hello! i have been using the Walkmans since i was in my teens.im 46 now. does anyone have one of these Outbacks cassette/radio players? have you had any volume drop issues like some others talk about? or any other issues i am not aware of? and if you have pics please post.
thanks.

Hello,
I own one, and it is working as it should. I paid alot of money for this new, and was told at HiFi Shop it was the best of the walkmans at the time. I think its ok, but I have a 1985 era Sports Walkman/Cassette...yellow unit, that sounds amazing. I never found my Outback to sound as good. I dropped it once, and the belt came off. I had it fixed, and is working now as we speak, but have had no issues with it besides that. The volume is working fine. What are the issues you have heard of it having?? Ray

I have two outbacks, one yellow/tan and another which is black/grey. I dug them out recently to eBay & I noticed that the rubber coating on the body and the controls of both units is rapidly deteriorating with cracks everywhere.

The very same thing happened to my Sports Walkman from 1986....the one I like alot. Its a WM-75 or something like that...but the rubber around the play/FF/REW buttons ripped and I can see the white plastic of the buttons. It still plays and functions very good though. The sonics of this Sports walkman are better than my Outback...and my Outback cost alot more money. My Outback is Grey/black one. It looked much more rugged than it really is. My Sports WM-75 hit the ground many times while I ran marathons...and is till going strong. But my best unit for sound/etc...is my WM-D6C. Ray

quote:

Originally posted by agentorange:
I have two outbacks, one yellow/tan and another which is black/grey. I dug them out recently to eBay & I noticed that the rubber coating on the body and the controls of both units is rapidly deteriorating with cracks everywhere.

Interestingly the Outback internals are the same as the WM-F75

Ray, the volume drop is really the big issue i have heard of. do you know when these Outbacks were produced?

quote:

Originally posted by rayr0683:
Hello,
I own one, and it is working as it should. I paid alot of money for this new, and was told at HiFi Shop it was the best of the walkmans at the time. I think its ok, but I have a 1985 era Sports Walkman/Cassette...yellow unit, that sounds amazing. I never found my Outback to sound as good. I dropped it once, and the belt came off. I had it fixed, and is working now as we speak, but have had no issues with it besides that. The volume is working fine. What are the issues you have heard of it having?? Ray

right,,my outback has sub-par sound quality in my opinion. i also have 2 of the 75's. one is fairly decent sounding and the other sounds like the outback. an explanation,,i really don't know. of the 2-- 75's the one with the most wear sounds the best by far.

Hello,
I haven't had any volume issues with my Outback. I am not positive of the production date, but I do know that I bought mine at a very High End Audio Dealer in Pennsylvania, it costed much more than my WM-75 Sports...and the Year that I bought it brand new was 1990. This was about 4-5 years after I bought my WM-75 Sport Walkman. I never thought the Outback performed sonically near as good as my Sports WM-75. Its true of me too, my WM-75 has been beaten up very badly, and still sounds great. Its a tough little walkman. Did a great job in rain storms also, since I ran marathons, and distance running with it regularly, and many times in pouring rain. Ray

quote:

Originally posted by Mercyfulfate:
Ray, the volume drop is really the big issue i have heard of. do you know when these Outbacks were produced?

quote:

Originally posted by rayr0683:
Hello,
I own one, and it is working as it should. I paid alot of money for this new, and was told at HiFi Shop it was the best of the walkmans at the time. I think its ok, but I have a 1985 era Sports Walkman/Cassette...yellow unit, that sounds amazing. I never found my Outback to sound as good. I dropped it once, and the belt came off. I had it fixed, and is working now as we speak, but have had no issues with it besides that. The volume is working fine. What are the issues you have heard of it having?? Ray

ray, or anyone else i have noticed on the mega bass that when you turn it about halfway it pos a little etc. but yet the mega bass still works fine. its when you turn the knob about halfway it seems to like cut out. does it clip or something around then?

Hello,
I dont know the technical answer to your question, but I dont understand all of it. I dont know what you mean by pos. But I can tell you that when I yurn the Mega Bass Up, I do lose some Power of Volume...I wonder if this is some sort of Clipping?? But If I turn the Mega Bass Down, then the volume will sound louder...Ray

ray. thanks again for your reply. i meant that the unit pops not pos.tyo.sorry about that. its wierd.

Hello,
Yes, in that case mine is similar. I never liked that about the unit. It seemed to do that since new. I always felt that the Mega bass was just too much power for the headphones, or the unit.....I never knew which one. But I found I always had to keep the Mega Bass knob lower, so that the Volume would sound clean, and louder. Yes, its weird, and probably a design flaw on their part. I wonder if my newer Ultimate Ears In Ear 5.0 HiFi Pro Canal phones would handle it better?? I tried them on my Cybernet PS-101 and the sound is incredible, much better than any On Ear Headphones I own...even my Bose Quiet Comfort 2 Phones. Ray

Hello,
Im just glad to find a fellow member with the same player, Outback. These were very High rated units in the Time they were released. They were very expensive, and sold mainly at High End Stereo Dealers here in the USA. They were not sold in Department Stores, like most of the Sony Walkman..They were too expensive. But I was kinda mad that for the price, I had these issues with the Mega bass overpowering the Headphones...they seemed to crackle up, when I used too much of the Bass Knob. So, it defeated the purpose in a way. I got more bass, but not the extreme I was hoping for. And the sturdiness was another feature that these were famous for...Ray

quote:

Originally posted by Mercyfulfate:
ray. thanks again for your reply. i meant that the unit pops not pos.tyo.sorry about that. its wierd.

me too ray. i totally agree. the Outback is seriously one awesome player.and since they stopped making Walkmans in Japan years ago the Outbacks production went back to Japan.

also if i may ask one more question,(yes it is cool thats there is someone else with an outback to compare) when you have a tape in and its running does it make a loud running sound? a lot of walkmans are quiet but i have noticed that my Outback makes a more pronounced sound when running. kind of a hum and a louder wheel turning sound i guess? you can even feel it running.
thanks again ray. where are you located? im in OKC Oklahoma.

Hi Merci,


I live in New Jersey. Im close to both Philadelphia, and Atlantic City. Im at half way point between. I grew up in Philly. Most of all the HiFi Shops were in Phila area when I lived there. Now there aren't as many. I think that the sound of the tape moving is louder in the Outback, in my opinion, its because of the Big design....I think it looks beefier than it is. So, since its a large rectangular shape, and not completely filled inside, I think it sort of echoes, the sounds of the motor movement. But that is just my opinion, I could be wrong. The Sports models with the same insides, are much smaller, and to me, feel heavier..but anyway, not as much empty space...so less sound of echo...does that sound like it makes any sense? Its just what I envision. it is a pretty wide and tall design..and feels like there is empty space inside it..thats why I think that..I never been to OK, pretty much stuck in this area my whole life...Im 45. Never traveled, or anything. Ray

Mercy,

BTW my Outback looks exactly like yours. I worked for that large company as a Tech, fixing mainly 1980's AUTO Radios from various car manufacturers, and lots of Aftermarket radio's like Alpine, Soundstream, Nakamichi, Panasonic...on and on...

Anyway..the Tech to my right was very experienced with walkman repair. he worked for Circuit City for years as repair tech. He took apart my Outback, and replaced belt. He also repaired a real cool MINI Cassette Recorder I had from Craig. It was different than Micro cassettes..it was a Rim Drive unit, but had a thin belt inside. It played cassettes that were slightly larger than Micro cassettes. They only lasted maximum 15 or 30 mionutes a side. But the Craig unit I have is very James bond looking. I still have it. It works too. Fidelity isnt very hot though. But so cool. Ever get in NJ area? Ray

ray, sorry about the late reply,i am a high pressure pipe welder for a local oil company and sometimes have to do night detail. it sucks.lol

it sounds like we are very close in age. which means we have experienced a lot of lifes pleasures and displeasures through the years.i remember watching the Challenger explosion live in 86. i think we are at the perfect age to reflect on things in life and whats to come.lol
i also dont travel much but have a little through the years for work etc.mainly in the Southern region where i have lived and was born.
so your an electronics tech? very cool. i am a closet tech of sorts.i have always loved electronics and guitar effects. and i do a lot of my own modifications and repair.like right now i am working on a mint Sony Walkman F.M. only radio from 81. the battery terminal lead wire is corroded all to heck from someone leaving a battery in for years. that is a big pet peeve of mine as well.

i still have my Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck. and my Nakamichi BX2 deck from the 80s. they both work great. do you collect Walkmans?
nice talking with you ray.

Hello,
I dont really collect walkmans, but have a few. I like the better ones alot. My favorite is my WM-D6C. Over the years I have collected more so Reel to reel Tape decks. I currently have 4 of my favorites, though I have owned alot over the years. from old Webcors, to new Tascams, and all kinds in between. I have a Mint AKAI GX-747 DBX...TEAC X2000R BL....Tandberg TD20A...and Tandberg TD20A-SE..all have been fully restored and calibrated, and meet or exceed factory specs.

Ive always been into stereo in one way or another. i love Analog though. I had portable Reel to Reels as well over the years. Yes, being the same age, I recall alot of the things you do. I was out of work in 1986, and remember sitting in my Mom's house, and watching the Rocket Launch live on TV. I was stunned when it exploded. It was sad. I really liked the 1980's and all the stereo things that came about. Its nice you have Nak Dragon, great machine. I have an RX-505, and a Tandberg TCD-3014A. I think tapes made on these sound great on good Walkmans. Its cool talking with ya. Ray

Hey Mercy,
Check out this link....its to our Sony Outback...but it has some different numbers of identification...looks the same, and check out the Price...http://cgi.ebay.com/SONY-OUTBACK-FM-AM-WALKMAN-SRF-75-SUPER-RARE-MINT-/390195970821?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item5ad97e0305 Ray

ray,i checked the link for the Outback radio and its very cool. and the seller has it priced very high!lol you know they also made a boombox in the outback series?
its very cool.

Hey Merc,

Never saw the BoonBox. This radio only is a first for me. And I never knew of another color besides ours. But at any rate, good unit. Its cool, yeah, we probably have alot of things in common, as the new audio products came out in our life, and world events of our time. You ever get into Reel to Reel Tape machine? Ive been into all kinds of them, big small, with amplification, and without...battery operated, and big electric....I love them. Ray

you all got me playing my outback more often. it is one of those rare cases that the more i use it the better it sounds. the bass is definately kicking in gradually as it should. it is also the only player i know that has that has that rubberized coating. at least it smells like rubber.

Cool ReRooted...

I tried a post on this months ago, with no replies. Its great that this time, me ,you, and merc are all enjoying, and appreciating how good our outbacks are. And yes, the rare rubberized coating, unique to them...Ray

allrite rerooted!

ray, yes i have an old reel to reel. when i get home ill check the model number. and i have a bunch of tapes for it as well.

Analog still sounds awesome to me!

merc,

where you been?? you hardly make any posts anymore. I like when you make longer posts, that have in common things we have lived through, or interests both of us. Get back in the action....your cool chattin with. We can talk about all sorts of audio stuff. How many walkmans do you have?? Do you have any Sanyo's?? My very first was a Sanyo M4440...it had the TalkLine...I loved it. My very first listen to a walkman...and the song was an 80's hit called "Cool Night" Ill never forget how it blew me away. Get back to me...and about your reel to reel too. Ray

quote:

Originally posted by Mercyfulfate:
allrite rerooted!

ray, yes i have an old reel to reel. when i get home ill check the model number. and i have a bunch of tapes for it as well.

Analog still sounds awesome to me!

i do believe you are correct on that being the only player with a rubberized surface. that was probably only a one year issue also. if you tried something like murphy's oil soap i think the surface would really shine. i might try it just for the heck of it. just a little bit at first to see how it reacts. if you just rub it lightly i can see the shine popping out.

Hi rerooted...


How well do you like your player?? Do you collect walkmans? have any Sanyo's from the early 80's? Is your Outback the best walkman that you own? If so, how is it sounding when used with known very good recordings, such as TDK Metal Tapes, or TDK SA Chrome Tapes, that have well recorded material on them? Was curious, any odd behavior to yours?? Thanks, Ray