplifier circuitry, etc. But yes, most cassette players these days use the same basic frame for the mechanism.
Muy bien explicado, me ayudo mucho para decidir si comprarlo, muchas gracias
Just purchased this at Target I am must say I am pleasantly surprised by the sound quality giving the price point of $18. There is of course tape hiss (no dolby anymore), but the wow and flutter are pretty good. RMS is about 0.22% and there is a speed adjust pot if you remove the belt clip, so I adjusted it to the correct speed using a 3khz test tape (mine ran a bit too fast). I am primarily going to be using it to read data from audio cassettes for a MP3 playback from cassette project I am working on (ruclips.net/video/kKtzF8XOZGQ/видео.html), and for that it works just as well as my old Pioneer CT-W606DR deck. No errors reading from a 120 min Type I, or 110 type II, and of course the line out is real handy for this.
@The Cool show Seriously? I saw this at my local Walmart. Lol. Even if you can't find it anywhere, you can always buy it online.
@The Cool show I bought one on amazon for $14
to rewind flip tape then fast forward. I believe if they made it rewind as well it would of brought the price up more and there are many worse things to cut costs on IMO.
I have this, but the tapes sound muffled, like they're far away, but when I play the tapes on anything else it sounds fine. Do you know how I can fix that?
Technically, you CAN adjust the azimuth of the playback heads (basically, how straight the heads are compared to the tape) with a screw, but I don't recommend doing it if you have no idea what you're doing...
Azimuth adjusting isn't rocket science. You turn the screw until the tape gets the loudest output.
A good closed back headphone can help with the bass. At least it's stereo and for me personally it matters a lot. Great review 👍
It startles me how many manufacturers making cassette players today think mono is "good enough"... I'm so glad this is at least in stereo.
cool vid what song did you use to test the line out and headphone??
Blue Oyster Cult's "Take me Away". On a Type II cassette (Chromium Dioxide) to give it the best possible chance for sound quality's sake.
@@longwordsonsongwords thanks !
What is the brand of your keyboard?
It works only with batteries or you can use an AC adapter?
Both
@@thechallenger456678 thanks
Have you tried adjusting the speed on the sony walkman? There should be a place where you can turn the screw to adjust speed, most sony walkmans have it.
No, but I did try to replace the belt, and that definitely didn't do the positive thing I was hoping it would. But if there's a speed adjustment on those old Sports Walkmans, I might have to take it!
On the A53/B53, SXF30, and AF59 sports Walkmans there's a speed adjustment pot under the pressure release port on the bottom of the player (the gray rubber cover on the bottom). Open that, and use a small flathead or Philips screwdriver to adjust speed. I recommend doing so while listening to a tape so you can hear how your adjustments affect the speed. All Walkmans have this feature, though most require disassembly.
@@randymcmillian8220 hey, thanks for the reply (I really should follow the comments on this more frequently... this isn't my main channel!), I can definitely look into that with the AF59 I had, but the problem was not just speed but flutter as well. Faster flutter doesn't make tapes sound any better, unfortunately. But, I could give it a try anyway and I'll let you know how it goes!
Interestingly, I found the same feature on this Jensen later on, and it plays at the correct speed now. I was going to make an update to this video but I just haven't gotten around to it!
Update: I tried exactly what you said and... I'm shocked, it actually was exactly what you said it was!
Sadly, the speed still has a flutter to it, but at least it's not running slow anymore.
@@longwordsonsongwords I'm glad it's better now. You may want to consider looking into swapping the belt out, as a stretchy belt could cause some flutter. If the belt is okay, it may be something deeper like capacitors (rare on Walkmans, but I've seen it happen many times) or a mechanical issue with the playback mechanism.
It is worth noting that most Walkman-type cassette players have at least a little bit of flutter, and this can be especially bad in the new modern players like the Jensen.
you can find this portable cassette player at Roses ok?👍
Can you connect this to speakers?
Yes, with a stereo 3.5mm cable from the line out port. However, I'm going to do an update video on this soon, explaining why this tape player is actually really not as good as I thought when I did this review. If you save up just a little bit more, you can get so much better on the used market.
Can we fill blank tapes with the help of digital devices in this player
No, it's a playback-only device with no recording function.
@@lauscho thanks for the reply
one plus for cheap players. You can worry less about losing it or breaking it and only find yourself out 20 bucks and not 120 bucks. But I have no idea where to look for a good player though.
Hey it's been a long time since I've reported to this channel. Just gonna update you on the usage experience so far:
- The wow and flutter is kind of intense with it sometimes. Especially with older, more worn out tapes which might have a harder time getting the reels moving. The longer the tape is, the more friction there would be inside the cassette. But if you're not too pitch-sensitive, it shouldn't be TOO bad.
- Once the speed was properly adjusted, it was fine, but it'd start playing a little fast sometimes anyway. I feel like I need to keep a small flathead with me at all times just in case I need to take it down a notch.
- The amplifier in this unit is really bad. Like, the hiss noise is one thing, but when I switch back to a Sony I bought later, the lack of quality of the sound becomes really apparent. There's just no bass... it's such a thin-sounding amp. Complete night and day difference when you use a different cassette player, even with the same headphones.
All that said, I still think there's a good, compelling argument for buying a NEW cassette player over a vintage one, and it's basically that you get the benefit of a warranty in most cases, and while the components are generally of worse quality, they aren't worn down by 30+ years of use or neglect. I just wish manufacturers would use better components.
You paid $35 for that? I got mine at Target for $18. The earbuds i agree are crap and don't even fit in my ears properly. I have been buying old books on cassette from ebay and for that it works great. The radio works great as well.
Canadian money, bud. $35 CDN is basically $18 USD...
Do you know if the radio works out of the line out?
@@davidpeachey1837 Late reply, but I haven't tried it, yet see no reason it shouldn't work!
can i listen to the cassette without headphones?
No. No built-in speaker. You'll need headphones or a speaker you can physically plug in.
Does the radio work well?
It picks up fairly well from what I can see. It's subject to the same amplifier issues (a bit of background hiss and noise) as the tape portion, which is why I know that issue is down to the internal amp and not the cassette mechanism itself. But the radio does pick up strongly enough in my area.
With good headphones sounds good?
Any set of headphones is going to be better than the earbuds that came with the package, but there are certain issues that can't be fixed, like the high amount of noise that comes from the preamp itself. Not even a $500 pair of headphones can remove that, and it's not because of the cassettes, it's the preamp itself making that noise.
@Da bob Y Yeah, just toss the earbuds from the package and use your own decent headphones, and the results will definitely be tons better.
@@longwordsonsongwords how to fix that?
9:46 - Line out and headphone jack examples
I like the
Video
No vidis. Mas levnej kram a funguje jestli nemas kopii. Originaly nebere.
1:31 I'm 12 I know how a walkman works
Now im 13
Ok
I own a Walkman a record player and boombox and many cassettes and record’s
@@Voodoo986 ur cool
@@kotaac. he is cool :)
No rewind, no thanks
4:22
The belt has NO affect on play speed, its the actual motor itself and probably the circuit which controls the motor is starting to fail, as usual, it could be faulty caps.
To It's credit, Walkman's didn't have rewind buttons, either (The later ones, anyway).
@@applescruff1969 True that, i remember the 1st round of walkmans and radios were only ff .... had to eject and turn the tape to rewind.
its stereo head?
Yes it is. Sound quality overall isn't great, but at the very least, the playback is in proper stereo.
good for punk noise
Is it possible that youtubers leave the retro tech review on Techmoan at least cassette related technology.
Сколько стоит и где купить?
Sorry, I don't know Russian or Cyrillic, I had to run this through Google Translate, but I assume your question is about how much it costs and where it can be purchased.
I don't know what the situation is with ordering items from sites like Amazon or Walmart's online shop in Russia right now with all the different sanctions from the West, I wish I could give a more positive answer. But the price before shipping and customs and taxes tends to be around $35 Canadian dollars, I don't know what that translates to in your local currency but it should give you some idea!
i don't even know why they manufacture stuff like those earbuds that's just useless e waste as soon as it rolls off the line.
Same. I mean, the player itself... at least useful... but it should just come with the idea that you've got better headphones itself.
If not the only thing these earbuds are good for is... checking if anything you plug them into has signal or not? I guess that could be useful.
The reviews great and all but all cassettes hiss . 😂
Tape hiss is something of a myth. If you record to a proper type II tape (metal tape, as opposed to a normal type I tape) and play back on a device with Dolby noise reduction, you can get almost CD-like results.
This portable player has an issue beyond that of other Walkmans I've owned. I have a Sony that plays a lot of brand new tapes and well-taken-care-of tapes with minimal hiss. A lot of this device's hiss comes from its internals, like the amplifier circuitry. At that point it wouldn't matter whether the audio signal was coming from a record, a tape, a CD, or a digital file, if the amplifier adds noise, then whatever benefit or issue comes from the format becomes a moot point. And that's the one biggest issue with this device for tape playback - the amp adds a LOT of unnecessary noise. But it's not the tapes themselves as they play much more silently in other tape playback machines I own.
Check this video for more info on how cassette hiss is something of a myth: ruclips.net/video/jVoSQP2yUYA/видео.html&pp=ygURdGVjaG1vYW4gY2Fzc2V0dGU%3D
Anyway, a bigger issue with a lot of cheap analog playback devices is motor speed. I'd care less about a little background noise as long as the tape or vinyl I'm rocking plays at the right speed and this Walkman has a few issues there, but they're easily corrected.
@@longwordsonsongwords this is true, cheap cassette players do suck
@@longwordsonsongwords yea, but chrome and metal tapes came after ferric tape, and notice how you said noise reduction, yea all cassettes hiss, even if it’s hiss is less heard, and your correct people should buy better ones
First time i see you and you look pretty argentinian and i don't know why
I have zero Argentinian ancestry. 100% German, French and Irish... born and raised in Canada 😂
@@longwordsonsongwords must have confused you! 🤣
@@longwordsonsongwords ohh! Now i remember, there's a guy in youtube that's just like you! Must have confused you two.
Because of these crappy new tools the cassette will die again.
I hate to say it, but I agree. People forget that cassettes can sound really good on the right equipment, with noise reduction... and that even older Walkmans were at least built to a standard of quality where the music was still listenable. But all current cassette players share the same mechanism now (only one company in Japan makes them anymore), and it doesn't matter what price point you're buying at... same plastic, cheap cassette mechanism. Go check out the channel Techmoan, he has a lot of great videos on the topic!
@@longwordsonsongwords I know Techmoan channel. I have 4 decks (two Naks) and some high end Sony walkmans in good shape. That new Tascam deck is decent but too expensive for what it does. I want to buy good stuff for real price not just paying extra for nostalgia.
@@bestopinion9257 Ah awesome. Techmoan is AWESOME! I just got an old Akai deck the other day. It needs a bit of TLC, but it's such a beast of a machine!
@@longwordsonsongwords Unfortunately these old machines can't be in parameters as they were 30 years ago. But if you know how to fully overhaul them (new caps, cleaned motors, belts and so on) you can resurrect them.
Everyone who is looking to get into tapes please, please, PLEASE do not buy these cheap Amazon players. Go to eBay, go to Kijiji or the thrift store and buy yourself a decent player from the mid to late 80s. Yes, it's gonna be more expensive than these but trust me. It's worth every penny.
Thing is, I agree to a point. Old Walkmans are better. But they'll eventually become a more and more rare and expensive commodity. We need to start seeing more better NEW cassette players too if the format is going to survive beyond the fetishists.
And as far as current cassette players, go, sadly, this is one of the better current portables out there. Yes, you can find better used ones, but eventually, age will kill all but the ones owned by people who can afford to keep them maintained.
Don't buy a walkman, period. Even the cheapest home deck hooked up to powered speakers with Dolby B is going to sound better than most Walkman. Listen to music off your phone if you leave the house, nobody wants to mess around with carrying tapes with them in 2021.
@@EmergencyChannel The thing is, though, I don't do the majority of my music listening at home. I do it on the move. And I'm not lugging one of those home units on public transport.
You say "nobody wants to mess around with carrying tapes", but... clearly, some people do. I do. Vintage Walkmans still sell on eBay. Bands are releasing new cassettes and they're mostly on Type I, not exactly "home deck" worthy.
That said, I do have a decent vintage Akai deck as well as one of those big mid-2000s all-in-one stereo deals. I would never suggest someone use a portable cassette player as their main deck if they're playing their music exclusively at home, but I did point out that the line out on this model at least means the possibility is there.
@@longwordsonsongwords Do people look at you like a schizo when you have a giant walkman on your waistband with a bulging pocket full of tapes?
@@EmergencyChannel If I saw that, i would be like “what a badass”
that is not worth doing a video product. you should feature like a sony, panasonic and aiwa portable cassette player.
I wholeheartedly disagree. Thing is, none of those companies make BRAND NEW portable cassette players anymore. And as great as they are (my Sony Walkman is CLEARLY a better product), some people don't want to deal with the uncertainty of looking for an old tape player on eBay (I've been burned a couple of times myself getting tape players that weren't as "good condition" as the seller made them out to be)... they might go looking for something brand new that has a warranty. Sadly, if I infer what you're saying right, you ARE correct that current tape players are pretty bad. If anything, maybe that makes it even more worth the effort... to warn people off.
But at the end of the day, these companies ARE making them, people ARE buying them, and that gives people who care enough to try to review them enough of a reason to do their due diligence and give an honest, unbiased opinion on the product, and tell consumers what to expect. I still plan to do a follow up, but anyone who actually follows this channel knows that it takes me a while to get the motivation to do it, but I think consumer advocation is a good enough reason to do these videos. I'd rather people had an accurate and honest idea of what they're buying before they do. And people DO buy these.