Audiophiles: Where's a Good Portable Tape Recorder?

In My Humble Opinion
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      • Where can I find -new- high-quality portable cassette recorders? While sitting on the minidisk fence, someone tells me that there are such things as high-quality portable cassette recorders, and they do perform far better than the typical cheap crap in modern stereos. Problem is, ain’t nobody got none…
  • I can find reviews and mentions on the web: Sony WMD3, Sony WMD6, Sony TCS580V, but all these are out of production, and only available used (I’m not insisting on a Sony, that’s just mostly the brand that I found mentioned). To give a ballpark figure, new, these would have cost $250-$350+; they have real Db meters, NR filters, and support all 3 types of tape. Are any machines like these still available new at all? - DougC
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Ebay is your friend

Sony TCM-EV5000 Professional Tape Recorder

or get it new here for $ 550.00

http://www.lodde.com/products.dictation.sony.htm

This one retailed out for approx $ 280

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?iewItem&item=1711421131

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Is there any particular reason why you want to use cassette tape instead of minidisc?

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      • I want to record audio and then apply digital effects to it, and am wondering what kind of results I would get off a minidisc. Also, analog = no clipping. - DougC
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Do you mean digital effects in the digital domain (i.e. edit with your computer) or digital effects in the analog domain (i.e. running your signal through an array of digital reverbs, delays, etc.)?

Anyway, you do have to be more vigilant monitoring your levels with minidisc, but the sound quality and indexing more than makes up for it.

If you’re really dying for portable cassette though, Marantz has a line of high quality portable recorders which tops out at around $500 for a stereo one.

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      • Thanks. I did find the Marantz recorders, but that was about the only brand available new, and many of the models available had integrated 4-track mixers I didn’t need (stereo only). Just about everyone who had tried both said minidisc would cost less and sound much better anyway.
  • And somebody does now make a portable audio CD-recorder, but it has fancy editing features on-board (as opposed to just being a simple stereo recorder) and it’s priced at $1000… - DougC