From: utzoo!decvax!duke!unc!brl-bmd!wmartin
Newsgroups: net.audio
Title: Re: Please Help Me Buy A Walkman
Article-I.D.: brl-bmd.306
Posted: Wed Aug  4 10:07:22 1982
Received: Thu Aug  5 04:52:23 1982


I suggest holding off any Walkman-type equipment purchase for about a year,
or maybe until early '83, after the Winter CES new equipment comes out.
This applies if you are interested in relative fidelity and eliminating
tape hiss with Dolby B. (If not, buy one of the currently-available cheap
ones.)

A recent article in one of the slick audio mags (I think it was Stereo Review)
discussed why none of the Walkman-type devices had Dolby (until the recently-
announced very expensive Sony); Dolby chips which would operate on the low
voltage available in the Walkman-type machines were just not available.
However, this is being rapidly remedied by the chip makers, and a new crop
of reasonably-priced Walkman-style machines should be available WITH Dolby
shortly.

I can't abide the idea of piping unDolbyized cassette tape his directly into
my ears with the current crop of machines.                   ^s ("hiss")

With fairly reasonable play-only machines available now for about $30
wholesale and up, I expect to get one next year (play-only, with Dolby B)
for $60 or so, from one of the wholesalers or discount mail-order sources.

Also, if you really don't care about Dolby, remember that the introduction
of it will make ALL current models obsolete immediately, and there should
be some fantastic dumps of old-model inventory at decent prices from
retail sources, so that is an incentive to hold off buying anyway!

Will Martin