The big question was, would I have room for another personal cassette player? After a short period of thought I pulled the trigger on this little Sony WM-R2, their first recording Walkman Unit. There's something about these small stereo recorders that makes me think of sneaking into a 70's concert and bootlegging the show. In the old days there was no way to hear a live band recording unless you knew someone that taped the show or found a Danish LP Bootleg. They used to pat you down good before going into the stadium and if you had a recorder or camera, it was confiscated and you'd probably never see it again. These first units are cool with dual headphones, mic, and even a "Hot Line" Switch. Rounding out the features is a tape counter, metal tape switch and a very rare on/off button. All metal construction and the cool early button control layout, these ooze quality.
Wow I didn't even know there was a walkman that could record. Despite the addition on the top it's still a very sleek looking unit.
Thanks Farlander, these are really nice looking units, even with the protective cover on it. Pricing is still reasonable on these under the radar units.
I bought a non-working one of these from eBay a few weeks back for around £25, not sure what is wrong with it as I've not really had a proper look at it. Mine is the silver version though. I agree, there is something extremely cool about these units.
When personal cassette players were ultra popular it seemed that the recording versions were very rare. As a kid it would have been nice to head over to a friend and rip an album with your Walkman. Even in the early days of the forum there were not too many and I was always happy to find a random AIWA Recorder at the local thrift, they were rare on ebay as well. Now were starting to see a ton of them come up for sale and there's so many different versions. Since they tended to be more of an upmarket unit the ones I find all look great, like they were loved and then put away for decades and except for the models everyone knows, there's some real bargains out there.
Giving this player a bump because i got myself one When it arrived i could hear both mic units bouncing around in their housing. When these left the factory the units were held in place with pieces of foam which after 42 years have totally perished. I've taken plenty of photos so i will be posting a repair thread on this gorgeous little player how to swap out the foam or add new foam to the mics, link will follow asap https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/how-to-replace-mic-foam-on-wm-r2.11063/ I got the silver model btw with only minor user marks, lovely machine.
I'm always a bit wary of devices with built-in microphones. Before you know it, you hear the mechanism better than what you're trying to record. How's that with the R2? It's always a shame that many of these small recording Walkmans don't have a proper line in, because the combination of a MIC jack and Automatic Level Control makes it virtually impossible to record properly from another device via a cable. It's a beautiful, high-quality device I really like too. Great score
Atm i couldn't tell you soundwise since mine didn't run yet, need to install new belt. I never put batteries in an old walkman and try to run it, mostly the result is old tar belt rapped around the motor pulley which is a pita to clean. Better open her up and service/remove old belt and see if motor runs without belt. But the way Sony constructed the mics to the housing it should provide total isolation from the body. Both mic housings are mounted onto a metal bracket and float in two rubber grommets. This should prevent any mech noise leaking into the mics taking into accont that the mech is properly serviced. Sony went to great length to isolate the mics, i'm impressed tbh. And i don't think i will use it to make recordings but it fits nicely into my DD collection design wise. The R2 has an aluminium body like the DD but the mech from the WM-2. The mech in mine operates very smoothly i have to say, previous owner took good care of her.
