Klim K7 - Portable Stereo Cassette Player w/SD Recording!

[@dhpbear2]

23:40 - That swooshing sound is the head azimuth mis-adjusted for that particular tape.

[@danielleclare2938]

Had a Sony version like the white one shown in the 80's. Stereo separation was very good and so was radio reception. I used it in my car plugged into a Denon Power EQ. My car tunes came out of a Walkman but it worked very well for that.

[@mikoolo1698]

Found a refurbished Walkman DD2 on ebay. Hope I get it before christmas week which I doubt. It's being shipped from UK to Sweden.

[@GaryKeepItSimple]

K7 = Cassette in French shorthand K is pronounced as K. 7 in French is Sept pronounced as CETT therefor K 7= cassette.

[@marcosmurakami17]

As same as portuguese language (K=Cá e 7=Sete)

[@LudovicoOperti]

The speaker magnet so close to the tape spools scares me

[@ralfwalter3923]

Rip out the speaker. Problem solved.

[@bertheeren7250]

Thats the reason it doesn't has an erase head! It is not needed!

[@sjaool]

It has no detectable effect.

[@dmcintosh1967]

I recently got a new cassette personal stereo from Amazon and what I find cool about the unit is that it's housed in a transparent case so you can see the cassette deck mechanism as it plays. It sounds ok nothing mind blowing but on par with the cheap players of 90s and early 2000s stereo. The unit is auto reverse and is in stereo. Here is the make Burtowic and I couldn't find the model number. It also appears it is sold under different brand names but one listed is one I got.

[@jim010109]

Between my collection and my wife's, we had hundreds of tapes. Sold them all in a yard sale because thought it was the end of tapes, tape players. Needless to say, I regret it now. Great review.

[@intromortti]

If stereo channels are played from a mono speaker, even a small azimuth angle difference causes this wandering treble. It has to be precisely right to play evenly. That's why I use mono button on my amp to adjust azimuth on my cassette deck.

[@Frank_42]

Why Klim did you not make this cassette player in (retro Apple like) translucent white like your portable CD Player which I love?

[@Trance88]

For a "modern" Walkman, it sounds alright. I didn't hear any motor interference and it sounds very clear. There is a bit of flutter, which can be heard in the long held notes from the trumpet on the Xmas song, but that's pretty much expected.

[@Recordology]

Agreed - often the w/f settles down after some play.

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

P.S., QUALITY home 🏡 stereo radio receivers used weighted flywheel tuning. This allowed 👌 for finer tuning, and very precise tuning, once you're close to a radio station 🚉. Again, your friend, Jeff.

[@BallparkHunter]

I've been looking to a Walkman that records off of FM radio for a few years but has stereo sound. Do any of these have that feature?

[@MarioMania05]

Might end up getting one in Feb

[@summersky77]

I’d say that this KLIM model is the best of the ultra cheap cassette Walkman style units. Ive tried pretty much all of them out there in Amazon’s world. The next step up is another $90-100 and it’s the Fiio. The Fiio and WAR units though really are in a league of their own to be fair. There hasn’t been the QC issues the ultra cheap units suffer from with the $100+ units.

[@lookoutleo]

How is the tape playback , does speed fluctuate on this

[@johnmarchington3146]

First of all, it's playback only so you would expect it to be cheaper than the others. For the money, however, I thought it would be a decent buy and I thought it performed well with the SD card being a nice touch too..

[@ThatVinylChannel]

Kind of looks like White Wolf Cafe' in downtown Orlando. But, it's been a few years since I have been there. I'm also thinking maybe Busch Gardens in Tampa.

[@scooterboi8761]

I just bought this little unit, to replace my Sony WM-10 which needs new belts. This unit isn't bad, but I miss Dolby NR because the sound through the headphones is quite bright.

[@Recordology]

Agreed....

[@MrThecroatian]

I like the timer display.

[@Recordology]

Same...

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

Long Time, No See!! Ya probably never thought that the name on that cassette deck spells "Milk" backwards. Them tape players of yesteryear are much better than ones today 🤷. Clear Tech is particularly interesting!! Happy Thanksgiving!! Your friend, Jeff.

[@cuoresportivo155]

the playback sounded just fine, at least when stationary.

[@PeterCreed-g7s]

The direct feeds are good😊

[@felipesanchez1140]

Is it possible to connect via usb to the computer to use audacity ???? Or the usb connecter is only to charge the bateries???

[@dmcintosh1967]

Tanashin has been around longer then most people think. In the 70s they made a bunch of 8-track mechanism for various brands and what gives them away is the white plastic head carrier. In the late 70s they had a cassette mechanism that was used in cheaper brands like Yorx until the mide 80s when they came out with new mechanism which is the one everybody nows today and the one thats being cloned.

[@Recordology]

Right!

[@bertheeren7250]

The flywheel is important but not THAT important. It's not the only part in a tape mechanism that matters and putting a metal flywheel in doesn't make an unstable mechanism stable, it just lowers wow and in lesser manner flutter a bit. I tested a few of these mechanisms and the slightly different one (solenoid controlled) in the full size teac decks and the biggest problem wasn't the flywheel but the rubber. The W1200 has two decks both with metal flywheels but one had double the W&F then the other. The belt was the culprit. Other even bigger problem is the pinchroller. It's small and doesn't has good grip. Therefore it doesn't control tape well and especially if the takeup torque is high, tape slips underneath the roller. This causes a lot of flutter and the high frequencies to fade in and out or just being weak on the left channel with some cassettes as the roller is not able to pull tape controlled through the tape path. The shell of the cassette needs to be absolutely perfect to not get any skew. Also I had a lot of shredding due to the slipping of these bad rollers and tape riding against the edges of the guides on the heads. The stereo heads are OK soundwise, not great, but they wear down very quickly. After (estimated) 150 hour there were significant wear grooves in the heads causing big difference between left and right channel. That just with playing normal TDK D tape and RTM. Tape handling is rough either. No breaking when going out winding, putting on the heads with tape slack and risk of creasing the tape. I know these chinese knockoffs are all there is sadly but let's not pretend they are excellent and fantastic in sound and reliability. You actually miss much more points then the ones who write off these mechanisms. And yes I used them and not just saying because everyone says it. They are junk but they can be a nice toy making people interested in cassettes again. That is actually a good thing and they are priced fair.

[@sjaool]

Second hand Sony Walkmans are very expensive so these "toys" are a nice surrogate. Let's hope the big manufacturers step in when popularity gains. Technics stopped producing turntables for a while but are back in business. Let's hope Sony follows with their Walkmans.

[@Johnny-P-Good]

The golden days of Sony Walkmans are over. The old units that survive don't sound the same because of wear. The refurbished models are very expensive. We have to support these new brands. If there's still a market, we still gonna have these around for the upcoming years. If there's enough demand for premium models like the We Rewind or Fiio, more brands are gonna jump over to raise the bar. So please, stop comparing this newer models with the peak ones of the 90s. Is a lose, lose game for all. That being said; thanks for the information. It was very informative. But let's stop the "crap" label of newer models.

[@larryshaver3568]

i think the term is rotational inertia

[@xargos]

Nice review! I do have one question, though. Do the variable bitrate MP3s this creates have high average bitrates or lower ones? Thanks!

[@jamesdrake6200]

Very nice. KLIM seem to make decent products, especially for that price.

[@Recordology]

They sure do! It's hard to beat a price like that!

[@83Roboto]

It is interesting to see all the options being offered in the portable "walkman" type market. While there seems to be a comeback for the cassette, I don't think we will see higher quality offerings in terms of players and recorders like we have seen with vinyl. The only thing that I think could change that is if more major recording artists start to release their material on the cassette format.

[@bertheeren7250]

There are a lot of major artists releasing their music on cassette. Last album of linking Park, Eminem, Taylor Swift, Lana del Ray, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Mark Knopfler, Olivia Rodrigo. All big names releasing music on cassettes. Many are good quality actually

[@bertheeren7250]

Tanashin still exist today, they didn't go under, they even confirmed themselves they don't make cassette mechanism anymore and all there is still there are clones. They never made high quality mechanisms for the big brands. It's true that a lot of brands used universal mechanisms in the 80s and 90s but that where ALPS (decent) and Sankyo(excellent) mechanisms. Especially the latter one was very widespread, brands like Teac, Onkyo, Yamaha, Kenwood and even a lot of Nakamichi decks used those. They were excellent. ALPS you saw in the 90s a lot, they were cheaper but still good. Onkyo and Harman Kardon used them of example. Tanashin was mostly used in cheap walkmans and car radios. Probably not as bad as most of the clones but it weren't high quality Sankyos or ALPS mechanisms.

[@Recordology]

• By the 2010s, with the decline of cassette technology and the rise of digital media, demand for cassette mechanisms significantly decreased. • Reports indicate that Tanashin ceased operations sometime around 2018 due to declining business in the cassette market. • There are no recent signs of Tanashin’s activities or website, indicating that they are no longer in business.

[@Recordology]

1. Sony (for some of their budget models) 2. Panasonic (in lower-end and mid-range models) 3. JVC (especially in compact systems and boomboxes) 4. Philips 5. Aiwa (in their entry-level portable cassette players) 6. Sharp 7. Sanyo 8. Hitachi 9. Akai 10. Toshiba 11. Fisher 12. Lasonic

[@bertheeren7250]

​​@@RecordologyI don't say they weren't used I say they weren't used in high quality decks and walkmans. You say they where high quality, they weren't, they where fine for what they are but don't have the quality as the mechs I named and the company own high quality mechanisms, like sony used in their own walkmans or cassette decks. These where made to be cheap but ok for what they are.

[@bertheeren7250]

​​@@RecordologyThey still make CD player mechs for example. Search for tanashin on google, I cannot include links but their website is one of the first hits on google. Vwestlife contacted them a few years ago about these mechs

[@bertheeren7250]

​@@Recordology They still make cd mechanism today. They have their own site still

[@cpta03]

Excellent unit. I just ordered one. I have radio shows on tape to convert to digital. Thanks for this video and voiding your warranty to show us the internal mechanism.

[@Recordology]

You are welcome!

[@maiconvengrzennunesbusolog4864]

sounds nice 🧐😃

[@montynorth3009]

I didn't hear much motor noise, which is often the bane of these units compared to a Sony for example. If not intrusive, then this seems like a good unit to buy, and the extra features of being an MP3 player and portable recorder are really good.

[@sjaool]

There is noise but no motor noise. MP3 recordings made of cassettes are clean but you will hear tape noise when there is silence. Which is locigal because there's no Dolby.

[@bobwigg761]

As I’d only need to use it to convert cassette tapes to MP3, this looks like a good value for me.

[@Recordology]

It would do the job for sure!

[@bobwigg761]

@@Recordology I bought it and it works just fine. I did confirm that it is actually stereo, otherwise it would have been a deal breaker for me. For my needs, this is a good value.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Milk backwards. 😂 Coincidence. I just started listening to my cassettes again. The cassettes I recorded off of the radio. I have a few Boomboxes, and players. I also have a GPX belt player.. But the GPX doesn't play in stereo. I am surprised they have new players worth buying. (Assuming they play without noticeable wow and flutter, and the sound quality is excellent) Cassettes may seem obsolete, but as someone who recorded stuff off of the radio, I like listening to them again, and the disc jockeys back then .

[@Recordology]

Recordings of old radio ads, DJs, sound effects etc are really fun!

[@lookoutleo]

I have a car stereo that can record from FM, Bluetooth , aux in To sd card. Look at my short . Yours is Interesting machine, can it record from aux in?

[@Recordology]

Only from tape....

[@lookoutleo]

@Recordology still a useful thing as quite cheap and includes a tape player. Are you happy listning to tapes throu it

[@Frank_42]

No dolby sucks when your tapes are recorded that way.

[@goodtimefolkrock]

can this play type II tapes

[@ralfwalter3923]

Surely they'll "play"... how they sound though... eesh might be a crap-shoot.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

I would assume it can. Just not record on them. It may sound a bit different.

[@Recordology]

It can!

[@RJS3566]

Does it record to SD in stereo?

[@sjaool]

Yes, it does.

[@montynorth3009]

Playing back at 26:10 sounds stereo.

[@christronicsdereksrandomness36]

It does.

[@01chippe]

I’m sure everyone wants a speaker magnet sitting right on top of a cassette tape. That’s a dumb design.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

I have a GPX player like that. I haven't noticed any issues, but will test something that's not already magnetized to see if the back of the speaker attracts it.

[@sjaool]

It has no detectable effect.

[@jasonwilliams6005]

Many new units are mono, which is ridiculous.

[@sjaool]

This one isn't.

[@thebottomband]

no fly-by-night fly-wheels!

[@MichaelSaamone]

I think the clear cassette player was made for jail inmates . You don't want criminals locked up having stuff that's to nice .

[@Recordology]

Clear electronics were indeed used for prisons - however they are seperately popular as well.

[@MuzikJunky]

Looks like the same-ol’ Chinese mechanism in all of the current players. I really miss the classic Walkmans of the late 1980s and 1990s. Not knocking its sound or quality, however. Peace.

[@todoreldub]

auriculares magneticos para un reproductor de cassette, mmm, no es la mejor combinación. Tanashin no fabrica más mecanismos.

[@HadesTimer]

Seems like the built in speaker is garbage. The rest of the unit seems great.

[@sjaool]

The build in speaker is fine for what it is. Just expect no hifi quality.

[@ralfwalter3923]

I'm getting one for sure. Sure going rip out that speaker tho!

[@pekerhed101]

I can't take a walkman seriously if it doesn't have a Belt-Clip on it. Looking at the modern era ones displayed in this video, they all lack a Belt-Clip. Lame.

[@BallparkHunter]

I've been looking to a Walkman that records off of FM radio for a few years but has stereo sound. Do any of these have that feature?