It's funny to think that during my days in commercial radio back in the nineties and noughties, we were armed with "broadcast quality" equipment to take out into the field, sometimes costing thousands. We'd never consider consumer brands, let alone bargain brands like Radioshack. Fast forward to 2023 and TV and radio news is full of low-fi, stuttering Skype/Zoom/Teams connections via the contributor's webcam and shaky, incomprehensible content submitted by the audience. To my ageing ears and by today's standards, this is surprisingly impressive!
I have reflected on this phenomenon my self. The Iphone quality has become a new de-facto broadcast-netcast standard , and has opened the door to all sorts of crappy equipment.
I got extremely lucky, and found a Sony TC-D5M at a Hamfest for only $5. It was completely dead, but I found a transistor on the main power board that was bad, and replacing that got it back up and running again. A few new belts, and it now works absolutely perfectly.
@@Blackadder75 You could ask the same about old cars and computers. I think 99% of it is all about nostalgia I recently bought a couple of 8 tracks because when they were popular one like the Weltron 2001 I now have, would have been about ten years pocket money for me.
@@Blackadder75 My 9 year old son loves recording the audio tracks from UA-cam videos onto cassette tape, with my Tascam 122. He then plays them back in a walkman sport with headphones that he was given a few years back.
I miss Radio Shack and all the other electronics stores. But since everything has been integrated into a 6" smartphone.....the demand for physical media is very small. I'm glad to have had the privilege to live in times when there were no cell phones or computers......very different times.
At least foldable screens are contributing to a mini renaissance in cell phone design. I've been enjoying the benefits of inexpensive smart phones, for a while, but I might have to splurge on the modern Moto Razr, someday. Although, I'll miss the LG Voyager style horizontal clamshells, with full size thumb keyboards.
Surprisingly there's a few RadioShack still around or at least there were. They all moved out of the way from my general within 2 hours of me distance. We stopped at one and they said that they were not a corporate store they were a I can't think of the word they were a private store. And that they were able to stay in business. I was carrying around two iPhones because I paid for apps that were no longer functional on the new one and I needed a back up phone. Well goodbye 4G and apparently the 4S didn't support VOLTE. So I decided to get one of those fancy candy bar phones that everybody's been talking about.... a Nokia it's amazing I can go two+ days without plugging the thing in. It's not quite as nice as the Motorolas I had in the day. I feel for the last few generations they're not gonna know finding something to watch that they wouldn't normally watch because there was nothing on and they were flipping through channels. And as Mr. LTT says why do you need records I can stream everything that's great until the music industry goes through what the TV and movie industry is doing right now we're everybody wants a piece of the pie so they're taking things off of other streaming services. I'll be over here with my CDs cassettes and MP3s that play on everything.
"the demand for physical media is very small" Good. When I started listening to my own music is was deep into the CD era and I used to carry around my CD player, a handful of CDs, a pack of batteries and i'd have to decide before I left the house what I wanted to listen to. These days I still buy CDs but I have my entire collection on my phone as FLAC files, my phone is rechargeable and easily lasts a full day of playing music, my headphones are also rechargeable and last around 35 hours on a full charge. However there's a lot of people who aren't buying physical media and that's good for the environment, less plastic tape, less plastic cassette housings, less plastic used to make tape decks, CD players, camcorders, VHS tapes and a whole host of things. Only those who really need or want a high end video camera or physical media are buying them and that's really good.
@@Martipar the only downside to that is we're using a lot more precious materials and mined materials in phones that have to be replaced every year (slightly exaggerated). Compared to plastic which we could've melted down and reused and ferrous metal tape. This reminds me of the last LTT video I watched we're Linus was talking about buying speakers and streaming music versus the person they were doing a tech upgrade for having records and a record player. I don't get why if there's so little to a small demand for physical media that those Sony cassette players were in the 500 to 800 to 1000$ range on eBay, I wanted a good cassette recorder (before they disappeared) since I never had one as I always got stuck with cheapies that didn't even record or hand me downs which weren't that good. Was trying to figure out what I wanted and I just barely managed to snag a Sony for 550$ youch! and then the prices went up. I have a handful of cassettes and occasionally need to convert or want to record. Otherwise I have transitioned to CDs as my storage format and 192 MP3s that can be arranged and played on all of my devices. And now that I have a car with a decent CD player I have actually listened to CDs in the car it's so weird. Transitioning away from physical media I'm OK with that other than there's a big push to have no physical objects anymore. which is sort of like worrying that the sky is gonna fall in jumping in the Grand Canyon. We're Society bordering on levels and healthy obsession. Sure it's OK to have a few things but nothing at all...
@@imark7777777 "Compared to plastic which we could've melted down and reused and ferrous metal tape." The tape is not recyclable, i highly doubt most tapes made it into recycling bins at all and most people own one phone while people often owned at least 10 tapes.
I think the reported frequency response is for the built-in condenser mics. The direct turntable hookup sounded great for me playing this through my home stereo.
I still have the Minisette 11 I bought new in 1982 or 1983. It lived in my college backpack to record classes and playback Rush tapes as I walked from class to class. Later, it served as the cassette deck in my home stereo after a drunken friend dumped a beer in my Technics deck!
Hi vwestlife I’m 13 and currently collecting cassette tapes I really enjoyed the recommendations you’ve been giving me I’ve been watching ever since I was five years old big fan!
The permanent magnet erase head will not make the recording much noisier. It's DC bias and the ALC what makes a lot of noise, but fortunately this one has AC bias. The only problem with the permanent magnet erase head is that the erasing efficiency can be low, so if you re-record a cassette which was recorded at high levels before, the previous recording might still be audible in the background of the new recording. This is especially true with Type-II tapes. Don't forget that an AC erase head can consume a lot of power, IIRC between 0.5-1W, or up to 2W with Chrome tape, and that is a lot for a portable tape recorder operated from a few AA batteries. It would decrease the battery life drastically.
It's more complicated. I found that most noisy recording gives the combination of permanet magnet erase head and AC bias. It gives such low frequency background noise, sounding like a huge waterfall or something. I am not sure what happens there exactly. The tape "erased" solely by permanent magnet isn't particularly noisy, but once the tape in this magnetically saturated state, is touched by recording head with AC biased signal, it starts to be such noisy.
@@StackOverflow80 Yes, this totally makes sense, if the permanent magnet erase head leaves the tape saturated in one direction, the AC bias + recorded signal will not be able to null that out, and it will create a mess. But that is a garbage erase head, if it leaves the tape saturated. I have some Panasonic and Sony boomboxes with permanent magnet erase head and AC bias, and they make good recordings. The permanent magnet erase head should be a double-gapped one, which magetises the tape twice in alternate directions, leaving it in a neutral state instead of saturated. If you have a recorder with such bad erase head, but it has AC bias, you should try getting a better erase head for it.
@@mrnmrn1 Ok, that's interesting. I have some Panasonic boombox from 90s and its specs says "erase head: multipole magnet". Would it be this kind of head? Its recording is noisy though (brown background noise)
@@StackOverflow80 Yes, probably that multipole magnet erase head is what you want. My childhood boombox was a Panasonic RX-1650, it is mono, but makes OK recordings with its permanent magnet erase head. It is a bit noisy, but not that low frequency rumbling that you talk about, just hiss, most of it caused by the ALC probably. I have only experienced that low frequency rumble with DC biased tape recorders, and some dictaphones. I have a Panasonic recording auto reverse "Walkman", in which the permenent magnet erase head is super tiny due to the two pinch rollers taking up the space, and I think it has AC bias, that is the only model which I can recall producing that low frequency rumble while having AC bias. I also had a Hitachi TRK-3D8 boombox with PM erase head, it made good recordings. Unfortunately I don't have any of my mix tapes I recorded on it, so I can't confirm how noisy it was, and I don't have the boombox either, although I want to buy one. The one I had was already butchered when my father bought it for me to play with when I was about 8, its side panels were smashed and it was overall worn out, FM radio out of alignment, and only one half of the deck worked, the other side had a broken gear, every control had very bad contacts due to wear (contact cleaning did not help for more than a few days), volume sliders were scratchy, and eventually the input selector switch burnt due to bad contacts. I used it for about 5 years than after the switch failed I parted it out in about 2002, I still have the board, the transformer and the speakers from it. I reused its transformer in a Vinix VPC-7714 boombox, its midrange speakers in a cheasy LEVIS boombox with built in LED lightshow behind the speaker grills, and I installed its woofer into an old two-way enclosure which I found on the street with a missing woofer, I used that for 10+ years attached to my TV.
@@mrnmrn1 Yes, some of the recorders with permanent magnet erase heads were noisier, some of them less. So maybe it has something to do with the type of magnet used. However, better boomboxes and stereos used AC erase till the end of cassette era, so I think the multipole magnet didn't really solved it. If I removed permanent magnet head from AC bias boombox and recorded onto clean tape, the recording became very competent in terms of noise and distortion. Permanent magnet boomboxes had to hold recording level low, some -4dB i guess, to not to get distorted. With AC erase head, I could go higher with recording level without percievable distortion. The trend of permanent magnet erase heads irritated me a lot, as they creeped even into more expensive boomboxes during 90s. Permanent magnet in $250 Panasonic boombox with radio and CD in 1996, wtf?
Sounds better than it seems, stereo playback certainly helps a lot. For a budget machine, it’s actually pretty decent! Like you said, that permanent erase head isn’t ideal, but otherwise it’s still an interesting unit. Also cool that you got it with the case!
I bought the mono version, the Minisette 9, last year in Brussels. Beautifully made device, I think by Sanyo, as the majority of the components in mine are that brand. My machine was apparently well loved by its previous owners, because the head is quite worn and it had a faulty speed controller. When I did get it to play normally, I found it makes pretty decent recordings for what it is. The auto level recording is good enough to handle a direct connection between the mic input (the only one it has) and the headphone output of a laptop.
This is a very nice looking sleek machine. Too wobbly for slow piano (unless it is your test record, maybe you should have used a digital source), but works for pop stuff. I wonder who made it for Radioshack.
Not bad for a portable cassette recorder made by Realistic. What's more, I would love for the new decks to have the same manufacturing quality as this recorder.
To put that 8khz frequency response in perspective, the Victor Orthophonic mechanical reproducer introduced in 1929 has 10khz of frequency response. The erase head doesn't really matter with new tapes. You can always erase your tapes in a different machine. The AC bias is nice too. DC bias would categorically disqualify it. But the wow and flutter and frequency response are deal breakers IMHO. In the form factor, this is a suitable replacement, but not in any other way.
I worked at RS at the time, I remember VERY WELL selling one of these! An (acoustic guitar playing) street "busker" wanted something a bit easier to lug around for recording himself than a "boombox". (Carrying a guitar case and a 1980s boombox was a PITA if using public transportation.) Of course, any number of small cassette recorder models would have worked, But he NEEDED stereo! When I showed him THIS exact model, he was THRILLED Boy, THIS was a quick sale! He loved the little sucker! (Bought some Ni-Cds and a pair of inexpensive mics too). 👍👍 Today, a Tascam DR-05X and a mini tripod would be just the ticket for that use case.
Even though you have many videos like this, for some reason this one really reminded me of the hours I have spent in front of a stereo watching the reels turn around, and watching for the leader tape when you were hoping to fit a whole song in! I could literally smell that tape being opened as well! 😄
These cassette decks were very popular with churches. They would frequently get "split track" cassettes that had the instrumentation on one channel, and the singing vocals on the other. While practicing to sing a song, both the music and the vocal track would be played, but during performance, the recorded vocal track would be turned down. On a large mixing console, this was easy, but for practicing in the music room, This little cassette deck fit the bill, because it would play left (instrumentation) or right (vocal singing) out the monaural speaker, depending on where the VOL L and VOL R controls were places.
Got an AIWA AD-F800 which must be like a holy grail cassette recorder. Literally the pinnacle of semi-pro cassette recorders. My FIRST stereo cassette deck (which I also still have) was the Realistic SCT-12. Was/still is an incredible quality unit for its price ($80) in 1980... Probably the last time I used either. Looking for a SONY DAT 670 Tape Recoder? Love your channel, fellow New Jerseyan...
I actually own one of these! I like to collect them to use since I enjoy the novelty and security of recording on cassette. Mine is a bit broken and makes a screeching noise 9 times out of 10 when you hit play, but when it works it certainly works! I was very very impressed by the built-in microphone's ability to compensate for loud audio. No joke, I've taken it to full on rock concerts and even when its right next to the PA speakers it handles it like a champ!
The other issue is that the TCD-5 have a rubber idler tire that is bonded to the underside of the pinch roller idler wheel, and there exists no replacement for it. The only solution to getting them repaired is to remove it and send it to someone to have retooled on a lathe. You have to know how to remove the thing and put it back by yourself and you have to find someone who can glue a new tire to the idler and turn it down to the correct size. Absolutely all of them use that tire, and they are all getting slippery. They still "work," but a lot of tapes which offer slightly more resistance will either trip the mechanism and shut it off, or (if you're less lucky) they eat your tape :(
I have a sony tc-D5M model dat hase new snaars and idler it was e pain to get but the deck sounds so good now and the left and raide volume meters to record tapes on to is after 2 uurs of corekting bact to 1on1 Bdw sorry if my engels is bad im ducht
@@enriquewaisfisz7261 np. there's a guy in the US who can do the pinch idler for like 50 bucks. i'll get around to having mine done at some point, but for now i have other decks i can use if there's a problem with a specific tape. i only use it in my kitchen anyway
Thank you, I enjoyed the video, good overall coverage of the unit with real-world examples. My favorite part was when you demonstrated the turntable and pointed out the amplifier. I looked over at my nightstand where my own _Optimus_ SA-155 was recently put into use to play white noise overnight to help me sleep. It looks just like yours except yours says _Realistic_ instead. 🙂👍
13:24 I'd say this Realistic 11 was the answer to Sony's Walkabout series and their TCS series since they had somewhat similar roles in terms of being a recorder/replayer. Also several of their WM-series like their WM-R2 for similar purposes.
You forget how beautiful tapes were with the case and separate labels, I loved opening them with their cellophane wrapping . I always had TDK ad as they were best compromise .
Lovely review. I'm super annoyed with the prices of broken equipment on ebay theses days. Gladly you can still find great deals like this when you go for the smaller brand or no name stuff. I recently got a nice stereo cassette player for 25 bucks in a second hand store, that wasn't working. All i had to do was to solder one cable back on. Works like a charm.
@@bentbilliard don't worry, I don;t buy it, not if it's $100, or $10 or $1 , I don't need old electronics. (I did buy a few retro 80s and 90s computers though) I guess for the same reason as people buy audio stuff.. I just don't get the appeal of tapes, they are inconvenient in all aspects of use. I don't see the appeal, unlike classic cars or that old nintendo.. that is fun to drive or fun to play, but what is fun about a tape deck?
@@Blackadder75 There is something tactile about tapes and an analog experience that you can't get with digital audio. Also it is part of a great history and it's super interesting to learn about it. Old Audio equipment is a marvel of technology and on top of that very reliable and easy to repair. It's all about having fun and maybe learning something. That's all.
I always hate having to take apart the old tape to perform a repair. Complicated belt system. I like how well built the mechanism is made, lots of metal there.
Paid 50 bucks for mine ship, took me a little bit to find one in decent conditions, you see the minisette 9 everywhere online (maybe a video on that ?) it is amazing what this little thing can do i have if in my gaming pc desk is perfect size for it. I would love to find the Sony holy grails but trift store have been clean out here.
At least it looked way way easier to take apart and replace those belts than the Panasonic unit Techmoan tried to do in a video a few weeks ago. That looked like a total nightmare .
I agree! That device was cryptic by design. I’ve had a few tape decks that were poorly designed for service but nothing compared to that Panasonic. On the other hand, this Realistic cassette recorder looks to be well built and designed to be serviceable
Under the circumstances, a Realistic alternative to an expensive Sony! The Minisette-11 seems a decent example of a portable stereo recorder. BTW, back in college, I worked with the Sony - it *was* (is, if you find, and can afford, a working one) a very nice tape recorder. *An apt choice of subject,* too, as I had a *"Dang, I miss Radio Shack"* moment this weekend. Was visiting my brother who lives some 100's of miles away, and brought a Teac CD recorder for a dubbing project we wanted to do. Brought a pair of headphones, too, to monitor the recording as we worked.... only they are modern headphones with the 1/8" (3.5mm) jack, and the CD recorder has a 1/4" phones socket. There were a Target and a Walgreens within a couple blocks, but neither carried a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter - too old school. (I could get all the ear buds and Bluetooth stuff I wanted at both places.) Back in the '80s, there would've been a Radio Shack prolly 10 minutes away, and we would have easily solved our problem! (We did eventually come up with a workaround.)
Back in the day I had numerous Battery of the Month Club cards. I knew one of the managers, and they were ok with me using a few cards at the same time. I don't recall ever buying AA's for my Sony Walkman. Memories.🔋🎧
Thrift stores aren’t what they used to be. I remember scoring some awesome deals…Receivers, tape decks, turntables for 5-10 bucks. Cassettes 25-50 cents. Records 50 cents. You can still get some deals but because of the internet the thrift stores are wiser to market values. Just like most things…they were better in the past. BTW…cool cassette recorder!!!
I've been keeping my eye out for a Minisette 11, but I keep seeing the Minisette 9 (mono). Today, I found a GE 3-5361A which is almost IDENTICAL to the Minisette 9. They have to have been made by the same company. So perhaps there's a GE equivalent to the 11, too?
nice review & repair/replace vid VW, to my ears the sound quality was very good, but I imagine these are extremely rare, especially in the super clean condition yours was in. Radio Shack was such a great resource back in the 70s/80s. It's too bad they did not adapt to the times. It's refreshing to see how they didn't lie about frequency response back then as opposed to now where everything is rated 20-20000HZ
I love that this thing has Tape selector, built in stereo mic and runs on AA batteries. Something i wish the Sony TC-D5 would too but sadly it runs on 2 D-Cell batteries, which are harder to come by. This Minisette-11 would have been awesome for concert bootleg recordings back then :3 If you ever need a translation for the manual, i could translate the german part of it if you want.
You can buy plastic D-cell to AA-cell adapters. Basically they're tubes that AA cells slide into that makes them the same diameter as D-cell. Coincidentally, I shot a video of them yesterday but it won't be on UA-cam for a few weeks. Conclusion is, by EBL brand ones (Amazon or eBay), not 3D printed ones.
For having a relatively low frequency response of 125 to 8khz and no Dolby I think it sounds pretty damn good. In fact the tape hiss was barely audible in the quieter parts on that first tape.
That's the benefit of recorders with automatic recording volume. It will always set the the optimum for each tape formula so you would get the best out of the limited dynamic range.
Many years ago I had the opportunity to get my hands on a Marantz version of the Sony TC-D5 that somebody didn't want. Unfortunately my efforts to repair it backfired since it didn't just have bad belts but also some other major electronic issues, despite being in good cosmetic condition. I've always wanted one, but their prices used are ludicrous. With all that being said, this Realistic did quite well. Maybe I should've bought one of these instead of the Marantz! BTW, that production music tape is pretty groovy and screams the '70s. Glad to see you uploaded it in its entirety over on your other channel.
Great to see you've satisfied this quest. So wonderful seeing the Radioshack/Tandy branding. Supertape, Stereo-Mate, Minisette, Enercell, truly magical. That first Stereo-Mate on that page of the catalogue was the one I lusted after for a long time. Ended up with a different model Sanyo later on in 1984.. But that page in particular was a well worn favourite. I managed to get a nice Sony WM-D6C, albeit with the click of death a while ago, but still a stunning piece of portable cassette recording technology.
4:27 Dutch! Anyway, it ages well, looks nice! When I saw the mechanism I always wonder why manufacturers made so many different transport mechanisms. Different control layout, different belts, different gears and so on. I got the feeling that they use students (internship) with assignment to design a new mechanism 😄 It is so strange to take the effort again and again to design a new mechanism. Does somebody know the real reason why manufacturers invented the wheel again and again for each model they produced? There are so many different transport mechanism, really insane.
This was before Tanashin introduced their TN-21 mechanism in 1986 which pretty much became the universal industry standard of low-cost cassette recorders.
Usually either to avoid someone else’s patented method or to reduce costs or slightly improve some aspects. Japanese manufacturers were highly competitive and wanted to make their own unique design also. There are probably more reasons. Exchange rates and labour costs were different also, more money could be invested into r&d.
I didn't like stereo equipment with individual left/right volume controls, I always found them fiddly to use. But just now I've thought of a good use for a tape recorder with individual left/right volume controls. It's good for playing my Teddy Ruxpin cassettes in because I can wind down the right channel and not have to listen to the buzzing whirring sound of the PPM control data on the cassettes. If you play a Teddy Ruxpin tape deck in a regular cassette player, you'll hear a noise that sounds a bit like a petrol driven lawnmower.
@The Vinyl Disguise Yeah well that can happen, they could be damaged somewhat easily. I'd like to think my nieces know better than to feed their Teddy Ruxpin.
Over here in the UK Realistic hi fi receivers are so well sought after there are none left to purchase. I assume that if it's made in Japan for Realistic it's going to be a desirable product. Is that what people in America feel too? I think that machine looks fantastic and , of course, I want one. Great product and great upload Thank you.
An impressive "cheap" portable tape player. Sound is very good - tho, muffled due to the limited high frequency response. Still - like a lot of Radio Shack products of that era, a very respectable device. (my first stereo system was all Radio Shack components - purchased in 1979 and got me through all my college years too). Thanks again for another great video.
Nice video, as usual. It sounds really good, as a playback machine. The recording quality is an interesting reminder of how far prosumer equipment has evolved. Whatever you are using to record your typical dialogue sounds considerably better than the Minisette-11, even when you used external microphones. Then again, it's a 40 year old device. I wonder if its recordings would have been any better, when it was new?
I have A Tascam DR-05X and It's amazing for it's price. It has built-in mics, external mic or "line" inputs as well as "line" out, And being digital it's a CD quality recorder that fits in a pocket and runs on 2 "AA" batteries. It's amazing how far consumer audio has gone! I also have a Tascam DP-006. It's the digital equivalent of the old Tascam "Portastudio" multi track cassette mixer/recorders - But it's the size of a paperback novel!
I was amused to come across this video today. It is interesting to see something that I bought because it was cheap and portable is now considered a collector's item. I have mine in front of me know. I still use it on the occasional times that I need to hear something from an old cassette. I don't remember buying my Minisette-11 but it was probably far less than $99! Mine says 'Made in Singapore Dist in Canada by Tandy Electronics Limited'. There is a 10A3 date stamp in the battery compartment. I have the original Portable Stereo Cassette Deck Owner's Manual which is bilingual English and French. As you said, in the instructions it says to set Tape Selector switch 'to appropriate position, either CrO2 or Normal' but neglects to actually say what the difference is between the settings. I probably bought mine in 1984 before I headed off to Australia. I had the intention of getting married and immigrating there. That did not happen but I did stay for a while. Because it was so very expensive to make phone calls, instead making those I would talk into my Minisette-11 and make recordings. I would then mail those cassettes to my sister and mother back in Canada. Most of them were lost or re-recorded over but I still have a few. One day I must upload the recordings to someplace public such as UA-cam!
There are three ICs in the schematic. I think they may be op-amps, but I'm not sure, because I don't recall, offhand, all the pin-outs for op-amps. However, op-amps share a common pin-out, so you can replace one with a higher-performance version. Unfortunately, the manual doesn't have a parts list, and the diagram just calls them "IC 100, 200, & 300." But you can determine if they ARE op-amps, by comparing the pin-outs with the circuit connections. Back in that day, 741s and similar types were commonly used in low-cost audio gear. If they're that kind, you can get lower distortion & noise, by replacing them with something like the 5534/5532.
Very nice design, I like it better than the shoebox style, because it follows more closely the dimensions of an actual cassette. I can understand why it wasn't overly popular since it wasn't as portable as the walkman type players and not as functional as the full-size component decks then on the market. Never the less I think it represents very well the 15-year refinement in design and function of the portable cassette recorder concept, the size disadvantage compared to walkmans is compensated by the addition of a speaker and a more powerful amplifier, but it just fell between the cracks between the ultimate portability of walkmans and the full functionality of component systems, still a beautiful and functional design in its own right, thanks for showing it.
In high school I owned a ITT Studio 73 which was type II compable stereo recorder with auto and manual record levels that used C cells or ac that had a biggish speaker for monitoring. It had no dolby but did make great recordings. These days I own a Sony TC D5M that did cost me just over £400 used but restored which is fantastic but your Realistic is great for the money.
Hi VWestlife, nice cassette recorder and I have a Walkman that has a faulty radio to tape switch. Play around with it a little bit and it works. Hope to see the next update (video)
As a TC-D5M owner, those models are the BEST cassette decks i ever had. What Sony built back then is nothing short of a technical marvel. And sadly the whole range of features is something i never really see elsewhere. Once you have been using such a machine, every other cassette recorder really feels like a toy :( it's amazing how good cassette recorder technology used to be. But we are sadly now living in a time where Standards are basically gone. Electronics isn't even shielded anymore what so ever..
TC-D5m user here as well... Its certainly not the best deck I have, but it is by a very wide margin the best portable cassette deck I own. In playback sound quality it doesn't entirely match the AIWA HS-JX505 and JX2000 I also have, but it is capable of somewhat better recordings, and has much better connectivity.
It's amazing how modern tape decks sound when you press play with no tape in the mechanism. It should be perfectly silent. But it never is. There is always a loud hissing sound. Poor quality pre-amps and probably shielding problems too. OTOH, there is no excuse for 8khz frequency response in a 100 (1981) Dollar machine. I posted another comment pointing out the Victor Orthopedic acoustic reproducer released in 1929 has a 10khz frequency response. The earliest tape decks from the early 60s had 8khz frequency response. This was 20 years later. It is inexcusable and basically not suitable for music, IMHO.
You contradict yourself - first you say this Sony is an unique marvel and that everything else feels like a toy (crap), then you saying that all good Standards of old times are gone... -What "Standards" are you talking about - if that Sony was obviously a unique piece of overpriced Professional equipment?..
@@christo930 Hmm, looking at 1980s era mid range decks, without any form of dolby and set to type 1, a noise floor at around -55db is pretty much the norm. Top of the line models may do a bit better, but that is far from 'perfectly silent'. Yes, you can improve a lot on that using appropriate noise reduction and carefully adjusted recording levels on a really high end deck, but even the best decks of that era were not perfectly silent. They can't be. Are cheap modern decks worse? somewhat to a lot, yes.. now compare them to actually comparable devices from the 1980s... entry level 'personal cassette player' ? those tend to be just as bad. Oh, and with 'mid range' I'm talking about what in the mid 80s would cost around $500+
Excellent video, I love this style of tape machine. Do you have a Realistic CTR68? This is kind of famous for being Hannibal Lecter's tape recorder in Silence of the Lambs! I'm not sure that's too well known a fact - they ground off the brand name for the close-up shots of it.
Marantz PMD430 is great it's my go to portable just because it's much easier to work on - even if it breaks in the field and you can find it for a decent price. Sony has esoteric non-obtanium parts needed if broken in many cases. The wow and flutter specs speed ect are certainly better on the Sony - if the sony is working but not so much better tha most will notice.. I don't know if the Sony has DBX.. the Marantz does and it really helps with field recordings clarifying some distant sounds ect.
It looks and sound remarkably good. It seems RadioShack wasn't completely honest with it's specs. These seems to be lowered in the manual! Wonderful little machine.
Thanks for the video. Obviously no alternative to the Sony, audible wow & flutter, and I can hear the higher freuencies missing. But your model is in pristine shape! What I'm missing is Techmoan's shake test you've shown in the beginning ;)
Idk if you get asked these kind of questions often, but how would you go about fixing these older devices? Are you that familiar with the circuitry, or do you rely on a schematic? Many of these I'm sure are very delicate given their age and the amount of wear over the years.
Most of the problems you'll experience with old tape recorders are mechanical, not electronic -- worn out belts and a dirty record/playback switch, just as I showed.
I think the ridiculously high price for the Sony TC-D5's are due to the Techmoan effect. The guy does great videos, no doubt, but anything he touches turns into an overpriced "holy grail" that suddendly everyone wants. The same thing happened with the MZ-RH1 Minidisc player, which had modest prices on Ebay but after Techmoan covered it, the prices went sky-high.
I had a cassette recorder similar to this once. It was made by either Panasonic or Philips I forget which. It took normal cassettes. I thought there were other brands in existence that used mini cassettes when I saw the title of this video.
Years ago I owned a WMD-6C by Sony. Stunning small recorder. Dolby B/C with Norm, CrO2 & Metal capability & even a speed pitch control. I eventually eBay'd it for a fantastic price. It sounds like a clich'e when people say: "They don't build them like they use to.". Well, it really is true: They DON'T build them like they use to.
I almost bought a reel to reel portable recorder a couple months ago, but it being mono killed the joy. Recently picked up a sony wm-r55, a nice Walkman model with recording capability, even came with its original stereo mic! Pretty cool stuff, but I did accidentally break the wires for it's built in speaker so it's headphones only now...
Back in the day we considered radio shack products to be inferior, but looking back on it now I can see that they actually produced some pretty good products
@4:45 the lack of Dolby is no game changer. We call Dolby the sparkle reducer. Make any recording instantly muddy with a push of a button. The Frequency response falls in line what what this was designed for, memo narration voice. Worse frequency response than a portable super scope I have made in 1975.
A Marantz PMD-420/430 is also a nice deck that usually costs less than the TC-D5. And these big recorders are easier to fix than any walkman size unit. Those sometimes require desoldering to get to the belt(s), have rotten SMD electrolytic capacitors, broken center gears (Sony WM-DD/WM-2 style mechs). And big recorders keep their head azimuth alignment better.
We have a few of those professional cassette recorders at the radio station. I'll have to find them and see what they are. I'm so busy, i haven't had time to look at them for long.
It's so funny back in the day 70s/80s(I am old) many people looked down at Radio Shack stuff and now days some of those same people are willing too pay big bucks for the very same stuff now. It's so hard to well made personal/home electricians now.
Well just when I thought the price was gonna go down. I have a safe search notice the price went down at least 100. They were up at 700. I locked out sort of and got one before they went up. It was even in great condition with minor repairs until I had an accident with the batteries. FYI make sure you're using the right power adapter connector as if you do not it doesn't disconnect the battery and it will charge them and what happens with non-rechargeable batteries..... That aren't Duracell's that leak on their own.
Unfortunately the quality of the recording, the professional features and the quality of the tape mechanism is far from the TDC5. I’ve got an old TDC5 myself- it’s a marvel. I didn’t realize they where that expensive! Not worth 4000$ though!
The quirky music starting at 13:37 is fun! It borrows from the main theme of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. Fortunately for the artist, Tchaikovsky passed away long before today's uber-restrictive copyright laws. As you know from various lawsuits against artists for allegedly "ripping off" thematic material (i.e. Saturn's lawsuit against Led Zeppelin over "Stairway to Heaven"), if Tchaikovsky's works had been composed a couple of decades into the 20th century his Estate could demand financial compensation for alleged "infringement" on their intellectual property. :)
I believe all of the selections on that Sanyo AMSS demo tape were based on melodies which are in the public domain, so they didn't have to pay any composer royalties.
Blast from the past video for me. I had one of the minisette-9 I used to record lectures in community college in 1986. I also had one of the black amplifiers he used for it's phono input. I used mine to drive my computer speakers.
i remember those minisettes in the 80s, my parents asked me what i wanted for christmas one year and i said one of those, the 11, but couldnt afford it so they got me the mono version minisette 9, still got it, mostly ok but needs new belt now, i think the years catalogue at the time said the 11 was £69 and 9 £49, but it was on offer at that time for either £39 or £29, cant remember for sure...
@@andygozzo72 Yes, I owned a Minisette-9 previously and that's what confused me -- the LED working the opposite of the Minisette-11. The 9 and 11 use the same belts, because the mechanism is identical. What does the manual for the Minisette-9 list for the wow & flutter and frequency response?
@@andygozzo72 Thanks. I expected the specs would be the same, since they both use the same mechanism. And I think they changed the way the battery LED works for when you're making long recordings. This way, when you see it start to glow continuously, then you know your batteries are getting low. Otherwise the other way, you only get an indication of battery life during playback, not recording.
Looking it up, I never really thought my old ITT CX 75 was classed as a "professional" recorder (mono only, of course), despte it having "Professional" printed on the front, always just seemed to be "a tape recorder" to me as a kid, still have it somewhere though...
It's funny to think that during my days in commercial radio back in the nineties and noughties, we were armed with "broadcast quality" equipment to take out into the field, sometimes costing thousands. We'd never consider consumer brands, let alone bargain brands like Radioshack. Fast forward to 2023 and TV and radio news is full of low-fi, stuttering Skype/Zoom/Teams connections via the contributor's webcam and shaky, incomprehensible content submitted by the audience. To my ageing ears and by today's standards, this is surprisingly impressive!
Yeah I can believe that. What kind of cassette recorders did they use back then?
Basically asking what are some of the high-end brands?
And filmed vertically, so you only get a strip of image down the middle of the screen. I hate that.
@@CT-vm4gf Wait - are your eyes _not_ aligned vertically?
I have reflected on this phenomenon my self. The Iphone quality has become a new de-facto broadcast-netcast standard , and has opened the door to all sorts of crappy equipment.
Fully agree with you 😃
I got extremely lucky, and found a Sony TC-D5M at a Hamfest for only $5. It was completely dead, but I found a transistor on the main power board that was bad, and replacing that got it back up and running again. A few new belts, and it now works absolutely perfectly.
But what do you people DO with cassette tape equipment? I mean really do, in a practical sense, not just as a party gimmick
@@Blackadder75 You could ask the same about old cars and computers. I think 99% of it is all about nostalgia I recently bought a couple of 8 tracks because when they were popular one like the Weltron 2001 I now have, would have been about ten years pocket money for me.
@@Blackadder75 My 9 year old son loves recording the audio tracks from UA-cam videos onto cassette tape, with my Tascam 122. He then plays them back in a walkman sport with headphones that he was given a few years back.
@@audvidgeek that is super cute
@@Blackadder75 dude, i listen to them??
I miss Radio Shack and all the other electronics stores. But since everything has been integrated into a 6" smartphone.....the demand for physical media is very small. I'm glad to have had the privilege to live in times when there were no cell phones or computers......very different times.
At least foldable screens are contributing to a mini renaissance in cell phone design. I've been enjoying the benefits of inexpensive smart phones, for a while, but I might have to splurge on the modern Moto Razr, someday. Although, I'll miss the LG Voyager style horizontal clamshells, with full size thumb keyboards.
Surprisingly there's a few RadioShack still around or at least there were. They all moved out of the way from my general within 2 hours of me distance. We stopped at one and they said that they were not a corporate store they were a I can't think of the word they were a private store.
And that they were able to stay in business.
I was carrying around two iPhones because I paid for apps that were no longer functional on the new one and I needed a back up phone. Well goodbye 4G and apparently the 4S didn't support VOLTE. So I decided to get one of those fancy candy bar phones that everybody's been talking about.... a Nokia it's amazing I can go two+ days without plugging the thing in. It's not quite as nice as the Motorolas I had in the day.
I feel for the last few generations they're not gonna know finding something to watch that they wouldn't normally watch because there was nothing on and they were flipping through channels.
And as Mr. LTT says why do you need records I can stream everything that's great until the music industry goes through what the TV and movie industry is doing right now we're everybody wants a piece of the pie so they're taking things off of other streaming services.
I'll be over here with my CDs cassettes and MP3s that play on everything.
"the demand for physical media is very small" Good. When I started listening to my own music is was deep into the CD era and I used to carry around my CD player, a handful of CDs, a pack of batteries and i'd have to decide before I left the house what I wanted to listen to. These days I still buy CDs but I have my entire collection on my phone as FLAC files, my phone is rechargeable and easily lasts a full day of playing music, my headphones are also rechargeable and last around 35 hours on a full charge.
However there's a lot of people who aren't buying physical media and that's good for the environment, less plastic tape, less plastic cassette housings, less plastic used to make tape decks, CD players, camcorders, VHS tapes and a whole host of things.
Only those who really need or want a high end video camera or physical media are buying them and that's really good.
@@Martipar the only downside to that is we're using a lot more precious materials and mined materials in phones that have to be replaced every year (slightly exaggerated). Compared to plastic which we could've melted down and reused and ferrous metal tape.
This reminds me of the last LTT video I watched we're Linus was talking about buying speakers and streaming music versus the person they were doing a tech upgrade for having records and a record player.
I don't get why if there's so little to a small demand for physical media that those Sony cassette players were in the 500 to 800 to 1000$ range on eBay, I wanted a good cassette recorder (before they disappeared) since I never had one as I always got stuck with cheapies that didn't even record or hand me downs which weren't that good. Was trying to figure out what I wanted and I just barely managed to snag a Sony for 550$ youch! and then the prices went up.
I have a handful of cassettes and occasionally need to convert or want to record. Otherwise I have transitioned to CDs as my storage format and 192 MP3s that can be arranged and played on all of my devices. And now that I have a car with a decent CD player I have actually listened to CDs in the car it's so weird.
Transitioning away from physical media I'm OK with that other than there's a big push to have no physical objects anymore. which is sort of like worrying that the sky is gonna fall in jumping in the Grand Canyon. We're Society bordering on levels and healthy obsession. Sure it's OK to have a few things but nothing at all...
@@imark7777777 "Compared to plastic which we could've melted down and reused and ferrous metal tape." The tape is not recyclable, i highly doubt most tapes made it into recycling bins at all and most people own one phone while people often owned at least 10 tapes.
I think the reported frequency response is for the built-in condenser mics. The direct turntable hookup sounded great for me playing this through my home stereo.
Realistic is good alternative portable cassette player from the early 1980s! The build quality is really good, and it’s not too expensive!
I still have the Minisette 11 I bought new in 1982 or 1983. It lived in my college backpack to record classes and playback Rush tapes as I walked from class to class. Later, it served as the cassette deck in my home stereo after a drunken friend dumped a beer in my Technics deck!
Hi vwestlife I’m 13 and currently collecting cassette tapes I really enjoyed the recommendations you’ve been giving me I’ve been watching ever since I was five years old big fan!
The permanent magnet erase head will not make the recording much noisier. It's DC bias and the ALC what makes a lot of noise, but fortunately this one has AC bias. The only problem with the permanent magnet erase head is that the erasing efficiency can be low, so if you re-record a cassette which was recorded at high levels before, the previous recording might still be audible in the background of the new recording. This is especially true with Type-II tapes. Don't forget that an AC erase head can consume a lot of power, IIRC between 0.5-1W, or up to 2W with Chrome tape, and that is a lot for a portable tape recorder operated from a few AA batteries. It would decrease the battery life drastically.
It's more complicated. I found that most noisy recording gives the combination of permanet magnet erase head and AC bias. It gives such low frequency background noise, sounding like a huge waterfall or something. I am not sure what happens there exactly. The tape "erased" solely by permanent magnet isn't particularly noisy, but once the tape in this magnetically saturated state, is touched by recording head with AC biased signal, it starts to be such noisy.
@@StackOverflow80 Yes, this totally makes sense, if the permanent magnet erase head leaves the tape saturated in one direction, the AC bias + recorded signal will not be able to null that out, and it will create a mess. But that is a garbage erase head, if it leaves the tape saturated. I have some Panasonic and Sony boomboxes with permanent magnet erase head and AC bias, and they make good recordings. The permanent magnet erase head should be a double-gapped one, which magetises the tape twice in alternate directions, leaving it in a neutral state instead of saturated. If you have a recorder with such bad erase head, but it has AC bias, you should try getting a better erase head for it.
@@mrnmrn1 Ok, that's interesting. I have some Panasonic boombox from 90s and its specs says "erase head: multipole magnet". Would it be this kind of head? Its recording is noisy though (brown background noise)
@@StackOverflow80 Yes, probably that multipole magnet erase head is what you want. My childhood boombox was a Panasonic RX-1650, it is mono, but makes OK recordings with its permanent magnet erase head. It is a bit noisy, but not that low frequency rumbling that you talk about, just hiss, most of it caused by the ALC probably. I have only experienced that low frequency rumble with DC biased tape recorders, and some dictaphones.
I have a Panasonic recording auto reverse "Walkman", in which the permenent magnet erase head is super tiny due to the two pinch rollers taking up the space, and I think it has AC bias, that is the only model which I can recall producing that low frequency rumble while having AC bias.
I also had a Hitachi TRK-3D8 boombox with PM erase head, it made good recordings. Unfortunately I don't have any of my mix tapes I recorded on it, so I can't confirm how noisy it was, and I don't have the boombox either, although I want to buy one. The one I had was already butchered when my father bought it for me to play with when I was about 8, its side panels were smashed and it was overall worn out, FM radio out of alignment, and only one half of the deck worked, the other side had a broken gear, every control had very bad contacts due to wear (contact cleaning did not help for more than a few days), volume sliders were scratchy, and eventually the input selector switch burnt due to bad contacts. I used it for about 5 years than after the switch failed I parted it out in about 2002, I still have the board, the transformer and the speakers from it. I reused its transformer in a Vinix VPC-7714 boombox, its midrange speakers in a cheasy LEVIS boombox with built in LED lightshow behind the speaker grills, and I installed its woofer into an old two-way enclosure which I found on the street with a missing woofer, I used that for 10+ years attached to my TV.
@@mrnmrn1 Yes, some of the recorders with permanent magnet erase heads were noisier, some of them less. So maybe it has something to do with the type of magnet used. However, better boomboxes and stereos used AC erase till the end of cassette era, so I think the multipole magnet didn't really solved it. If I removed permanent magnet head from AC bias boombox and recorded onto clean tape, the recording became very competent in terms of noise and distortion. Permanent magnet boomboxes had to hold recording level low, some -4dB i guess, to not to get distorted. With AC erase head, I could go higher with recording level without percievable distortion. The trend of permanent magnet erase heads irritated me a lot, as they creeped even into more expensive boomboxes during 90s. Permanent magnet in $250 Panasonic boombox with radio and CD in 1996, wtf?
Sounds better than it seems, stereo playback certainly helps a lot. For a budget machine, it’s actually pretty decent! Like you said, that permanent erase head isn’t ideal, but otherwise it’s still an interesting unit. Also cool that you got it with the case!
I bought the mono version, the Minisette 9, last year in Brussels. Beautifully made device, I think by Sanyo, as the majority of the components in mine are that brand. My machine was apparently well loved by its previous owners, because the head is quite worn and it had a faulty speed controller. When I did get it to play normally, I found it makes pretty decent recordings for what it is. The auto level recording is good enough to handle a direct connection between the mic input (the only one it has) and the headphone output of a laptop.
This is a very nice looking sleek machine. Too wobbly for slow piano (unless it is your test record, maybe you should have used a digital source), but works for pop stuff. I wonder who made it for Radioshack.
I just realized that I got this unit in early 80's. It did the job for casual use and was reliable. Couldn't complain about it at that time.
Not bad for a portable cassette recorder made by Realistic. What's more, I would love for the new decks to have the same manufacturing quality as this recorder.
To put that 8khz frequency response in perspective, the Victor Orthophonic mechanical reproducer introduced in 1929 has 10khz of frequency response.
The erase head doesn't really matter with new tapes. You can always erase your tapes in a different machine. The AC bias is nice too. DC bias would categorically disqualify it. But the wow and flutter and frequency response are deal breakers IMHO.
In the form factor, this is a suitable replacement, but not in any other way.
I worked at RS at the time, I remember VERY WELL selling one of these! An (acoustic guitar playing) street "busker" wanted something a bit easier to lug around for recording himself than a "boombox". (Carrying a guitar case and a 1980s boombox was a PITA if using public transportation.) Of course, any number of small cassette recorder models would have worked, But he NEEDED stereo! When I showed him THIS exact model, he was THRILLED Boy, THIS was a quick sale! He loved the little sucker! (Bought some Ni-Cds and a pair of inexpensive mics too). 👍👍 Today, a Tascam DR-05X and a mini tripod would be just the ticket for that use case.
Even though you have many videos like this, for some reason this one really reminded me of the hours I have spent in front of a stereo watching the reels turn around, and watching for the leader tape when you were hoping to fit a whole song in! I could literally smell that tape being opened as well! 😄
These cassette decks were very popular with churches. They would frequently get "split track" cassettes that had the instrumentation on one channel, and the singing vocals on the other. While practicing to sing a song, both the music and the vocal track would be played, but during performance, the recorded vocal track would be turned down. On a large mixing console, this was easy, but for practicing in the music room, This little cassette deck fit the bill, because it would play left (instrumentation) or right (vocal singing) out the monaural speaker, depending on where the VOL L and VOL R controls were places.
Got an AIWA AD-F800 which must be like a holy grail cassette recorder. Literally the pinnacle of semi-pro cassette recorders.
My FIRST stereo cassette deck (which I also still have) was the Realistic SCT-12. Was/still is an incredible quality unit for its price ($80) in 1980... Probably the last time I used either. Looking for a SONY DAT 670 Tape Recoder? Love your channel, fellow New Jerseyan...
I actually own one of these! I like to collect them to use since I enjoy the novelty and security of recording on cassette. Mine is a bit broken and makes a screeching noise 9 times out of 10 when you hit play, but when it works it certainly works! I was very very impressed by the built-in microphone's ability to compensate for loud audio. No joke, I've taken it to full on rock concerts and even when its right next to the PA speakers it handles it like a champ!
The other issue is that the TCD-5 have a rubber idler tire that is bonded to the underside of the pinch roller idler wheel, and there exists no replacement for it. The only solution to getting them repaired is to remove it and send it to someone to have retooled on a lathe. You have to know how to remove the thing and put it back by yourself and you have to find someone who can glue a new tire to the idler and turn it down to the correct size. Absolutely all of them use that tire, and they are all getting slippery. They still "work," but a lot of tapes which offer slightly more resistance will either trip the mechanism and shut it off, or (if you're less lucky) they eat your tape :(
I have a sony tc-D5M model dat hase new snaars and idler it was e pain to get but the deck sounds so good now and the left and raide volume meters to record tapes on to is after 2 uurs of corekting bact to 1on1
Bdw sorry if my engels is bad im ducht
@@enriquewaisfisz7261 np. there's a guy in the US who can do the pinch idler for like 50 bucks. i'll get around to having mine done at some point, but for now i have other decks i can use if there's a problem with a specific tape. i only use it in my kitchen anyway
NOW i see why my TC-D5M sometimes instantly stops the recording once i pressed start...... I guess mine is in dire need of service then :(
Thank you, I enjoyed the video, good overall coverage of the unit with real-world examples.
My favorite part was when you demonstrated the turntable and pointed out the amplifier. I looked over at my nightstand where my own _Optimus_ SA-155 was recently put into use to play white noise overnight to help me sleep. It looks just like yours except yours says _Realistic_ instead.
🙂👍
i followed this channel some years, you got lot of realistic audio stuff , how many realistic products you owned ?? probably over 50.
13:24 I'd say this Realistic 11 was the answer to Sony's Walkabout series and their TCS series since they had somewhat similar roles in terms of being a recorder/replayer. Also several of their WM-series like their WM-R2 for similar purposes.
I found a Minisette 9 new in box on eBay a year or two back. Great for re-living my childhood loading games into a refurbished ZX Spectum.
You forget how beautiful tapes were with the case and separate labels, I loved opening them with their cellophane wrapping . I always had TDK ad as they were best compromise .
Lovely review. I'm super annoyed with the prices of broken equipment on ebay theses days. Gladly you can still find great deals like this when you go for the smaller brand or no name stuff. I recently got a nice stereo cassette player for 25 bucks in a second hand store, that wasn't working. All i had to do was to solder one cable back on. Works like a charm.
The price goes up, because so many people like you want to buy that stuff, for reasons unknown to me.
@@Blackadder75 I don't buy it when it's over priced.
@@bentbilliard don't worry, I don;t buy it, not if it's $100, or $10 or $1 , I don't need old electronics.
(I did buy a few retro 80s and 90s computers though) I guess for the same reason as people buy audio stuff.. I just don't get the appeal of tapes, they are inconvenient in all aspects of use.
I don't see the appeal, unlike classic cars or that old nintendo.. that is fun to drive or fun to play, but what is fun about a tape deck?
@@Blackadder75 There is something tactile about tapes and an analog experience that you can't get with digital audio. Also it is part of a great history and it's super interesting to learn about it.
Old Audio equipment is a marvel of technology and on top of that very reliable and easy to repair. It's all about having fun and maybe learning something. That's all.
In my opinion the built-in speaker gives it a nice retro feel. I enjoy it quite a bit, it's perfect in a way.
07:25 Very smart idea using microfiber towel to catch the drips ... got to watch out for them drips
Seeing that fresh, crisp new old-stock tape opened was most satisfying 😌 👌
The selection of the music here for testing recording and playback is really great
I always hate having to take apart the old tape to perform a repair. Complicated belt system. I like how well built the mechanism is made, lots of metal there.
Love old Radio Shack stuff. Still have my 1985 catalog.
I used to lay in my bed and look at the radio shack catalogs dreaming about getting speakers, radio gear, or computers....
I remember the days of waiting for the new RS catalog to come out. Still remember the monthly battery club and the vacuum tube tester in store.
Cool, I love the "old" Dutch in the manual! It takes years to see how much (or little) a language changes over time.
In the Netherlands Realistic products were sold in Tandy shops. We never had Radioshack stores.
Paid 50 bucks for mine ship, took me a little bit to find one in decent conditions, you see the minisette 9 everywhere online (maybe a video on that ?) it is amazing what this little thing can do i have if in my gaming pc desk is perfect size for it. I would love to find the Sony holy grails but trift store have been clean out here.
I'm always surprised by Realistic products. They're so realistic that they even work like the real thing!
Love these cassette recorder reviews! Thanks for the awesome content.
At least it looked way way easier to take apart and replace those belts than the Panasonic unit Techmoan tried to do in a video a few weeks ago. That looked like a total nightmare .
I agree! That device was cryptic by design. I’ve had a few tape decks that were poorly designed for service but nothing compared to that Panasonic. On the other hand, this Realistic cassette recorder looks to be well built and designed to be serviceable
Under the circumstances, a Realistic alternative to an expensive Sony! The Minisette-11 seems a decent example of a portable stereo recorder. BTW, back in college, I worked with the Sony - it *was* (is, if you find, and can afford, a working one) a very nice tape recorder. *An apt choice of subject,* too, as I had a *"Dang, I miss Radio Shack"* moment this weekend. Was visiting my brother who lives some 100's of miles away, and brought a Teac CD recorder for a dubbing project we wanted to do. Brought a pair of headphones, too, to monitor the recording as we worked.... only they are modern headphones with the 1/8" (3.5mm) jack, and the CD recorder has a 1/4" phones socket.
There were a Target and a Walgreens within a couple blocks, but neither carried a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter - too old school. (I could get all the ear buds and Bluetooth stuff I wanted at both places.) Back in the '80s, there would've been a Radio Shack prolly 10 minutes away, and we would have easily solved our problem! (We did eventually come up with a workaround.)
Back in the day I had numerous Battery of the Month Club cards. I knew one of the managers, and they were ok with me using a few cards at the same time. I don't recall ever buying AA's for my Sony Walkman. Memories.🔋🎧
for the frequency response it says it has... it sounds REALLY good
Thrift stores aren’t what they used to be. I remember scoring some awesome deals…Receivers, tape decks, turntables for 5-10 bucks. Cassettes 25-50 cents.
Records 50 cents.
You can still get some deals but because of the internet the thrift stores are wiser to market values. Just like most things…they were better in the past.
BTW…cool cassette recorder!!!
I've been keeping my eye out for a Minisette 11, but I keep seeing the Minisette 9 (mono). Today, I found a GE 3-5361A which is almost IDENTICAL to the Minisette 9. They have to have been made by the same company. So perhaps there's a GE equivalent to the 11, too?
Yes, it does look very similar, except it's only mono, not stereo.
nice review & repair/replace vid VW, to my ears the sound quality was very good, but I imagine these are extremely rare, especially in the super clean condition yours was in. Radio Shack was such a great resource back in the 70s/80s. It's too bad they did not adapt to the times. It's refreshing to see how they didn't lie about frequency response back then as opposed to now where everything is rated 20-20000HZ
I love that this thing has Tape selector, built in stereo mic and runs on AA batteries. Something i wish the Sony TC-D5 would too but sadly it runs on 2 D-Cell batteries, which are harder to come by. This Minisette-11 would have been awesome for concert bootleg recordings back then :3 If you ever need a translation for the manual, i could translate the german part of it if you want.
You can buy plastic D-cell to AA-cell adapters. Basically they're tubes that AA cells slide into that makes them the same diameter as D-cell. Coincidentally, I shot a video of them yesterday but it won't be on UA-cam for a few weeks. Conclusion is, by EBL brand ones (Amazon or eBay), not 3D printed ones.
Good find! I never tire of the generic, royalty-free music that you play in these videos. Some of it cracks me up!
For having a relatively low frequency response of 125 to 8khz and no Dolby I think it sounds pretty damn good. In fact the tape hiss was barely audible in the quieter parts on that first tape.
That's the benefit of recorders with automatic recording volume. It will always set the the optimum for each tape formula so you would get the best out of the limited dynamic range.
Many years ago I had the opportunity to get my hands on a Marantz version of the Sony TC-D5 that somebody didn't want. Unfortunately my efforts to repair it backfired since it didn't just have bad belts but also some other major electronic issues, despite being in good cosmetic condition. I've always wanted one, but their prices used are ludicrous. With all that being said, this Realistic did quite well. Maybe I should've bought one of these instead of the Marantz!
BTW, that production music tape is pretty groovy and screams the '70s. Glad to see you uploaded it in its entirety over on your other channel.
I've got 2 of these and 4 of the minisettes 9's. Best looking portable recorders ever made IMO
Thank you for playing the air check so we can hear the calls and frequencies. Great review and demo!
Great to see you've satisfied this quest. So wonderful seeing the Radioshack/Tandy branding. Supertape, Stereo-Mate, Minisette, Enercell, truly magical. That first Stereo-Mate on that page of the catalogue was the one I lusted after for a long time. Ended up with a different model Sanyo later on in 1984.. But that page in particular was a well worn favourite. I managed to get a nice Sony WM-D6C, albeit with the click of death a while ago, but still a stunning piece of portable cassette recording technology.
4:27 Dutch! Anyway, it ages well, looks nice! When I saw the mechanism I always wonder why manufacturers made so many different transport mechanisms. Different control layout, different belts, different gears and so on. I got the feeling that they use students (internship) with assignment to design a new mechanism 😄 It is so strange to take the effort again and again to design a new mechanism. Does somebody know the real reason why manufacturers invented the wheel again and again for each model they produced? There are so many different transport mechanism, really insane.
This was before Tanashin introduced their TN-21 mechanism in 1986 which pretty much became the universal industry standard of low-cost cassette recorders.
Usually either to avoid someone else’s patented method or to reduce costs or slightly improve some aspects. Japanese manufacturers were highly competitive and wanted to make their own unique design also. There are probably more reasons. Exchange rates and labour costs were different also, more money could be invested into r&d.
These Sony portable recorder looks very cool and the Realistic too glad you found an alternative I love CASSETTES videos related
And Tecmoan Mat flaunting his recorder in his garden. Life is not fair. 😄
I didn't like stereo equipment with individual left/right volume controls, I always found them fiddly to use. But just now I've thought of a good use for a tape recorder with individual left/right volume controls. It's good for playing my Teddy Ruxpin cassettes in because I can wind down the right channel and not have to listen to the buzzing whirring sound of the PPM control data on the cassettes. If you play a Teddy Ruxpin tape deck in a regular cassette player, you'll hear a noise that sounds a bit like a petrol driven lawnmower.
@The Vinyl Disguise Yeah well that can happen, they could be damaged somewhat easily. I'd like to think my nieces know better than to feed their Teddy Ruxpin.
"Jank en jengel" is now my preferred term for wow and flutter.
I laughed at that too
Over here in the UK Realistic hi fi receivers are so well sought after there are none left to purchase. I assume that if it's made in Japan for Realistic it's going to be a desirable product. Is that what people in America feel too?
I think that machine looks fantastic and , of course, I want one.
Great product and great upload
Thank you.
An impressive "cheap" portable tape player. Sound is very good - tho, muffled due to the limited high frequency response. Still - like a lot of Radio Shack products of that era, a very respectable device. (my first stereo system was all Radio Shack components - purchased in 1979 and got me through all my college years too). Thanks again for another great video.
Thank you for this great video, now I know which belts to order for my Minimus-11.
Nice look cassette recorder. I'm looking for a decent cassette deck for £170 if you have any recommendations I'd appreciate it. Great video btw :)
Nice video, as usual. It sounds really good, as a playback machine. The recording quality is an interesting reminder of how far prosumer equipment has evolved. Whatever you are using to record your typical dialogue sounds considerably better than the Minisette-11, even when you used external microphones.
Then again, it's a 40 year old device. I wonder if its recordings would have been any better, when it was new?
I have A Tascam DR-05X and It's amazing for it's price. It has built-in mics, external mic or "line" inputs as well as "line" out, And being digital it's a CD quality recorder that fits in a pocket and runs on 2 "AA" batteries. It's amazing how far consumer audio has gone! I also have a Tascam DP-006. It's the digital equivalent of the old Tascam "Portastudio" multi track cassette mixer/recorders - But it's the size of a paperback novel!
I was amused to come across this video today. It is interesting to see something that I bought because it was cheap and portable is now considered a collector's item. I have mine in front of me know. I still use it on the occasional times that I need to hear something from an old cassette.
I don't remember buying my Minisette-11 but it was probably far less than $99! Mine says 'Made in Singapore Dist in Canada by Tandy Electronics Limited'. There is a 10A3 date stamp in the battery compartment. I have the original Portable Stereo Cassette Deck Owner's Manual which is bilingual English and French. As you said, in the instructions it says to set Tape Selector switch 'to appropriate position, either CrO2 or Normal' but neglects to actually say what the difference is between the settings.
I probably bought mine in 1984 before I headed off to Australia. I had the intention of getting married and immigrating there. That did not happen but I did stay for a while. Because it was so very expensive to make phone calls, instead making those I would talk into my Minisette-11 and make recordings. I would then mail those cassettes to my sister and mother back in Canada. Most of them were lost or re-recorded over but I still have a few. One day I must upload the recordings to someplace public such as UA-cam!
Loved the original advert @0:40... "Two Built-In Condenser Mikes" 😂 Shout out to the two Mike's 👋🏻
There are three ICs in the schematic. I think they may be op-amps, but I'm not sure, because I don't recall, offhand, all the pin-outs for op-amps. However, op-amps share a common pin-out, so you can replace one with a higher-performance version. Unfortunately, the manual doesn't have a parts list, and the diagram just calls them "IC 100, 200, & 300." But you can determine if they ARE op-amps, by comparing the pin-outs with the circuit connections. Back in that day, 741s and similar types were commonly used in low-cost audio gear. If they're that kind, you can get lower distortion & noise, by replacing them with something like the 5534/5532.
Very nice design, I like it better than the shoebox style, because it follows more closely the dimensions of an actual cassette. I can understand why it wasn't overly popular since it wasn't as portable as the walkman type players and not as functional as the full-size component decks then on the market. Never the less I think it represents very well the 15-year refinement in design and function of the portable cassette recorder concept, the size disadvantage compared to walkmans is compensated by the addition of a speaker and a more powerful amplifier, but it just fell between the cracks between the ultimate portability of walkmans and the full functionality of component systems, still a beautiful and functional design in its own right, thanks for showing it.
Would you say you prefer this over the Versacorder in terms of recording music onto Type I or Type II tapes?
In high school I owned a ITT Studio 73 which was type II compable stereo recorder with auto and manual record levels that used C cells or ac that had a biggish speaker for monitoring. It had no dolby but did make great recordings.
These days I own a Sony TC D5M that did cost me just over £400 used but restored which is fantastic but your Realistic is great for the money.
Hi VWestlife, nice cassette recorder and I have a Walkman that has a faulty radio to tape switch. Play around with it a little bit and it works. Hope to see the next update (video)
Quite a nice unit well made with easy to do belts .
As a TC-D5M owner, those models are the BEST cassette decks i ever had. What Sony built back then is nothing short of a technical marvel. And sadly the whole range of features is something i never really see elsewhere. Once you have been using such a machine, every other cassette recorder really feels like a toy :( it's amazing how good cassette recorder technology used to be. But we are sadly now living in a time where Standards are basically gone. Electronics isn't even shielded anymore what so ever..
TC-D5m user here as well... Its certainly not the best deck I have, but it is by a very wide margin the best portable cassette deck I own. In playback sound quality it doesn't entirely match the AIWA HS-JX505 and JX2000 I also have, but it is capable of somewhat better recordings, and has much better connectivity.
@@c128stuff I kinda wish it was a 3 Head system. Then it would be godlike.
It's amazing how modern tape decks sound when you press play with no tape in the mechanism. It should be perfectly silent. But it never is. There is always a loud hissing sound. Poor quality pre-amps and probably shielding problems too.
OTOH, there is no excuse for 8khz frequency response in a 100 (1981) Dollar machine. I posted another comment pointing out the Victor Orthopedic acoustic reproducer released in 1929 has a 10khz frequency response.
The earliest tape decks from the early 60s had 8khz frequency response. This was 20 years later. It is inexcusable and basically not suitable for music, IMHO.
You contradict yourself - first you say this Sony is an unique marvel and that everything else feels like a toy (crap), then you saying that all good Standards of old times are gone...
-What "Standards" are you talking about - if that Sony was obviously a unique piece of overpriced Professional equipment?..
@@christo930 Hmm, looking at 1980s era mid range decks, without any form of dolby and set to type 1, a noise floor at around -55db is pretty much the norm. Top of the line models may do a bit better, but that is far from 'perfectly silent'.
Yes, you can improve a lot on that using appropriate noise reduction and carefully adjusted recording levels on a really high end deck, but even the best decks of that era were not perfectly silent. They can't be.
Are cheap modern decks worse? somewhat to a lot, yes.. now compare them to actually comparable devices from the 1980s... entry level 'personal cassette player' ? those tend to be just as bad.
Oh, and with 'mid range' I'm talking about what in the mid 80s would cost around $500+
Excellent video, I love this style of tape machine. Do you have a Realistic CTR68? This is kind of famous for being Hannibal Lecter's tape recorder in Silence of the Lambs! I'm not sure that's too well known a fact - they ground off the brand name for the close-up shots of it.
Nice. looks almost new 🙂
Thanks for the review/video & the hard work behind it 👍
Marantz PMD430 is great it's my go to portable just because it's much easier to work on - even if it breaks in the field and you can find it for a decent price. Sony has esoteric non-obtanium parts needed if broken in many cases. The wow and flutter specs speed ect are certainly better on the Sony - if the sony is working but not so much better tha most will notice.. I don't know if the Sony has DBX.. the Marantz does and it really helps with field recordings clarifying some distant sounds ect.
It looks and sound remarkably good. It seems RadioShack wasn't completely honest with it's specs. These seems to be lowered in the manual! Wonderful little machine.
Thanks for the video. Obviously no alternative to the Sony, audible wow & flutter, and I can hear the higher freuencies missing. But your model is in pristine shape! What I'm missing is Techmoan's shake test you've shown in the beginning ;)
Unit looks practically new outta the box! Nice find! 👍
Idk if you get asked these kind of questions often, but how would you go about fixing these older devices? Are you that familiar with the circuitry, or do you rely on a schematic? Many of these I'm sure are very delicate given their age and the amount of wear over the years.
Most of the problems you'll experience with old tape recorders are mechanical, not electronic -- worn out belts and a dirty record/playback switch, just as I showed.
I think the ridiculously high price for the Sony TC-D5's are due to the Techmoan effect. The guy does great videos, no doubt, but anything he touches turns into an overpriced "holy grail" that suddendly everyone wants. The same thing happened with the MZ-RH1 Minidisc player, which had modest prices on Ebay but after Techmoan covered it, the prices went sky-high.
I miss working at Tandy's in Australia back then. Great times and I remember selling these too :)
I had a cassette recorder similar to this once. It was made by either Panasonic or Philips I forget which. It took normal cassettes. I thought there were other brands in existence that used mini cassettes when I saw the title of this video.
Years ago I owned a WMD-6C by Sony. Stunning small recorder. Dolby B/C with Norm, CrO2 & Metal capability & even a speed pitch control. I eventually eBay'd it for a fantastic price. It sounds like a clich'e when people say: "They don't build them like they use to.". Well, it really is true: They DON'T build them like they use to.
I almost bought a reel to reel portable recorder a couple months ago, but it being mono killed the joy. Recently picked up a sony wm-r55, a nice Walkman model with recording capability, even came with its original stereo mic! Pretty cool stuff, but I did accidentally break the wires for it's built in speaker so it's headphones only now...
Back in the day we considered radio shack products to be inferior, but looking back on it now I can see that they actually produced some pretty good products
@4:45 the lack of Dolby is no game changer. We call Dolby the sparkle reducer. Make any recording instantly muddy with a push of a button. The Frequency response falls in line what what this was designed for, memo narration voice. Worse frequency response than a portable super scope I have made in 1975.
A Marantz PMD-420/430 is also a nice deck that usually costs less than the TC-D5. And these big recorders are easier to fix than any walkman size unit. Those sometimes require desoldering to get to the belt(s), have rotten SMD electrolytic capacitors, broken center gears (Sony WM-DD/WM-2 style mechs). And big recorders keep their head azimuth alignment better.
We have a few of those professional cassette recorders at the radio station. I'll have to find them and see what they are. I'm so busy, i haven't had time to look at them for long.
It's so funny back in the day 70s/80s(I am old) many people looked down at Radio Shack stuff and now days some of those same people are willing too pay big bucks for the very same stuff now. It's so hard to well made personal/home electricians now.
Well just when I thought the price was gonna go down. I have a safe search notice the price went down at least 100. They were up at 700.
I locked out sort of and got one before they went up. It was even in great condition with minor repairs until I had an accident with the batteries.
FYI make sure you're using the right power adapter connector as if you do not it doesn't disconnect the battery and it will charge them and what happens with non-rechargeable batteries..... That aren't Duracell's that leak on their own.
Unfortunately the quality of the recording, the professional features and the quality of the tape mechanism is far from the TDC5. I’ve got an old TDC5 myself- it’s a marvel. I didn’t realize they where that expensive! Not worth 4000$ though!
It's quite hilarious to even compare this to the TC-D5.
Fantastic video. Thank you so much!
My dad had one that was similar when I was a boy.
The quirky music starting at 13:37 is fun! It borrows from the main theme of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. Fortunately for the artist, Tchaikovsky passed away long before today's uber-restrictive copyright laws. As you know from various lawsuits against artists for allegedly "ripping off" thematic material (i.e. Saturn's lawsuit against Led Zeppelin over "Stairway to Heaven"), if Tchaikovsky's works had been composed a couple of decades into the 20th century his Estate could demand financial compensation for alleged "infringement" on their intellectual property. :)
I believe all of the selections on that Sanyo AMSS demo tape were based on melodies which are in the public domain, so they didn't have to pay any composer royalties.
Blast from the past video for me. I had one of the minisette-9 I used to record lectures in community college in 1986. I also had one of the black amplifiers he used for it's phono input. I used mine to drive my computer speakers.
SONY : When Japan's tech is so good, it's still worth $400 BROKEN !
Honestly the built-in speaker sounds amazing for a built-in speaker
allways love his content
i remember those minisettes in the 80s, my parents asked me what i wanted for christmas one year and i said one of those, the 11, but couldnt afford it so they got me the mono version minisette 9, still got it, mostly ok but needs new belt now, i think the years catalogue at the time said the 11 was £69 and 9 £49, but it was on offer at that time for either £39 or £29, cant remember for sure...
if it was the 9 you wanted info on, i still have the manual and couldve scanned it for you
the led on the 9 works the other way strangely, lights if battery ok, but goes dim/out when flat ..???!!!!
@@andygozzo72 Yes, I owned a Minisette-9 previously and that's what confused me -- the LED working the opposite of the Minisette-11. The 9 and 11 use the same belts, because the mechanism is identical. What does the manual for the Minisette-9 list for the wow & flutter and frequency response?
@@vwestlife wow n flutter 0.2% signal to noise 45dB, no mention of frequency response
@@andygozzo72 Thanks. I expected the specs would be the same, since they both use the same mechanism. And I think they changed the way the battery LED works for when you're making long recordings. This way, when you see it start to glow continuously, then you know your batteries are getting low. Otherwise the other way, you only get an indication of battery life during playback, not recording.
13:37 - My heart skipped a beat when I thought you were playing the 3-2-1 Contact theme song.
It's a disco synth version of the 1st Tchaikovsky piano concerto
Very good
Looking it up, I never really thought my old ITT CX 75 was classed as a "professional" recorder (mono only, of course), despte it having "Professional" printed on the front, always just seemed to be "a tape recorder" to me as a kid, still have it somewhere though...