Panda 6503 Cassette / MP3 / Radio Recorder - A decent modern cassette recorder?
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- Опубліковано 9 вер 2024
- In this video I unbox and check out an impulse purchase off Aliexpress, a Panda 6503.
Have I finally found a decent, new, portable cassette player?
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I'm sure you'll discover that the entire thing is mono, even including the MP3 player, not just the cassette head. They even do this on the QFX "X-Bass" boomboxes with dual speakers, which look like they should be stereo, but are not!
Yeah, I have one of those too. Those cheap Walkman like I show area stereo. Sort out the motor and noise. Decent headphone amp and a nice shell and it should be do able
Hello to my beautiful crush that I will never met
what are you doing in here feeling bored like I do or just gathering some ideas for your next video !?
VWestlife.. of course why am i not surprised xD
Look like the byron cassette player in a different box.
Yes, I'd buy one. And that's even after I bought a Sony Sport walkman off eBay a few weeks back. Sounds good. Bought a new belt for it (but the new belt was FAR worse than the old one) and it sounds pretty good! But it would be cool to have a brand new one and to support the hobby more. Been some posts on Tapeheads today about needing a new deck and, I mean, come on, $99 is nothing compared to that $75 monstrosity on Kickstarter (which is, in my view, quite nearly a scam since they're just reselling what's on Alibaba with a markup).
Anyways yes! That sounds wonderful!
If you can get someone to make a quality "walkman" style player for $100, all I can say is "TAKE MY MONEY"!
I agree so, These are for general, providing feeling only. Of course A true building will be very difficult even with same components.
It is so frustrating when, as you said, they were so close!
A rant worth ranting about.
Yes, I would be interested. A new lovely Walkman worth our time and monies that plays stereo with all the bells and whistles... oh that would be wonderful.
Yeah, we need a new well made and designed small cassette player. I'm in!
Considering your idea to have them make a cassette deck up to your specs: yes! I'd be interested!
And a sidenote: TF means (any type of) flash memory. TF stands for TransFlash, as you've pointed out, but can mean CompactFlash, Secure Digital (SD and MicroSD) and even Memory Stick (you know, Sony's endeavour?). TF is a very commonly used term in China and Japan to describe any of those... Let's just call it a common denominator.
Would I buy a well made Walkman style cassette player (ESPECIALLY with aluminum casing) for $99? Absolutely!
I'd pay for a new, reliable personal cassette player at that price point. Even better if it's rechargeable.
NO! Rechargeable SUCKS unless it uses standard cells. NiMH or disposable AAA, AA. C.and D are fine and the cells are available and likely will be for the next 100 years. Custom Lithium-polymer or Lithium Ion battery packs turn devices into bricks.A lot of these things are made really poorly and have unprotected cells in them and are dangerous.
@@tarstarkusz I agree!
Only standard recharge batteries are the best!
@@tarstarkusz You can still get gumstick batteries, same type that was used in later MC walkmans, and MD walkmans.
My design will use AA batteries. No faffing with bespoke batteries, they're for inbuilt obsolescence. Why do you think you can't replace the ones in most smartphones of late?
+Ulf... But for how long? Plus, if I'm not mistaken, many of the gumstick devices could also run off of an AA cell. I own radios that were made in the 60s. I have a portable from the early 70s, which is my favorite and had it used a custom battery it would be useless. I see iPods at the flea market for like a dollar because the battery is not replaceable without major surgery. The Apple branded replacement is a fortune and a generic cell, if you can find it, is a huge risk of expanding and cracking the screen or catching fire.
if "someone" would manufacture and sell a nice looking and technically sound home deck or portable for 99 bucks and under - i'd be interested.
tascam and teac (same company anyways) have some nice looking decks out, but 300+ euros is too much compared to what you get and what similarly priced decks would have offered back in the 80's and 90's.
only 2 heads, no calibration feature or tape type selection (neither manual not automatic)
some things that would have justified this high price tag are simply gone.
- we will probably never see a tape deck with a true high end mechanism again since nobody is making custom mechanisms any more and the last mechanism still in production is a cheap-as-possible type
- we will probably never see a tape deck with HX or true dolby NR ever again (but emulation is a thing)
i want manufacturers to admit this fact and price their new decks accordingly but instead they screw a tanashin mechanism in a plastic case and price it like they just built a piece of high end hifi equippment.
and the devices that DO seem reasonably priced are the ones you just showed - cheap chinese junk that COULD have been decent but is always lacking a thing or two that COULD have been fixed with minimal effort.
If you're in Europe, check out Renkforce TP-1000. €100, same mech, same few features, just no Teac noise filter. It's likely from the same pile as Ion and Pyle (no pun intended) but without the bells and whistles which barely work and interfere with the audio. Dolby is out of question because it's never been open sourced. The guys over at Dolby Laboratories or whatever are the only licence holders right now and have probably (and rightfully 😐) decided they aren't obliged to bother with licensing that anymore. Yet if someone releases a deck that has the original Dolby ICs with scraped off writing (I'd imagine the system would be a pain in the butt to reverse engineer anyway), they have every legal right to sue the company using said ICs. Calibration would also probably require either going back to the drawing board, *or* parts that are long EOL and gone.
Now for the motors, I know the current Tapeheads admin arranges a custom order of Mabuchi motors from time to time. I'd think the legendary (in IT sphere at least) Taiwanese Delta motors could also be repurposed for a belt drive cassette mechanism, while stuff from Japanese mfrs could be even better. There are also direct drive turntable mechanisms from both Hanpin Electron of Taiwan(/China?) and Technics of Japan (I hope! Otherwise if they're cheapskating and sourcing from Hanpin, then why the "audiophile" price?) but that's a different concept I think, and a bit "incompatible" 😄
Yes, please let's get someone to make a good stereo cassette machine! I would love to have one with a line-in so I could use it to record my band's live board mixes in analog. I would certainly pay a stupid amount of money for something like that. ✌️❤️
I'd be very interested in your project! We finally need a good decent Walkman again, as you said the mechs are there. We only need a good final product. Greetings from France
The main problem is that Tanashin are the only company left making cassette mechanisms, but they do manufacture reasonable stereo mechanisms as well as these cheap mono ones. Tascam/Teac still sell full size cassette decks which have the Tanashin stereo mechanisms and they actually sound pretty good, although the decks themselves are expensive. I can't imagine the actual mechanism is all that expensive, so if it was coupled with a decently built small amp etc. to produce a portable unit the size of this, maybe there would be hope and I would definitely be interested.
That's the idea.
since it plays files from usb and sd/tf cards and is mono, the best use for these imho is for loading 8bit software.
for what they cost to buy they are a better proposition than a 40 year old shoe box deck from the second hand electronics shop, some of these bric a brac shops are asking silly money for old decks.
if you just got nostalgic and bought a speccy or other old computer one of these would be great.
Most 8-bit computers had good floppy disk interfaces, the C64 for example. The ZX Spectrum didn't except for those later Amstrad-made models that used some weird standard, but there's modern expansions that adds a CF port.
I'm with you Tony,I'd buy that for a dollar! Er uh $99.00.😄Another great video sir!👍👍
I very recently bought one of these. I just copied a tape over to mp3. Worked pretty well.
You would need a lot more than just a stereo tape head. What about the rest of it. I admit it's a shame because it look quite well made on the surface.
I'm not bothered about new machines because I still have my walkman pro and a Sony TCD5M and my original Sony Walkman, but yes it would be nice to see a modern cassette that works well.
I would love to see a new cassette walkman with clean stereo sound :)
I'd INSTANTLY pay $99 for a Walkman with decent sound quality and a nice, retro look!! Please try to make this happen, tapeheads all over the world would be forever thankful!
In Belgium imports from outside the EU with a value above 22€ also get VAT, import tax and on top a handling fee from bpost. I also would like to see a decent new portable stereo cassette player/recorder around 100-150€. After seeing Techmoan’s video about replacing the belts on the Sony WM-W800 more than a year ago I bought two belts but still have to do the job on my WM-W800. Still have the original box, microphone , case and user manual.
That's it. It may not sound as good as a classic, but some of us, especially those who are just casual users, just aren't inclined to fix an old Walkman.
Yeah, it's rubbish. I remember when I bought some electronics costing around €26 and bpost held the package hostage until I paid them some made up amount. It's as easy to complain about customs as it is about our weather, but it's totally justified here.
I’d buy one. Cheers from America
I would be in for your designed "Walkman", hell yeah!
I would buy one in a heart beat.
You might want to get in touch with the Open Pandora/Pyra people. They are based in the UK and Germany and are, I think, a couple of months away from shipping their second handheld computer/gaming device, the Pyra. You can check them out at openhandhelds.org. They have experience with the manufacturing of molds.
The guy running it is called "Evil Dragon" He's a very helpful guy and he might be able to steer you in the right direction as the Pandora and Pyra are also plastic electronic devices.
Haven't heard bout OpenPandora for a while, interesting stuff 👍
When you see a product that calls Micro SD "Transflash", a term that brings us back somewhere over a decade ago, you know you're looking at crude stuff...
Most products from smaller Chinese companies that don't have a good grasp of English call MicroSD TF. Doesn't say much IMO. Got a Chuwi tablet with a "TF" slot and a hilarious manual ("When yes use long use CPU high, the temperature is very high, can occur slo wdown crash etc. anomaly", all that stuff) printed on something looking borderline like rice paper, but it's a fine unit actually...
You're absolutely right. It needs a stereo head. But I'm sure they thought why stereo head if there's only one speaker. I'd say create some kind of petition for the stereo head. Great videos thank you.
Stereo for when you listen through headphones. Turns out all the audio circuitry in this is mono.
@@CassetteComeback that's unfortunate
I would love one if you could make it more like the Walkman pro, and less like the tc-5000. It has to be slim line like portable dac players of today. Love this channel, from across the pond. Will happily pay whatever duties accrued in the entire transaction, yours and of course on my side.
It won't be a Walkman pro copy, it'll be nice and slim.
This item looks good and i hav'nt even watched the rest of the video yet. Keep up the good work matey.
I'd like to buy one. First for my Walkman collection and most, for my daily music. Please do it !
Add Line-out and I'm in!
And speaking of cassette players that are crap, I got my Superscope Storyteller portable cassette player off of eBay over the weekend, and it still works and still sounds good, but it’s not crap, but it plays music rather than listening to children’s stories. The design is bulky and handling and it’s small like an iPhone 11, and the color is blood red, and it had a volume control, playback switch and a fast forward switch. That’s it. It can also use a Bluetooth cassette adapter to stream music from other devices, or play MP3’s using an Updated Tape Player with an SD card in a cassette adapter to play music instead of children’s stories. The Superscope Storyteller cassette player was the first and only cassette player that was designed for kids, and it was a novelty back in the 1970’s, and it’s mono.
Yes I’d be interested for sure!
I remember badly wanting a Sony Professional Walkman, back in the 80s, but the lowest price I could find was £420, so I got a couple of used ones many years later, for much less. If Sony started making them again, even at that price, I think there'd be a ready market!?
99.99 for such a recorder would be a great deal! I'd buy one or two!
Awesome video man. Even that new boombox from Aldi, they put a a mono head in it.....and recording.. DC Bias :(
If they put that bit of more effort in.
Cool little unit - does it record mo3 to cassette? I can imagine this catching on with the youngsters to copy their mp3 mixes to tape ....
I'm not spying on you, but I know you know the details about the Aldi boombox because Techmoan, right?
@@BilisNegra nope I bought one.. £30 it was. Would not recommend the Aldi boombox I'm into vintage gear (mainly wax cylinder recording you can see on my channel).
This is the first PANDA 🐼 radio I’ve seen review. Here, the Chinese manuals, and 220 volts turn most off, here in the states.
Cool.
📻🙂
It looks good and retro and they didn't try too hard, some modern boomboxes and other stuff that are made to look retro they just end up looking really goofy. Like the one the 8 bit guy had destroyed.
P.S. there's a Jensen player Vwestlife showed which is stereo. I think you can find something similar on Conrad Electronic.
Tony, the "handling fee" is due to Royal Mail being your customs intermediate. You're free to choose another sketchy intermediate in advance, waste hours on the phone, drive several hundred miles and pay *triple* that price by wire or check 😄 And if they screw up the customs papers or lose your item, you're likely outta luck. That's how it works in Lithuania at least. Lietuvos paštas always asks €8.49 for preparation iirc, up until €750 I believe, and takes responsibility (as per the agreement, unlike many couriers!) for lost junk. Above that sum, a custom agreement is made and you pay per each declaration sheet. Should be about the same all over the EU. An important aspect is that *shipping is included* . Meaning an item declared at €22 (maximum before taxes for commercial stuff, gifts would cap at €45) but shipped for anything above €0 will result in 21% VAT + specific tax according to the item category (blank media are at 0% as far as I know but in some cases, copyright tax may apply). Another interesting thing is that our postal service (I don't think it applies to *all* EU carriers) can be a bit b*tchy about unfilled forms. E.g. many Russians aren't used to indicating the item value. They aren't asked to at their postal offices and they may think it's for insurance (it's not). Maybe such a shipment would pass through in the U.K. but here, it will go through the same routine as taxified (>€22) shipments. However, you'll still end up at €0 add. expenses if you prove (by attaching the documents via a web form) it's a gift below €45 inc. shipping or commerce below €22 w/delivery.
Now I've heard Russia uses another approach. You're free to order all you want until you reach $500 (?) in total. Above that barrier, it's on you to explain it all to the Russian IRS. Doing so will probably involve a long trip to a regional office (now that's what could probably set apart the ways it's done in Russia and stateside). Also, all electronics have to be in a special registry. Matter of chance whether they'll skip it (most likely) or cease it (happens at times) if the entry is absent but you'll either have to consult a company specialising in the field or register your electronic item with the authorities for $200. Again, if memory serves me right.
I have one of these exact same USB Cassette "Walkmans". But not only does the electrical noise destroy the sound, what's much worse is the extreme flutter i got on my unit. Also, since there is no real tray, it doesn't even align properly. Sometimes it just sounds muffled, sometimes it's misaligned enough to hear the other side "coming through". Also it tends to make weird mechanical noises when laid on the back.
I'd be interested if the product was comparable to a quality unit like we could get in the 1980s.
I have one of those Super USB portables. I only used it once or twice--I don't specifically remember the motor noise, but on mine, I actually had to hold down on the play button with some pressure so the head would get a better read of the tape.
QC? What QC 😀
Dude, I would buy that walkman you mentioned at the end if you made it, so LONG as it is stereo, with the tweaks you spoke of plus stereo input and output that can record to the cassette from an external source - add a usb port for input to record to cassette from a usb stick etc and it would be amazeballs!!! I'd record my band's new album onto cassette using it! :) We are recording it now, all live in one take, not individual instruments separately.
It would be playback only. No usb or Bluetooth.
@@CassetteComeback No recording ability via 3.5mm line in?
Hi Tony. I love your channel. I have / switch between a Technics RS-B655, Nak BX-2, Yamaha KX-530 and Denon DRM550. I also have an Akai GX-65, my only 3 head deck, permanently installed. It's so big and heavy it makes an ideal base for my ProJect Carbon SB turntable!
the times of quality analogue equipment seems over.
Never a better time to learn electronics to repair existing and build your own. While dsp is theoretically superior on paper, it's rarely implemented well.
@ EVERYTHINGH being produced nowadays? Really? Come on, you curmudgeon...
Save up for Nagra equipment!!
Come on... those Esoteric, Luxman, SPEC, TOTL Marantz & Denon, h-heck! even Cayin and Rogue amps still look sexy, even though they may be pure Chinesium engineering inside at this point 😂 Ballfinger too (more of a kitsch thing, though...)
And I totally forgot a bunch of many other smaller mfrs.
Hi Tony. You made me curious, so I ordered one, and it came the other day. It does have a decent sound for its tiny size. I thought it may be good for transferring voice tapes to a card. I asked the seller if he knew the card capacity limit, but he didn't know, only that it was tested with a 16GB one. I ordered some 64GB cards from AliExpress cause they were on sale (if they don't work in the radio, I can always use them for my cameras.) I know someone who's a pastor that likes big band music, and also likes to use cassettes, so I will be doing some taping for him soon. :)
PS, I forgot to mention the radio is pretty decent as well, despite the way the stations are kind of crammed close together and you have to turn the dial slowly. I did also get a QFX "Retro style" radio several years ago. The cassette part was crap, it dragged horribly, but I liked the radio for the shortwave. I recommend NOT buying one of those for the cassette part.
Yeah, the amp and speaker aren't bad, all things considered. I could handle the mono head, it's just the wow and flutter on the cassette which is the killer.
Honestly, I'd definitely consider buying one. If it passes the Tony test, it's good. And while could go hunting around for another vintage walkman to fix... getting something brand new, that would work right out of the box, and make my tapes sound great? That's honestly really tempting. If you could somehow get a good walkman type portable cassette deck made, that had NR, sounded good, and was durable (ie not liable to fall apart/stop working in the next 3-5 years), and designed so it was easily repairable- then yes, I think I'd buy one when I had the funds for it. An old tape player is nice, but to get something brand new that was just as good, would be really something. The question for me is not just sound quality, but how much life I can get out of it. If I buy a used walkman for $15-20 and it only lasts me a year or two that's one thing. But if I'm paying around $100 for something brand new, I want it to last.
I don't know how long they will last, but I'd want it to be easy to change belts and regulate speed, as these are the main problems.
Btw, I too would be interested on a new, decent tape player.
Yeah I'd buy one. Good shout on the Fiio headphone amp. I've owed a couple over the last 3-4 years and they are excellent. There is definitely a market for something like that. You only have to look at the over inflated prices people are paying on Fleabay for oldish Walkmans. One other thing it would have to have no extra bells and whistles just a pure cassette player. Think something in the line of a WM-22.
Pure cassette. You want digital, use your smart phone.
Put me down for one. Get ready for the design cycle and the price point trade offs. Sounds like a fun project. Let us know how to help.
If it's not going to be economical or the quality I want, then it won't happen. This isn't about making money.
You should do more reviews on second hand cassette decks to find the best value for money available comparisons Tony.
If this channel made thousands of pounds and I had a patreon, then I could afford to do that. But it doesn't even pay for the cassettes I open, so this isn't something I'm going to investigate 😀
@@CassetteComeback Why not open a Patreon account? *In time* you might afford to do those videos. Just my 5 cents plus VAT and GBP 8 handling ;)
Both vwestlife and techmoan do a fair bit like that already. Plus if you hunt around there are plenty of reviews out there on the net. Stick to the cassettes and I'll keep watching.
I would def buy a decent new personal stereo!
You have echoed my thoughts to the nth degree about these ubiquitous Chinese MP3 auto reverse players - if they just made it a TAD better it would be a brilliant little Walkman style player! I had to return mine THREE times - and finally got one that plays at the right speed and has 'decent' audio signal transfer. They're 98% of the way there already and there's definitely an emerging market that would happily pay $1 more for these things, if fully realized.
Yeah, that's what's annoying. If they were total crap, then it wouldn't bother me. It's just that they're so close to being good...
@@CassetteComeback Exactly - and when you pay only around $20, you EXPECT it to be crap .. but then you find it's ALMOST decent. Then the obvious and inevitable questions start rolling through your mind - WHY? Do they not know a market exists outside Urban Outfitters? I really do like your idea to DIY the design - hopefully it gains traction and pushes the entire industry forward. We are SO close to getting a new, fully functional, fully featured, up to 80s/90s Sony spec'd player. I see new cassette players of all sorts popping up everywhere online and in stores - walkmans, boom(jam)boxes, shoeboxes and even the higher end dual well models you've mentioned. I think it may follow if that people (who are new to cassette culture) who are now buying the near good crap (and total crap) players - thinking it's cool - might be blown away if they heard a cassette properly played on a proper player and demand more from the manufacturers accordingly .. there just needs to be a catalyst and you just might have the idea for that in hand - bring to market a cassette player, designed by cassette lovers... maybe even a few different models . I find the prospect to be both intriguing and exciting. :)
18:46 wow that would be really cool
it depends on the items
and how the inspecting customs officers day has gone , good day , usually no , shitty day , expect to pay
Panda starts to manufacture cassette players back to 1985 or even earlier. I own one since I was a child. They do have nice players, but most of the products are low quality.
Panda is based in Nanjing (Nanking), while the unit itself appears to be manufactured in Huizhou, Guangdong. They have other boombox-esque devices available as well, but none of the cassette-based models feature stereo head. At least I can't find any reference to that. Panda has been around for a few decades, and seems well alive in China. By the way, in domestic market, this thing here is sold for something like CNY 159 (less than 20 euros).
One decent method to have only one speaker in a stereo cassette player is to use a dual-voice coil full range speaker driver- one coil for the right channel and one coil for the left channel. It's easier than mixing two stereo signals into one mono signal and sending that off to a single-voice coil speaker driver. And it's better than the entire thing being mono.
I'd buy that 99$ Walkman yesterday if it was available
I wonder if you could get around that Royal Mail handling fee if you advise the seller not to declare anything on the outside of the parcel, no invoice, no shipping note, nothing. In Germany Deutsche Post and DHL claim a handling fee as well on international shipments, which basically means they charge you for picking up the parcel for you if it went through customs orderly. That is if customs can determine what's inside and its value. If they cannot for whatever reason, you might get a letter to pick it up from customs yourself. In that case you don't have a handling fee. Sometimes customs will open it anyways and declares a approximate value. Don't know it they do that deliberately, but I had to pick up stuff from customs twice, records and a guitar. In both cases I had to open the parcels myself and it was cleared afterwards.
I would be interested. The best cassette player boom box out there that I have found is the PANASONIC RX-D55. Sounds amazing and a solid cassette mechanism. I was so impressed I bought another for a spare.
Oh that one was very drool-inducing, still is! Panasonic seem to have gone all-in on these. I think they also had a little radio receiver with cassette which too received rave reviews for "being old-school 90s quality rather than disposable crapola" 😄 Hard to find though (it was €50 on Amazon Germany around 2016), and what's peculiar is that the model is quite old (produced since early 2000s I think?) and earlier batches were Chinese, but recently, production moved to Malaysia (or somewhere in that area?), same place where the D55 is made. Oh, and the D55 is a successor to the D50 which is also not exactly 2010s rubbish. Those were around a good decade and a half ago.
Question time 😅 Does yours have a proper erase head? Stereo or dual mono? Did the flutter increase over time (Sony machines love doing that)? Sorry if I'm sounding bit too nosy 🙃
Raven Rampkin I bought one for my dad new off Amazon and bought 2 more while they were cheap refurbished from amazon as well. I haven’t used it for recording since I make all my mixtapes off my technics deck. The quality of the sound is very impressive. You should get one and make a video!
@@JEEPSTR78 As they say, "I'll see what I can do about that" 😜 They're not overly cheap or widely available today. I saw some go for as high as 150 Euros.
If you use stereo headphones with that Panda brand unit, which, like you, I think seems reasonable save for the mono audio, do you hear stereo sound on FM radio or when you play music from a MicroSD card or USB device? Is it just tape that plays in mono? I have a portable radio with MP3 playback features on it, and even when I use headphones, the sound is mono all round. I kind of want one of these units just to see for myself how good it is.
Tape Recorders equipped with a mono playback/record head sound like crap. I remember I brought an RCA stereo with a 3 disc changer and a single cassette tape recorder 5 years ago at Target, and at least the one that I purchased was equipped with a stereo head. The recordings on that stereo didn't sound bad at all. A buddy of mine bought a same stereo two years later, but his was equipped with a mono head, instead of a stereo head, and it sounded like crap. Recordings sounded noticeably quieter, and were recorded in mono, obviously. There was a huge difference between mine and his unit. Even though they were pretty much the same units, only difference is was the stereo head on mine and mono & permanent erase magnet on his.
Many countries who saw their traditional letter service dwindle and their parcel traffic skyrocket due to online purchasing jumped on the bandwagon pretty quickly. It's the same where I am - they charge import duty about 3% of the total value (incl shipping), add VAT to that and then a handling charge of about $16. I don't really need a portable player as my cassette listening is mainly on my Marantz SD1020 that I got on eBay for $20 and gave it a new set of belts. It works like new! I have seen some portables in Ali Express that specifically indicate that they are stereo and the photos do indeed show stereo heads. Of course, you never know until it arrives - or whether the motor will clobber the sound quality!
Panda is a well known brand in China and one of China's oldest electronics producers (it has existed in some form since the 1930s), so this is a step up from a rebadged Skywin. They mostly stick to the domestic market but they do business in Cuba and North Korea, so maybe they don't export to western countries because it could get them in legal trouble.
I have lots of spoken word tapes and tapes recorded off shortwave radio from the 90s and 00s and something like this would probably be good for digitizing them without putting wear on an expensive deck.
Are you at least getting chicks for free?
😂 Nope, I've still got to install microwave ovens...
Now that ain’t workin’
Impossible. For that to happen Tony should be the one doin' the rippin', not the one being ripped off.
@@CassetteComeback kids these days (nvm I'm 19 😅 but still eager to rant like a dino for a bit at times) would probably reply with an "ah, a man of culture I see" pic 😂
@@CassetteComeback Custom kitchen deliveries.... I guess you've gotta move these-- refrigerators, and also move those colour TV's! Haha!
Oh, I know what you're talking about! Yeah, "shoeboxes" had mono heads 'til about 1981 when both monos, and stereos had stereo heads after walkmen, and their parts were just everywhere after the market explosion of them until early 2000. We might have to wait 'til who knows when the next stereo cassette resurgence will be.
Same here in Germany. I had to shell out € 14,- DHL handling fee a few days ago. 😣....
You wouldn't mind if you knew it was actually for something, as opposed to them charging it simply because they can.
In Sweden you have to pay customs fees from the first krona if it's outside the EU, but I use a proxy shipping service in France to "launder" packages from outside the EU so they can be sent on further to Sweden.
Hey Tony, I had EXACTLY the same fees applied to a recent package received from China. You're right about that Royal Mail 'handling fee' it's complete and utter extortion!
In Sweden you can't buy anything from outside of the EU without being hit with taxes and customs fees. When I buy stuff from Yahoo Auctions in Japan, I have the proxy shipping service declare the value of the packages so that it always falls below €20 in total value, and then I have them sent to another proxy shipping service in France. In France you can import up to €20 of goods without paying any taxes, so the package is cleared in France instead of Sweden, and then they're inside the EU and can be shipped to Sweden without any problems.
A new quality walkman with stereo and dolby for $100? Yes! AND I am not interested in bluetooth. It doesn't need to record either. Stereo, Dolby plus beautiful construction would be what matters to me personally.
Hi, tony, U r famous at Tapeheads, I am a
Fan of you ,well...from what i have checked with the panda retailer,it’s a stereo head in it...but not reverse PB version (single side stereo looks like a thinned cross on the head)maybe it’s different version from mainland China
Did u try the headphone to find out? Anyway, u r a pro,I ll believe you more than that sales guy...cheers, after all, u had a positive comment on panda comparatively
Australia recently introduced a 10 per cent tax on imports no matter what the value...our customs refused to add the taxes because of the costs to them involved...so it's up to the selling companies overseas Ebay Amazon etc to add the tex...it might have changed since it came in last year..yes I would be interested in a new decent cassette machine..
Oh yeah. The eBay global shipping program. All the taxes plus eBay's cut...
It's a handling fee, so presumably they are charging you for the transport, processing and delivery within the UK from the point of entry. Still, it should be commensurate with the price/size of the Parcel. VAT is just the Inland Revenue taking a cut from your purchase while doing nothing.
Its not the delivery in the uk, that is included in the price of postage, which is pooled and shared by all international postal organisations ( actually its an agreed net-off). If you send a gift there is not normally fees if its not dutyable, its only vat when its a commercial item and the fee is for adding it to the customs list and checking what duty is due . The value used to be more but reduced when the Channel Isles were mailing stuff out avoiding UK duties and VAT.
@@highpath4776 I see, thanks for that. So yeah, a right Royal Mail rip off then.
Nice review of the Panda 6503... It's pretty a shame that they put an mono head in it instead of a stereo head (and add an second speaker for stereo sound)...
Most of all cassette players that are in the field at the moment (it does not matter which one you buy) are having an Tanaschin TN21 / TN21Z mechanism in it... That is not a bad mechanism, but it is also not the best mechanism ever made... If I must be honest: it is a budget mechanism where everything is stripped down to the only things that are strictly needed for playing / recording audio cassettes...
Even Sony uses this mechanism in their CFD-S70 portable radio / cd / cassette recorder... There it has an decent motor and a decent play head, but they lack to put in an decent erease head in (it's a permant magnitized magnet, not a nice electronic earese head)... There for the Sony makes some noisy recordings...
But overall for playing cassettes you will be happy with the Sony CFD-S70 and I would recommend everyone out here this portable device if you are in the market for a little portable stereo radio / CD / Cassette recorder... Just leave the Panda 6503 and go for the Sony!
For the few of us who are still into those I would go for refurbishing a quality walkman, not for a new medioka one.
Me too. I have my 90s Walkman and would never buy a modern one.
Compact Cassette Tape Recorders with a mono head and especially with a permanent erase magnet to erase the tape sound like crap. Those permanent erase magnets add unwanted background noise to the tape as it erases the tape, don't know if you noticed it. I will never, ever record any of my tapes on a unit that uses a permanent erase magnet. I record all of my cassettes on tape decks that use an actual AC Bias erase head. I would take this Panda portable recorder, and would switch the head to a stereo head. I would replace the permanent erase magnet with an actual AC Bias erase head if there is a way to find a way to hotwire the AC Bias erase head.
The mech is made by tanashin apparently the only company still producing cassette mechanisms
I will Buy ❤️❤️❤️
I'd definitely be interested!!!
Even if its mono its kinda cool. Maybe i will buy it later. Its mono but it has only one speaker. Its a nice little radio cassette player to play some low-fi tapes just for the fun.
I wasn’t gonna get it, but I realized I record my cassettes on a mono recorder so who cares lmfao
You are talking about a lot of money to redesign the case and to make the changes to deal with the motor noise.
Personally, I would buy your proposed walkman if it also included a radio, preferably one with discrete components (iow, no chips). A good analogue (again, no chips, discrete components) am/fm tuner, along with the good headphone amplifier.
One tool you have today that you didn't have in the past with the watches is crowd sourcing. Crowd sourcing a project like this will give you a gauge on the actual purchasing interests and not just people randomly saying they would be interested in the comments section. Putting up the money in a crowd-sourcing site shows the TRUE interest from people who will _actually_ put down their $99.
If I'm not wrong, Techmoan mentioned in one of his Video's, that there are only 2 Mechanisms left - both Manufactured by the same Chinese Company.
Hope to see a new Stereo Player soon, but it seems that everything that comes up nowadays is based on the cheaper Mono Mechanism.
It's not quite as simple as just putting a stereo head in there. It would require a lot of additional circuitry. Mono heads keep the prices down. My thing is can it record directly onto the tape from the usb/sd ? I'm desperately looking for one that can. And for my use case I'm not bothered by a mono device. Stereo would of course be nice but I'm looking for cheap and cheerful, records directly from usb or sd to tape. Really for my use case I'm not even too fussed about quality.
I'd be buying one. Make it, plz.
Well it is not only "about head", but whole internal circuit must be redesigned and turned into stereo PB head pre-amplifier, as well stereo Recording amplifier and at least stereo headphone amplifier. But yes, it is a shame designers, marketing executives in China have not understood market,...
Would you do a review of a vintage Sony Walkman ? I would buy a player like that Panda, only if it is a cheap one.
Im in Tony for sure ...hope it happens mate
If you could get a Walkman with dynamic noise reduction tape selection and say usb rechargeable plus option to use 2 standard alkaline batteries as well if rechargeable battery dies so can still use would be brilliant. I would definitely buy a Walkman that had these options as like you say in your video there is no new good quality cassette walkmans out there at the moment.
Great video its just a shame that you cannot buy a decent new cassette deck these days especially with cassettes on the increase. They should bring back a decent Sony one your best bet at the moment is to buy a second hand one change the belts and if the caps are ok your good to go. Thanks for sharing
I'm in !
This was posted on the Cassette Magnetic tapes group on Facebook a few hours ago:
Raashid M Hussain
3 hrs
From now on no cassette comback user videos are allowed to be posted here except from the owner of the video himself that is Tony Villa member of the group or was the member .
Anyone else posting videos of the cassette comback yt user will go on " post pre approval " by moderator . We here self talk about our items. We have here member posting portables ,
Walkmans ,
Tapes , tapedecks . We talk directly to the poster here
I thought you should see this.
😂 I left that group a long time ago because of Raashids "Green eyed monster" syndrome..."I was here first, it's not fair, let me tell you about another TDK B that I recorded with DBX instead..."
He says he's all about growing cassette usage, but he's restricting videos from the biggest cassette focused UA-camr? Join my group instead:
facebook.com/groups/546989409130819/
The handling fee is indeed cheap in that case. In other countries, it is an utter rip off (even more so!) - £13 in Switzerland, for example.
In Germany, it is £5.30 - but starting in 2021, you can digitally "announce" the shipping you're about to receive; then, you only pay import duties, like VAT.
I would be interested in such walkman you think of making
The dream is long dead...
I suppose this is what happens when all your components are outsourced and the one remaining manufacturer of your niche component is your only port of call. Look at the cost of that Ballfinger (wonderful name) reel to reel recorder, only possible by manufacturing all the components in-house but naturally pitched with a price that only the very wealthy (ok, stinking rich) could afford. Sadly the days of precision tape deck manufacture are in the past which is sad as the vinyl revival has seen some well engineered turntables being manufactured again but the music business cassette revival still relies, largely on second hand equipment.
I know it's a bit late but I'd be in for a new Walkman
The failure of the RTM one says that the market doesn't want a new Walkman
Hey Tony, I'd go for that walkman too :).
I would buy one, yeah I'm interested definitely buy one. Hey even better if you can get then in different colour
If you ever go though with prototyping a good cassette player, I'd be behind you.
If you just ground out the head with a wire to the motor shouldn't that take care of the buzzing in that cheaper player at 22:26 Maybe even use a capacitor between it.
@stvlu733
Problem is that the motor is also physically vibrating, so the quality of the motor noise isolation must be improved, shouldn't be that hard since there are probably off the shelf solutions that would be excellent if you're willing to pay the price.
It's no surprise that it's built well because Panda also makes synthesizers and they make a small one that is also badged as an Arturia and it's construction is amazing!... I am surprised that they didn't go the extra mile and fit the stereo head and the circuitry so that it would function properly with headphones at least! RCA in and outs would also be a good feature... And let's not forget level meters! Where would a cassette deck be without level meters? I'm sure that Panda can make it... It's just that the person who asked for this model lost and ear in the war and couldn't tell the difference between it and the stereo version! Besides, it was cheaper to buy and he knew that people are stupid enough that they would buy these by the dozens.... How many people out there do you think that own one of these and have no idea that it isn't even stereo! It's these cheap shit cassette decks that killed off the cassettes in the first place!
If you owned something like this back when CD came out, of course you are going to make the move to CD.... It took me many years to move to CD because I had descent equipment and apart from quick Track access times, I couldn't see any other difference... If everyone had a decent cassette deck back then, CD might not have happened because there wasn't a need for it... Who's still buying CD's today? I eventually started but I don't purchase CD's anymore, I still buy cassettes and vinyl records.... That to me says a lot.... If you can get something made that looks like the panda but in stereo... I would definitely be in.
It will look like a classic 80s Walkman. No recording, just the best playback possible.
Cassette Comeback You definitely have your work cut out, I have had the idea of doing the same thing with a boombox but I found it hard to settle on a design because it has to look right! That solid 80's look, you know what I mean, but it's form has to have function also. I really tip my hat to the Japanese for being able to make something so functional and also being able to place labels of the units functions on it without making it look cheap and cheesy! I have four National RX-C45 Boomboxes which are an amazing boombox in terms of performance and appearance. They almost have everything that I would personally want in a portable, an improvement in their design should have had Dolby B/C, program search, and definitely better tweeters because the piezoelectrics fitted are useless.... As for a Walkman... there was many designs that I'm sure are worthy of note.... I really wish you the best in luck and success with the project, just make sure that you hold it upside down so that it looks correct to us in the land down under LoL...