The last cassette mechs & Aldi's 2019 Boombox
Added 2019-07-12 06:01:00 +0000 UTCI received quite a few emails over the last few days regarding that shambolic little bluetooth equipped personal cassette player on Kickstarter.
These brief spikes in interest spikes happen whenever a story-hungry tech blog promotes the latest cassette based embarrassment of a player.
Most people understand exactly what it is they're looking at whenever one of these stories pops in their feed and they don't pay it a second thought. Some send me a link just in case I missed it. Some, just a few, believe the hype.
I decided that it might be a good time to set the record straight on what it really means when anyone makes a new cassette deck nowadays. How they rely on a common parts bin, with the most important of those parts being a low-end hang-over from the budget boomboxes of the past.
A chance encounter in an Aldi supermarket at the weekend gave me an opportunity to make this video which hopefully helps explain why every modern cassette player is at best, a mere shadow of the past.
Incidentally - this video has a live voiceover, a technique I use only very occasionally for efficiency. It's never as good as one done later - but as a result of the time saved, I hope to have the next video ready a few days early.
UPDATE 12 July 2019 16:09 BST
As a result of your help and suggestions I've spent the day reworking a few sections of this video before it goes public at the weekend. The version above is now the updated one. YouTube’s 4K/UHD processing might take a while - but the HD version is now available.
Oh and here's an Extra Video - I shot when I unboxed the Neon Cassette Lamp thingy you see in the background in the intro https://youtu.be/BIijdyaqRr0
Comments
Yes
Techmoan
2019-10-01 21:27:09 +0000 UTCSorry is a little late but, is this the same? https://www.linio.cl/p/radio-con-cassette-retro-usb-sd-kdbrp278-vcidcd?utm_medium=fb-automated&utm_source=socialmedia&utm_campaign=CHL_fb-dpaprospecting-cac_Crossdevice_broad-country_All&utm_content=CHL_fb-dpaprospecting-cac__prospecting_280819_W35&utm_term=prospecting_280819&utm_id=5d6696a1e5e98533dd4035d6
2019-10-01 21:25:57 +0000 UTCYes they do - it really is the last deck standing. Here's a video from Vwestlife where he tests and opens up the most recent Tascam/Teac model https://youtu.be/eep1kLdaURA
Techmoan
2019-07-25 11:37:25 +0000 UTCYou state that there are no more 'proper' modern tape decks. Maybe I've missed it and you've addressed this already, but there are still 'well known' brands that sell tape decks: Marantz: https://www.marantzpro.com/products/view/pmd-300cp and Tascam: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1413241-REG/tascam_202mkvii_professional_rack_mount_dual_cassette.html Do these feature the same not-so-impressive drive mechanism as the ALDI boombox, or would they still use some older, own design for the tape drive mechanism?
Michiel Beijen
2019-07-25 11:20:04 +0000 UTC
