Hi, I don't think I have listened to a Cassette since being a little kid (and on that note I can't recall when I was last actively partaking in forum culture), but a string of coincidences has sparked my curiosity in the hobby. I have a huge soft spot for physical media: Journaling, film photography, listening to records etc so naturally the idea of owning cassettes and making my own little mixtapes appeals a lot to me. Decided to make an account and lurk here for a little bit, to get a feel for all the ins and outs. I do not yet own any playback devices, so any advice on that front is appreciated, both on how to figure out what model to get and dos and don'ts when buying. I think something portable would suit me best for now, though from what I understand finding a walkman that can also record tapes isn't always easy. Also for some reason it was seeing a Sony WM-D6C that gave me the push to want to get into this hobby and I have to admit I was a least a little bit disappointed how prohibitively expensive those are, since naturally I would love to own one evnetually.
Welcome, I think you've come to the right place. I love making mixtapes. Relaxing on the couch, connecting a portable recorder to my laptop and then relaxing and creating a mixtape from online media. I do it often. It's helpful to start with a good recorder. I prefer the TC-D5M. It's a nice, compact device, easy to use, and it makes beautiful recordings. The D6C is also good, but I personally find the controls less user-friendly. Unfortunately, they're indeed not very cheap anymore. Then it's time to look for the best playback device. The great thing is that each device gives its own unique signature to the music. This has culminated in a years-long search for the perfect playback device for me. Trying, searching, scoring and repairing devices is a fun part of the scene. There's a lot to be found here about what's good and what's not. But ultimately, it's a personal choice based on your own experiences. Have fun
Welcome to Stereo2go anhuhn You just have to be patient and keep looking, bargains do come up from time to time.
Funnily enough it's a bit of a chicken and egg problem for me. I'm hesitant to buy a player, while I only own a single cassette and I'm hesitant to buy more cassettes when I have no way to play them (when I could just buy a record or CD instead). But between a portable walkman and making my own tapes there should definetely be enough "purpose" to this whole endeavor to get me started. Aside from the novelty and aesthetic side of things of course, which I won't deny is playing a part too Oh I definitely want to get into the tinkering side of the hobby. And from looking at a few videos it's not that unrealistic to do a few of the repairs/refurbishments even as a beginner. Though for now I might draw the line at soldering. Haven't done that in a while and would be a little scared to start learning on a device I spent a few hundred bucks on Yeah, I've seen this sentiment in some of the posts on here, that it's not as rare as some people would make it out to be and sooner or later you can find a good one. I've also noticed that the prices on more local sites are lower than eBay for instance. Though I was curious what a bargain means in numbers. I'm kinda new to this and have absolutely no frame of reference for how much money is reasonable to spend, I've seen anything from about 400€ to 1.5k, though granted the expensive ones claim to be fully serviced and the ones on the cheap end are either straight up broken or give off the vibe that someone just found them in their dad's attic and wants to get rid of them without even really knowing what kind of issues to test for.
Well a bargain is up to you, everyone has a different idea of what that is. Depends on how much money you have and how badly you want something. For me a good way to look at it is, find out what the original selling price was when it came out and then look for the average selling price now, then make up your mind how much you are willing to spend. When the D6C came out it was £250 and when they stopped selling them in the shops it was £330. DD33 was £80 new and when they stop selling them it was £120. DC2 was £160 and it ended at £160 I think. Cassettes TDK MA-XG was £9.99 went up to £11.99 then back to £9.99. I am lucky I have all I want already, Sony D6C, DC2, DD9 and a Nakamichi CR-7. I don’t envy people that are trying to get those units these days. A better way to go is to look for those hidden gems that have been overlooked and underrated, units like Sony WM-DD33 for portable or a Nakamichi CR-3 or CR-4 for home decks. Good luck in your hunt.
Everyone wants to start with the top dog, the WM-D6 but it's gone through the roof in pricing and since it was a "pro" model, it can be very expensive to have a working model. I love the thrill of hunting and have bypassed some of the popular models for more obscure (and much less expensive) portables and have amassed a pretty neat collection in the mean time. I probably collected over 100 for the price of a D6 but I do have one of those, it was included in a "lot" and nobody noticed it. My advice is to keep your eyes open, they sold millions of players and a lot of people held onto them, especially the nicer ones. I've had friends gift me units and I've gotten several at garage sales (that were inside) just by asking. I'm still stuck in the 80's with all the cool gadgets, analog clocks, audio/video equipment, toys, etc. The nice thing is when they work they make great decorations and they still do their intended useful purpose. Don't be afraid to repair but start with something easy like a cheap 70's receiver or a Sports Walkman. 70's units with big parts inside are really hard to destroy and soldering can be fun if you have patience.
Of course, you don't have to buy a dedicated player right away. If you get a good recorder like D5M or D6C, you'll have a beast of a player too. Cassette tapes don't have to be difficult. People regularly clear out their houses and sell their old tapes. They often won't all be high-end, but they're often perfectly usable tapes for recording. I used to regularly buy garbage bags full of tape at super low prices. Sometimes half of them were worthless, but at the same time, there were quite a few of good quality ones. I have most of the high-end equipment, like DD9 players, etc. But ultimately, I mainly use the red Sony CHF-60 tapes from 1979 (boomboxes like these a lot, so does my D5M) and players from the early period 1980s. Or players from the late period 2000s, like the Panasonic NX series for outdoor use. These items usually cost well under €100. Often a lot less. If the recorder is good, a lot of things actually sound really good. The possibilities are practically endless
Welcome and good luck in the quest! Patience will pay off. Reading about cassette devices and discovering what you like / want is a good idea. It is sad that everything costs so much now. My philosophy with cassette was to casually read an hour or two (!) a day on tapeheads and the boombox forums... for the better part of a year. With ebay / Google open in another tab to search for the models to discover prices and what they look like. Gradually I started to figure out what I wanted. Copying and pasting model numbers into a document, then sifting and narrowing it down, or going though all the Nakamichi decks to see how many there actually were and what I liked the look of etc., Being a minimalist I knew I would rather have 1 or 2 super cassette devices than 10 or 20 junk ones collecting dust and never being repaired / used... and I wanted to experience what cassette could really sound like after reading so much about them etc.,
Solid advice to be honest. I'm just keeping eBay (and a local alternative that tends to have lower prices) open in a tab and check if there is anything new every now and then. So I'm starting to get a feel for how much people want for these things and also how much I probably am willing to pay. Actually just missed out on a really good deal, because I had some questions about the condition of the player for the seller and looks like someone else was quicker then me. But at least that gives me confidence that if I wait long enough sooner or later something will come my way. Also checked at my local record store the other day, the owner said he does get people bringing in old walkmans every now and then. Definitely on the same page with you there. I get there is a thrill to collecting but seeing people with dozens of devices in their collection makes me realize that's not for me.
