Hello from Walkman searcher!

Hi Stevedean. I agree with Boodokhan. The Sony ex-615 is a good one. I'm listening to mine at the moment. Powerful headphone out but if you want to use Dolby or mega bass you will need the remote. Magnetically shielded and belt easy to replace. I listen to my own recorded tapes and it sounds really nice. Highly recommended if you can find one at a reasonable price. Good luck with your hunting.

 

Sevedean. Forgot to mention make sure you get the AA sidecar so you can use regular aa's if you are unable to use gumsticks or dont have the gumstick charger. Good luck.

 

Thanks Valentin and Derek Marshall, info about Dolby and EX615 without remote is useful. There seems to be a progression in the EX machines, where Sony gradually introduced the remote at the expense of buttons on the unit. They weren’t to know the owners would wear out or lose the remotes leaving the secondary market owners high and dry!
Back to the new cassette album market, Lady Gaga’s album last year sold 12,000 cassettes in first week. That is really high, even though small in overalll market terms. What must these be being played on I wonder!

 

One of the Radio 4 interviews on Lou Ottens death included a young woman that admitted she didn't have any means of playing her increasing collection of cassettes. I think a lot of people buy the cassette to show their support for the artist, knowing that if they just listen to the album on Spotify the artist will get a fraction of a penny. Anyway cassettes are easier to display than tour T-Shirts which also probably never get worn (except perhaps to the artists next concert). Personally I will check out the CD. Last weekend, during my first shopping trip to Bournemouth for a year, I bought the Deluxe CD version of Kylie-Disco to support both her and HMV. I must get around to playing it.

 

@Stevedean That's very good news, I did not know about Lady Gaga's album. Lived with the idea that mainstream artists do not release on physical media anymore...

@Longman Seems there is a need for more cassette players, at least the ones that are functional or refurbished. Most listings on ebay are with devices that have never been serviced and many ask crazy prices on them too.
I searched for Kylie's new album and can see it is released on CD, cassette and vinyl. Really wasn't aware physical media is still going this strong !

 

Here is Taylor Swift in her battle with Kanye West and his manager over music publishing rights.
https://storeuk.taylorswift.com/*/*/Fearless-Taylor-s-Version-Cassette-D2C/6VDV0000000
They are all at it. Good point about supporting the artist, Longman, even the likes of superstars such as Taylor Swift, Kylie and Lady Gaga!

 

After my last posting I was thinking about Football (Soccer) which was all over the news in Europe last week. Fans of a particular team are quite happy to pay £36 for a replica shirt to show their support while advertising a brand of cars that only has two dealers in the U.K. these days and was best known in the U.K. for the Matiz.
https://www.sportsdirect.com/adidas...3guGtg4TY9gj_KhoC6V8QAvD_BwE#colcode=37717608

Using the Taylor Swift cassette as an example, what can fans who support her more than any Football Team buy to prove they are fans ?
A £22 double cassette seems like a reasonable idea although vinyl is more popular probably due to the artwork which was always a big selling point of 12" discs.
https://www.loudersound.com/news/sales-of-vinyl-in-the-uk-set-to-eclipse-cds-for-the-first-time-in-decades#:~:text=The BPI report that vinyl,first time since the 1980s.
You would probably have to go to an actual record shop to get Taylor Swift, but if you wanted a classic like Madonna True Blue to play on your newly purchased Crosley (or hopefully Audio Technica) they have a selection of Albums like that at my local supermarket, including some own brand releases along the lines of 70s Disco Classics, 80s Soul etc.

I was recently reading how much it costs for a new band to get an LP pressed. Someone who had done that said you can't claim to be a real band unless you have released your album on physical media. Of course cassettes are cheaper to get produced, but if you really want to stand out from the crowd, people have been releasing new music on 8 track, DCC and Minidisc, while rumours of the first release of the 21st century on wax cylinder probably aren't being exagerated.

https://8trackheaven.com/the-big-questions/new-8-track-releases/

 

When people say "EX walkmans", they likely mean either EX-1 or EX-ZZZ, where ZZZ is a number equal to or larger than 600, see the thread about walkman naming. There are many cheap walkmans that have EX prefix. Also, 5XX series are similar to more expensive ones, but use AA cell instead of gumstick battery, while 600 and up all use gumstick battery.

It seems that at some point EX meant a fancy "EX head", but then it just turned into a designation of a walkman without radio.

Looking at the manual for the WM-EX615 I conclude that Dolby can only be controlled from a remote. Which is why if I were looking for a walkman like this I would prefer something like the WM-EX612 or WM-EX660 on which all the functions are available from the device itself, no remote needed. I have the WM-EX560, a version of the EX660 that uses AA cell, not a gumstick battery, all its functions also can be controlled from the device, most importantly Dolby and Mega Bass. It used to work, albeit had tons of W&F and would not play from the first time, but now died completely. I was really angry with the seller who claimed he replaced the belt. I wanted to have a working machine without me fiddling with it. Anyway, got a belt from Marian for it, going to replace it, seems very easy on these machines. The only caveat is the slider on the side, I am not sure should I just pop it out with a flat screwdriver?

 

Thanks for the additional information CDV, very useful. The closest I have got so far to buying is an EX633, which from the pics has a small slider switch on the body for Dolby, so I am pretty sure I am safe there, as again, no headphones/remote.

 

Your EX-560 might have a broken clutch gear that causes the high wow&flutter. https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/wm-ex5-tac-tac-sound-repair-applies-to-other-ex-models.7108/ This is the reason I already said to Stevedean earlier in the thread I don't recommend models from that list because of this potential problem.
This is unfortunate, especially because the list I have build is incomplete and I'm sure there are other walkmans in this series which have this problem.

I read ar article some time ago, which stated that there are a lot of old movies which are only available on VHS tape and nothing else. The resiliency of physical media is applicable in both music and movies. It applies even to old video games.
This will always be true in regard to streaming, because a single or an album might be removed from the platform when the statistics deem it obsolete. Whereas the physical format does not rely on a platform which itself pays royalties to have access to that content.

 

I managed to get a refurbished EX-633 for £99 ($140). I am very pleased with it. No remote, but it doesn’t need one. Listening to it now! Many thanks for all your advice!

 

What walkmans do you search?

 

Sony or Aiwa. I have one now, but am looking every week in local charity shops, as they are going to save any they receive for me. The charity shops advised they usually throw them away because they are often broken, so am hoping for a gem that I can get repaired. In the meantime I have my EX-633 purchased refurbished from Poland!