BTW, is it rare? Can only assume yes, not a pro in those. U2 "October" / Microcassette metal tape STEREO Never knew they had prerecorded micro's. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/U2-Octob...339843?hash=item3db026d483:g:mc0AAOSwoB1fNSQ5
The Seller replicates these micro prerecorded tape himself as well as blank tapes. He is A Russian and they are very well done with attention to detail and they play very well I have bought quite a few things from him and he has posted them quickly and well packaged. I also bought one thing from him by mistake and he had no hesitation in cancelling the purchase for me. They were four rare tapes that I thought came with the adaptor for them into which they fitted to record when I realised and told him he simply cancelled the transaction I would thoroughly recommend him
Yes I agree but to be fair if you see all the items on his site he states that the tape cassettes are customised so if you know him you realise the micros are the same . I have dropped him a line just mentioning it so as to avoid confusion in the future
He has to be taking dictation tape, which is everywhere, and replacing the tape with metal formulation, or just making good copies. Blank metal micro-cassettes are super rare, I've only seen around 30 come up for sale over the last few years. Sure you can find the random odd-ball stereo players but finding blank, or used blank tapes is really hard.
I picked up the super-rare Fisher PH-M25 a few months ago, it's the big brother to the PH-M20 and just slightly different. Released a year after the PH-M20, the PH-M25 is a stereo recorder that looks a lot alike, but it has some cool added features and I love seeing how models change. The PH-M25 is the same size except it's slightly deeper (or fatter), it has an added pitch control but also a METAL/NORMAL tape switch. The PH20 also has the same switch but it says OFF/MIXING. Some cosmetic diferences include a change in the "MICRO STEREO" font, the newer model has the fisher logo on the front (all writing is embossed!) and the tape trays are different. The M25 also has a hand strap. I imagine that was a nice feature for an expensive machine. Does anybody else have this model? I posted some info in the Walkman Archive Thread but there's very little out there.
Really rare finds MisterX. I have never seen either of them for sale.Regarding the differences beteen the two , the main distinguishing feature seems to be the change in the format of the recording microphone or am I seeing things?
Yes, the first release was the PH-M20 it didn't record, the PH-M25 was released a year later with recording. Check out the exposed volume spindle on the old model, they changed the case and enclosed it with the upgrade.
Their claim of 70 prerecorded titles is something I would have had not believed in, until I got hold of 2 Japanese brochures advertising microcassette albums. Panasonic/National seems to have made around 30 before giving up, I'm lucky enough to own 4 of their albums. ELEC Records released 11 albums in total, with the first one being a supplied ABBA demo tape (albeit around 40 minutes long), I have that one. The rest seems to have been made by Shebro and Apollon.
I picked this up this little gem over the holidays, I think this was only released in Japan but it's really neat. A close cousin to the WA "brick" Series, the Sony M303 Microcassette Radio has Line in/out, full FM band and counter. It still doesn't beat the Fisher/Sanyo for size or the Minerva MKM 10 but it might be a solid #4 on the list. The AIWA HS-J110 is almost identical in size without the exterior stereo speaker but just sqeeks under with it detached. If you get equipment from Japan, you may be surprised at how much corrosion they get and this one is a little crusty. I did some test cleaning with vinegar and Simple Green with no luck. I still have some other tricks up my sleeve but I'm always afraid to accidently take the lettering off.
Nice! Here are my last 2 microcassette finds: the ultra illusive BASF Ferro Super LH in 2 pieces and one full-length album release from National Panasonic.
From High Fidelity 1981, a snippet of a full article. So they mention the Technics RS-M07 as a microcassette deck but I think it was released for compact cassette, did they nix the microcassette format for it?
The M07 was part of a mini stereo and it looks like there's two versions of it, one with LED meters and one with analog. It's too bad it was never released with microcassette and imagine it with a Sony QS-P7 Size Turntable, this would be a hot set up. This would have been around 82, Technics was still releasing very nice systems while everyone else was going to BPC. If my yen inflation calculator is correct, the full system would be around $2600.00 USD today!
