jwrosenthal
Super Member
Greetings guys,
After months of research, picking the collective brains of the masses here, and exhaustive ebay searching (including international), I have put my unltimate analog commuting kit together. It started months ago with my chagrin that my i-pod sounded so...boring. I was excited when I bought it 3 years ago as I had retired my discman, and didn't want to carry the weight and bulk of a portable CD player in my shoulder bag every day on the train, then by Metro, then by foot to work every day.
Plus since I am a die hard analog fanatic I couldn't fathom digitizing my vinyl collection to put on the i-pod (my i-pod was filled with part of my CD colletion that hasn't grown since 2005), first becuase it was unintuitive to do it (what, I can't just hit record, then take it with me??) and it went counter to the whole experience of listening to vinyl.
Considering that my analog hobby took me to open reel several months ago, I have become a huge fan of tape...but always poo-poo'd cassettes as the "lesser" tape (even back in the 80's I had killer Alpine and Kenwood car cassette decks that I considered substitutes for playing my Lp's on the go with no merit of their own). Well, despite the differing opinons about the quality of cassettes, it is undoubtedly convienent and very portable.
So, I was interested in getting back into cassettes (as I still have about 80 of my pre-1997 collection), but this time, I was going to respect the medium and approach it not as a lesser quality source, but as the best it could be...but I was passive about getting back into it and just kept reading.
Fast forward to two weeks ago, I stumbled upon a NOS Sony TC-D5ProII (this was the flagship 3-head field recorder with the dual meters and XLR inputs) and took it home for next to nothing. I hooked it up and was immediatly captivated by how good this thing sounded! I had consumer cassette decks back in the day (2 Pioneer's and 1 Denon, all 2-head) but didn't remember the ever sounding this good. Then the next day, I went to my goodwill and came across an incredible collection of about 40 tapes that were made by an anal retentive audiophile all on Maxell XL-II or TDK SA-X consiting of great classical, jazz and classic rock. All were mind-blowingly well recorded and blew away any commercially recorded tapes I have heard.....The audio gods were trying to tell me something.
Then, I went on ebay the next day and found a guy 15 minutes from my house that was selling his studio worth of Tascam 130 3-head cassette decks (he bought them for a pro gig 8 years ago, used them once, then let them sit in the racks unused in his studio). I bought 2 of them for $30 each and they are truly like new.
So....I was now fully back up to speed with great home cassette recorders, a great portable field recorder (which has incredibly good playback electronics) and a sitting on a spectacular collection of tapes.....now how do I take the with me.
I had been researching portable cassette players for months. The last "good" one I had back in the late 80's was an Aiwa with black face, chrome buttons, and green sliders for the EQ. I saved my allowance for an entire year to buy this thing, and was so proud as it was very stylish. But like all things Aiwa, it began to fall apart in the first 6 months. The plastic chrome started peeling, the buttons began to cave in, it was a mess. After that, I only bought cheap plastic crap until the early 90's when I got my first Discman.
So my knowledge of portable cassette player was dated and limited. I realized quickly that the only thing available new was the bottom of the line from all companies...plastic, bulky, cheap...no wonder people don't want cassette players anymore..look at them! But I realized that in Europe, Sony was still developing the technology of the Walkman through the first few years of this decade! At the end of the 90's and through 2003, Sony put out some of the finest Walkmen ever made. They were made of metal, as slim as cassette box, took gumstick rechargable batteries that could last 35-50 hrs (and had a supplimental battery tumor you could keep in your bag in case your gumstick died on the go) and were loaded with every option under the sun. Plus, they had the newest generation "EX" heads.
So, I had seen pics of the wonderful looking Walkmen, but knew they were only available in Asia and Europe, and they were not easy to find. On a whim, last week I was searching ebay looking at the plethora of crappy plastic Walkmen available and one shining Euro one caught my eye...and it was in California! The listing looked good, the guy had good feedback, and the history revealed that he had sold several over the past 2 weeks...all NIB and all the late vintage Euro stuff. I saved te listing and went to bed to think about it...well, it was sold the next morning for the BIN price...damn!
I e-mailed the seller and asked if he had anymore. He had sold all of the NIB ones already (I was late to this party), but he had several that were used by him and if I wanted one, he would part with some. He bought them from a Japanese importer years ago, and even provided the power converter to charge the battery here in the US.
So, long story short (too late!!), I bought not just one, but two from him (two different models and the second one is on the way). He cave me two batteries, the charger, the remote and the power converter. All I need to provide was the headphones. This first one is the WM-EX615. It was produced around 1999-2000 and was the TOTL. It is incredibly solid, and the fit and finish it superb. With a tape in it it feels like a sold block of metal (about the same weight as the big i-pod), and even the hinges and hardware smack of quality. Buttons and switches are firm and click into place with ease and it feels like a quality piece of electronics.
Today I took my first commute in to work with my new Walkman. I got my AKG K141P headphones yesterday, and used today as my trial run. I realized that the sound through the remote, vs. without the remote is markedly different. I prefer to not have it in line as it adds more "stuff" to the sleek kit, so I would set it up to sound perfect with the remote, remove it, and the sound was very different (MegaBass with remote was perfect, without too boomy etc). I asssume there is some coloration from the wiring or circuitry of the remote which I don't really like. So, with these headphones, I set it up as "RV" plus Dolby, and autoreverse...then took the remote out of the loop (once you set it, and pull the remote, it keeps the last setttings used..which sucks if you break or lose the remote, cause then your stuck with those settings) and it sounds fantastic! Drums punch very naturally (as opposed to a thunk like Mp3), cymbals crash, resonate and fade like cymbals (as oppesed to a splash with Mp3), and you can hear the timber and size of a wood-block being hit with a drum stick (unlike the clack you get with Mp3)! I knew it would sound "better" than my i-pod, but I wasn't clear how much better...the best word is "natural" and not processed. Vocals are upfront and clean with plenty of weight and breath, and guitars and bass seperate perfectly and are not overly "stereo-ized". The biggest difference is with percussion. Digital takes all the life out of percussion, and this seems to give it right back.
I know we all know the virtues of analog over digital, but to have a little devise like this provide sound that competes my with my home analog system is mind-blowing. If Sony were marketing this line of Cassette players, rather than the crap they are selling now as a "loss leader", I guarentee that they could sell them at $200+ each. Hell, I am a cheap bastard, but if I'm willing to pay $2k for a pair of speakers, why not $200 on a portable devise I will listen to for at least 3 -5 hours a day (that's more than I get to listen to my primo system per week!!).:sigh:
It really can't get much better than this! Oh....my i-pod went into the black hole known as my desk drawer last night....poor thing :tears:
James R.
After months of research, picking the collective brains of the masses here, and exhaustive ebay searching (including international), I have put my unltimate analog commuting kit together. It started months ago with my chagrin that my i-pod sounded so...boring. I was excited when I bought it 3 years ago as I had retired my discman, and didn't want to carry the weight and bulk of a portable CD player in my shoulder bag every day on the train, then by Metro, then by foot to work every day.
Plus since I am a die hard analog fanatic I couldn't fathom digitizing my vinyl collection to put on the i-pod (my i-pod was filled with part of my CD colletion that hasn't grown since 2005), first becuase it was unintuitive to do it (what, I can't just hit record, then take it with me??) and it went counter to the whole experience of listening to vinyl.
Considering that my analog hobby took me to open reel several months ago, I have become a huge fan of tape...but always poo-poo'd cassettes as the "lesser" tape (even back in the 80's I had killer Alpine and Kenwood car cassette decks that I considered substitutes for playing my Lp's on the go with no merit of their own). Well, despite the differing opinons about the quality of cassettes, it is undoubtedly convienent and very portable.
So, I was interested in getting back into cassettes (as I still have about 80 of my pre-1997 collection), but this time, I was going to respect the medium and approach it not as a lesser quality source, but as the best it could be...but I was passive about getting back into it and just kept reading.
Fast forward to two weeks ago, I stumbled upon a NOS Sony TC-D5ProII (this was the flagship 3-head field recorder with the dual meters and XLR inputs) and took it home for next to nothing. I hooked it up and was immediatly captivated by how good this thing sounded! I had consumer cassette decks back in the day (2 Pioneer's and 1 Denon, all 2-head) but didn't remember the ever sounding this good. Then the next day, I went to my goodwill and came across an incredible collection of about 40 tapes that were made by an anal retentive audiophile all on Maxell XL-II or TDK SA-X consiting of great classical, jazz and classic rock. All were mind-blowingly well recorded and blew away any commercially recorded tapes I have heard.....The audio gods were trying to tell me something.
Then, I went on ebay the next day and found a guy 15 minutes from my house that was selling his studio worth of Tascam 130 3-head cassette decks (he bought them for a pro gig 8 years ago, used them once, then let them sit in the racks unused in his studio). I bought 2 of them for $30 each and they are truly like new.
So....I was now fully back up to speed with great home cassette recorders, a great portable field recorder (which has incredibly good playback electronics) and a sitting on a spectacular collection of tapes.....now how do I take the with me.
I had been researching portable cassette players for months. The last "good" one I had back in the late 80's was an Aiwa with black face, chrome buttons, and green sliders for the EQ. I saved my allowance for an entire year to buy this thing, and was so proud as it was very stylish. But like all things Aiwa, it began to fall apart in the first 6 months. The plastic chrome started peeling, the buttons began to cave in, it was a mess. After that, I only bought cheap plastic crap until the early 90's when I got my first Discman.
So my knowledge of portable cassette player was dated and limited. I realized quickly that the only thing available new was the bottom of the line from all companies...plastic, bulky, cheap...no wonder people don't want cassette players anymore..look at them! But I realized that in Europe, Sony was still developing the technology of the Walkman through the first few years of this decade! At the end of the 90's and through 2003, Sony put out some of the finest Walkmen ever made. They were made of metal, as slim as cassette box, took gumstick rechargable batteries that could last 35-50 hrs (and had a supplimental battery tumor you could keep in your bag in case your gumstick died on the go) and were loaded with every option under the sun. Plus, they had the newest generation "EX" heads.
So, I had seen pics of the wonderful looking Walkmen, but knew they were only available in Asia and Europe, and they were not easy to find. On a whim, last week I was searching ebay looking at the plethora of crappy plastic Walkmen available and one shining Euro one caught my eye...and it was in California! The listing looked good, the guy had good feedback, and the history revealed that he had sold several over the past 2 weeks...all NIB and all the late vintage Euro stuff. I saved te listing and went to bed to think about it...well, it was sold the next morning for the BIN price...damn!
I e-mailed the seller and asked if he had anymore. He had sold all of the NIB ones already (I was late to this party), but he had several that were used by him and if I wanted one, he would part with some. He bought them from a Japanese importer years ago, and even provided the power converter to charge the battery here in the US.
So, long story short (too late!!), I bought not just one, but two from him (two different models and the second one is on the way). He cave me two batteries, the charger, the remote and the power converter. All I need to provide was the headphones. This first one is the WM-EX615. It was produced around 1999-2000 and was the TOTL. It is incredibly solid, and the fit and finish it superb. With a tape in it it feels like a sold block of metal (about the same weight as the big i-pod), and even the hinges and hardware smack of quality. Buttons and switches are firm and click into place with ease and it feels like a quality piece of electronics.
Today I took my first commute in to work with my new Walkman. I got my AKG K141P headphones yesterday, and used today as my trial run. I realized that the sound through the remote, vs. without the remote is markedly different. I prefer to not have it in line as it adds more "stuff" to the sleek kit, so I would set it up to sound perfect with the remote, remove it, and the sound was very different (MegaBass with remote was perfect, without too boomy etc). I asssume there is some coloration from the wiring or circuitry of the remote which I don't really like. So, with these headphones, I set it up as "RV" plus Dolby, and autoreverse...then took the remote out of the loop (once you set it, and pull the remote, it keeps the last setttings used..which sucks if you break or lose the remote, cause then your stuck with those settings) and it sounds fantastic! Drums punch very naturally (as opposed to a thunk like Mp3), cymbals crash, resonate and fade like cymbals (as oppesed to a splash with Mp3), and you can hear the timber and size of a wood-block being hit with a drum stick (unlike the clack you get with Mp3)! I knew it would sound "better" than my i-pod, but I wasn't clear how much better...the best word is "natural" and not processed. Vocals are upfront and clean with plenty of weight and breath, and guitars and bass seperate perfectly and are not overly "stereo-ized". The biggest difference is with percussion. Digital takes all the life out of percussion, and this seems to give it right back.
I know we all know the virtues of analog over digital, but to have a little devise like this provide sound that competes my with my home analog system is mind-blowing. If Sony were marketing this line of Cassette players, rather than the crap they are selling now as a "loss leader", I guarentee that they could sell them at $200+ each. Hell, I am a cheap bastard, but if I'm willing to pay $2k for a pair of speakers, why not $200 on a portable devise I will listen to for at least 3 -5 hours a day (that's more than I get to listen to my primo system per week!!).:sigh:
It really can't get much better than this! Oh....my i-pod went into the black hole known as my desk drawer last night....poor thing :tears:
James R.
