Sony TCWE475 Dual Cassette Player / Recorder
With the Sony TCW-E475, you can take advantage of your old cassette tapes that are just sitting there collecting dust. The TCW-E475 features dual cassette decks that supports both playback and recording, making it a great addition to any home stereo setup. Relay Play Wide-range pitch control Switchable MPX filter Full-logic feather-touch transport controls Twin electronic counters Control A1 capability High-speed dubbing Super-density Permalloy heads Fader switch Headphone jack Weight - 8lbs. 13oz.
Sony's TC-WE475 dual-well cassette player/recorder offers high quality and plenty of great features, including dual auto-reverse playback. When coupled with the deck's relay play feature, dual auto-reverse means you can enjoy up to three hours of continuous music from two 90-minute cassettes. One tape well plays, the other records. You can set the recording input level using a dedicated control or rely on Sony's auto level-setting feature to choose the most appropriate level for your tape (this works best on dynamically limited material such as pop music). Choose from normal- and high-speed dubbing: normal speed for higher fidelity, high speed for greater convenience. Sony has built the deck with high-density Permalloy tape heads for long life. For noise reduction, the TC-WE475 is outfitted with both Dolby B, the encoding standard used on most prerecorded cassettes, and Dolby C, which buys you another 10 to 20 dB or so of noise reduction beyond that offered by Dolby B (around 10 dB). Use Dolby when recording and, if a tape has been recorded using Dolby, when listening. Two other technologies specifically heighten the quality of your recordings. During loud level peaks, Dolby HX Pro dynamically adjusts the bias signal (a supersonic and basically sacrificial tone your deck uses to push distortion out of the audible range), effectively letting you record "hotter"--that is, louder on tape--without compressing the high-frequencies of your program material. Secondly, an onboard MPX filter blocks the 19 kHz multiplex pilot tone of FM stereo broadcasts for proper Dolby noise-reduction tracking when you record off the air. Other features include full-logic, feather-touch transport controls and twin electronic tape counters (one for each deck), which come in handy when you're making a compilation from a variety of source tapes. If you have a Sony audio/video receiver, you can operate the deck from your receiver's remote control. What's in the Box
Cassette player/recorder and user's manual.
Sony TCWE475 Dual Cassette Player / Recorder Accessories
 Sony PSLX250H Turntable
Sony RCDW500C Compact Disc Player / Recorder
Sony STRDE197 Stereo Receiver
Sony CDP-CE375 5-CD Changer
TEAC CD-RW880 CD Recorder with Remote
TEAC W-600R Dual Full-Logic Cassette
Xlii 90 High Bias Audio Cassette Tape (5-Pack)
MAXELL UR-90 Blank Audio Cassette Tape (7 pack)
Audio Technica AT-LP2DUSB LP-to-Digital Recording System with USB
Onkyo TARW255 Dual well Tape Deck
Sony TCWE475 Dual Cassette Player / Recorder Reviews
Hopefully it's normal for a "DC Servo Controlled Motor"whatever that is. Not that there's much of a selection left for this archaic recording method. Since we won't use a tape deck for anything after the converting project is done, I didn't want to spend a lot. The loud thud of the motor when fast-forwarding ends is a bit alarming. The manual is simple and well-written. We stick to Sony for our electronicswhen we stray we're usually sorry.
I needed a player for the task of converting 200 audio cassette tapes to digital, using the Audacity application. There aren't any bells or whistles but they aren't needed. So I went with this deck. I recommend this machine. This unit was a good deal and so far is doing the job well.
We're really happy with this Sony after buying & returning TEAC W-600R Dual Full-Logic Cassette. What a difference in sound. Better features, too. Definitely worth the difference in price.
What about that incredible frequency response that is +/-6db. Like many of you I'm digitizing some cassettes; commercial ones that are out of print and demos from various musical projects I mixed down to cassette in the 80s and 90s. Cassettes were never audiophile quality even when the source was recorded onto a hi-speed single well professional deck (good luck finding said deck), no matter how much anyone wants to convince you otherwise its not true. I'm spoiled. At +/-6db unweighted who cares, its technical jabberwocky, its B.S.
The Sony is in my price range and it will see vary little use after I digitize about 30 commercial and 30 demo cassettes. Although an argument could be made that A is the most common it is after all a spec sheet I'm referring to. The results I got were acceptable for what I want to accomplish. "Sigh"., then it will be time to look for a reasonably priced (properly speced this time) turntable to start digitizing my discontinued vinyl. It is true, however, that if you want to go crazy and squeeze that last bit of fidelity out of your cassette collection then a restored hi-end Nakamichi or Studer-Revox is the way to go. So, my suggestion for choosing a cassette deck, this one included, is to first purchase it from someplace with a good return policy, then once it arrives and is set up find a XDR cassette in your collection, find a frequency analyzer plug-in for your chosen recording software, record the test tones played back from both heads (tape wells) and look at the results in the freq analyzer yourself. Better yet, use the original deck the material was recorded on after you've cleaned and degaused it.
If your cassette collection is mostly commercial pop, rock, and mix tapes of the same then this deck should be fine from a fidelity standpoint (if you consider yourself a classical music or jazz aficionado and have any of such in your cassette collection that was purchased after your college years hang your head in shame). As for long term reliability, I'll probably never know. Even as useless as the spec sheet is I still chose the Sony because of the price. If "IEC" is meant to indicate that the results are weighted then there is no indication as to what type. Using the above assumption about what the inclusion of "IEC" may or may not indicate about weighting it could indicate "unweighted". Still, I went into this knowing the specs were the product of "creative accounting". Honestly, the spec sheet means nothing.
marketing. The frequency response numbers don't specify which tape well is being referenced, there's no specified weighting. Once my cassettes are digitized look for this deck on ebay. By definition a spec sheet should be specific. It will have been professionally maintained and have low hours. Finding a used Nak or Studer-Revox from days of yore and insuring it is up to spec is a bit much and, being a freelancer, my finances for such indulgences are strictly budgeted.
Therer are lots of others you can check out, but this one is good quality
I got another, same problem. The machine makes great recordings and my tapes sound great, but it has a crappy noisy design. I bought one of these decks in november 2006, and one week later I had to exchange it for another because the relays misfunctioned, so that instead of rewinding, it ran the tape forward for two sequences. When I got the third one and it started doing it, I decided to get it repaired in Loredo tx. The relays are unreliable, and your tapes can get snarled because it might wind forward instead of rewinding, and when you use the music search to go backward to a previous song, it could also go forward. they repaired one side, then the other one started doing it. I got that repaired in July 2007, and, now it is starting it again.
|
