All gone walkies
 

A couple of weeks ago I decided to replace my old Aiwa personal
cassette player (batteries had leaked - my fault). Easy, I thought -
I'll just nip into town and have a look in John Lewis and buy
something neat for £40 or so.

I was amazed - John Lewis no longer sell a single Walkman! So off I
went to my local Comet - I remember they had stacks of them a few
months ago. But they hadn't got any either. The salesman told me
they were withdrawn about a month ago.

In the end I got a very satisfactory Panasonic from Dixons - but even
they only had a small range of about half a dozen machines.

So if you are thinking of replacing that old Walkman DO IT NOW! By
the end of the year it will be too late.

Paul

All gone walkies
 

In article ,
Paul Edwards wrote:
So if you are thinking of replacing that old Walkman DO IT NOW! By
the end of the year it will be too late.

I was delighted to see the end of cassettes about 10 years ago when I went
over to MiniDisc...

--
*Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

All gone walkies
 

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article ,
Paul Edwards wrote:
So if you are thinking of replacing that old Walkman DO IT NOW! By
the end of the year it will be too late.

I was delighted to see the end of cassettes about 10 years ago when I went
over to MiniDisc...

Me too, and to avoid the car cassette player periodically deciding to
unwind the cassette inside itself.
--
Chris Morriss

All gone walkies
 

So if you are thinking of replacing that old Walkman DO IT NOW! By
the end of the year it will be too late.

Not a moment too soon.

The rest of us like a bit of treble with our music.

All gone walkies
 

Fleetie wrote:
So if you are thinking of replacing that old Walkman DO IT NOW! By
the end of the year it will be too late.

Not a moment too soon.

The rest of us like a bit of treble with our music.

Odd really, Cassette as a medium, home recorded for portable use, is OK.
I've had a couple of good cassette players (best was a panasonic one with
dolby B and C, and with reasonable tapes there was plenty of treble.

I have minidisc now for use in pocket trains, and a portable CD in my bag
for music in hotel rooms.

--
surely you understand the fundamental questionability of Pre-Crime
methodology

All gone walkies
 

Odd really, Cassette as a medium, home recorded for portable use, is OK.
I've had a couple of good cassette players (best was a panasonic one with
dolby B and C, and with reasonable tapes there was plenty of treble.

In the late 80s when cassette walkmans were at their most esoteric and
expensive, I owned the top of the tree (apart from the Sony WM-D6C, which
could hardly be called a "Walkman" in the sense of being small and
portable), and believe me, they all lacked proper treble.

I have minidisc now for use in pocket trains, and a portable CD in my bag
for music in hotel rooms.

I use a Minidisc too now, and it has treble.

YMMV of course.


Martin

All gone walkies
 

Fleetie pibbled:
So if you are thinking of replacing that old Walkman DO IT NOW! By
the end of the year it will be too late.

Not a moment too soon.

The rest of us like a bit of treble with our music.


It's de-emphasis. Tape a CD onto it and it'll sound just fine. Bet you
can't hear much past 14k anyway, I certainly can't. (44yo). Despite years
of under-rating by snide old farts, cassettes continue to provide a
worthwhile music source.

--
Despite appearances, it is still legal to put sugar on cornflakes.
Strawberries are purely optional.

All gone walkies
 

"Triffid" wrote
It's de-emphasis. Tape a CD onto it and it'll sound just fine. Bet you
can't hear much past 14k anyway, I certainly can't. (44yo). Despite years
of under-rating by snide old farts, cassettes continue to provide a
worthwhile music source.

Worthwhile for decorators with their paint-bespattered cassette/radio
boxes that get hauled from job to job, providing background music while
they paint and plaster at exhorbitant rates and **** in their
employers' wives' sinks; yes, I'm sure.

I'm not talking Nakamichis here; I'm talking portable music
reproduction devices.

Cassette devices confirming to such constraints have inadequate
treble, even to my 33-years-old ears.

All gone walkies
 

In article , Fleetie
writes

"Triffid" wrote
It's de-emphasis. Tape a CD onto it and it'll sound just fine. Bet you
can't hear much past 14k anyway, I certainly can't. (44yo). Despite years
of under-rating by snide old farts, cassettes continue to provide a
worthwhile music source.

Worthwhile for decorators with their paint-bespattered cassette/radio
boxes that get hauled from job to job, providing background music while
they paint and plaster at exhorbitant rates and **** in their
employers' wives' sinks; yes, I'm sure.

How do you know?, seen 'em do it....

I'm not talking Nakamichis here; I'm talking portable music
reproduction devices.

Cassette devices confirming to such constraints have inadequate
treble, even to my 33-years-old ears.



--
Tony Sayer

All gone walkies
 

Tim S Kemp wrote:

Odd really, Cassette as a medium, home recorded for portable use, is
OK. I've had a couple of good cassette players (best was a panasonic
one with dolby B and C, and with reasonable tapes there was plenty of
treble.

I have minidisc now for use in pocket trains, and a portable CD in my
bag for music in hotel rooms.

....but you know you want an iPod really; you just won't admit it yet :-)

All gone walkies
 

Fleetie wrote:

I'm not talking Nakamichis here; I'm talking portable music
reproduction devices.

Ooooh, by the way, I've got a Naka CR-3 that I'm about to put on ebay.
Anyone interested?

All gone walkies
 

Stimpy wrote:


...but you know you want an iPod really; you just won't admit it yet
:-)

iPod is slim and effeminate, not my style.


--
Muqtada al-Sadr!
What a wonderful phrase
Muqtada al-Sadr!
Ain't no passing craze

It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Muqtada al-Sadr!

All gone walkies
 

Tim S Kemp wrote:

iPod is slim and effeminate, not my style.

You could get a couple of deep cycle leisure batteries, an inverter and a
Revox, and strap the lot to your back...


--
Wally
www.artbywally.com
www.wally.myby.co.uk

All gone walkies
 

Wally wrote:
Tim S Kemp wrote:

iPod is slim and effeminate, not my style.

You could get a couple of deep cycle leisure batteries, an inverter
and a Revox, and strap the lot to your back...

A bit more like it if slightly old fashioned, however what I really want is
a personal DVD-Audio player, gotta work on getting that center speaker
implanted in my forehead first.



--
Muqtada al-Sadr!
What a wonderful phrase
Muqtada al-Sadr!
Ain't no passing craze

It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Muqtada al-Sadr!

All gone walkies
 

"Tim S Kemp" wrote in message
...
Wally wrote:
Tim S Kemp wrote:

iPod is slim and effeminate, not my style.

You could get a couple of deep cycle leisure batteries, an inverter
and a Revox, and strap the lot to your back...

A bit more like it if slightly old fashioned, however what I really want
is
a personal DVD-Audio player, gotta work on getting that center speaker
implanted in my forehead first.



--
Muqtada al-Sadr!
What a wonderful phrase
Muqtada al-Sadr!
Ain't no passing craze

Hmm, I reckon it's as transient as DVD-Audio.

Roy.

All gone walkies
 

In article ,
Triffid wrote:
It's de-emphasis. Tape a CD onto it and it'll sound just fine. Bet you
can't hear much past 14k anyway, I certainly can't. (44yo). Despite
years of under-rating by snide old farts, cassettes continue to provide
a worthwhile music source.

*Most* cassettes don't go anywhere near 14kHz in practice. On a new
machine with good tape when measured, yes. After a few years use, no.

--
*Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

All gone walkies
 

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 23:58:20 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Triffid wrote:
It's de-emphasis. Tape a CD onto it and it'll sound just fine. Bet you
can't hear much past 14k anyway, I certainly can't. (44yo). Despite
years of under-rating by snide old farts, cassettes continue to provide
a worthwhile music source.

*Most* cassettes don't go anywhere near 14kHz in practice. On a new
machine with good tape when measured, yes. After a few years use, no.

I find that if I monitor off-tape as I record, the top end is pretty
good. If I listen within a few minutes, the top end is still pretty
good. Within a day, though, the top end has gone dull.

d

Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

All gone walkies
 

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 23:58:20 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Triffid wrote:
It's de-emphasis. Tape a CD onto it and it'll sound just fine. Bet
you
can't hear much past 14k anyway, I certainly can't. (44yo). Despite
years of under-rating by snide old farts, cassettes continue to provide
a worthwhile music source.

*Most* cassettes don't go anywhere near 14kHz in practice. On a new
machine with good tape when measured, yes. After a few years use, no.

I find that if I monitor off-tape as I record, the top end is pretty
good.

I regularly used to flick from source to monitor when recording on my
Nakamichi 582 and was always pretty staggered at how little difference there
was. Subjectively, there didn't seem any difference to the top end.

I still kick myself sometimes for selling it.

Roy.

All gone walkies
 

In article ,
Paul Dormer wrote:
*Most* cassettes don't go anywhere near 14kHz in practice. On a new
machine with good tape when measured, yes. After a few years use, no.

I just pulled out a 15 year old Denon deck that's been gathering dust
for the last 10, gave it a clean, demagnetized the heads.. I don't
hear anything like the deteroriation you're talking about.

I once spent considerable time going through cassettes sent in by the
public of which some would subsequently be broadcast. And the majority had
azimuth and dolby errors. Even before the tape type and quality was
considered.

Of course they are capable of half decent performance, but not in practice
for the majority.

--
*Don't squat with your spurs on *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

All gone walkies
 

In article ,
Roy roy wrote:
I regularly used to flick from source to monitor when recording on my
Nakamichi 582 and was always pretty staggered at how little difference
there was. Subjectively, there didn't seem any difference to the top end.

One of the main problems with cassettes relates to azimuth errors - from a
variety of reasons including the tape itself. You don't get these - or
shouldn't - when off tape monitoring. Same with the Dolby encoding.

I still kick myself sometimes for selling it.

You'll get far better performance from a MiniDisc at a fraction of the
price. And those don't vary from machine to machine.

--
*I used up all my sick days so I called in dead

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

All gone walkies
 

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Roy roy wrote:
I regularly used to flick from source to monitor when recording on my
Nakamichi 582 and was always pretty staggered at how little difference
there was. Subjectively, there didn't seem any difference to the top
end.

One of the main problems with cassettes relates to azimuth errors - from a
variety of reasons including the tape itself. You don't get these - or
shouldn't - when off tape monitoring. Same with the Dolby encoding.


Also bear in mind the Nak had (easily) adjustable azimuth, bias and Dolby
"level".

I still kick myself sometimes for selling it.

You'll get far better performance from a MiniDisc at a fraction of the
price. And those don't vary from machine to machine.

Oh, I know, or indeed my Mac iBook. But I did like the Nak.

Roy.

All gone walkies
 

I regularly used to flick from source to monitor when recording on my
Nakamichi 582 and was always pretty staggered at how little difference there
was. Subjectively, there didn't seem any difference to the top end.

Well ok, but when I initially dissed cassette's poor treble, it
was in the context of Walkmans. They do have crap treble, and
worse yet, since the tape being played won't have been recorded on the
Walkman, there is the problem of head azimuth differences between
the recording and playback machines, too.

Tape Walkmans were naff compared to what we have now. End of.


Martin
--
M.A.Poyser Tel.: 07967 110890
Manchester, U.K. http://www.fleetie.demon.co.uk

All gone walkies
 

Oh, and another thing.. many walkmans were not optimally aligned (IME)
out of the box and would drift anyway.. so Dolby wouldn't track
properly (dulling the sound). I used to keep a small screwdriver
handy..

So did I.

All gone walkies
 

Dave Plowman (News) pibbled:
In article ,
Paul Dormer wrote:
*Most* cassettes don't go anywhere near 14kHz in practice. On a new
machine with good tape when measured, yes. After a few years use, no.

I just pulled out a 15 year old Denon deck that's been gathering dust
for the last 10, gave it a clean, demagnetized the heads.. I don't
hear anything like the deteroriation you're talking about.

I once spent considerable time going through cassettes sent in by the
public of which some would subsequently be broadcast. And the majority had
azimuth and dolby errors. Even before the tape type and quality was
considered.

Of course they are capable of half decent performance, but not in practice
for the majority.


Jewellers screwdriver. Sorted. Your problem was??

--
Despite appearances, it is still legal to put sugar on cornflakes.
Strawberries are purely optional.

All gone walkies
 

"Paul Dormer" wrote
"Fleetie" emitted :

I regularly used to flick from source to monitor when recording on my
Nakamichi 582 and was always pretty staggered at how little difference there
was. Subjectively, there didn't seem any difference to the top end.

Well ok, but when I initially dissed cassette's poor treble, it
was in the context of Walkmans. They do have crap treble, and
worse yet, since the tape being played won't have been recorded on the
Walkman, there is the problem of head azimuth differences between
the recording and playback machines, too.

Tape Walkmans were naff compared to what we have now. End of.

No, you are wrong. Some of them were very good. 'End of.' x 1000

Thank goodness we have a sense of humour here.

All gone walkies
 

In article ,
Triffid wrote:
Of course they are capable of half decent performance, but not in
practice for the majority.


Jewellers screwdriver. Sorted. Your problem was??

I don't have a problem - I have a very expensive test tape for setting
azimuth correctly afterwards. Doubt many do, though.

--
*Can fat people go skinny-dipping?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

All gone walkies
 

"Fleetie" wrote in message
...
I regularly used to flick from source to monitor when recording on my
Nakamichi 582 and was always pretty staggered at how little difference
there
was. Subjectively, there didn't seem any difference to the top end.

Well ok, but when I initially dissed cassette's poor treble, it
was in the context of Walkmans. They do have crap treble, and
worse yet, since the tape being played won't have been recorded on the
Walkman, there is the problem of head azimuth differences between
the recording and playback machines, too.

Tape Walkmans were naff compared to what we have now.

Ah, well. I do still have a Walkman Pro.

Roy.

All gone walkies
 

Ah, well. I do still have a Walkman Pro.

Well don't worry, it's nothing a bridge and a river can't cure. ;-)

All gone walkies
 

On 19 Aug 2004 01:11:33 -0700, (Paul Edwards)
wrote:

A couple of weeks ago I decided to replace my old Aiwa personal
cassette player (batteries had leaked - my fault). Easy, I thought -
I'll just nip into town and have a look in John Lewis and buy
something neat for £40 or so.

[snip]

So if you are thinking of replacing that old Walkman DO IT NOW! By
the end of the year it will be too late.

Page 862 of the current Argos catalogue (autumn-winter 2004) lists ten
such devices from three pounds up to fifty-five pounds. The following
pages have about the same number of flash memory "MP3" players, five
hard disk players (taking the three iMac variations as a single player
type) and four mini disc players.


--
Chris Isbell
Southampton, UK

All gone walkies
 

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Triffid wrote:
Of course they are capable of half decent performance, but not in
practice for the majority.


Jewellers screwdriver. Sorted. Your problem was??

I don't have a problem - I have a very expensive test tape for setting
azimuth correctly afterwards. Doubt many do, though.

I've got one somewhere - like my tape deck it's not been used for a while -
also has a little strobe wheel in the middle for speed setting.
--
Mr. West, not every situation requires your patented approach of shoot
first, shoot later, shoot some more and then when everybody's dead try
to ask a question or two

All gone walkies
 

"Fleetie" wrote in message
...
Ah, well. I do still have a Walkman Pro.

Well don't worry, it's nothing a bridge and a river can't cure. ;-)



Ooh, you bitch.

All gone walkies
 

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 23:23:00 +0000 (UTC)
"Triffid" wrote:

Despite years
of under-rating by snide old farts, cassettes continue to provide a
worthwhile music source.

On what planet? I dont miss 'em one bit.