I saw the comprehensive list of Walkmans, listed by size.

I'm wondering whether anybody's figured out what the smallest ones that can record are.

(Mostly because I just picked up a WM-r707, mint, and I'm curious if there was ever a smaller recording walkman.)

Any answers? Not counting microcassettes, of course.

Maxtropolitan posted:

I saw the comprehensive list of Walkmans, listed by size.

I'm wondering whether anybody's figured out what the smallest ones that can record are.

(Mostly because I just picked up a WM-r707, mint, and I'm curious if there was ever a smaller recording walkman.)

Any answers? Not counting microcassettes, of course.

This thread needs a Picture 

The Recording Sony WM-F707 is larger than the Corder or recording Sony Model's GX-670 or GX674 or GX688

 What's the model number of that egg featured in the last picture james???

I agree with you that the R707 can be the world's smallest recording walkman. I got one recently and it's really small.

radio raheem posted:

 What's the model number of that egg featured in the last picture james???

Panasonic RX-DS45 ( egg boombox )  CD & auto-reverse cassette + radio

Takes 4 AA & 10 D batteries

I do not have the remote for this model, but under the Right hand cover is all of the possible functions via soft touch keypad and a 3-band eq, requires a figure eight power cord.

Hitachi Cp-88R

These are the 3 smallest Sony "recording" models I have.

They are all 4 1/4" x 3 1/4" x 1 1/4" 

R707 is the smallest recording Walkman by Sony

But hitachi CP-88R is the smallest recording Walkman 

a nice topic about Hitachi CP-88R:

http://REPLACEMENT ERROR/topic...cp-88r-many-pictures

With the cassette inserted, the Sony TCM-10 is smaller than the CP-88R.  It's based on the WM-10 for gods sake.

But the smallest without doubt is the Sanyo JJ-R5.  Those who recall the great size war of 2008 (link anyone?) will recall the Sanyo JJ was established the smallest walkman ever.  The R5 is in fact the same size.

WM-W800 posted:

R707 is the smallest recording Walkman by Sony

But hitachi CP-88R is the smallest recording Walkman 

a nice topic about Hitachi CP-88R:

http://REPLACEMENT ERROR/topic...cp-88r-many-pictures

 

Thanks for the info on the Sony R707.  Sold for... in the box $350.00, busted up $75.00. I guess it will be a while till I own one.

Do other recording Walkmans use AC erase heads rather than magnets?

Some later ones do. I know the WM-GX50 uses one, as do some other later slim logic controlled units. Not a big deal however,a s these Walkmans are meant to record mostly voice and are barely adequate for music. You'd never do a serious recording with anything short of a D3/D6!

Even these miniature recorders can't match the Professional recorders, surely the AC erase heads are better than the other recording Walkmans that have magnet erase heads.

Magnet erase heads are okay for speech, not so great for music whereas AC erase heads are overkill for speech and great for music.

Sure they're better, but the whole machine itself is so limited in its recording functionality that in the grand scheme of things,a n AC erase head in a standard Walkman doesn't really mean that much.

You don't get record level control, a proper line-in, and a high noise floor, meaning that in most cases the recording ability is useless (except for speech) anyway.

From an engineering perspective the only reason why AC erase heads are installed into these slim units is to save money and space on the pivoting erase head mechanism, as the AC head can just be fixed into the tape guide and powered electrically! Less components, less complexity, same functionality.

(And less chance of the pivoting mechanism go out of whack and erase a recording accidentally)

These recording Walkmans with AC erase heads are just one step down from D3 but a step higher than the recording Walkmans that use the magnet erase heads.

They are better as players with their superb hi-fi response, 20cps to 18kcps.

I'm sorry but you're mistaken. The D3 is far closer in quality and functionality to a full size 2 head deck than you believe! You're not looking at the specs that matter- The Erase head has little bearing on the actual usable recording quality of these standard, Mic-in Walkmans!

Most late Walkmans claim to have a frequency response of that figure, but it means little to the actual quality of its sound. Specs alone don't tell the whole story.

These recording Walkmans are more of a triumph of marketing than anything else. It's a headphone stereo you can use to record business notes and school lectures. Or perhaps, the occasional song you won't want to miss on the radio, or a song off your friend's machine in a pinch. The lack of aforementioned standard recording features coupled by mechanisms that don't always provide the best wow/flutter and azimuth alignment (like most of these late Walkmans) means that they are quite simply not serious recorders, and an AC Erase head isn't going to change that! It's better but it's trivial in the context of these machines.

The main reason why the D3/D6 are decent recorders is: A solid, stable mechanism (DD) Record line in, as well as microphone, record level settings and the ability to record on better tapes (Type II, Metal in the case of the D6). They will record with Dolby B/C as well.

Lapis posted:

These recording Walkmans with AC erase heads are just one step down from D3 but a step higher than the recording Walkmans that use the magnet erase heads.

They are better as players with their superb hi-fi response, 20cps to 18kcps.

Lapis, I think you may forget the specs and just take a good listen. Take a good pair of headphones and listen to a good recording.

I think that some of us told you a few times: specs doesn't tell the whole story. When you decide to try to listen to your ears you will learn a step more. It's up to you.

@bub: Back to point, I do believe that while the AC erase recording Walkmans are not as good as D3 and better recorders like D6/C/D5M, they are still better than those DC erase recording Walkmans.

Walkman Archive posted:

Lapis posted:

These recording Walkmans with AC erase heads are just one step down from D3 but a step higher than the recording Walkmans that use the magnet erase heads.

They are better as players with their superb hi-fi response, 20cps to 18kcps.

Lapis, I think you may forget the specs and just take a good listen. Take a good pair of headphones and listen to a good recording.

I think that some of us told you a few times: specs doesn't tell the whole story. When you decide to try to listen to your ears you will learn a step more. It's up to you.

Please think before you type, I said AC erase heads are better than magnet erase heads. That is why I always said that R707 are better than R202 or earlier recorders.

I'm with Hugo on this. The specs are just specs. Are AC erase heads better? Sure, but that doesn't elevate any of these Walkman-corders to a level where the recorder would be of any use aside from voice memos. Find a copy of an R707 and R202, and compare their recordings, and I'm sure you'll find they're both awful either way. (The recording pre-amp makes a far larger difference than any type of erase head does. Most Walkman-corders don't do line-in.)

A WM-190 has better frequency response specs listed in the service manual than say a WM-DC2. Does that make it sound better?

There's other factors to consider. Quality and power output of the amp, mechanism, etc etc. Like I mentioned earlier, these AC heads were put in more to save cost on mechanical assemblies and space than to increase the recording quality. It's like saying a GT 740 graphics card is better than a GT 640 because the 740 has 2GB of Vram vs the 640's 1GB. It sure is, but the performance you get from both are going to be abysmal either way, that 1GB of extra Vram doesn't make a difference!