Great sounding cassette recorder

Advantages: Great sound quality, good set of features, three heads
Disadvantages: No remote control

...Many people seem to think that cassette tapes, and analogue audio in general, have had their day. For me though, I have so many cassettes that converting them to a digital format is impractical, and buying CD copies or paying to download them, too expensive. Unfortunately, the quality of cassette decks in most mini-hifi systems these days is very poor - the cynic in me wonders if this is a deliberate ploy to stimulate sales of CD recorders and other more "hi-tech" gadgetry. Hence, I bought this machine for the grand sum of £10 second hand. I believe it retailed for under £100 new, though I suspect it has been discontinued now. I will begin with the playback side of things. When I first started using this machine, I suddenly found myself listening to lots of old pre-recorded cassettes I had not dug out for years. OK, so they were...

tcumming 08.11.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Technics RS-BX646 Stereo Cassette Deck

Good audio interface for serious recording

Advantages: good sound quality, zero latency
Disadvantages: if you expect a really out standing quality, this is not the one to go for

...I bought this M-Audio firewire last year. Have to say Im really satisfy with this audio interface. It has 2 input with 48V phatom power, from which you can plug in your condenser microphones. There are also 2 1/4 input for instruments. It works really well for my acoustic, although I would prefer to use the condenser mics to record, since they give a fuller tone. Supported with firewire connection, there is no latency, and it allows you to record up to 192Kb, which is satisfactiory for professional recording. The interface has a solid look, with white silver color and very stable. I've been using it for 1 year and I've never had a problem with the hardware. The software is well suported and run smoothly with my mac....

makemelaughTB 05.06.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of M-Audio FireWire 1814

Portable Audio, Portable Recording

Advantages: Sound quality, recording quality, appearance, size (or lack of), light weight
Disadvantages: The remote, clumsy menus, labeling tracks is a hassle

...A few months ago I knew next to nothing about MiniDiscs. I DID know that they were expensive little suckers, and that was it. A couple of weeks later I managed to visit an Electronics show at Sydney, and I was surrounded by audio. Walkmans, Discmans, MP3 players and MiniDiscs. If my life were a cartoon, above my head there would have been a "?" followed shortly by a ":)". For those who know bugger all about MiniDiscs. You'd be best advised to go to either Sony.com, or do a search for MiniDisc on any search engine. For those of you that can't be bothered, here is my (fairly simple) rundown on the almighty MiniDisc For those of you that are smartypants, and actually want to read a review this side of the year 3000, scroll down. A bit. The concept of a MiniDisc is simple enough, being kind of hybrid between cassettes and CDs...

paulgusta 17.07.2001 (03.06.2002) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Sony MiniDisc recorder

Sony TCM-200DV Dictaphone

Advantages: Takes regular sized audio cassettes, double-time recording, inexpensive model
Disadvantages: Needs to be used close to sound-source, a bit bulky for some tastes

...(gosh, that sounds almost Jurassic now doesn't it?). Therefore, it uses regular-sized audio cassettes (Type I only), unlike those dictaphones that take those tiny, Lilliputtian cassettes. I see this as an advantage, in that you can play back what you've recorded on any tape machine - thus saving precious battery life (it takes 2 x AA batteries). [Battery life: well, I think I've been a fairly light user over the past three years so have never had to change the batteries - I'm afraid I can't advise how it fares more generally] On the front there's a large speaker area and two control dials: 'rec time' which allows you to set the recording speed at either normal or double time (which allows you to squeeze 180 minutes onto a 90 minute cassette), and 'speed control' which allows you to alter playback speed on a continuum from 'slow' to...

disneyeyes 02.07.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Sony Cassette recorder

Record Internet Audio Easily With Total Recorder

Advantages: Record streaming audio from websites, Great schedule/timer facility
Disadvantages: Some advanced features dificult to use at first

...Multimedia content on websites continues to increase. You can listen to music, tune into any number of internet radio stations and even check out live concerts from your favourite artists. If you are looking for a way of recording them for future personal listening, Total Recorder is the solution. Websites tend to use streaming as a method to deliver sound to the visitor. Although it's an efficient way that doesn't result in tieing up your PC's resources, it can be difficult to capture sound. A right-click of the mouse in an attempt to save the sound file to your PC won't work with a streamed file. A lead between your sound card and a cassette deck may work, but you may lose sound quality. Total Recorder takes care of all this by digitally recording sound in any possible format you can imagine such as mp3, wav etc, the settings...

naffcaff 30.08.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Total Recorder

Sony TCM-20DV

Advantages: Variable recording time, mains compatible
Disadvantages: No tape counter

...very surprised to hear the sound coming out of both ears!!!! People thinking that it could therefore be used as a Walkman should be wary; the sound quality is not as good and I only listen to spoken word on it. The VOR slide switch is also on the top, featuring OFF/LOW/HIGH options. The built-in speaker is an obvious feature, situated at the front. It has a 'Clear Voice' noise reduction. It's fine for spoken word but only has 0.2 Watt as power. If you listen to things like Radio Plays or Audio books, this is fine if you're in a quiet room and the player is relatively near. The cassette recorder is mechanical and there's no button to press to open the tape compartment. This suites me and isn't a problem. The buttons have a slight plasticy feel to them but the machine is robust enough, surviving frequent trips to work in rucksack...

Prof1 07.02.2004 (08.02.2004) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Sony Cassette recorder

Walkman's Outdated? I Think Not!

Advantages: Excellent Recording Quality
Disadvantages: Low Batter Life

...Not everyone needs a walkman nowadays. It?s true that cassettes are completely out of date. CD?s, mini discs, and MP3 players have taken over as the most modern media type. Hence one may ask why you would want to buy this supposedly out of date hardware. Well the answer is simple, it offers enhanced detail recording for brilliant recording quality. There are not many mini-disc or MP3 players that offer the same amount of recording quality. I as a student find this very helpful indeed. I can record my college lectures to listen and make notes later on. Good quality playback is essential for this. The walkman has many functions. It features an auto-reverse tape system which means that you don?t have to waste time fondling with the system trying to turn your tape over. You can listen constantly to the same tape. For old tapes this is...

friedchris 17.04.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Sony Cassette recorder

Swiss frollicks

Advantages: Strangely enjoyable
Disadvantages: Some may not like the 'radio programme style'

..., luckily, Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery is one that has survived. Broadcast in 1965, it is one of the later plays, although this isn't terribly important for any newcomer to the series. I was born after the last broadcast and so didn't have the pleasure of hearing them first-hand, but thanks to a combination of my mum's recommendation and a genuine interest in British crime fiction of all periods, I have managed to get hold of a couple of the plays on audio cassette. Several actors played Paul Temple over the years, but probably the best-known is Peter Coke, who takes on the part for this dramatisation. Temple is a bit of a toff, which is reflected in his accent - he speaks in that cut-glass way that just doesn't seem to exist any more. There is little character development in this episode - although it isn't that necessary to know much...

sunmeilan 06.03.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery (Audio Cassette) - Francis Durbridge

Nippy Jack

Advantages: Enthralling story, good length
Disadvantages: David Jason isn't the best narrator I've heard

...- I was interested in the story rather than the narrator's skills and this is a well-abridged story. The audio book is available on cassette (4 sides), which is the version that I have and CD. A version downloadable to an MP3 player is also available. I bought my copy from listen2online.co.uk about 2 years ago and it is still available on audio cassette for £6.99. The CD version is available from play.com for £8.99. The MP3 version can be bought from www.audible.co.uk for £7.69....

sunmeilan 02.11.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Night Frost (Audio Cassette) - R.D. Wingfield

* Girls On The Record *

Advantages: Fans will love it!
Disadvantages: None!

...Girls Aloud are a British girlband consisting of five members ; Nadine Coyle , Cheryl Cole , Sarah Harding , Nicola Roberts and Kimberly Walsh. Girls Aloud were formed on the reality television show ; Popstars The Rivals in 2002. Since then they have become a huge success. To date they have had eighteen top ten singles , including three number ones. Their style of music consists of pop and electro pop. Girls Aloud : Off The Record was actually a six-part series that Girls Aloud recorded for E4. The series was then released on DVD in the United Kingdom in 2006. The show comes under the reality-tv genre. The show follows Girls Aloud on their day to day life as part of one of Britian's top girl bands.. It wasn't until recently that I knew about this DVD when I saw it sitting on a shelf in Woolworths for £6. I enjoyed watching this...

xdonzx 30.12.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Girls Aloud - Off The Record (DVD)