Walkman 2.0 Is any manufacturer developing & wich features must your Walkman 2.0 have? Fun!

after a bit of hiatus due to being homeless I am getting Stereophile mag in my mailbox again. How do you like Sony's latest "walkman": Sony DMP-Z1
Is this something of a MUST for a Walkman collector? Anyone???...
Gold-plated volume knob... our beloved President must be the primary demographics target

And this proves that Our Father #45 is right about those pesky journalists delivering only "fake news": at Sony website DMP-Z1 is NOT marketed as a "walkman"!!

 

I've been seeing Sony's recent boombox in Argos for £50. I saw Techmoan's video but without all the bells and whistles of Dolby NR and whatnot it doesn't really seem like a worthwhile purchase. The best way to go is just an old one I'd say, bonus points if it's a cheap one that you can fix up

 

I'd like a modified WM-DD9 With:

-A semitransparent OLED screen with VU meters on the tape window
-Dolby S and DBX
-Automatic Music Search AMS
-A tape text encoding system, (if that were actually possible *magical think*)
-Metallic orange paint.

 

With 278.7mm at its largest dimension it's hardly a Walkman. A traveling audiophile certainly will appreciate the portability and the great specs it has and will give him sheer pleasure while he enjoys his favorite music in his hotel room. Maybe Sony should use the term Travelman .
At that price I would expect a solid gold volume knob , but that is only me , Sony's target group will demand it !
Congrats receiving Stereophile mag again !

 

Never understood the interest in DCC, DAT and Minidisc seem like better alternatives.

 

DCC format plays natively also Compact Cassettes plus it has far less complicated transport mechanism not using rotary heads , in other words easier to service and to adjust.

 

With hindsight, I would not want a new walkman. Granted, I have enough HQ Walkmans to last me several lifetimes... and just adding to the collection would not be a positive.

My fascination with walkmans of old is simply that.... they are old and of their time. And I also dont think the quality would be on par with the best thats available from a DC2, DD9 or D6C. Even the HS-P202 would be a very hard bar to reach.

The R&D involved alone would be cost prohibitive. So, best case scenario is you would only ever end up with a branded OEM of questionable quality.

 

My friend bought this. It looks like one of those terrible digital converter models, but he says it sounds quite good. It also has auto reverse.

https://www.amazon.com/FYDELITY-Por...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EBJKKY0GQBMJMKFW96BR

 

You've all probably seen this April fools announcement of Monoprice. I thought the walkman looked rather sexy:


And then there was this April fools announcement of Korg


More serious is NINM Lab's It's OK portable cassette player. I'm not sure if there is already a release date. The first initial reactions are not so positive (mono, not stereo), VWestlife talked in a video about it.


Also a serious project is KissKissBankBank's "We are Rewind" portable cassette player. Already discussed here on the forum. Yes, seems rather big. Should been the size of the Monolith by Monoprice. On their instagram page they say it will be a stereo device.


At burgerrecords.com there is the Burger Buddy 2. A tape to mp3 converter/player. Probably a OEM. I stumbled upon burgerrecords, reading an interesting article about the birth of cassette culture and it's scenes at collectorsweekly.com. Worth reading!

 

As for audio cassette tapes manufacturers like National Audio Company, here in the Netherlands there is De Bandjesfabriek, an audio cassette tape manufacturer, offering ferro as well as chrome tapes. At their sisterwebsite MFBfreaks.com you can also buy their audio cassette tapes.

 

In the meantime, I stumbled upon this "cassette speaker"...

 

A Dallas based company released the MIXXTAPE music player. Specs:

• 8GB Internal Flash Memory (approx 2,000 songs)
• microSD memory card slot (supports up to 256GB)
• Jet Black PCB
• Bluetooth 4.0 Connectivity
• Bluetooth Receiver - connect your phone to MIXXTAPE to play in a tape deck
• Stereo 3.5mm HiFi Audio Jack
• Plays As A Cassette*
• USB-C Port To Quickly Connect To PC + Mac
• Built-in 1" OLED Display
• Touch Navigation
• Internal Rechargeable 300mAh Battery
• Up To 5 Hours Of Playback
• Supported Formats: FLAC (16-bit), MP3, M4A, WMA, OGG, APE, WAV, AAC-LC, & ACELP

MIXXTAPE was finalist at the Last Gadget Standing 2019 competition.

 

Although long, that is an interesting, well balanced article, especially if you include the bit in the comments about a Classical label releasing very high quality tapes.

I had a bit of Download anguish last week that I will write about in a separate post.

 

I admit i didn't expect it, and still a bit skeptical, but the guys from France seem to have pulled it off! You can now pre-order the We Are Rewind portable cassette-player officially on their website with 30% discount.



"Regarding the materials, we wanted it to be cool to the touch, with impeccable finishes, so we avoided plastic. We then went for an aluminum exterior, and the result is just amazing

On the functionality side, we also set a very high bar. First, we got rid of the disposable batteries, which we changed for a rechargeable lithium battery, which is more practical and cost-effective.

We also integrated bluetooth capablity on top of the 3.5 jack connector. This way, anyone can listen how they want. Oh, yes, we also added a recording function to be able to create our own mixed tapes… the most romantic Saint Valentine’s gift."

That means no plastic fantastic like the other portable cassette players on the market, very unique imo.

Here an article by from-Paris.com.



"Romain et Matthieu se tournent pour cela vers une entreprise Française située en banlieue parisienne, spécialisée dans le développement de matériel audio/son haut de gamme.L’objectif est simple : proposer un baladeur cassette de qualité, au design sobre et épuré."

I think it's great news and a very good looking cassette player! Made in France, locally build and i support that; very curious who the third-party deliverers of the components for the cassette-player are.
Pre-ordering! - a bit excited? : yes

 

très intrigant... I must get me one for testing and for getting inside this beauty!

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexle...tte-tapes-are-making-a-comeback/#5a6323d50ad7
A new walkman with improved sound quality is on the way of production

 

@Boodokhan Very good news indeed!
MULANN, the company behind Recording the Masters cassette tapes brand partnered with "La Toile sur Ecoute" to bring out a portable cassette player. It's a project, but Mulann states a second more serious updated version is underway.


Mulann joined up with former Thomson engineers/technicians (Thomson is now Technicolor) to give birth to this first portable cassette player.
Like the "We are Rewind" portable cassette player it's also produced inhouse in France in one of the factories of the Mulann group. Mulann is best known for the production of the magnetic stripes of magnetic-, smart- and creditcards, next to audio-tapes.

Well, seems there is some nice activity - and heritage - going on in France!