Hi guys, About 6 years I ordered a WM-DD22 from ebay due because I noticed the DD was praised by a few youtube and I wanted something more portable than my TC-D5m. However when I received it, as soon as I put a tape in I sawley disappointed. It it barely sounded better than a microcassette. But wait, what was the point of this thing if it sounded like crap, so I kept fiddling with the head alignment, but I was never able to get it sound any good and I mean any good. So I thought; "oh well I suppose people just accepted that back in 1989 or whenever it was made". A few years later I decided to buy an EX505 to play about with, I when I played back a tape a I make a few years earlier, I was surprise at how good it sounded, but it wasn't all good, the music would occasionally sound wobbly, as in the wow & flutter was all over the place (I haven't fixed it, I suspect the mechanism needs cleaning). So I thought if that's what walkmans were meant to sound like, perhaps I should look into the DD walkmans again, it they're meant to pretty solid when it comes to tape speed. But this time I wasn't going to make the mistake of getting the bottom on the line model. After doing some research the WM-DD33 seem to be the best value for money. It arrived to today, my first thoughts were,I hope it doesn't sound awful. and to my surprise It Didn't! I was pleasantly surprised at the sound, this was exactly what I was expecting 6 years ago. I also noticed it was a bit shorter, but the build quality was much better. I'll admit it's not as good as the TC-D5m, but it's pretty good. I assume the DD22 and the other DDs with round 'play' buttons were cheaper models, they don't have the clicking gear issue, but the sound and build are much worse. If anyone has more info behind the cheap DDs, please let me know. I've posted some comparison shots below:
Thanks for sharing your story. I'ts very interesting, and it confirms me my suspects that the DD22 and all those aren't up to the quality that we all expect from a good DD. How can you describe the sound of the DD2 against the DD33? Lifeless? Dark? Metallic?
The DD22 sounds dull and muffled, like someone put a rag over the music. Probably comparable to those cheap walkmans that didn't have rewind. It could just be that it needs work though, but I've never been able to get to sound good by adjusting head alignment screws.
I agree the the DD22 and the like are much lower build quality with a different and cheaper mechanism, never liked these, I have several DD33's and they sound really good.
The DD33 is amazing though. aparting from making a noise, does that 'click' (gear issue) affect anything else?
It should not if the gear is not completely broken yet, don't forget it's quartz locked the electronics should take care of that. But if the gear is fully broken that is different.
The DD33 sounds pretty well. Much better than the vast majority of walkmans. The gear issue should worry you, and the more you use it, the lesser play time it still has... until it breaks completely. I suggest you to send it to a good technician, as it's worth the repair. I bet there should be some in Japan or china, but language is a big barrier.
If I knew a good technician I'd send my TC-5Dm as well, it has issues with it's recording circuits. But I don't have a clue where to send either of them, I gave the D5m to a guy here in Sydney he didn't do much to it, the recording circuits still didn't work that well and I had to align the head myself, it wasn't even screwed down.
Hmm, better to wait until you find someone with expertise level rather than giving to anyone that could do a mess
Well he's a professional, but he's better at amplifiers. He did get my KA6es going, just not the D5m. But I'll have a look around sydney to see if I can find someone who specialises in tape machines.
I'm surprised it sounds that bad ! It's a cheaper DD with more plastic, but it was still a mid range model. I have a WM-22 which was the low range model and it sounds pretty decent, even better than more modern walkman's. W&F is not that great (still using the original belt though) but EQ and frequency range are more than ok. Maybe the DD-11 needs recapping, or it has a head with a damaged gap.
It could just be that my dd22 needs some sort of repair, but it's dolby just wasn't as sharp as all my other tape decks, even after I tried a head alignment.
When you say it sounds bad, you mean it has technical problems like W&F, azimuth, speed or tracking issues or something related to the belts or some kind of distortion? Or do you mean there's no technical issue but it's more an empty sound or somewhat unpleasant?
It sounds like a microcassette in terms of sound quality, especially when I turn dolby on, very low fi,
I checked the DD11 service manual and like the DD33 there is no adjustment of playback levels, they are "correct" by design. If you already played with the head azimuth it is either a capacitor in the pre-amp that needs replacement or a damaged head. The pre-amp section has a couple of capacitors which should be electrolytic and might need replacement. They might be hard to find though ...
I tried demagnetising it and got no where, so I may consider selling as I'm more keen on this DD33 I just got.
