I usually listen to all the cassette tapes (entirely) I advertise on either Tascam or Nakamichi equipment but while testing this cassette player (on both playback and record), in addition to the "acceptable" audio quality, I was very impressed by facilities it offers the user.
This is a consumer grade machine (but with a lot of bells & whistles) so if you are looking for a hi-end machine, don't consider this machine - Nakamichi or the Tascam 202MKVIII (USB) are much better choices but for "everyday use" where you just want to play or transfer some old cassette tapes, this will do the trick for you.
I am not intending to berate this machine, just being realistic - this is a consumer machine with lots of extras but it is not in the professional class!
I hear you ... why on earth would someone want to listen to tape, let alone cassettes!
It's analog! Not clean, sterile digital audio
Old family history recordings for transfer to a more stable media such as CDr or solid state media. Many many people have these old recordings made way back in the day when cassette tape was the common form of making your own recordings.
Old musicians never die, they just dream of those gigs way back in the past and how things used to be. Again, it was extremely common for recordings (both 4 track and 2 track) to be made to cassette tapes. Now they have boxes of these tapes but nothing to play or transfer them with.
So most of the recording types mentioned above have sentimental connections to the tape owner. If you have a really valued old commercial cassette prerecorded tape that you want to move across to other media, I would strongly suggest a semi or professional grade machine such as those from Nakamichi or Tascam (the professional division of Teac)
Some diehards use cassette tape to record still, but I don't find many people wanting to do this - if anything, recording to reel to reel is a very cool thing to do particularly if the machine is capable of tape looping or has 2 or more RW heads for analog reverb etc
So, this is a great little cassette machine to lift the audio off your old cassettes and store/play them on a more "modern" media format.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE:
While this machine is very capable of playing your old cassettes, it is VERY IMPORTANT that your cassette tapes are in "useable" condition. The lubricant must still exist, the head pad must not have fallen off! and of course, the tape must not be physically damaged/twisted/etc
Some guides about using old cassette tapes are HERE
SONY Twin Cassette Player/Recorder
Model: TC-WE675
Released to market 2001
240V 50Hz Australian model
Full auto reverse on both A & B tape mechanisms
Jet Black metal case
Plastic front panel
Blue/Green fluorescent display
Digital tape counter
Sony remote access using their A1II control system (I don't know of anyone who is using this!)
NO REMOTE IS SUPPLIED - the original is called a RM-J910 or there may be compatible copies to be found as well.
SPECIFICATIONS:
2 Head (Erase & Playback/Record)
3 tape types: Type I (Normal), CrO2 & Metal
Dolby Noise Reduction: Type B or C
HX Pro processing built in
Frequency Response (best expected) Metal tape 30Hz ~ 19KHz (3dB points)
Signal to Noise (Set for Dolby C) 73dB
Wow & Flutter: 0.1% maximum
Total Harmonic Distortion (Maximum) 1.8%
Dimensions: 420mm x 130mm x 300mm deep
Weight (unpacked): 4.2Kg (6Kg packed)
Sony user manual will be supplied (printed from Sony archive files) - because this machine has a number of very special functions, the user manual is invaluable for understanding how to use these functions.
SPECIAL FUNCTIONS:
Although the technical specifications above are not spectacular, Sony has loaded this machine up with features that greatly expand the versatility of this machine.
Deck A has a front panel rotary control so the user can vary the playback pitch +/- 30% (that is a very wide range) so if your recording doesn't sound like the pitch of the person speaking isn't quite right, this is very easy to correct.
Auto Reverse function (switchable) on both decks
Dubbing function from Deck A to Deck B at both "normal/real time speed" and high speed
Using the rear audio inputs you can record to BOTH decks simultaneously OR span or relay from Deck A to Deck B, effectively spreading your source program material across two tapes.
User selectable automatic bias and recording level adjustment for EVERY SINGLE TAPE YOU USE. This is pretty unusual in a deck aimed at the consumer market but can be handy to set up the machine with each and every tape you use (each tape has slightly different oxide formulations and needs slight variations in bias to achieve optimal recording)
User initiated automatic FADE IN or FADE OUT on any part of a recording
Automatic Music Sensor system allows the user to find up to 30 tracks on the tape and play from the beginning of each (the system listens for periods of silence which indicate inter-track silence)
Manual Memory Play, this is very useful when you audition a tape to review the contents and suddenly hear something you want to go back to sometime later. Touch the Memory button and that place on the tape is marked and is easy to get back to later.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Very clean case & front/rear panels
Cassette "well" is also completely dirt/dust free
NO casing damage such as dings or dents (no "drop" damage)
Light and only a few areas of top side marks - these are not significant
All front panel labelling is clear and unworn
No missing buttons
Display is bright and easy to read in all lighting conditions - very nice!
Drop down cassette door operation is smooth and easy (both A & B)
TESTING:
Since I go into a LOT of equipment detail, I have been asked to make a summary at the beginning! So ...
SUMMARY:
All systems go! NO issues discovered and the only real issues in the future are maintaining clean heads/capstan pinch rollers and possibly replacing the belts sometime in the future.
Nice machine with some unusual extra features.
THE DETAILS
Since this is yet another piece of our ex studios equipment from our storage units, I took it out a couple of days ago and ran it through its paces. Actually we barely used this unit but it had it's moments especially when we wanted to change the pitch easily or span recordings across multiple tapes. It also came in handly to make "quick and dirty" safety copies of cassette tapes.
Heads visually inspected, very clean and show very little wear at all - I have cleaned the heads.
Pinch rollers (2 for each deck) are in great condition, the rubber feels good and I cleaned them.
I have de-magnetised both deck heads, this should always be undertaken on a regular basis as residue magnetism does build up and this results in a drop off in the high end frequency response.
Fast Forward & Rewind operate smoothly and fast with no issues. ***
Playback in both directions (I checked single direction and auto reverse) operates fine on both decks. No noticeable wow & flutter playing speech, rock n roll and popular music.
I actually noticed the tape transport system is very quiet in operation and "positive" no hesitation or signs of belt problems. ***
*** BELTS!
While the belts on both decks seem fine at the moment, I have not changed them. It should be realised that ALL belt drive cassette mechanisms fail eventually, the rubber degrades/stretches and all sorts of weird things can happen then! Wow & Flutter are sure signs of belt issues but also refusal to stop at the end of a tape is another common problem. At the moment the belts are fine but one day ....
Fortunately you can still get replacement belts easily and I had a look at the mechanism too - changing the belts is dead easy on this model (there are two belts for each cassette mechanism and no dismantling is required) A good place for belts is Wagner Electronics in Sydney - just select the size, width etc and they do not cost very much.
Front panel automatically indicates exactly what is happening and is easy to read and understand.
Audio output on playback is balanced between the two channels i.e one channel is NOT louder than the other.
At this stage I took one of my test blank cassette tapes (Type I) and undertook the bias and auto recording level procedure (sends test tones (but you cannot hear them) to the tape and then reads the tone levels back and makes adjustments automatically) The display flashes CALC and does a countdown from 9 to 0 - the whole process is automatic and takes around 15 seconds for the tape to be calibrated with the machine.
I then took source material (CD & Tuner) and recorded this to my test tape - no issues at all when recording directly to a single tape, simultaneous recording to two tapes or spanning a recording across Deck A then Deck B automatically.
I also used my newly created tape to then dub from one deck to the other at both normal and high speed - no issues here either.
Audio comments: very nice, clean "bright" audio, plenty of high end and lows. S/N was not an noticeable issue.
I have not tested the A1II Sony remote control system (no cable supplied) as I don't believe anyone would want to use this - originally intended so that various SONY components could be linked together, commonly used to sync a CD player with this cassette machine for recording purposes.
