i love how your videos are never changed. no fancy stuff no yelling to get subscribers. can't tell if this video is from 2008 or 2018. that's what i call a style. hats off sir!
I was looking for tape recorders on Amazon (just doing something while in quarantine, although _might_ actually consider buying one), and most of them had 3.9 star reviews. A lot of the written reviews where saying "stopped working after a day"-"recipient was very displeased"-"do not waste your money", but at the same time there were positive reviews, and I wanted to see this in action. This video really helped, thanks.
@@snsm6730 I quite like the videos, the cassette player in this video, I cannot believe how poor quality it is. Buzzy as hell with the ac power, like it's being recorded through a wasps nest in a blender. Better on battery, although not good at all for music, just about acceptable for voice. I managed to find something at around 12.5% of the cost which performs so much better, sound wise, so that's £5 compared to £30+ Yes, it's second hand, but has double tape, auxilliary input RCA, radio with fm/am/sw, battery or ac and much less noise. It's a shame that they don't make them like they used to. We deserve better quality products!!!!
I've used my black Jensen pretty regularly since the middle of 2019 and its still going strong 👍 This may be the best made contemporary shoebox cassette recorder around
I don't know about you, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by the performance of that cassette recorder - not bad at all, especially for what it really is!!!
I had an rwd Fleetwood , last of the line 91... wonderful if not gutsy car, drove small for its size and looked amazing...I hate those FWD ones though, not very caddy like if you ask me... not until the sts came out anyway , nice but such rampant torque steer , imo the fwd Fleetwood are not nice at all ., and the pre Northstar 4100 (??) v8s pretty well suck for reliability....the 96 Lt1 Fleetwood are great , too , but I did not enjoy mine nearly as much as I liked the 91... for one thing the traction control was absolutely obnoxious and physically pushed the gas pedal back up into your foot to cut power when wheel slip happened , you know I can drift , well, and seeing an 18 wheeler bear down on you while power is being cut over some wet leaf you didn't see.... ugh scary times. It would've been a burnout champine if I could a defeated it , I think it ha d mechanical lsd too... also the steering column was wide and brushed up near flush with the bottom of the steering wheel , so you couldnt steer with your knee... deal breaker ! There really is something about the larger caddy sedans, different and good then more luxurious German stuff standard America stuff and the Japanese , the fit and finish is well worse, but they DO really feel special anyway....even compared to a Lexus...
You must live under a rock not to know there are cassette recorders being manufactured today. Still, it must be said you'll have a hard time trying to find any decent cassette deck in current production, it's mostly junk like this that's being made (this not being the very worst, so go figure).
@@BilisNegra so they really don’t make cassette recorders, just junk. And you don’t live under a rock if you haven’t noticed these. You just wasn’t looking for one. Ok.
I guess it will get unreliable in no time for that purpose. Don't think that crappy thing can play without a lot of wow and flutter for long (does not even do that too well even from the start).
I actually used those same Onn tapes to record music (both off the radio and from my main Spotify playlist) and the sound quality you can get out of one of those is surprising if you've got good equipment. For reference, I used them on a Denon DRR-M10 and a Technics RS-TR232 which I both picked up from Goodwill. I wanted to see if the recording worked on both of them, which it did.
Excellent review, thanks. You covered everything. I used to have a Bush TP 60 Cassette recorder. It had a variable mic-aux in recording level control with an agc override at the top of the level wheel. It was great for gently fading in and out on record. The agc was a lot more sensitive than the jensen, so, when clicked on, there were no ugly in volume peaks.Taught me a lot about field recording techniques and had a high quality separate mic, together with a line in socket, making it possible for me, way back in 1969, to record directly in from a separate fm radio tuner . The speaker quality was high. Solid piece of kit. I miss it a lot.
The "remote" feature on this type of tape recorder usually just cut power to the motor (at least "in the day"). This design seems to straight up cuts of the power supply.
It sounds a lot better than I thought it would, I used to use a Panasonic player like that on my school bus the other kids loved it, I had all the latest songs from the radio, great memories. Thanks for the video.
I'm so glade I found your video. Hearing the play back of the audio gives me reassurance now in purchasing my own recorder. To add, I had no idea having it plugged in and charging whistle recording would create a buzzing in the play back. You just saved me from an unknown(to me at least) mistake I could have made.
I have to admit that my Polaroid turntable review borrowed some ideas from your Crosley Cruiser review... But my new Onn Tape Recorder unboxing and review was NOT borrowed from this vid of your Jensen (pretty blue color BTW). In fact, I just found this video today as I was seeing how my new vid was performing in search. Good vid, bye the way. I wish I had watched this first, and I would have known that these two recorders are indeed the same! It seems we like much of the same stuff... Good vid.
Hi V, thanks for posting this video. I just got back home from a long long day at work and the gym.. I put this video on and within 5min your calm, soothing, eternal voice put me to sleep (on the couch) ..It has now been 2.5 hour and I have woken up. Thanks, V!
Thanks for reviewing this! I was considering picking up one of these for data recording and playback (from / to old computers). The lack of a counter would be rather annoying for multiple program storage, unfortunately. Other than that, however, I'm glad to see that it is basically a sound little unit.
dunno if Onn is 'exclusive' to one store, but certainly seen it over here in the uk, i have seen 'similar' cassette recorders under 'GPO' and Bush(owned by Argos), the Bush one has a USB socket for playing MP3 files, dunno if it can record to tape, or the other way round, the 'GPO' one is more like this Jensen one, but no Aux in jack, and different shaped case..and not full autostop (dunno about the Bush one)
There are 2 Bush variants of this cassette recorder, the one I have has mic input and aux input via 3.5mm jacks as well as usb and earphone out. The machine is surprisingly solid given its price point, tape speed was a little high but easy enough to reset. The transport is a lot more stable than some recent boomboxes
I had the Radio Shack version of this a few years back. There is a series resistor inline with the headphone jack. Bypassing it will permit full power to the external speaker but makes the sound louder when using headphones (just remember to turn it down).
Nice presentation of a nice little unit. As with most vintage cassettes like it, it sounds way better through an external speaker. The mic input's very useful too, with its remote switch. Good to see them still being made, as you rightly say. That's a lot of shoebox cassette recorder for the price. Probably a proper transformer fitted regulated mains adaptor would be better for it, never reckoned much to those switched mode things.
Not as sturdy looking as the good old ones hey ?:) By the way, using the pause button should be better than the on/off switch on the microphone. If I remember correctly, the motor is still running when you hit the pause button so you don't have to way for it (the motor) to pic up speed again.
You're right. Those "remote" switches were a "thing" for recorders without a pause button. (many low priced units lacked such luxuries like a pause button or a tape counter)
Remote switches were essential to load different levels in computer games for some systems FYI. Core code plus first level would load first, with the tape drive left on standby during gameplay. Once you completed one number of levels exceeding what the computer memory could hold, tape loading resumed.
Well played. In all seriousness, that performed a lot better than I would've expected. The range of jacks on it is also a nice surprise. Although it looks like not even cassette recorders can escape blinding blue LEDs now. :P 5V - I bet they took a cheap phone charger and replaced the USB port with a standard cord and plug. They ought to just put a MicroUSB port on the thing so you can power it from a computer! Walmart still selling cassettes? I'm gonna have to look next time I'm in Maine.
My OCD is pleased that the recorder, level LED, the Onn cassettes, and your version of Mr. Scissors all color-coordinate. Most of these cheaper recorders use the master volume control for record level control as well. The buzz with the AC adapter is horrendous! OMG Whitney Houston's "Miracle" on the Ford Audio Systems demo tape... I can't tell you how many years it has been since I heard that song. :-D
If Crosley made cassette players this is about what you would end up with - I also would lop off that wallwort and cobble in a USB connector to get a clean 5V - nice review as you always do them.
The chasis design is remarkably similar to a late model CTR-111 (RadioShack 14-1117 B) that I nabbed recently from a Goodwill on the cheap. They are definitely data set recording friendly. The AC adapter for the one I have suggests 6v at 350mA, so perhaps they are shooting a bit high on their power requirements...Mine seems to run just fine on a pair of 18650 cells.
I just bought a silver Onn MCA-976 by WalMart just like it for $3 at a thrift store, pretty decent for cheap as hell! TIP FOR NEAR- STEREO SOUND WITH HEADPHONES: Post 1991 shoebox mono types have had stereo playback heads since the walkman market explosion. Plug into a stereo amp with a mono/stereo adapter, and listen through headphones from the stereo amp for equal playback response from the 2 channels when making adjustment to playback head azimuth. Very tight near-stereo sound through from tape recorder through stereo headphones with stereo/mono adapter from just one playback amp channel!
I have a plain black, Philips lookalike of this with similar specs. It has the exact same characteristics so I'd imagine it's the same product under different branding. Have to say I love the metallic blue of your model plus the ext. microphone is a nice addition. These don't sound too bad for recording voice and general use but my only disappointment is that it's mono. Would have been nice to have had a stereo option on them. Still, they are what they are and they have their place.
Hi! I loved the video, it's the best review I've found, I totally subscribed. I really like your style, simple and straight to the point. I have a few questions, you see it's just I'm inexpert in this things because I'm young and I've not used this before and well my family did not used to record things appearently, so I hope someone can help me Do you think it'll work good if I want to record something long? I'm supposed to use a dinamic mic, right? (I really want to plug in another mic and also headphones but I don't know which type fits a tape recorder like this) And lastly, do you think it could last sometime without damage?
The maximum recording length depends on the length of the tape you use. For example, a 90 minute tape is 45 minutes per side. This recorder should be OK for voice with the external microphone, but I do not recommend it for music.
@@vwestlife Thank you so much! I've been investigating lately about it and I've also seen your other videos. Thank you for making content like this, I really enjoy it and it has helped me a lot.
@@crystalb1435 Thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here. This is 2 years after your comment so I'm not sure if you're still interested. If you use a cassette recorder, there are cautions that say to stay away from C120 (60 minutes per side) tape as they are thinner and could snap. I never had trouble with them, but thought I'd mention it.
Have you tried recording through the aux input from a digital source? Curious to get one to record from a computer/phone mp3 etc and wondering what the quality of the recording would be
Very nice, thank you. I just purchased one of these, I'm still waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Do you have a recommendation on what kind of AC adapter I could purchase to reduce/remove the electrical interference?
This review is awesome!! I was hesitant to buy one of those cassette recorders for a Tandy Color Computer, but seeing all the features and the good quality, this tape recorder is worth every penny. BTW, do you know a good company that sells belts online? Bought several chinese ones and they are terrible. Thank you for the video.
@@vwestlife that's great to hear. I'm from India and was checking on the Indian version of Amazon. I will check the global version. Thank you for the Quick reply.
In addition to that, I also have my Audiotronics school cassette recorder which is the 148B Classette and it looks cool than the Jensen, ONN and Coby cassette recorders which is a bit confusing. It has no monitor feature on there like the Jensen do and it has a ton of features like the LED light indicator where it blinks during playback, a switch for play, pause and ALC defeat for manual level recording, a pause feature where you can switch to pause to stop both the tape and the cuts off the amplifier which was weird where it was used as a power switch for standby mode, and the play switch where you can switch to both play and the amplifier itself on while it's in play. It also includes a built-in Listening Center for aux, microphone jack, remote, headset/external speaker and 4 additional headsets where you can connect up to 4 headphones which was an interesting feature so kids can listen together for read-alongs and audiobooks.
An interesting review. In the UK we had a few tape recorders in that format that also had a radio. Did you have anything like that in the US ? They where quite interesting and useful as it was a nice portable format ( for the time).
VWestlife i used to have a 'shoebox' one with radio when i was young (7 or 8 or so) , dial was a tiny thumbwheel top right corner, didnt even have a separate stop key, only 4 keys, you had to press FF and REW together! eject was a lift up lid, i 'dismembered' it after a while to see what was in it..
i had and still have a few of the 'upright' type as in the video linked above, one could be great, as its JVC, very heavy with good speaker, radio works brilliantly, but the flywheel is disintegrating, so the cassette part is unuseable 😢
i had a nasty philips one with all plastic mechanism, that would eat every tape you tried in it... dunno if it ever worked when new, i tried to sort it but no go, i got it very cheap off someone as part of a job lot of radio stuff
I'm glad they at the least still make Type I cassettes. Yeah they're not Type II (which are better in every way) but they're better than nothing. So I'm glad we still get something made.
Yeah these kind of tapedecks usually are always mono. Also makes them kinda useless for playing radiodrama tapes. Something that is VERY popular here in Germany.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 are the tapes recorded separate mono tracks , one show left one show right? If not , these are great for radio shows and voice in general
@@Rockband2991 sure, and the sound is pretty good. I don't too badly mind mono, but like him , would not use this for recording music as it is not stereo, which was his reasoning , it is of course capable of it, and I personally like using these type players as small boom boxes for the park or whatever
Will this play stereo tapes properly. I ask because I keep seeing references to double-mono. I need something that will play my old stereo tapes properly.
You shoud see if that microphone will work with other tape recorders. I have an RCA from 2010 that has that exact microphone, and the plug alignment only allowed it to work with that recorder.
Hello, I have a question regarding those cassette recorder with piano keys (i.e. as opposed to tact switches). I'm looking for tape recorder that I can punch in recording. (i.e. able to switch record from play without having to pause tape) None of my tape decks can do punch-in recording. I enjoy your videos. Thank you!
That is not possible with the currently available cassette recorders. It was a rare feature on anything except studio recorders like the TASCAM PortaStudio series.
@@vwestlife Thank you for the reply. I used to use Portastudio, and it could do punch-in, of course. I was hoping that those voice cassette recorder could do it, like of like an unsupported feature.
I bought a pack of the Onn cassettes last year and recorded some old 45's on them on my JVC deck with Dolby B HX Pro. They didn't turn out too bad although they are nosier tapes and dont have the higher output level as current Maxell UR's do. I was hoping they'd be a copy of TDK's D. But they not even close and not worth 4 dollars for a 2 pack.
wildbilltexas I don't know yet, but TDK used to make cassettes, but I have a bunch of these dates back to the 70's through the 2000's. TDK makes capacitors, Maxell makes batteries instead. I looked up on sites that TDK is no longer part of Imation. But Memorex do make blank media like CD-R's, DVD-R's and DVD+R's, and also Emtec (formerly BASF) will have to go back to make cassettes in the future. So does Memorex and Quantegy (formerly Ampex) will go back to make cassettes as well.
MTN Productions If any big company like Memorex starts selling blank cassettes again, most likely they will likely be normal bias tapes similar to the Maxell UR that are made in Indonesia or Korea.
Nobody makes anything any longer. Last I looked, which granted was 10 years ago, all EMTEC optical media was made by Moser Baer, super cheap and shoddy, and their flash drives were also generic white-label products of the worst kind, absolute trash. There was no connection between brand holding and Agfa and BASF legacy any longer. Currently two companies have the EMTEC brand, for one an actual magnetic tape company in Holland, and MPO which is known for high-quality optical media made in France, but... I wouldn't draw any conclusions.
Siana Gearz I'm hoping National Audio Company's new in-house tape will be excellent quality. But if you want awesome high bias tapes you're going to go online to buy old stock or search thrift stores or used record stores. I've lucked out and found Maxell XL II's and Memorex CD2's for a dollar each, still in the wrappers.
I got mine over 2 years ago. Only complaint about it now is, cell phones will interfere with the recordings Can't figure out how to make the line-in recording to work; either the line level is too hot or there is none at all.
i love how your videos are never changed. no fancy stuff no yelling to get subscribers. can't tell if this video is from 2008 or 2018. that's what i call a style. hats off sir!
I know right, still to this day i use a RCA VHS camcorder from 1997 and i love it. LOL
@ Berk genc: Just the way I like it. That's why i keep coming back. Also reminds me of the early TH-cam days where things were much more fun.
One of the best things about his channel.
I couldn’t agree more.
Tapes say copyright 2014. So has to be at LEAST that new. :-P
It does warm my heart that manufaturers still make these things, despite their shortcomings.
The AC bias warms my heart!
The wow and flutter warms my heart!
Alright, alright fellas, I get it, they're crap, but hey. They're still there.
@@somecoder3054 it would be nice if some factory can actually make a decent mech for modern cassette players
I was looking for tape recorders on Amazon (just doing something while in quarantine, although _might_ actually consider buying one), and most of them had 3.9 star reviews. A lot of the written reviews where saying "stopped working after a day"-"recipient was very displeased"-"do not waste your money", but at the same time there were positive reviews, and I wanted to see this in action. This video really helped, thanks.
I've shot most of the video for a review of the Onn version. I should finish it.
Tonemaster would be proud of it.
..but won't buy a light keeper pro. 😂
I 2nd this....a LOT of us find these straightforward vids useful. Lots of us are on a budget.
@@snsm6730 I quite like the videos, the cassette player in this video, I cannot believe how poor quality it is. Buzzy as hell with the ac power, like it's being recorded through a wasps nest in a blender. Better on battery, although not good at all for music, just about acceptable for voice. I managed to find something at around 12.5% of the cost which performs so much better, sound wise, so that's £5 compared to £30+ Yes, it's second hand, but has double tape, auxilliary input RCA, radio with fm/am/sw, battery or ac and much less noise. It's a shame that they don't make them like they used to. We deserve better quality products!!!!
Now you know why I hang on to the older cassette tape recorders from my dad 8) HOW can you mess up one of these...sigh.
Am I the only one who finds it therapeutic watching this guy's videos?
Nope. No you're not. 👍👍😃
@Mr Koopa It just means we're Some weirdos!! 😆 I love it!! It's good to know I'm not alone
I've used my black Jensen pretty regularly since the middle of 2019 and its still going strong 👍
This may be the best made contemporary shoebox cassette recorder around
westlife thank you for your no intro videos , your camera work and audio is always excellent
I don't know about you, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by the performance of that cassette recorder - not bad at all, especially for what it really is!!!
I’m thinking of getting one to record tapes on the road and stuff instead of carrying a giant tape recorder
Agreed Sounds pretty good for what it is, i mean for budget i thimk itll be just fine
this would be perfect for recording raw black metal rehearsal demos
the trve Black Metal experience
More like master tapes
Every metal band should use a cassette recorder microphone
No
@@pencilshookchurchillknockh4934 why?
I need that Cadillac demo tape.
I had an rwd Fleetwood , last of the line 91... wonderful if not gutsy car, drove small for its size and looked amazing...I hate those FWD ones though, not very caddy like if you ask me... not until the sts came out anyway , nice but such rampant torque steer , imo the fwd Fleetwood are not nice at all ., and the pre Northstar 4100 (??) v8s pretty well suck for reliability....the 96 Lt1 Fleetwood are great , too , but I did not enjoy mine nearly as much as I liked the 91... for one thing the traction control was absolutely obnoxious and physically pushed the gas pedal back up into your foot to cut power when wheel slip happened , you know I can drift , well, and seeing an 18 wheeler bear down on you while power is being cut over some wet leaf you didn't see.... ugh scary times. It would've been a burnout champine if I could a defeated it , I think it ha d mechanical lsd too... also the steering column was wide and brushed up near flush with the bottom of the steering wheel , so you couldnt steer with your knee... deal breaker ! There really is something about the larger caddy sedans, different and good then more luxurious German stuff standard America stuff and the Japanese , the fit and finish is well worse, but they DO really feel special anyway....even compared to a Lexus...
Max Welsh r/nobodycares
@@jackjjorgensen2501 dont be a dick
@@maxwelsh6121 you spent too much time typing that lol
@@DisgustedArchive yee
First, I'm amazed they still make cassette recorders and second, I love that color.
You must live under a rock not to know there are cassette recorders being manufactured today. Still, it must be said you'll have a hard time trying to find any decent cassette deck in current production, it's mostly junk like this that's being made (this not being the very worst, so go figure).
@@BilisNegra so they really don’t make cassette recorders, just junk.
And you don’t live under a rock if you haven’t noticed these. You just wasn’t looking for one.
Ok.
Pretty good for something modern, does look a little cheap though so probably wont last long, at least they used AC bias.
Thought the exact same thing. I also found software that encodes 300baud KCS and 1200 baud CUTS.
youtube inserting reply into wrong comment - AGAIN yOuTuBe Is HiGh
Looks like a good fit for loading tape games.
ZX Spectrum?
among other computers of late 70s and early 80s.
Just unfortunately missing tape counter :(
I guess it will get unreliable in no time for that purpose. Don't think that crappy thing can play without a lot of wow and flutter for long (does not even do that too well even from the start).
Thought the exact same thing. I also found software that encodes 300baud KCS and 1200 baud CUTS.
I actually used those same Onn tapes to record music (both off the radio and from my main Spotify playlist) and the sound quality you can get out of one of those is surprising if you've got good equipment. For reference, I used them on a Denon DRR-M10 and a Technics RS-TR232 which I both picked up from Goodwill. I wanted to see if the recording worked on both of them, which it did.
It looks like an oversized Gameboy colour.
*Game Boy*
Andy Madden I was thinking Game Boy too.
it does look similar
lol
Nah man, its a Game Girl
Excellent review, thanks. You covered everything. I used to have a Bush TP 60 Cassette recorder. It had a variable mic-aux in recording level control with an agc override at the top of the level wheel. It was great for gently fading in and out on record. The agc was a lot more sensitive than the jensen, so, when clicked on, there were no ugly in volume peaks.Taught me a lot about field recording techniques and had a high quality separate mic, together with a line in socket, making it possible for me, way back in 1969, to record directly in from a separate fm radio tuner . The speaker quality was high. Solid piece of kit. I miss it a lot.
The "remote" feature on this type of tape recorder usually just cut power to the motor (at least "in the day"). This design seems to straight up cuts of the power supply.
It sounds a lot better than I thought it would, I used to use a Panasonic player like that on my school bus the other kids loved it, I had all the latest songs from the radio, great memories. Thanks for the video.
Music from 6:09 to 6:39 is Anders Eager Jenson's song.
YAY More cassette videos keep it up I love these :)
Nice, the limited edition color has a limited edition owner's manual.
but the limited edition colour recorder manual is not in a limited edition colour :(
After I lost an entire interview as a journalist because of a crappy Android app, I fell in love again with cassette recorders. All I use now.
I'm so glade I found your video. Hearing the play back of the audio gives me reassurance now in purchasing my own recorder. To add, I had no idea having it plugged in and charging whistle recording would create a buzzing in the play back. You just saved me from an unknown(to me at least) mistake I could have made.
I have to admit that my Polaroid turntable review borrowed some ideas from your Crosley Cruiser review... But my new Onn Tape Recorder unboxing and review was NOT borrowed from this vid of your Jensen (pretty blue color BTW). In fact, I just found this video today as I was seeing how my new vid was performing in search. Good vid, bye the way. I wish I had watched this first, and I would have known that these two recorders are indeed the same! It seems we like much of the same stuff... Good vid.
Hi V, thanks for posting this video. I just got back home from a long long day at work and the gym.. I put this video on and within 5min your calm, soothing, eternal voice put me to sleep (on the couch) ..It has now been 2.5 hour and I have woken up. Thanks, V!
Thanks for reviewing this! I was considering picking up one of these for data recording and playback (from / to old computers). The lack of a counter would be rather annoying for multiple program storage, unfortunately. Other than that, however, I'm glad to see that it is basically a sound little unit.
I assume the Onn brand is exclusive to Walmart in the US. It exists here in the UK in Asda stores, which are owned by Walmart.
Yeah I'm sure it's basically a 'store brand' for them.
Like the "Durabrand" home theatre system my brother gave me one Xmas!
dunno if Onn is 'exclusive' to one store, but certainly seen it over here in the uk, i have seen 'similar' cassette recorders under 'GPO' and Bush(owned by Argos), the Bush one has a USB socket for playing MP3 files, dunno if it can record to tape, or the other way round, the 'GPO' one is more like this Jensen one, but no Aux in jack, and different shaped case..and not full autostop (dunno about the Bush one)
There are 2 Bush variants of this cassette recorder, the one I have has mic input and aux input via 3.5mm jacks as well as usb and earphone out. The machine is surprisingly solid given its price point, tape speed was a little high but easy enough to reset. The transport is a lot more stable than some recent boomboxes
I think Asda's own brand stuff is now Polaroid I think. (As in the old cameras)
I'm sure most people will probably know this but that cool red cassette is Blurryface and the song playing is Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots.
I had the Radio Shack version of this a few years back. There is a series resistor inline with the headphone jack. Bypassing it will permit full power to the external speaker but makes the sound louder when using headphones (just remember to turn it down).
I am looking at my 1990s-era Radio Shack CTR-62 and it's essentially the same as the Jensen MCR-100.
Nice presentation of a nice little unit. As with most vintage cassettes like it, it sounds way better through an external speaker. The mic input's very useful too, with its remote switch. Good to see them still being made, as you rightly say. That's a lot of shoebox cassette recorder for the price. Probably a proper transformer fitted regulated mains adaptor would be better for it, never reckoned much to those switched mode things.
Not as sturdy looking as the good old ones hey ?:) By the way, using the pause button should be better than the on/off switch on the microphone. If I remember correctly, the motor is still running when you hit the pause button so you don't have to way for it (the motor) to pic up speed again.
You're right. Those "remote" switches were a "thing" for recorders without a pause button. (many low priced units lacked such luxuries like a pause button or a tape counter)
Remote switches were essential to load different levels in computer games for some systems FYI. Core code plus first level would load first, with the tape drive left on standby during gameplay. Once you completed one number of levels exceeding what the computer memory could hold, tape loading resumed.
How is the new Jetta? Please give us an update.
Seconded.
Whoo! Limited edition!
This nearly identical model was sold by radio shack 10 years ago, just not in blue. I had one for a while. Even made a video about it.
I’d love to hear that whole Cadillac golf key delivery tape!! Awesome video
Me too!!! Could you post it VWestlife?
I had a 1989 Cadillac Brougham, basically the same thing as the 85! It was a beautiful car, and lasted almost 300,000 miles
What happened to it did rust kill it
@@THE-xp3hpNo some jagoff "T-boned" me.
@@jamesslick4790 Thats heartbreaking i feel sorry for you in a way.
Well played.
In all seriousness, that performed a lot better than I would've expected. The range of jacks on it is also a nice surprise. Although it looks like not even cassette recorders can escape blinding blue LEDs now. :P
5V - I bet they took a cheap phone charger and replaced the USB port with a standard cord and plug. They ought to just put a MicroUSB port on the thing so you can power it from a computer!
Walmart still selling cassettes? I'm gonna have to look next time I'm in Maine.
confirmed that walmart in farmington maine still sells cassettes just like the ones in this video :)
Also in Czech Republic maxell are making type 1 tapes here
I haven't used one of these since the 80's. Can't say I've missed them.
I bet this would be great to use with the sinclair ZX spectrum to load software
Same idea over here!
I was wondering the same thing, especially with the mono head!
I remember not any player performing that well loading computer games back in the day, so this might be not that great.
I think I saw someone using an mp3 player once...quick and easy to find a game, and if you encode at a faster speed, you can load at a faster speed
@@bigearsbinky higher speed also equals higher bit error rates :(
My OCD is pleased that the recorder, level LED, the Onn cassettes, and your version of Mr. Scissors all color-coordinate.
Most of these cheaper recorders use the master volume control for record level control as well. The buzz with the AC adapter is horrendous!
OMG Whitney Houston's "Miracle" on the Ford Audio Systems demo tape... I can't tell you how many years it has been since I heard that song. :-D
Good video! I am getting this system today.
If Crosley made cassette players this is about what you would end up with - I also would lop off that wallwort and cobble in a USB connector to get a clean 5V - nice review as you always do them.
Crosley actually does sell cassette recorders: www.urbanoutfitters.com/shop/crosley-ct200-cassette-player
Whats the song playing at 6:08?
I love this review on a cassette tape recorder.
im always so happy when i get an email that says that you uploadet a new video :D
handy to use if have no laptop or smartphone to record your voice like back in the 80s & 90s.
handy to use when recording digitally isnt satisfying enough
What track is it around 6:20/6:30??
Anders Jensen - Troubled Hearts
Hey vwestlife. Amazing they used AC Bias. It out performs the Sony tvm 939 cassette recorder (one of the later models). Great demonstration
Now I want a 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. Actually my uncle had one.
Any chance you can post that Cadillac tape online?
6:08 Tape Song Name????
Cassette tapes aren't dead. They're just not commonly used anymore.
The color reminds me of a DS
I was surprised how much the power adapter changed the sound that was recorded.
The chasis design is remarkably similar to a late model CTR-111 (RadioShack 14-1117 B) that I nabbed recently from a Goodwill on the cheap. They are definitely data set recording friendly.
The AC adapter for the one I have suggests 6v at 350mA, so perhaps they are shooting a bit high on their power requirements...Mine seems to run just fine on a pair of 18650 cells.
I like it a lot actually... 🙂
Great, can I record a Mixtape of 15 minutes in a row or more, or do I have to record song by song?
I just bought a silver Onn MCA-976 by WalMart just like it for $3 at a thrift store, pretty decent for cheap as hell!
TIP FOR NEAR- STEREO SOUND WITH HEADPHONES:
Post 1991 shoebox mono types have had stereo playback heads since the walkman market explosion.
Plug into a stereo amp with a mono/stereo adapter, and listen through headphones from the stereo amp for equal playback response from the 2 channels when making adjustment to playback head azimuth. Very tight near-stereo sound through from tape recorder through stereo headphones with stereo/mono adapter from just one playback amp channel!
That adapter will not magically turn mono into stereo. You'll just get two-channel mono out of it.
while i dont have the need for it. I nearly want it just for that blue color. it's brilliant!
Now that is a nice blue! Would be just the right thing for MsMadLemon :P
Cool video. Those mic handling noises really take me back.
I have a plain black, Philips lookalike of this with similar specs. It has the exact same characteristics so I'd imagine it's the same product under different branding. Have to say I love the metallic blue of your model plus the ext. microphone is a nice addition. These don't sound too bad for recording voice and general use but my only disappointment is that it's mono. Would have been nice to have had a stereo option on them. Still, they are what they are and they have their place.
What’s the exact price and name of the other mic you had
Very good and thoroughly reviewed!!👍
Hi! I loved the video, it's the best review I've found, I totally subscribed. I really like your style, simple and straight to the point. I have a few questions, you see it's just I'm inexpert in this things because I'm young and I've not used this before and well my family did not used to record things appearently, so I hope someone can help me
Do you think it'll work good if I want to record something long? I'm supposed to use a dinamic mic, right? (I really want to plug in another mic and also headphones but I don't know which type fits a tape recorder like this) And lastly, do you think it could last sometime without damage?
The maximum recording length depends on the length of the tape you use. For example, a 90 minute tape is 45 minutes per side. This recorder should be OK for voice with the external microphone, but I do not recommend it for music.
@@vwestlife Thank you so much! I've been investigating lately about it and I've also seen your other videos. Thank you for making content like this, I really enjoy it and it has helped me a lot.
@@crystalb1435 Thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here. This is 2 years after your comment so I'm not sure if you're still interested. If you use a cassette recorder, there are cautions that say to stay away from C120 (60 minutes per side) tape as they are thinner and could snap. I never had trouble with them, but thought I'd mention it.
Have you tried recording through the aux input from a digital source? Curious to get one to record from a computer/phone mp3 etc and wondering what the quality of the recording would be
Still, does that Jensen tape recorder performs as good as your Norelco Continental 450?
HBC101TV Studios Or the Superscope C-101A which is a classic.
Very nice, thank you. I just purchased one of these, I'm still waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Do you have a recommendation on what kind of AC adapter I could purchase to reduce/remove the electrical interference?
Another one for the collection, or is it going back?
Does that mean the manual is also limited edition?
Would you recommend this for making music cassettes, audio quality wise?
No. Get at least something like the Sony CFD-S70.
@@vwestlife does that have the ability to record from an audio jack?
@@epicrandomness3589 Yes, the Sony CFD-S70 has an audio in jack.
Despite being Mono only, this doesn't seem to sound too bad at all. :-)
Good & interesting review as per usual. I think a pretty good performer (& the tape recorder:)) at that price-point.
This review is awesome!! I was hesitant to buy one of those cassette recorders for a Tandy Color Computer, but seeing all the features and the good quality, this tape recorder is worth every penny. BTW, do you know a good company that sells belts online? Bought several chinese ones and they are terrible. Thank you for the video.
hey cool video. By the way how you recorded the Stressed out song to that cassette, i am curious and could you please tell the technique
I didn't record it myself. Twenty One Pilots released their Blurryface album on cassette tape. I got it on Amazon.
@@vwestlife that's great to hear. I'm from India and was checking on the Indian version of Amazon. I will check the global version. Thank you for the Quick reply.
In addition to that, I also have my Audiotronics school cassette recorder which is the 148B Classette and it looks cool than the Jensen, ONN and Coby cassette recorders which is a bit confusing. It has no monitor feature on there like the Jensen do and it has a ton of features like the LED light indicator where it blinks during playback, a switch for play, pause and ALC defeat for manual level recording, a pause feature where you can switch to pause to stop both the tape and the cuts off the amplifier which was weird where it was used as a power switch for standby mode, and the play switch where you can switch to both play and the amplifier itself on while it's in play. It also includes a built-in Listening Center for aux, microphone jack, remote, headset/external speaker and 4 additional headsets where you can connect up to 4 headphones which was an interesting feature so kids can listen together for read-alongs and audiobooks.
For a cheap tape recorder it not bad.
I got the Onn one from Walmart👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Can we use it to fill blank tapes with the help of a digital device
Does it suit for songs recording from a phone to cassette through aux
An interesting review.
In the UK we had a few tape recorders in that format that also had a radio. Did you have anything like that in the US ? They where quite interesting and useful as it was a nice portable format ( for the time).
You mean like this? th-cam.com/video/2hrzP9JomuI/w-d-xo.html
VWestlife i used to have a 'shoebox' one with radio when i was young (7 or 8 or so) , dial was a tiny thumbwheel top right corner, didnt even have a separate stop key, only 4 keys, you had to press FF and REW together! eject was a lift up lid, i 'dismembered' it after a while to see what was in it..
i had and still have a few of the 'upright' type as in the video linked above, one could be great, as its JVC, very heavy with good speaker, radio works brilliantly, but the flywheel is disintegrating, so the cassette part is unuseable 😢
i had a nasty philips one with all plastic mechanism, that would eat every tape you tried in it... dunno if it ever worked when new, i tried to sort it but no go, i got it very cheap off someone as part of a job lot of radio stuff
In Turkey, we have cd + cassette player radio
I'm glad they at the least still make Type I cassettes.
Yeah they're not Type II (which are better in every way) but they're better than nothing. So I'm glad we still get something made.
What would be a good cheaper recorder for music
I'm surprised that the manual included those instructions and info- never would've expected that from a brand like Jensen.
Too bad this does not record in stereo because it would be a pretty convenient way to record youtube and mp3's to tape.
Yeah these kind of tapedecks usually are always mono. Also makes them kinda useless for playing radiodrama tapes. Something that is VERY popular here in Germany.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 are the tapes recorded separate mono tracks , one show left one show right? If not , these are great for radio shows and voice in general
WaybackTECH you can plug anything you want into the mic input like a phone or computer
@@Rockband2991 sure, and the sound is pretty good. I don't too badly mind mono, but like him , would not use this for recording music as it is not stereo, which was his reasoning , it is of course capable of it, and I personally like using these type players as small boom boxes for the park or whatever
Actually, the device's form factor is yelling MONO at you. Similar machines back in the day were mono as well.
Will this play stereo tapes properly. I ask because I keep seeing references to double-mono. I need something that will play my old stereo tapes properly.
You shoud see if that microphone will work with other tape recorders. I have an RCA from 2010 that has that exact microphone, and the plug alignment only allowed it to work with that recorder.
Great review! Sadly, both the AUX and MIC input jacks don't record mono for me :(
that recorder has gorgeous color!
a good tip about these recorders is that they can be modified to replace the cassette deck in a spectrum +2/+2a/+2b, and amstrad cpc464.
Hello, I have a question regarding those cassette recorder with piano keys (i.e. as opposed to tact switches). I'm looking for tape recorder that I can punch in recording. (i.e. able to switch record from play without having to pause tape) None of my tape decks can do punch-in recording. I enjoy your videos. Thank you!
That is not possible with the currently available cassette recorders. It was a rare feature on anything except studio recorders like the TASCAM PortaStudio series.
@@vwestlife Thank you for the reply. I used to use Portastudio, and it could do punch-in, of course. I was hoping that those voice cassette recorder could do it, like of like an unsupported feature.
My favorite thing about this is that in this modern day, when DC bias tends to rule, this recorder is AC bias. That is awesome!
What’s the difference?
@@Angel-Otkyeah
Hello, does this only record in mono? (ie TS or TRS input)
Thank you, love your videos.
As I mentioned in the video, it records in mono.
I bought a pack of the Onn cassettes last year and recorded some old 45's on them on my JVC deck with Dolby B HX Pro. They didn't turn out too bad although they are nosier tapes and dont have the higher output level as current Maxell UR's do. I was hoping they'd be a copy of TDK's D. But they not even close and not worth 4 dollars for a 2 pack.
wildbilltexas I don't know yet, but TDK used to make cassettes, but I have a bunch of these dates back to the 70's through the 2000's. TDK makes capacitors, Maxell makes batteries instead. I looked up on sites that TDK is no longer part of Imation. But Memorex do make blank media like CD-R's, DVD-R's and DVD+R's, and also Emtec (formerly BASF) will have to go back to make cassettes in the future. So does Memorex and Quantegy (formerly Ampex) will go back to make cassettes as well.
MTN Productions If any big company like Memorex starts selling blank cassettes again, most likely they will likely be normal bias tapes similar to the Maxell UR that are made in Indonesia or Korea.
Nobody makes anything any longer. Last I looked, which granted was 10 years ago, all EMTEC optical media was made by Moser Baer, super cheap and shoddy, and their flash drives were also generic white-label products of the worst kind, absolute trash. There was no connection between brand holding and Agfa and BASF legacy any longer.
Currently two companies have the EMTEC brand, for one an actual magnetic tape company in Holland, and MPO which is known for high-quality optical media made in France, but... I wouldn't draw any conclusions.
Siana Gearz I'm hoping National Audio Company's new in-house tape will be excellent quality. But if you want awesome high bias tapes you're going to go online to buy old stock or search thrift stores or used record stores. I've lucked out and found Maxell XL II's and Memorex CD2's for a dollar each, still in the wrappers.
Hi! I hace a question, ir you instead of connecting the microphone you conect your celphone, can you create mix tapes with any music?
Can you unplug the mic and put a audio cable to record music from for example a computer?
This is not a good recorder for music because it is monaural and rather low-fidelity. Get at least the Sony CFD-S70 instead.
ca you down load songs from notebook and record it onto cassette tape?
You wouldn't want to, as this recorder is not good for music. A stereo cassette deck would do a much better job.
I got mine over 2 years ago. Only complaint about it now is, cell phones will interfere with the recordings
Can't figure out how to make the line-in recording to work; either the line level is too hot or there is none at all.
But.. but.. how can you have a Jensen cassette player there ... and don't play some Anders Enger Jensen in it..??
Too bad it has no tape counter. Otherwise it would have probably made a great Data-recorder for the ZX Spectrum.
I'm sure a tape counter comes in handy that way.
you dont 'need' a tape counter for computer use, one of mine didnt have, although extremely useful if recording more than one program on a tape..😉
we could always diy one, but you'd need to be really careful...
Looks like it could be used for a home computer data recorder. The only thing missing is a tape counter, but the audio quality is sufficient.