Sony TC-WE475 dual cassette deck review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- The last model of tape deck that Sony ever made; you could buy one new as late as 2011. Overall pretty good, except for clunky mechanisms and mediocre Dolby B NR performance. I bought this deck new at Circuit City in July 2002 as a display model special for $139.97 + tax.
(Originally uploaded to TH-cam on March 16, 2013 with 12,622 views; edited and re-uploaded due to copyright problems.)
Cassettes sound freaking amazing. I will never get rid of them, or my Technics RS-TR355 and Sony TC-WR710.
I was just given my late papa's Sony TCWE435 cassette deck and personally replaced the belts on it today and got it working again like brand new! I've had such fun and enjoyment with it today!
I was born in 2001, and cassette was filled during my childhood until 2013 when my school decided to use CD instead Cassette to record English class lectures. Then two years later my Dad gave all cassettes and CDs to his friends since he thought I'm not going into music (but I did a year later😂) I have being digging into mp3s, streams, CDs, Vinyls, and here I am to rediscover cassette in 2019 and, personal opinion, this is the one gives me the most joy. With all you can do to record and play and trials and errors, try hot recordings, dubbing and personalize, it just fun and enjoyable. Picked up this we475 from Goodwill for $9.99 and LOVE IT! My roommate shocks about how great a cassette could sound and I will never forget his reactions when he realized this deck is just 9.99 bucks😂
The audio seems very very good for a tape here.
Even over YT.
I have exactly the same Sony Tape Deck I purchased brand new at Best Buy's in 2005. My universal remote control works well with this tape deck! I can record from tape A to tape B, from CD, MD, etc... Without getting up from my table as I'm enjoying my breakfast.
Hi, what brand/model universal remote do you have ?
@@seand67 I've managed to control this deck with a One For All universal remote as well.
The audio demo was quite impressive, sounds very good!
Love that you sneaked in a few seconds of Black Box Recorder's facts of life!
I am a fan of pitch control! So wonderful!
Edwin Cancel II can You Say me how that works?
I HAVE THIS! I bought this in 2016 for 10 dollars from Goodwill.
it actually sounds pretty good
Interesting comments here. I "acquired" this deck when my brother passed in 2015. Been using it for three years now. Not sure when he purchased it but I know he had it several years. My only caveat with this (and any) reverse play deck is the mechanical system to accomplish this function. Man, I just don't trust machines! I've never used the reverse mode and the deck has run without problems for me over the last three years. Appears to be an acceptable cassette deck in the quality Sony tradition. That is, as dual well decks go. My main cassette decks are; Denon DRM-800A, Akai GX-f31, Technics RS-M224 and a Nakamichi BX-1. I also have a Teac X-3 open reel deck.
I want your mixtape! Lol. I'm fixing up a pioneer ctw500, got play side perfect, still have some work to do on record side, seems like a simple to work on deck and good sounding.
Sounds good through my headphones.
I recently got me one of these (the silver one). I like it, it sounds great. And the pitch control is a nice addition.
I've got the very same Sony tape deck model but, it's from 2002 and got it for Christmas that same year.
Cassette tape can sound so great if you use good tape deck. I have second hand Pioneer deck from 90`s and some tapes can sound as good as a CD.
Peter Regoršek can u still get parts for them?
I wonder the same thing. On the other hand, plastic parts can nowadays easily reproduced with a 3d printer, if the specs are right.
You mean better than cds..👍🏾
Just a guess but: you open it up and space inside occupied mostly by air and one small board. Rest is on the front panel...
Have you ever replaced pinch rollers on Sony`s of this model or similar? I have a 835s that probably would need replacement rollers.. I see there exists repair kits on ebay with the 4 rollers but can they actually be taken out of the assembly which they are connected? And do i need to totally tear down the set to do it? I replaced the belts on it some days ago and that went fine due to having YT videos showing me how to do it but i cant find any videos that describes the roller replacement..
Had a model similar to this. Sadly catastrophic failure happened where it wouldn't rewind or reverse play anymore. Messed with it too much don't know what I'm doing and then it wouldn't power back on again.
can you make a video of how to record on a cassette using a digital source? please.
Im thinking of buying it second hand from a person.
It works the same as recording from an analog source.
@@iamshivaagrawal what do you mean you are going to buy one from a prison?
@@BrunoGenovese lol i laughed so hard 😂
I hv the higher end TCW675. This Sony is my preferred deck for bedroom music player and radio recorde for a few years now.
Teac is still producing casette deck, but they support only IEC I and IEC II cassettes and two of three models have only Dolby B.
Excellent, I am very surprised there is not more audio hiss. I have the same exact deck and I stopped using it a few months ago, because whatever I recorded on it, had too much tape noise. Did you record this using Dolby B or C? Also, What was the audio source?
matmroy I recorded on Type II tape with no Dolby. Audio source was my computer.
Ok, that makes sense. My source is usually another cassette and I use Type 1 tapes for the most part. I use type 2 Cro2 tapes when I can find them at the local thrift stores. I refuse to buy them online, they just want to much money.
Synthematix That is just BS. If that happens on your computer, it will also happen with a soundcard.( The soundcard thas the same power supply as onboard sound) Onboard sound is just as good, if not better than soundcards. They say a card is better, but that is just marketing.
30 times the power? That just means it will go louder, louder isn't better.
And realtek isn''t bad.
Most Sony stuff is junk. Rather have marantz or pioneer. Good video
Do all 3 models have pitch control ? 265 475 665/675
Nice cassette deck. BTW. When you showed the date code on the cassette deck and confirmed it was made in 2001, you just helped me figure out those questionable date codes that Sony puts on their electronics. I've been trying to find out when my Sony PlayStation 2 and Dream Machine were manufactured. My PlayStation 2 is a model SCPH 39001 and it has the date code 2D which would mean that it was made on the last quarter of 2002. And my Sony Dream Machine is a model ICF-C2W (probably an 80s Dream Machine by the looks of it) and has the date code 8B probably made on the second quarter of 1988. But my question is do the letters on the date codes go by quarters of the year like A,B,C, and D?
FallOutRob2005 That is my best guess -- the letter represents quarters of the year.
I did some research a few nights ago and it appears that the letters go from A to D to represent the quarters of the year. Since there are 4 quarters in a year, I guess Sony used letters like A,B,C, and D.
please add the songs list in the description.
Jasmeet Matharoo I
Candi Staton "Young hearts run free" (1976)
The Blues Image "Ride captain ride" (1970)
Josie Cotton "Johnny, are you queer?" (1981)
Lou Rawls "You'll never find another love like mine" (1976)
X-Dreams "Mary Ann" (1984)
Ten Years After "I'd love to change the world" (1971)
Diana Navarro "Sola" (2005)
Connie Smith "Tiny blue transistor radio" (1965)
Black Box Recorder "The facts of life" (2000)
Billy Joe Royal "Down in the boondocks" (1981)
The Four Seasons "Rag doll" (1964)
Kim Carnes "Bette Davis Eyes" (1981)
I was wondering what kind of Camcorder that you use that has the direct sound input jack that you used for the sound samples?
margaretsville I use a Canon FS200.
I have one of these and they certainly sound clunky at times, and recently I had a tape stuck in, or so I thought, luckily I didn't resort to trying to force the door open, it must of got to the end properly, not sure I understand that bit.
This exact model is in my closet in the original box. I don't know if it still works - it's been sitting in there for years.
you should test it:)
did you record the audio at the sound test directly from the cable or outside? (sorry for my bad english)
feketetv I connected the tape deck's headphone output to my camcorder's microphone input using an attenuation cable.
How do you turn down the volume with headphones
Use headphones with an inline volume control, or get an adapter that adds an inline volume control to a 3.5mm audio cable.
Kevin, I have the TC-WE675. I bought mine around 2004 at Tweeter.
how did you find out what his name was?
sorry for bringing this up!
th-cam.com/video/7JTDn9y7x8I/w-d-xo.html
The sony ES 3 heads cassette decks models are the best
I have problem :(.. When i connect my CD player or Pc.. there is no sound on Cassette player.. i have same model as you, and there is no sound from other source on my deck :(.. How to fix that??
You need to start recording before you can hear sound from the input.
Yea.. just my friend told me that.. i didnt know :).. Thanks anyway :D
Just got this today at Goodwill for $10 replacing an old Technic deck that had cassette A broken... What does dc servo controlled motor mean??? Thank you for the great review video...
DC servo is the way the motor maintains its speed.
Thank's for the quick response... I thought it was more along the lines of a direct drive system but I see they are totally different terminologies...
Did you have any speakers attached to this when you make the audio samples
No, you're hearing a direct connection to _your_ speakers.
VWestlife so there are already built in speakers?
VWestlife so there are already built in speakers? Because im thinking of buying one i want to know if i should buy external speakers
No. The audio you're hearing is a direct connection to the tape deck's output. It does not have speakers.
VWestlife ok thanks, but in the future i do plan to add speakers, what kind would you suggest
Happy Memorial Day.
The only thing I end up wanting the most out of any cassette deck is AMS
I bought that same floor model at the same place around the same time.
Bought this at Value Village for $10, several years ago. It makes beautiful tapes on good tape. Playback is good, except for Chrome tapes, always have to turn the dolby off, both sides both directions, chrome sucks. It also won't fast forward or rewind on either deck, just a lot of clunking. sometimes pulls a couple seconds and then stops. When a tape gets stuck, I have to take the top off and manually force the eject white plastic thingie down to where it should be. Neither side will play when this error occurs Good for $10, but I would be pissed if it acted this way new back 22 years ago. If it develops any more weirdness it will go out with the bag of electronics to be recycled!
Probably just needs new belts.
aren't the seconds passing too much quicker on the display?
It's just a numerical counter, not a time counter.
what do I need to make one of these work? I have an older model that I bought from a garage sale, it didn't come with any speakers. so what kind of speakers do I need?
rockmaster987 You can't connect it to speakers unless they are amplified or you use an amplifier.
So need an amplifier to connect speakers, ok. Would any amplifier work? Sorry, I'm not very good at these.
rockmaster987 Any stereo amplifier or receiver, yes.
2011? i was expecting a crappy plastic tape recorder! this looks like a sort of high end early 90's deck!! i wonder if i can still find a good recorder that is still in production :\
+taunusv4power TEAC still makes one, but I would recommend against it because it's a newer revision that has no Dolby or anything. The one before it did.
Does anyone know how to connect the amplifier to this
Read the owner's manual. You can find it on Sony's eSupport web site.
@Luka M ..... Line out from cassette deck goes to line in on amplifier. Line out from amplifier goes to line in on cassette deck. Simple. You don't need a manual for that.
I can record on Deck B why can't I record on Deck A?
@@LukaM, there is no recording feature built into Deck A, only into Deck B. Many (most?) double decks were that way, including my two Pioneers and one Sony.
Was this video reuploaded or something?
AlexGamer101 Did you not read the description or something?
What _really_ piqued my interest was at the intro you said it had pitch control. Alas, it does not.
However, I did laugh at you drilling 2 holes in it.
So, I'll call it even.
It does have pitch control. I showed it in the video.
@@vwestlife I sit, lean and stand corrected.
Is it possible to adjust bias?
Yes, on the circuit board inside there are trimmers to tweak the bias.
Whats the name of the song at 11:08 ?
Diana Navarro - Sola
i have the same and plays great
sounds like an ancient printer operating
what is the counter's purpose
So you can keep track of what part of the tape a particular recording is at.
Hello Out There... I own The Sony Dual tape Deck And I Used It For About A year Then I Stopped When it Starting acting Like It was Gonna Play The Cassette Then it Made A "Clicking" Noise And Didnt Do Anything, But I Really Like Ti. I would Like To Know? How To Fix It & How To Stop It from making That "Clicking" Noise if ANYONE Out There? Can help Me? Other Than The TH-cam Video I Just Seen About Trurning Somthing To The Left And Then To The Right? Please let Me Know? asap.
It probably needs new belts.
Excelente
where is speakers?
You're listening to it through _your_ speakers.
the mechanism is so loud and violence compared to akai..doesn't sound like soft touch.
Where I can bye this
Is Google broken?
What's the song name 10:25
Ten Years After - "I'd Love To Change The World"
EXCELLENT VIDEO - ALL THE BEST !!!
my sony cassette player also has auto reverse and it also moves to much it is the same mechanism
😂🙄 it's not the last one
If I only had a nickle for every time anyone in the world said dolby makes it sound like sh*t.
Ed
Great review....2000 views in 3 days! Wow I thought I was one of the few people still interested in cassettes.
Cassettes will never die. Same as all of the analog technology. Digital is great, ok... but when it fails, you lost all. Analog doesn't.
I've been into audio all my life and have even made money at it, and I do know the limitations of cassette tape. I think it sounds just fine. It is certainly a marvel of engineering, the performance they managed to wring out of this medium, with its byzantine clockwork of moving parts.
noisepuppet D6, D6C and D5M are way better than the new Sony dual well decks.
SuS WoW
You always have such a great playlist for these demos.
I think people are surprised when they hear a cassette to how good they sound, because it has been so long since cassettes were made. I think a lot of people now days never heard music from one, and everyone is use to hearing MP3 / iTunes or streaming music. Which is another reason there is a bit of a surprise when one hears vinyl for the first time, or the first time in many years.
WaybackTECH Analogue is usually always less harsh on the ear, I think that's partly it even if it's a shoddy recording. There's nothing shittier than a weak digital remaster or low bitrate mp3 on full volume.
I can’t really enjoy the satellite broadcasts due to the aliasing.
I have a unit similar to that one, but with square buttons and Dolby S. I was kind of blown away by how effective the Dolby S noise reduction was at retaining highs. But alas, no factory auto systems had Dolby S.
That, and people have heard bad recordings, with cheap tapes or over recorded tapes used on cheap gear ;)
@@markteague8889 Dolby C is still pretty good and I'd argue you dont really need anything more than that. Especially on a player this midrange.
Recently got back into tape decks. Thanks for the vid.
ARL is Auto Record Level. It's another way to turn it off without diddling the dial.
You probably already figured out, but ARL is Automatic Rec Level, as written on the tape doors :)
I have the same model called TC-WE675 with dual recording on each deck. Still working A1 after purchasing it in early 2002.
I will never get rid of it even if someone offers me $10000. I still have it in pristine condition, with its original box, original wrap, manual. Like new from day 1.
I'd be curious if these models (475 & 675) are able to transfer tapes to MP3 with an audio cord linked to the computer using the Audacity program. The back of this tape deck has two black 2.5 mm output but it doesn't say "Audio in" but "Control A1 II"
The "Control A1 II" is designed to operate with compatible Sony CD players, MiniDisc decks, DAT decks, receivers, and more to allow for synchronized recording. To transfer tapes to a digital file medium, simply connect an RCA to 3.5mm audio cable from the line out to the line in on your computer, and adjust the levels accordingly.
arl stand for auto record level
I just picked one up at an antiques store for $35. It was in excellent shape. I also picked up 12 tapes of type 2 , 3 and 4 for 33 cents each. I felt like I won the lottery because I have been using a LX1 Sears machine made by Sanyo during the early seventies. Its OK but without any noise reduction. The Sony seems to be a nice addition and with their new popularity I felt $35 for a perfect machine was a good deal. Thanks for the review and the date code info which places mine at 2002.
Really nice review, love the music samples.
Nice demo. My favorite dubbing deck was a Realistic SCT-74 from the late 80's that unfortunately died about 15 years later after a lot of use. It didn't have auto-reverse, but it allowed me to set levels and Dolby for dubbing. I didn't like the later dubbing decks like this one that had automatic level control. For normal bias tape like TDK-D or Maxell UR's I recorded or copied with Dolby B on but turned it off for playback to get more high end from the tape.
I recently picked up a realistic stc-72 and it works well. It has more controls than the teac a-109 that I have and records better than it.
Just scored one of these at my local thrift store for 3$! Works perfectly just adjusted the speed control and it works great. It was a great find. Be careful if you ever open the hood tho I had 2 plastic catches that broke instantly, luckily it doesn't affect anything tho.
Excellent review! The best cassette tape player that I had was a Walkman made by Aiwa. I remember going to an electronics store here in the Denver area called Silo. The graphic equalizers on the audio equipment in Silo were so cool to watch! I love my iPod Nano, but audio equipment just looks so sterile anymore.
Another good dual well deck is Denon DRW-750. It does have bias adjust. :-)
I believe Aiwa made Sony’s mechanisms in the mid 80s. Or, was it a division of Sony?
my sony deck tc-we835s is super good it has everything even dolby s
David Piçarra yes the 835s is a good sounding deck. I also have one
Csab I use to have a WA9ES. That was the fully featured dual deck that Sony put out before they quit the cassette game
Good review. Just picked one up from the thrift store for $30.
9:56 X-DREAMS - MARY ANN!!!
RECORDED ONTO THE CASSETTE.
I had one of these as part of my first brand new separates system. Other components included a TA-FE370 amp, ST-SE370 Tuner and an older Philips CD player. This deck lasted me well until I sold it in 2014, long after the rest of the system had gone. I now have much higher end components, but I look back fondly on that system as it lasted well and sounded great.
I have a TC-WE425, which is almost the same deck except the 425 lacks the automatic music search feature.
There are some cosmetic differences in that the 425 uses rectangular & square buttons for the tape controls.
Excellent!.. just acquired one of these after watching this review. Just confirmed with the selller that i am interested in purchasing for 20 bucks...in excellent working condition like brand new. Will be picking it up tmrw sunday..✌
I have the model from Amazon! It’s really great! I am using it now for high-speed dubbing on a tape that would not work on any other cassette deck except for this model for some odd reason.
I also have this cassette deck since today and it does sound really good. The mechanisms inside this deck are not the best ones i've ever see, but they will do the job.
If there is a tape jammed in this deck you will need to operate by hand the mechanism via the solonoid to release the tape from the mecanism. It's a pain in the ass, but not impossible.
I own this one! Great player!
I ran to the living room to check if we have this same tape deck...and it is! I guess its quite a popular model since I see a lot of posts that claim they have this too. I really like to sound from this but unfortunately I don't have a lot of tapes anymore to use this.
BTW, the sound quality from your tape recordings are great. 👍🏼
I just bought the silver one today. Came here to check the deck out before I get it delivered to me next week. Nice video bro. Im really happy I bought this deck thanks to you. You just bought yourself a subscriber.
U happy with it? Thinking about buying one locally. Haven't used tapes since 1997 when I jumped on minidisc. I might not be happy with its distortion, but for $10 I guess I've made worse investments!
@@nunyabidness4946 it works very good, as to be expected from a Sony. It’s not my main cassette unit, I have a DD deck as my main unit, but it certainly does a really good job.
I own 2 of those
The one is made in japan the other one is china made. They both sound very very good
I actually wanted to buy this tape deck but I wen't for the Yamaha KX-W482 because it has Play trim and can record on both Deck A and Deck B. Mine also makes that stupid clunking sound every time it switched modes and the reason is very simple, it uses only a motor and a relay engaged a cam gear to cycle trough the modes of rising the head and switching between play, FF and REW which is a bunch of crap because it will wear down the mechanism much more faster than a 2-3 motor deck, lesson learned for me, however it sounds very nice so I'm pleased with that at leas. Cheers :)
I have this tape player and it is great
I have this. I saw this at a stop and swap in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and took it immediately. It is great.
Ahhh... Diana Navarro... (10:52)
I have a similar tape deck- earlier sony model, and it broke for the exact reason you have been worried about this one breaking- the silly flipping mechanism design.
Hi! Can it be connected directly to powered speakers?
Yes
I just purchased a used model on Ebay....Just interested in playing my old high bias cassette tapes
My aunt has a very similar cassette deck, model TC-WE635
i happen to have the tc-we435 which is like urs but the buttons are a little different then urs but hey its still a great deck sorta
Bro I have this and can’t figure out how to dub cassettes does anyone have any info on how to dub cassettes I’ve looked everywhere 😞
Read the user's manual for your cassette deck. It'll tell you how to do it.
There is a button on the tape deck. It is above the fast-forward button on the deck. You can see the lettering. It says dub right on it.
And use the first deck as your master, and your second deck is your dubbing deck.
Once you press the little dub button on it, you can switch it between real time dubbing and high speed dubbing.
Hi speed dubbing will lose some audio quality though.
Hope that helps. If you are still not sure, you can look for the user manual on the Internet.
I just picked one of these up at a thrift for $7 today .. perfect shape. Mine was actually made in JAPAN (in 2003), which is interesting in and of itself. Thanks for the video - I didn't know the doors came off - very helpful!