[HN Gopher] It's 2024 and FiiO is making a portable cassette pla...
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       It's 2024 and FiiO is making a portable cassette player with all-
       analog features
        
       Author : rcarmo
       Score  : 8 points
       Date   : 2024-01-15 18:20 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (liliputing.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (liliputing.com)
        
       | kencausey wrote:
       | According to Youtuber Techmoan there is only one company making
       | actual cassette playback mechanisms anymore and the mechanisms
       | are not great. Any device claiming to be able to play standard
       | audio cassettes sold in recent years is built on one of these
       | barely acceptable mechanisms.
       | 
       | Does anyone have a counterfactual to that?
       | 
       | edit: typo
        
         | starkparker wrote:
         | To emphasize this, Techmoan does thorough mechanical and
         | electrical reviews of cassette decks across eras, and had
         | largely critical reviews of similar new portable players and
         | recorders, such as the We Are Rewind:
         | https://youtu.be/WleZGWAebsY
         | 
         | Many--not all--of these criticisms are based on the fact that
         | the only new mechs coming out now are the same budget Tanashin
         | mechs from shitty 90s decks:
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nezGOVOpHtc
         | 
         | This effectively sabotages any new deck, from a $20 Amazon
         | white label portable to a $40 Walmart Sony to a $500 Teac with
         | the same fundamental reliability and quality problems.
         | 
         | Unlike turntables, which demand precision but are fundamentally
         | simple machines, cassette mechs are complex mechanical devices
         | and nobody wants to make things like that anymore.
        
           | neuralRiot wrote:
           | The playback relevant parts are not that complex, a good
           | motor,and speed control, capstan/ flywheel the pinch roller
           | and a rigid enough chassis to maintain geometry. You hear
           | people complaining that things like that are not made anymore
           | but if they were they wouldn't buy them anyway.
        
         | secretsatan wrote:
         | The article seems to confirm it at the end, mentioning off the
         | shelf components and that it won't out perform the competition.
        
         | KerrAvon wrote:
         | based on the audio Techmoan has posted, "not great" is probably
         | an understatement. "fair" to "poor" is what it sounds like.
        
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       (page generated 2024-01-15 23:02 UTC)