Product Description

With the Sony TCW-E475, you can take advantage of your old cassette tapes that are just sitting there collecting dust. The TCW-E475 features dual cassette decks that supports both playback and recording, making it a great addition to any home stereo setup. Relay Play Wide-range pitch control Switchable MPX filter Full-logic feather-touch transport controls Twin electronic counters Control A1 capability High-speed dubbing Super-density Permalloy heads Fader switch Headphone jack Weight - 8lbs. 13oz.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3165 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sony
• Model: TCW-E475
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 4.80" h x 17.00" w x 11.20" l, 12.00 pounds

Features

• Dual auto reverse
• Dolby B and C noise reduction
• Dolby HX Pro circuitry
• Auto record Level
• Multi-AMS track search

Amazon.com Product Description
Sony's TC-WE475 dual-well cassette player/recorder offers high quality and plenty of great features, including dual auto-reverse playback. When coupled with the deck's relay play feature, dual auto-reverse means you can enjoy up to three hours of continuous music from two 90-minute cassettes. One tape well plays, the other records. You can set the recording input level using a dedicated control or rely on Sony's auto level-setting feature to choose the most appropriate level for your tape (this works best on dynamically limited material such as pop music). Choose from normal- and high-speed dubbing: normal speed for higher fidelity, high speed for greater convenience.

Sony has built the deck with high-density Permalloy tape heads for long life. For noise reduction, the TC-WE475 is outfitted with both Dolby B, the encoding standard used on most prerecorded cassettes, and Dolby C, which buys you another 10 to 20 dB or so of noise reduction beyond that offered by Dolby B (around 10 dB). Use Dolby when recording and, if a tape has been recorded using Dolby, when listening.

Two other technologies specifically heighten the quality of your recordings. During loud level peaks, Dolby HX Pro dynamically adjusts the bias signal (a supersonic and basically sacrificial tone your deck uses to push distortion out of the audible range), effectively letting you record "hotter"--that is, louder on tape--without compressing the high-frequencies of your program material. Secondly, an onboard MPX filter blocks the 19 kHz multiplex pilot tone of FM stereo broadcasts for proper Dolby noise-reduction tracking when you record off the air.

Other features include full-logic, feather-touch transport controls and twin electronic tape counters (one for each deck), which come in handy when you're making a compilation from a variety of source tapes. If you have a Sony audio/video receiver, you can operate the deck from your receiver's remote control.

What's in the Box
Cassette player/recorder and user's manual.

From the Manufacturer
Sony's TC-WE475 cassette player/recorder is packed with features that enable a great listening and recording experience. Utilize our dual auto reverse feature as you listen, and hear the difference that Dolby B and C noise reduction makes as it suppresses high frequency noise. Also featuring Dolby HX Pro circuitry, auto record level, multi-AMS track search, relay play, and full-logic, feather-touch transport controls, the TC-WE475 is a treasure.

Features

• Dual auto reverse
• Dolby B and C noise reduction
• Dolby HX Pro circuitry
• Auto record Level
• Multi-AMS track search
• Relay play
• Wide-range pitch control
• Remote control capable with Sony A/V receivers
• Weight: 8 lbs., 13 oz. (4.0 kg)
• Dimensions: 17" x 4-3/4" x 11-1/2" (430 x 120 x 290 mm)

Customer Reviews

Good, basic unit, bought for analog-to-digital transfers.
I needed a player for the task of converting 200 audio cassette tapes to digital, using the Audacity application. We stick to Sony for our electronics--when we stray we're usually sorry. So I went with this deck. Not that there's much of a selection left for this archaic recording method. Since we won't use a tape deck for anything after the converting project is done, I didn't want to spend a lot. This unit was a good deal and so far is doing the job well. There aren't any bells or whistles but they aren't needed. The loud thud of the motor when fast-forwarding ends is a bit alarming. Hopefully it's normal for a "DC Servo Controlled Motor"--whatever that is! The manual is simple and well-written. I recommend this machine.

Great product!
We're really happy with this Sony after buying & returning TEAC W-600R Dual Full-Logic Cassette. What a difference in sound! Better features, too. Definitely worth the difference in price.

Using XDR test tones & frequency analyzer
Like many of you I'm digitizing some cassettes; commercial ones that are out of print and demos from various musical projects I mixed down to cassette in the 80s and 90s. Finding a used Nak or Studer-Revox from days of yore and insuring it is up to spec is a bit much and, being a freelancer, my finances for such indulgences are strictly budgeted. The Sony is in my price range and it will see vary little use after I digitize about 30 commercial and 30 demo cassettes. "Sigh".., then it will be time to look for a reasonably priced (properly speced this time) turntable to start digitizing my discontinued vinyl.

Even as useless as the spec sheet is I still chose the Sony because of the price. Honestly, the spec sheet means nothing. The frequency response numbers don't specify which tape well is being referenced, there's no specified weighting. If "IEC" is meant to indicate that the results are weighted then there is no indication as to what type. Although an argument could be made that A is the most common it is after all a spec sheet I'm referring to. By definition a spec sheet should be specific. I'm spoiled.

What about that incredible frequency response that is +/-6db? Using the above assumption about what the inclusion of "IEC" may or may not indicate about weighting it could indicate "unweighted". At +/-6db unweighted who cares, its technical jabberwocky, its B.S. marketing. Still, I went into this knowing the specs were the product of "creative accounting".

So, my suggestion for choosing a cassette deck, this one included, is to first purchase it from someplace with a good return policy, then once it arrives and is set up find a XDR cassette in your collection, find a frequency analyzer plug-in for your chosen recording software, record the test tones played back from both heads (tape wells) and look at the results in the freq analyzer yourself. The results I got were acceptable for what I want to accomplish. Cassettes were never audiophile quality even when the source was recorded onto a hi-speed single well professional deck (good luck finding said deck), no matter how much anyone wants to convince you otherwise its not true. It is true, however, that if you want to go crazy and squeeze that last bit of fidelity out of your cassette collection then a restored hi-end Nakamichi or Studer-Revox is the way to go. Better yet, use the original deck the material was recorded on after you've cleaned and degaused it.

If your cassette collection is mostly commercial pop, rock, and mix tapes of the same then this deck should be fine from a fidelity standpoint (if you consider yourself a classical music or jazz aficionado and have any of such in your cassette collection that was purchased after your college years hang your head in shame). As for long term reliability, I'll probably never know. Once my cassettes are digitized look for this deck on ebay. It will have been professionally maintained and have low hours.