A New Shoebox Cassette Recorder?  

The reason the "modern" mic didn't work on the vintage recorder is not because of the connector, it's because it's a condenser microphone, which requires power from what ever it's plugged into. The vintage recorder is not designed for those kind of mics so it doesn't provide any power. The modern recorder does though (yes power and signal are on the same wire). As for the crystal mic not working on the modern recorder, well, crystal mics have a very high impedance, and this recorder has a low input impedance, which is too low for that mic, and as a result, it loads down the mic and hardly any signal gets through.

I wanted to record M*A*S*H, Scooby Doo, and Three's Company on a VCR. My parents did not allow me to do that. Instead, I bought a mono cassette recorder and recorded those shows with audio only. I had to edit out the commercials in real time. I had about thirty finished cassettes. I recorded the last episode of M*A*S*H, which was maybe two hours long. : - )

It is so good for an old man like me, being born 20 years before the cassette were invented to see youth like you wilh recorders and shellacs and vinilos. I have many of those recorders....all bough by myself log ago. Geloso open reel recorders too. Thrift stores should exist in Argenntina, those late recorders cost 30 to 80 US dollars here and for 2 dollars and we are very poor. Thank you from frozen Patagonia, Argentina.

Another interesting in-depth video, Record-ology. Back in the 1980's, my grandmother very kindly bought me a Philips shoebox tape recorder (for my birthday or Christmas) when I was 10 or 11 years old and I loved it. Aside from listening to music or recording songs from the radio (Yes, not great quality, but it was fine for a kid like me at the time), I used to create my own stories and record them with improvised sound effects and later, sound effects I recorded from records. :)

The Pyle and Marantz component decks do use AC bias and an electromagnetic erase head.

The Onn cassette recorder is designed to work with electret condenser microphones, which require 3-5v at the microphone socket. This explains why the mic that came with it is very slim...it's an electret condenser mic 🙂 This also explains why the mic didn't work with the TRS-80; electret condensers were battery powered in those days, and did not take power from the mic socket. So...no power at the mic socket on the TRS-80. Powered mic sockets did catch on eventually - the ubiquitous Sony TCM 919/939 have powered mic sockets, for example.

We've had this model of shoebox cassette player in the UK for years, it first appeared in 2015/2016 I think under the Philips brand and is now sold in Argos under the Bush brand. Only the speaker grill is different. I have the Philips one and it's good, correct playback speed though only mono playback and the recording is OK.

The first cassette recorder I when I was ten, in 1973, was a department store Lewis's brand cheap thing that had DC erase and bias. Used it to record songs from the radio mostly, like th Top-30 run-down. Later in about 1980, I got a more expensive Philips machine, and that was AC erase and bias. I still kept the older recorder, as I used that with a Sinclair Spectrum for software. At the time I never called them "shoebox". Think that might have come later to differentiate this type from say walkman, or ghetto-blaster, types, etc.

Ive got one of the onns. What i like is they got full auto shut off. Therefore if the take-up spool gets stuck itll shut off. So no tape chewing. And it wont stay running when in rew, or ffwd when the tape reaches the end.

I had that Voltron book and tape set! Thank you for that early childhood memory!

We never had a shoebox tape recorder like this when I was a kid at my house, but my piano teacher did have one. She would use it to record pieces of music for her students so they could hear how they were to be played. I have no idea what brand it was. All I remember is that it was black and silver.

Recently, I've been using a 1968 vintage Craig 2016 cassette, as well as a similar vintage Craig open reel to transfer some old family reel tapes to cassette, supplemented with a compact-shoebox '80s Panasonic cassette. All Japanese-made and better quality than the hollow black plastic junk of today. The two oldest machines did need some new belts.

I used a black Radio Shack TRS-80 cassette deck back in the 1980s but only with a tape-based computer I was using at the time.

WOW - I'm really impressed with the sound quality of the unit putting out that kind of volume and almost full body of your try out recordings, and being dc bias - the filtration of background noise - I must say the technology has massively improved since the days of the 80s. Now if only I can find a stereo component tape recorder...

Continuing to love your videos !! Love your comparison between all those machines from all the different eras-The best machine there would be the Radio Shack,with it’s AC Bias,cue and Review,and tape counter !! Back in the 1970s I had,or should I say,I had a machine similar to the old Sears model,mine was branded ‘Orion’but had,and you could also record from it’s built-in AM/FM radio,lovely old chunky machine,whose mains lead was hard-wired,but could fold away into the battery Compartment !! The Tyler and Onn models aren’t worth commenting about !! Thanking you so much,once again !! You Rock !!!

It's probably different mic impedances causing either mic to work with one or other tape deck; I have a feeling that the old crystal mic may be a very high impedance, which is far too high for the 'Onn' recorder, causing the 'Onn' to only get a very, very low signal in, hence the very quiet recording playback; the supplied mic will be far lower impedance, which matches the input connection correctly, so you got a strong recording level..... which could also explain why the new mic didn't work with the older Radio Shack, and just caused a nasty loud buzzing! Microphones are just like speakers/headphones in a way and have different impedance specs too.....plus, you could actually plug one of those mics into the 'ear' jack and hear very low quality sound playback coming out of it!! 🙂 That 'Onn' recorder performed pretty well for such a new device, and as you commented, it had a very clear sound output! Not bad a couple of bucks..!! 🙂

I first listened to the Beatles White Album on a shoebox cassette player. It was awesome. Despite of that nostalgic memory, there is no way I'm going back to cassettes. Not even at a gunpoint.

So your parents called you Recordology, eh???!!! 😂😂😂😂 Sorry, I couldn’t refuse!!!

Sorry my Panasonic cassette player brought my joy in the 70s. I recently found one on eBay that I had in mint condition. Got it for 40 bucks and play it often. Makes me happy.

Great show Love seeing an old Shoebox Cassette Player test. Just got an old Sharp Shoebox Player going recently, it was given to me by an old Aunty still in the box with instructions etc and came with some old Cassettes. Had to fit a new drive belt not Amazing quality but still enjoy using it to play my thrift shop bargains 😀👍🏻.

We had the TRS80 computer with that cassette recorder! I had a different one to record songs from the radio and take with me. Until i got a boombox 😊

DC bias has been used for much longer than just the past 15 years. Many cheaper recorders in the 70s, 80s, and 90s were DC bias. I saw an Onn at Wal-Mart once that actually mentioned AC bias, but might have been a different model than on the video, and I believe the modern Jensen unit is AC bias as well. The reason there was no sound on the Radio Shack recording with the Onn's mic is that the Onn's mic is condenser and needs plug-in power. The Radio Shack does not supply mic power, expecting a dynamic mike. The Onn was designed to give the power to the external condenser mike.

Can you record digital music onto a cassette tape on stereo with any of them? I'm looking for a tape recorder that doesn't record in just one ear.

Great video man! :)

I just saw that same ONN tape recorder on Amazon sold as “Deluxe Products” brand.

I bought a QFX shoe box recorder but I am not getting anything from the built-in microphone. Any ideas?

I had one for my BBC Master system, though did have a 10mb hdd and dual floppy discs as well.

Beautiful pieces you have there.

I have the exact ONN cassette recorder, bought new when Walmart was clearing out excess inventory of this unit for five dollars (!). Walmart stores still carry this exact unit but the package has changed from a white box to an orange box design, the new Onn corporate branding. My unit works fine for what it is, the internal mike works but it's very weak and you must place your mouth or source a few inches away for it to properly function. One positive feature you overlooked: when connecting modern headphones or output to a 2-channel source, many old shoeboxes only output single-side mono. This Onn unit outputs dual-side mono; I've connected it a few times to a stereo receiver and obtained adequate mono sound from both sides. Finally, my question for you: as this is an old-school mechanical piano-key mechanism, why did you rapidly navigate between the Play, FF and RW buttons without first pressing Stop? Newbies watching this video might be unaware that such abuse of the buttons can prematurely damage these units -- not because of cheap Chinese parts but because of repeated user errors which can cause mechanical gears, levers and linkages to break and malfunction.

I'm so happy that the tape recorders are back

Avoid cutting off the remote jack by using an extension lead between the mic jack and the recorder input.

The built-in microphone picks up the sound of the motor on some of these due to the placement of the built-on microphone. You can use these to load ZX Spectrum and other computer cassettes (You can use the AUX input to record onto cassettes to save basic/typed in games, programs etc. I believe the recording level (on some) is adjustable via the volume when using the AUX on some devices). Don't forget cassettes have a 20 second leader, therefore, a mental count of 20 should be made before trying to record. (Alternatively you could have used the counter on the ones which had it, reset to zero when after the leader has passed and then rewind to zero to save time). The size of the 'remote' mic is indeed a different size, which is possibly why it didn't work. I can't remember exactly how (I think it's a case of the bulbus bit at the top, or a slight length difference?). You can get an adaptor so you can use it on a different device; so you wouldn't have to remove the pin. The problem with the 'remote', however, is that there is some speed loss (about half a second or so) when starting and stopping it, it cuts the power to the tape and stops it recording. (My timing might be wrong). The benefits of using the remote (as opposed to the pause button) is when you start recording again it's almost unnoticeable; when using pause you get a very loud click noise and some fluctuation of sound. Usually with these devices you get a long thin portable handheld microphone, (also known as a field microphone, if I recall correctly). Sometimes these have a centre button which is labelled on and off, this is different to the 'remote' as it does not stop the tape motor, it is mutes the sound but keeps the recording going. This has one pin and does not need the second (remote) pin. Some of those with remotes are differently placed (as you have seen), some closer together than others). It is also possible to get a headset so these recorders can be used for transcribing voice recordings. Some of these may be pedal based and have adjustable speeds. Although these latter ones are usually different to the shoebox style really. Sorry the comment is a bit long. 📼

My guess is that the "modern" mic is an electret capsule, which woulc explain the incompatibility.

What happened to checking out the Remote piece of your assessment. I have a remote, but am unsure of it's operation. Thanks

First tape recorder was a portable reel-to-reel (-similar in in size to these shoebox cassette ones. And I do not remember a brand) in 1967 (approx.) I got for practicing the prayer/ recitation for my Bar Mitzvah in 1968. Loved it for while. My parents could not spend for me for such a thing for a frivolous purpose. Gave that away afterwards and got had a modern(!) GE cassette player-recorder, which was like these 'shoebox' recorders, but wider, with a small compartment on the left top to hold the mic. Gave that away by 1977 and had nothing until 1983 approx. AIWA HS J02 am fm recording large size "walkman" . Used it until the AM tuner section was getting flaky - did not thing of repairing it, and put it aside for years. Hello again from the old guy who keeps bring up digital and is audiophile wann-be.

I wanna use it to record m band because it doesn’t “clip’ and it doesn’t just stop recording or battery drain if plugged into the wall

You look amazing no matter what style your hat is on my friend

i have a texas instruments and atari shoebox recorders 👍

The Onn cassette recorder's built-in microphone requires you be speaking loudly just a few inches a away. There is very little sensitivity. I don't know if this was a manner to reduce motor noise pickup, but there still is motor noise on the built-in microphone recording nonetheless.

As a child of the 70’s, you bet yer bippie I do! 😂

The Teac, Pyle, ion and Marantz etc decks ALL have AC Bias. But as far as I know, there is not a shoebox with AC bias currently on the market.

Record ology your new shoebox case recorder is cool

I wonder if cleaning the tape head on the Radio Shack would make it sound better?

0:20 - Watching videos on a "smart" phohe (the dumb brick without buttons) - ?! I certainly don't. I still cannot figure out how to connect the thing to a monitor. Seriously, this whole "use a smart phone or get lost" attitude is just another mass discrimination against us old farts with less-then-perfect eyes and fingers.

I think the TEAC cassette decks are AC Bias

The Twilight Zone. The Obsolete Man.

Nice machines

Got it to work!

Could be the speaker in the old recorder..... The mic out-put may be different between new and old mics....

10:49 did you find it by a giant log on a beach?

The onn is like the newer Jensen. But I noticed it isn’t as clear

Very cool video

Panasonic RQ 309 Is what I have.

Great tutorial.

clicked on the video for the 'tyler'. you did not show off the tyler AT ALL.

I got one somewhere around here that is practically unused in the box. Sure old tech. But think of the value of a magnetic media backup. Think of how old some of those cassettes are you see for sale and they still play voices or music quite well unless abused somehow. Commercial CDs will also last a very very long time. Any disc you burn yourself supposedly will not last many years according to some. Degrades in storage. What is the long term lifespan of chip memory? Hard drives are magnetic but they are married to a mechanism that is electromechanical and can fail. You can drop a cassette, how about your HD? Tapes can be reused up to a point where wear on them is excessive. That takes alot of plays and recordings with better quality ones. Just saying it can have it's uses, if you know anything. Cassettes have even been used for digital storage although pretty low density for anything now.

As for making new ones. There are lots of used ones for sale cheap. You might need a new belt or something and some cleaning type maintenance but that is not expensive. Or if it is, pass and buy the next cheap one you find in better shape. IF the head and motor are totally worn out, or it is mechanically broken, that is a pass but that is not typical.

You mark which type of NR you used when recording the tape on your stereo system, it doesn't mean that the tape has the NR already...especially on a BLANK tape...

I have the same unit and my built in microphone doesn't pick up anything either, it's dead. I don't know why but I presume that it's a cheap microphone.

OMG, du kannst doch nicht das schöne, alte Mikrofon kaputt machen! ;-) Ich hatte früher, 1967 einen Philipps EL-3300 und 1972 einen ITT-SchaubLorenz SL 60 Kassettenrekorder. Der Philipps hatte ein externes Mikrofon beiliegen, der ITT-SL ein eingebautes Mikrofon.

I'm wondering how anyone can screw up a built-in electret microphone. They cost about 1 dollar.