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DOLBY C WALKMAN - THE DEFINITIVE LIST/ Photos

Discussion in 'Best Threads' started by JohnEdward, Jul 8, 2010.

  1. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    [ADMIN NOTE] I have recovered and re-published this super-interesting thread in the name of our beloved and missed John Edward because it's one of the best threads ever published in our community.

    Highly sought after and often hard to find or obtain the Dolby C Walkman offer generally the highest high fidelity sound the portable Walkman offer. I would like to make this list as complete and correct as our world of forum members can make it. Further discussion about Dolby C circuitry welcome. I have listed the 9 models I own with Dolby C. PLEASE add any additional pictures of models not shown or your Dolby C models.
    LET US GET SOME GREAT FORUM PARTICIPATION AND DISCUSSION GOING HERE !!!!

    PLEASE COPY AND PASTE LIST YOUR REPLY IF YOU CAN ADD ANY DOLBY C MODELS NOT LISTED.

    ADD YEAR and #/Type of battery used if not shown.

    AIWA

    1. HS-PX101 ( ? ) - HS-PX700 (USA ?) they are same
    2. HS-PC202 (1988) AAAx2 - also MKII and MKIII
    3. HS-PX20 ( ? ) -
    3. HS-PX303 ( ? ) AAAx2
    4. HS-PX505/HS-PX50 ( ? ) - Amorphous head
    5. HS-JX707/HS-JX70 Japan only TV band/HS-JX707D ( ? )- Tape often not working, voice announce feature
    6. HS-JX909 ( ? ) -Gold version of HS-JX707,new Aiwa logo,no fancy box
    7. HS-JX929 ( ? ) -Update of HS-JX70 with AM Stereo, new Aiwa logo
    8. HS-PX1000( ? ) - Real Time Spectrum Analyzer, Titanium body
    9. HS-JX3000( ? ) - HS-JX3000D had TV band
    10. HS-PC204 ( ? ) -
    11. HS-PX410 (1992) AAAx2 -


    KENWOOD

    1. CP-C7 ( ? ) -


    SONY

    1. WM-701C, 701S, 701T (1989) - 1.2v Gumstick
    2. WM-F701C (1989 ) - 1.2v Gumstick
    3. WM-550C (1987/88) - 1.2v Gumstick
    4. WM-F550C (1987/88) - 1.2v Gumstick
    5. WM-DC-2 (1983) - AAx2
    6. WM-D6C (1983) - AAx4
    7. WM-DD9 (1990) - AAx1 or 1.2v Gumstick
    8. WM-DX100 (1991) -AAx1 or 1.2v Gumstick
    9. WM-EX49C (1990)- AAx1 or 1.2 Gumstick
    10. WM-B603 Same as EX49C Euro model
    11. WM-703C (1990)- 1.2v Gumstick

    PANASONIC

    1. RQ-S80 (1994) - 1.2v Gumstick
    2. RQ-P525 ( ? ) AAx2 -

    MY 9 Dolby C Walkman *DD9 not shown being refurbished*

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    Last edited: Dec 5, 2016
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  2. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    AIWA HS-PX101

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    My player has some sound issues probably problem with pcb board common with many Aiwa's sadly due to poor quality capacitors and leakage and or acid solder. It plays but the DSL circuit is problematic. Unable to review the quality of this player at this time.
     
  3. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    AIWA HS-PC202

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    MY absolute favorite dolby C Aiwa !! The clarity of sound retained with dolby C on is breath taking!
     
  4. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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  5. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    PANASONIC RQ-S80

    A VERY LIGHT player and SMALL !! Not a DD9 but half the size and weight and superior EQ control. Draw back only vol, hold, dolby b c and rev. play controls with Play,FF,REW,Stop on player all other functions ONLY on remote. And can NOT connect other headphones to remote BUT you can connect any headphone to player directly also. Impressive player. NOTE: some Panasonics are VERY sensitive to even a slightly low battery cause odd functions and problems. ADD on battery helps greatly or very full charge gumstick. A gorgeous deep brown metallic finish on mine. Also ultra rare to find came in CHROME.

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    The remote has 8 preset EQ plus REAL TIME SPECTRUM ANALYZER with higher the musical note height indicating levels. Interesting twist. Note the RQ-S60 identical in all features except only Dolby B. Have both.

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  6. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    SONY WM-701C

    Well we all know this landmark player. The second smallest player made. A good sounding unit but not the best. Sacrifice some sound quality for size mastery. Came in Titanium, Black,White? and special edition of 2000 WM-701S for silver body and ultra rare wood boxed WM-701T for Tiffany 200 made exclusive for celebrity's like Barbara Mandrel ( Jazzrat2000 had), Barbara Streisand examples.

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    WHITE file photo

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    WM-701S file photo

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    WM-701T file photo

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  7. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    SONY WM-D6C

    So much has been said about this venerable best recording walkman. I will let others expound the virtues of this workhorse icon. Simply a FANTASTIC SOUNDING PLAYER !!.. Just not very light or small but then again it is portable and it is ABOUT THE SOUND !!

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  8. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    SONY WM-DC2

    A most sought after best of best. A true achievement for 83/84 ! The measuring stick by which all other Dolby C players must compare. Suffers from the dreaded cracked center wheel but rarely one can be found intact or some repairs of gear can be done with good results. No collector should be without this model.

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  9. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    SONY WM-DD9

    THE only twin motor direct drive player ever made! Solid like a steel brick and built to last. So much has been said of this player. I will let one of the other members much more technical than myself comment and add to the discussion of the DD9. Probably without argument the finest built mechanism and sounding cassette play only unit ever produced.
    They regularly pull $350+ for just the player alone in good working condition and $700 to $1000 NIB.

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  10. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    SONY WM-B603

    Of my Sony Dolby C players this one is the least best sounding. Although to be fair mine could use a refurbishment probably. A stunningly professional looking player.

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  11. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    DOLBY NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEM

    WIKIPEDIA - DOLBY EXPLAINED

    Audio cassettes with Dolby C show big advances

    By Al Fasoldt
    Copyright © 1986, The Syracuse Newspapers

    While the inventors of the latest digital audio components are exploring new ways of storing and reproducing sound, the old technology remains competitive. Signs that mass-produced cassette recordings are keeping up with improvements elsewhere come from a major recording company whose name cannot, at present, be revealed.
    The secrecy is not a mystery. The company has not yet committed itself to the improved techniques, and simply wants to experiment with its cassette recordings and get the reaction of industry insiders and selected critics. I was sent two of the experimental tapes for evaluation.
    They are both rock music recordings, not the best type for judging quality, but I put aside a few of my audiophile prejudices and tried to listen to them as a perceptive rock fan would. After repeated listening sessions, I came away encouraged and delighted.
    The technology being tried out has two elements. The first is the use of higher quality blank tape and cassette shells.
    Although tape itself is surprisingly cheap (less than 50 or 60 cents for the tape in a standard-quality cassette that retails for about $5), a small increase in the quality of tape stock can add up to a major added expense when hundreds of thousands or even millions of tapes are duplicated.
    The shells used in most mass-produced cassette recordings are little more than protective coverings. Most of them do not have the guidance pins and wheels common to high-quality blank tapes such as those from TDK.
    As far as I could tell, the shells of the two tapes I was sent still fell sort of the best from TDK, but they did seem better put together than previous shells from the same recording company. Internal tolerances are said to be tighter in the new shells in order to keep the tape from skewing when it passes over the playback head.
    Of greater interest were the two small logos on the spines of the cassettes. They indicated that each tape was duplicated with the latest consumer noise-reduction technique, the Dolby type C system, and that each was processed through an HX Pro circuit. These represent the second element in the quality improvements.
    Dolby C is built into nearly every cassette deck sold today. By a clever manipulation of signals during recording and playback, it is able to force tape noise far down below the level of the music.
    Only a Dolby-C tape deck can get the full benefit of C-type tapes, but HX Pro is a distortion-reducing circuit that operates during recording only. Thus any playback machine - even an inexpensive Walkman player - will show an improved sound from HX Pro recordings. (The name, in its backward phraseology, stands for Headroom Extension, Professional-type.)
    On e of the worries expressed privately by recording company executives is that tapes duplicated with Dolby-C encoding will be played back without complementary decoding. In other words, they might be played with a cassette deck's noise-reduction switch in the Dolby B" position - or listened to on a portable player without any noise reduction at all.
    The Dolby company insists that in either case the tape will not sound bad. Admittedly, engineers say, a Dolby-C tape played without any decoding in playback will seem a little strange, since soft high-frequency sounds are greatly boosted in recording. But, these engineers maintain, a Dolby-C tape played back with Dolby-B decoding will sound fine.
    To test these claims, I listened to the two tapes first without any noise reduction. They were slightly hissy, like the sound of a distant FM station. And, also like some of the distant FM stations that I can pull in were I live, they seemed lifeless and compressed while appearing too bright. Voices jumped out of an unnatural, sandpapery texture, as if someone at the studio had turned the treble control up all the way.
    Next, I switched on the standard noise reduction system, Dolby B. The tapes immediately sounded normal. They did not sound good, but most rock recordings don't sound good anyway; they had adequate "punch" but not a real sense of lifelike dynamic range.
    Finally, switching in the Dolby-C circuit of the Revox B215 cassette deck that I was using revealed subtleties in both tapes that I had missed before. Tape noise dropped from the now-you-hear-it to the now-you-don't category, and all the sounds that I could identify - at least all the acoustic sounds, ones that weren't synthesized - seemed richer and snappier. Voices, in particular, gained a clarity that made lyrics easier to understand and easier to enjoy.
    The comparison listening made it clear that tapes made with HX Pro and Dolby C can sound excellent when mass-produced. The surprise was that they could sound acceptable when played back using Dolby-B circuitry.
    This is good news for music lovers. If recording companies - especially the large corporation that made my experimental tapes - can persuade record and tape stores to stock only Dolby-C tapes instead of both Dolby-B and Dolby-C versions, consumers will find a better selection of higher quality recordings. And prices should come down if duplicate inventories are avoided.
    However, such a move may be far off, since the unknown factor is whether most large recording companies are even interested in Dolby C at all.
    Small audiophile labels have been selling Dolby-C tapes for some time, but the major firms have yet to commit themselves to the new system. Until that happens, such recordings as the two special tapes I received will be no more than tantalizing reminders of a superior technology.
     
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  12. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    THANK YOU SO MUCH PLOP for adding the pictures of those Dolby C walkman.

    Thanks to DrMR2000 for the following information:

    TYPES OF NOISE REDUCTION : tape

    All the noise reduction processing systems known.

    Variety of noise reduction processing was used This processing was a double-ended system where the record processor boosted certain frequencies and portions of the dynamic range while the playback processor provided a complementary reduction of the signal. These systems are generally referred to as companders for compressor-expander. Two different manufacturers of companders achieved high market penetration. Two others did not, but that is not to say that their equipment was not used somewhere. To the best of my knowledge.

    Dolby—The first and probably the widest-used systems. Dolby systems are all additive.

    Dolby A—The original 4-band compander from approximately 1968 for professional use.
    Dolby SR—The updated version of Dolby A from the mid 1980’s.

    Dolby B—This was the consumer single-band compander that has almost universally been applied to cassettes. It was available as an outboard processor and built into later reel-to-reel consumer tape decks.

    Dolby C—This was widely available as a built-in processor with cassette decks and also used in a few pro-sumer reel-to-reel multi-track tapes.

    Dolby S—This was available as a built-in processor with cassette decks and also used in a few pro-sumer reel-to-reel multi-track tapes.

    Dolby HX-Pro—This is a single-ended headroom extension system that was used in very few reel-to-reel recorders, but it does not matter since it is a single-ended system working during the record process. It extends the headroom by decreasing the bias slightly if there is a high-level high-frequency signal present. No processing is needed to play back tapes made with this system and it is included here to avoid confusion should the tape be indicated that it was made with this process.

    dbx—The runner up whose systems were also widely used. dbx systems were linear decibel 2:1 compression and expansion.

    dbx Type I—the professional standard.
    It may be interesting to note that it took three processors to find one that sounded right. One was obviously just broken. The second sounded dull. The third one seemed transparent. Be careful.

    dbx Type II—the consumer standard, also used on a few LPs and pre-recorded tapes. On the Panasonic RQ-J20X Walkman the dbx type II gave S/N ratio of 81 dB dbx in and 56 dB (48 dB WM-DD9) dbx out (A weighted 3% THD at 1 kHz) vs. Dolby C at 71 dB quoted from WM-D6C and Dynamic Range of 97 dB (at 1 kHz, dbx in).
    VERY IMPRESSIVE FOR WALKMAN IN 1982

    Burwen made a 3:1 companding system that never was widely used (to the best of my knowledge) in the recording environment. I believe it was used for a while on some radio links.

    Telefunken made the Telcom C4 system that was more widely used in Europe than in North America. A consumer version of this was issued as Nakamichi High-Com II.

    Sanyo Super D

    Toshiba ADRES

    JVC ANRS and SUPER ANRS
     
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  13. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    KENWOOD CP-C7 Dolby C with Bass boost



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  14. JohnEdward

    JohnEdward Member Staff Member

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    Updated with additional info

    AIWA

    1. HS-PX10 [J]/HS-PX101/HS-PX700 (1987) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-1 - remote control
    2. HS-PC20 [J]/HS-PC202 (1988) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V - later models made in Singapore
    3. HS-PX20 [J] (1988) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-2
    4. HS-PC202MII (1989) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-2 - similar electronics to HS-PC202 but different casing
    5. HS-PC203 (1989) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-2 - Identical to HS-PC202MII, but with AC adapter and PB battery as standard
    6. HS-PX30 [J]/HS-PX303 (1989) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-3
    7. HS-PC202MIII (1990) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-2 - similar electronics to HS-PC202 but different casing
    8. HS-PC204 (1990) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-2 - Identical to HS-PC202MIII, but with AC adapter and PB battery as standard
    9. HS-PX50 [J]/HS-PX505 (1990) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V - Amorphous head
    10. HS-PX1000 (1991-1992) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-S5/5A - Real Time Spectrum Analyzer, titanium body, amorphous head, remote control
    11. HS-JX70 [J,T]/HS-JX707/HS-JX707D [T] (1991-1993) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-S5/5A - Voice Navigation, world clock (non-programmable on JX70), sleep, timer, remote control, amorphous head, reverse recording
    12. HS-EX3000 [J,T]/HS-JX3000/HS-JX3000D [T] (1992) AAAx2 or gumstick 2V PB-S5/5A - Gold JX707, presentation box, wallet, HP-D9 headphones
    13. HS-PX410 (1992) AAAx2
    14. HS-JX909 (1993) AAAx2 - Gold JX707, new 'aiwa' logo, no presentation box etc.,
    15. HS-JX929 [J,T](1994) AAAx2 - Update of HS-JX70, AM Stereo, updated amorphous head, new 'aiwa' logo

    J - Japanese version
    U - USA Version
    T - TV Band

    KENWOOD

    1. CP-C7 (1989)
    2. CP-D7 (1990) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick
    3. CP-E7 ( ? ) - Amorphous alloy head, remote control
    4. CP-F7 ?
    5. CP-J7 (1992) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick - 3 colours: Black, Blue & Gray Titanium
    6. CP-K7 (1992) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick - LCD remote control, sound processor

    7. CP-M7 (?) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick - LCD remote control, blank skip


    SONY

    1. WM-D6C (1983-2002) AAx4
    2. WM-DC2 (1984) AAx2
    3. WM-550C (1987-1988) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick
    4. WM-F550C (1987-1988) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick similar to WM-550C but with FM/AM/TV radio
    5. WM-701C, 701S, 701T (1989) 1.2V gumstick
    6. WM-F701C (1989) 1.2V gumstick similar to WM-F701C but with FM/AM/TV radio
    7. WM-703C (1990) 1.2V gumstick
    8. WM-DD9 (1990) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick
    9. WM-EX49C (1990) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick
    10. WM-B603 (1990) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick Same as EX49C Euro model
    11. WM-DX100 (1991) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick

    PANASONIC

    1. RQ-P515 (1988) Remote control, XBS, 5mW+5mW, 20~18,000Hz, Gumstick Battery.
    2. RQ-P525 (1988) AAx2
    3. RQ-P580 (1988) Wireless stereo Receiver/Remote control, 3 XBS, 5mW+5mW, 20~18,000Hz, Gumstick Battery.
    4. RQ-S5 (1989) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick - Remote control, fine gap head
    5. RQ-S5V (1989) TV/FM/AM Radio, LCD on the unit, Remote control, S-XBS, 5mW+5mW, 15~20,000Hz, Gumstick Battery.
    6. RQ-S6 (1990) Unique LCD on the unit, Remote control, S-XBS, 5mW+5mW, 15~20,000Hz, Gumstick Battery.
    7. RQ-S55 (1990) Remote control, S-XBS, 5mW+5mW, 15~21,000Hz, Gumstick Battery.
    8. RQ-S65 (1990) LCD Remote control, S-XBS, 5mW+5mW, 15~21,000Hz, Gumstick Battery. (Similar design to RQ-S45)
    9. RQ-S80 (1991) 1.2V gumstick - 12 layer laminate head, LCD remote control

    SHARP

    1. JC-C30 ( ? ) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick - Remote Control
    2. JC-C50 (1989-1990) AAx1 or 1.2V gumstick - Remote control
     
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