Most new tapes I find are bad anyway. Still lots of new old stock around! For now anyway.
You can do it with digital systems too, I do it with my tascam 32ds
I’ve been after a personal cassette player for some time. I bought a great one, still boxed but it only outputs mono. It’s mainly for recording interviews or lectures etc.
After that I picked up one from the giant electronic store Bic Camera. It was super awful and as noisy as the audio. I don’t mind the nostalgic hiss but this piece took the biscuit. I put it back in its box with the receipt.
I also have one of the best and most classic personal cassette players but it doesn’t work and I just couldn’t fix it.
Popped out at the weekend to a couple of the great second hand stores named Hard-Off and my gap was filled. I picked up a Sony WM-EX631. It came in a bit hefty on the wallet but a 10% Halloween sale dropped the price somewhat. I asked the guy if it worked and he replied with “Do you want to try it out?” Wow! His English was great and we had a bit of friendly chat while he prepared the player. He grabbed a battery and a cassette.
“Do you know Enka?” He said with a smile.
“Oh yes! My father-in-law plays it in the car sometimes.”
Enka is Japanese folk music. I checked it out and yes… spot on! The thing works in all its crusty, crunchy, slightly off way!
The thing that amazed me about this player was the speed control. I was longing to give it a go and it worked like a charm. I have a PITCH CONTROL on my Marantz and it’s great for adding vibe and subtle swing. I can’t believe this has it too! So impressed!
The most impressive thing… which I’ve only just found… he left the cassette in there! Quality! How rad is that!?
Congrats. I would love one.
A gem, a real gem!
And my favourite… pitch control!!!
Legowelt talks about it here… https://youtu.be/TGCxBVu1-sE
My wife’s walkman is in good hands 
Got this one from a friend/neighbour A few years ago. Works fine.
Portastudio 424 mkIII, bought here on the forum. Have not used it as much as wanted to, was thinking of selling it on but quickly changed my mind after giving it another spin. Love this thing, just a little shaky when I use it because I don’t want to break anything. It’s not an Elektron build 
I love cassettes.
Sweet.
i know this video. the real burner ist the other dude with his toddler Base Cap & Sweater lol
Thought you would. Lol I almost wrote “You probably already know this vid.” in my reply.
That comment made me laugh out loud
Did this ever end up happening?
No, it never did and funnily enough I’ve just been thinking about that.
I picked up some cassette recordings at the weekend. Two had pictures of Japanese people on the front, wearing matsuri (festival) attire and beating tyco drums so I picked them up. I gave it a little last night and just put it on for my commute. It’s incredible!!! Countless sample opportunities. It’s basically a live recording, using whatever microphones they had at the time, of a live matsuri, on cassette. I love these festivals, there are soooo many things happening that I’ve never seen before. People playing various instruments lead and follow a group of mini shrine carriers who shout things to get energy and keep their motivation up. This mini shrine is very heavy.
I was wondering if anybody would be interested in a cassette like this. Perhaps I’ll put together a little taster sample pack of 10 samples and if anybody is interested after that then they can pick up a full recording.
I still have the other sample tapes. I didn’t go down the route of inboxing people to chase them up. Not interested in that.
Actually have 2 if these akai mg614 now 
liked it so much I go one as a back up. I am a bit more confident in my ability to fix these units now so I might consider selling my back up soon. The EQs sound great aswell as just the mixer in general. Very few 4 tracks compete with its quality imo, it is pretty large though. Anyone looking to get one know they are bit of a pain to work on but worth it I think.
This is a bit of an aside, but does anyone here watch Mr. Robot? I am catching up on my DVR and in episode 2 of season 4 (the final season), there’s a scene where Elliot and Darlene find a cassette walkman. In my head, I’m thinking “Whoa, major score!” and only a few moments later, Darlene mentions that she’ll keep it because “cassettes are totally back!” Evidently, someone on the writing team is paying attention to all these boutique releases. That reminds me, I really have to find out if my mom still has the old walkman somewhere…
I have a Fostex X28 (donated by a friend), but it won’t switch on. Nothing happens at all. I’ve opened it up, and tested the switch, and it all seems fine in there.
I’ve tried a few different power supplies that match the requirements printed on the case — the original power supply is missing — but no luck.
Any ideas?
How’s your electronic skills?
Your going to need a multimeter, first thing I’d do is see if the unit is drawing any current when switched on.
I love my Fostex as much as the next guy, but sometimes I can’t be bothered to power it up and record on tape. For those moments I bought myself this plugin today. It’s on sale for a limited time to celebrate it’s launch. Played a bit of synths through the presets today and it was really good fun. Can be used very subtly but can also go to quite extreme settings. Recommended. https://www.wavesfactory.com/cassette/
Oh, looks sleek!
I just can’t be bothered to fire up my DAW lol
I’m pretty covered with Satin and J37 plugins but I’m always interested in experimenting.
Thanks for the heads up!
Petty good!
But maybe not that good, because I don’t know how to do this. I shall Google it now.
Same. Much easier just to turn on, and press record.