The DD Sony series are awsome! But what to think About the Panasonic DD ? Even with a decent AM/FM on board... And soooooo cute ! The Sony even looks Bulky...Almost All metal case, amorphous head and even external adjustment of Azimuth! What you say About that!
A quote from JohnEduard AHHHH the MAGNIFICENT RX-S40 DIRECT DRIVE AMORPHOUS player. You must give credit to Panasonic to produce a collapsible player like the WM-10,20,30,40 series of Sony and include a AM/FM radio AND DIRECT DRIVE SYSTEM with AMORPHOUS HEAD TECHNOLOGY. This model released I believe in 1985 and is still a flagship of performance for Panasonic in the 80’s. It is the smallest Direct Drive Walkman ever made as far as I know. The face actuated FF and REW work perfectly. Sadly they did not include Dolby C which would have made this an astounding player. I can tell you the sonic quality of sound is nearly on par with the DC2 exclusive of not having dolby C. This player makes you feel like the violin soloist is sitting next to you and you can hear the sound of the bow drawing across the strings. Truly a clarity and smooth sound without harshness that sometimes the DC2 touches upon
if interested , there is one for sale (not mine!!) http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Pan...703462?hash=item2cbdca2866:g:aSAAAOSwuspY9udS
I have 2 RX-S40's they are very good and unlike the Sony DD's Disc Drive system these are better as the capstan shaft is the motor shaft, so true direct drive with no rubber tyres to worry about.
I like the design of DC2. maybe there are some significant features for the Panasonic direct drive walkman but the design of DC2 is much better than this Panasonic DD , just a personal opinion
Yes Boodokhan, But isn't sometimes fun to change gear? Even if you like pizza for the best , after eating them everyday , it is fun to go to McD ... ;-) @mrp32Dave Great ..... and do you use them often ?
absolutely. I agree with you. Unfortunately this model is hard to find. Why don't you make a comparison for us since you have the privilege of owning one
Yahoooooo .... i think( afraid) if i make a comparison, it will blow too much dust to clinical places .... if you understand what i mean .... Let's say that i am not qualified because my hearing become too dusty and , more , too rusty ...... But to say something about it , i really love the quality and cuteness .... the pics do not right to how it really is and feel ....
You are well qualified to comment your opinion about anything you like. We just share our findings and ideas. No one is perfect. What i mentioned about the look of these 2 players is my personal opinion and it doesn't mean that most of the people agree about it. I wish i had this Panasonic DD walkman that way i could make a comparison. For now my opinion only limited to the design
Unfortunatly .... it is not mine .... but i do have the RQ-S7R ... thats also a very nice one .... i think you probably have that yourself too ....
Thanks for the link - Bought it last week - luckily it works 100% perfectly and it's the BEST portable I've ever gotten my hands on! The build quality for mine seems to be a little flimsy with the collapsing mechanism. So I'll do that very carefully but lets be honest- how often will I NOT have a tape in this thing!?
Nice to see John's words referenced after all these years. This is a very interesding comparison and you're right, Sony's claim for direct drive was a little bit of a stretch. I've never seen the S40 but I do know it's rare and quite lovely. Somewhat controversially I always dismissed Panasonic as 'also rans' in the walkman arena. I always got the feeling that their efforts were pretty half-hearted, not unlike Toshiba. Panasonic were the only company who were in a good strong position to rival Sony but they just didn't. Lazy designs, copy cat technology and poor advertising. They made nice quality stuff with that usual Panasonic feel but I just wouldn't have wanted to own one back in the day. As middle-aged collectors I know we all prefer the Panasonic as it's quirky and rare but we should never underestemate the superior nature of the DC2 which is quite possibly the best walkman every made.
I really like the RX-S40, but in my opinion Panasonic should have made a real 'high-end' player of this RX-S40. No frills like radio or slide out controls to be extra small, but a real DD walkman with Dolby B-C and maybe DBX and auto-reverse. Shame Panasonic didn't do that because it could have been a tough rival for the Sony WM-DC2 and WM-DD9 or Aiwa's like the HS-PX101 and other Aiwa models.
Fully agree but you need to remember that Sony threw a lot at the Walkman, it was their product and it was their name. It not surprising that everyone else was late to the party. The DC2 was mid eighties, very early on in the history of things. Pamasonic were still making very basic (but nice) units at this time like the RQ-J9. The S40 and its siblings were derivatives of the 1984 RQ-J1 series which was designed as a small, stylish play only unit to rival the already three year old WM-2. There was no way anyone else could keep up with Sony. Their market share was enormous, way over 75%. It's easy as collectors in 2017 to forget this. When comparing the best walkmans, it's important to remember the year of manufacturer. With this info you get some idea of who was ahead.
Yes, I think you're right A O, but Panasonic had the technology to make such a TOTL walkman and could have evolved this model to keep up with the Sony models. The market share for these models however would be small compared to the volume sales from the cheaper models and maybe Panasonic just didn't feel like making such a player. And the later Panasonic RQ series were also very nice models of course.
