The last cassette mechs & Aldi's 2019 Boombox
I received quite a few emails over the last few days regarding that shambolic little bluetooth equipped personal cassette player on Kickstarter.
These brief spikes in interest spikes happen whenever a story-hungry tech blog promotes the latest cassette based embarrassment of a player.
Most people understand exactly what it is they're looking at whenever one of these stories pops in their feed and they don't pay it a second thought. Some send me a link just in case I missed it. Some, just a few, believe the hype.
I decided that it might be a good time to set the record straight on what it really means when anyone makes a new cassette deck nowadays. How they rely on a common parts bin, with the most important of those parts being a low-end hang-over from the budget boomboxes of the past.
A chance encounter in an Aldi supermarket at the weekend gave me an opportunity to make this video which hopefully helps explain why every modern cassette player is at best, a mere shadow of the past.
Incidentally - this video has a live voiceover, a technique I use only very occasionally for efficiency. It's never as good as one done later - but as a result of the time saved, I hope to have the next video ready a few days early.
UPDATE 12 July 2019 16:09 BST
As a result of your help and suggestions I've spent the day reworking a few sections of this video before it goes public at the weekend. The version above is now the updated one. YouTube’s 4K/UHD processing might take a while - but the HD version is now available.
Oh and here's an Extra Video - I shot when I unboxed the Neon Cassette Lamp thingy you see in the background in the intro https://youtu.be/BIijdyaqRr0
Comments (70)
Sorry is a little late but, is this the same? https://www.linio.cl/p/radio-con-cassette-retro-usb-sd-kdbrp278-vcidcd?utm_medium=fb-automated&utm_source=socialmedia&utm_campaign=CHL_fb-dpaprospecting-cac_Crossdevice_broad-country_All&utm_content=CHL_fb-dpaprospecting-cac__prospecting_280819_W35&utm_term=prospecting_280819&utm_id=5d6696a1e5e98533dd4035d6
Yes
You state that there are no more 'proper' modern tape decks. Maybe I've missed it and you've addressed this already, but there are still 'well known' brands that sell tape decks: Marantz: https://www.marantzpro.com/products/view/pmd-300cp and Tascam: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1413241-REG/tascam_202mkvii_professional_rack_mount_dual_cassette.html Do these feature the same not-so-impressive drive mechanism as the ALDI boombox, or would they still use some older, own design for the tape drive mechanism?
Yes they do - it really is the last deck standing. Here's a video from Vwestlife where he tests and opens up the most recent Tascam/Teac model https://youtu.be/eep1kLdaURA
Somehow I missed this vid earlier. Well done and I love the humo(u)r. When I watched the last bit and your hands were moving about as you talked, all I could think of was the puppets. Now I see how they got their style.
Best bit about that is the “Chinglish” announcements!
Really enjoyed this video. I love your sense of humor. I laughed loud enough at the 'mixed batteries' part that I actually woke the kids. And they were sleeping upstairs :)
I'm glad I bought my Reka DAB radio at Aldi before watching this! Unlike this terrible boombox, the DAB radio has very good sound, is stereo and picks up DAB (clear without burbling) in rooms that every other radio I tried/owned can't even tune the stations. This pretty much confirms that their Reka brand is just a generic brand printed on whichever supplier Aldi choose to do business with. I loved the bit about the (non) mixing of batteries :D
The dramatic plastic film peels got a hearty chuckle out of me. Well done
"X as in X-parrot." LOL, Mat.
Good video and those glasses really suit you 👓
I thought this was a great video and a really good companion piece to the one done by VWestlife re: the Kickstarter project.
Did you add some sizzling sound effects when you touched the transformer?? I've listened to it several times now and i can't tell if i'm just hearing things or if you're pulling a funny on us!
I didn’t add any sound effects on that bit.
The only thing left to do is to refurbish/maintain good old tape decks... as long as we have them.
Yes it’s a bit like Cuba with their old cars.
Thanks Mat. I really enjoyed the video. I learned something new today about cassette mechanisms. I'm not an audiophile, thanks for testing the wow and flutter I was curious. Best wishes.
Such a shame that tape hasn't gotten the nostalgia bump that vinyl got. Tape actually sounded pretty good on a quality deck. However the younger generation perhaps only hears tape on a tatty deck like this, giving them the wrong impression.
I was surprised to see shortwave on the frequency dial. Does it really have shortwave? That would be very unusual.
I couldn’t pick anything up - but also didn’t take it outside. They had 2 SW bands on the previous model - but without fine tuning I can’t imagine it being of much use. Perhaps it’s something to do with China and state broadcasts.
Great video Mat - love the battery mixing. :)
Awesome protective film removal sequence, Mat!
Thanks for the great video. This and VWestlife's video about the Kickstarter player has made me determent to finally fix my old WM-F107 Walkman. I'm sure it's just the belt that need to be replaced. The big task will be to open up the case to reach the belt... Just a heads up about the Youtube link in the e-mail. It leads to a page that says the video is not available.
Thanks - I deleted the video after uploading the updated one. That’s one of the downsides of including the link in the email - it’s frozen in time.
We got given a freebie "boombox" around 1988, with a purchase of something or other (possibly a TV). I recall it had that horrid springy eject action, your instant signal of quality. Wonder if it was this same mechanism back then? It sounded awful too. It ended up in the garage splattered in paint.
And the video even includes two "peel-gasms". What else could anyone want? :-)
But at least it has soft eject. Unfortunately, you had no patience to enjoy this precious mechanism. ;-)
Sounds like we might get a Techmoan B^2 Superbass Megabox in the future, if all the parts are off the shelf.
Unfortunately I think the only shelf left is the bottom one that you automatically gain access to whenever you ‘hook a duck’ on a ‘prize ever time’ fairground stall.
My friends who had "Ghetto blasters" (Swedish variation) always tuned down the bass when using batteries to save power. So I lived in a treble world...
I wonder if that worked.
I saved my paper-route money and bought myself a boombox in 1983. The sound was perhaps not the greatest (not sure) but it was good enough for me. The big deal with this was the absolute freedom it gave me to grow my music collection beyond what I could afford to buy - copied from the collections of friends, via the radio, off records borrowed from the library, etc... I don't get nostalgic about vinyl, but compact cassettes are near and dear to my heart. I could watch videos like this all day.
You mentioned that the more expensive mechs tend to fall away because people want cost above all else. It makes me wonder if it would be possible to kickstart a new line of tape mechanisms using 2019 technology that are of proper quality. Or even as you said, put a decent head on that mechanism, and combine it with some decent parts to make something worth listening to. Perhaps is cassette has a vinyl like comeback we could see that one day
It's going to be a price versus quantity trade-off. If you can order a half million, then you can get them at a reasonable price. If you can order a thousand or so, many manufacturers won't even talk to you, and the rest aren't going to be cheap. I suspect at Kickstarter quantities, the price is going to be such that people will buy a used tape deck off eBay instead.
A year or so ago I bought a brand new “Akai” shoebox-style tape recorder from Asda for £10. It sounds terrible but works brilliantly with my old computers. The Sinclair Spectrum’s only requirement is that the signal is “loud”. Same spring as your machine, so must be the same mechanism.
This wasn't only a great review, but the jokes were on point and I loved every minute of it! Don't worry about the live narration. It was excellent.
This is how I remember boomboxes from the eighties. Rubbish. The differences are apparently mono, mp3 and bluetooth. I guess the primary market is retro bluetooth speakers...
Even the ‘legendary’ boomboxes have an inherent cheapness. I’ve got one of the most desirable ones and frankly it’s still a bit of a plasticy shambles of a thing.
Your vocal audio sounds good in this one! Felt consistent between sections
It was all on the same mic, and live into camera. I need to make a video about my mic issues at done point.
How dare you mix those batteries!! 😂🤣 Funny stuff.
I love the bloody mindedness of the mixed battery sequence! Live voice over worked just fine, imho. Thanks, Mat.
It seems there are two different links to the YouTube video: after the click you get the old and the new if you copy the link from the text.
That's the same Patreon bug I got last month - it shows one link but links to another - I've re-deleted and re posted - it should be OK now.
I hope you realize that discovering the sticky, stringy, goo is what happens right before the aliens attack...
I'm hoping to gain some special powers from it...so far nothing.
There's enough subtle sarcasm and goofy humor in this review to last a full day: Thanks! One question: Why has Dolby disappeared from new cassette players and cassette releases? Is the industry so intent on racing to the technological bottom, that they've decided they cannot afford to pay the licensing fees?
From what I hear Dolby no longer licence out the Dolby noise reduction systems for tapes. Apparently this decision coincided with the death of Ray Dolby for some reason. It’s all hearsay - I’ve tried to get to the bottom of it by contacting duplication facilities (who didn’t know) and Dolby themselves (who didn’t reply).
Great review. I have a, possibly dumb, question and idea. You determined that the audio is mono from the tape deck, is it the same from bluetooth/usb/sd? Would it be worth the experiment or video to see if you can swap the tape deck out with one that can output to stereo? It would demonstrate just how modular the mechanism is, and possibly even pinpoint where the manufacturer cut the cost.
There’s a new version being uploaded as I type - about 30 mins plus processing to go. This should go some way towards answering these (and other) bits that I skipped past earlier. I’ll send out an update when the HD version has finished processing.
The live audio commentary is just fine. You have a gift for doing this kind of thing extemporaneously. Keep doing it.
I still have my 1984 GE 3-6035 boom box from 9th grade. These videos inspire me to overhaul it with new belts and cleaning.
I suspect the switch on the back is because the board is intended for a rechargeable battery and has no way of isolating the battery pack from the mains, would be interesting to see if there is voltage at the terminals. They stick the switch in to stop you ruining batteries. I have a bluetooth speaker from Aldi which does have a rechargeable battery and still has the AC switch, it makes no sense.
It does mention a continuous battery drain in the instructions - but also doesn’t mention whether the switch stops this.
The case is a direct rip of the Roberts RSR55
Oof, that sticker peel sequence is definitely not safe for work. Just the right speed, too.
The plastic peel and battery 'wormhole' moment were perfect p*ss takes, topped only by the subtitles that said, "Will cope" for the last battery... Brilliant, just brilliant. Keep 'em coming Mat...
I can't believe it's only mono. May as well save some money and only have one speaker, with the other one being painted on.
VWestlife recently made a video about that Bluetooth portable cassette player, and it appears he may have tracked down the OEM. Turns out that the unit sold via Kickstarter at a "discounted" prce of USD$75 is only worth about USD$8.
The people who got swept up in the hype for the bluetooth walkman never read the specs - it's in mono. Ridiculous.
If you hadn't said it was a live voiceover probably wouldn't have noticed on this one. Another enjoyable trip into tech.
The mechanism looks very familiar, yeah. We used to have a cheap-ass stereo from Philips/Erres having two of them in place, the spring tells it. BTW: the separate-flipping erase head is still even a cheaper option: it is a permanent magnet, so no circuitary is necessary for creating the ultrasonic erase-signal, hence also no bias is used in recording, which means the recordings in these cheap cassette recorders are very noisy and distorted.
Thanks for the info on the magnet - I was wondering why it was hinged. I learned something today - perhaps I should add this in the video and make myself look smart.
The word “reká” translates from Russian as “river”.
I have never seen that last character before - the dotted o with an accent - the closest my iPad can do is ó
This was incredibly enjoyable.
Super review as always, Mat. Is there anyway to transmit FROM the player via Bluetooth to a better quality speaker or to record from the tape onto an SD card? I suppose you could use the headphone jack if you really needed to copy the contents of a tape. Have a great weekend, and thanks as always for being both informative and entertaining!
You can record from any of the built in sources onto tape (in mono) - there’s no line in or Bluetooth out.
Teac just released a new tape deck and it's not cheap. If it uses the same tape mech it's a big rip off. https://www.teac-audio.eu/en/products/w-1200-152362.html
Yes it uses two of them - you can see a review here https://youtu.be/eep1kLdaURA