Boomboxes with Recording Level Controls?

[smeltedcheese]

The Pioneer SK-75O and JVC M-90 have them. Are there others?

And a side question: Is it possible to record an external source (CD or turntable) to cassette with a boombox's microphone jacks (connected by an RCA-to-1/8th inch adapter) and using the mic mix level control to set the recording level?

 

[H3NK3L]

The Pioneer SK-75O and JVC M-90 have them. Are there others?

And a side question: Is it possible to record an external source (CD or turntable) to cassette with a boombox's microphone jacks (connected by an RCA-to-1/8th inch adapter) and using the mic mix level control to set the recording level?

M70
Philips / radiola / magnavox D8614
Sharp GF-9x9x

(from the 1 pieces I have)

RCA to Mic, not the best of ideas, except on some who share the MIC and the AUX input (mx-900e for instance, which has a left and right channel for mic and AUX through 2 jack inputs ), case in which the jack input is indicated as aux/mic in my (limited) experience. But I d try it and see what it gives...

CD player to mic might work, turntable will depend on whether is has an riaa or not. (easy to find out, when you try it and it sounds baseless and really low and a bit distorted... You ll need a reverse riaa.

You could try headphone (source) to mic... When I was still young and naive and an adolescent that often worked. Stereo and all.

 

[smeltedcheese]

Thanks for the information, H3NK3L. What do you mean by trying headphone (source) to mic?

 

[H3NK3L]

Thanks for the information, H3NK3L. What do you mean by trying headphone (source) to mic?

On some 80s devices, Sony D50 CD player and a lot of othrrs, there is headphone jack out aswell an RCA out.

When I was younger then I am now. On my boombox I had back then I had no AUX or Line In, only PHONO and mic (I m too young to have had DIN).

So to record a tape from a CD, I used the headphone (out) on my CD player (source) and plugged that into the mic (in) on my boombox. Often had to lower the volume on my CD player not to get distortion.

That's what I mean with using the headphone output as source. (3.5mm jack (headphone) to 5mm jack in my days as apposed to RCA to 3.5mm jack.

I don't know the electronics behind the inputs.. But I do seem to remember that depending on the devices used, RCA to RCA always worked well, RCA to jack (mic) was a matter of luck, but headphone to mic ALWAYS worked, just sometimes it recorded mono instead of stereo)

 

[smeltedcheese]

On some 80s devices, Sony D50 CD player and a lot of othrrs, there is headphone jack out aswell an RCA out.

When I was younger then I am now. On my boombox I had back then I had no AUX or Line In, only PHONO and mic (I m too young to have had DIN).

So to record a tape from a CD, I used the headphone (out) on my CD player (source) and plugged that into the mic (in) on my boombox. Often had to lower the volume on my CD player not to get distortion.

That's what I mean with using the headphone output as source. (3.5mm jack (headphone) to 5mm jack in my days as apposed to RCA to 3.5mm jack.

I don't know the electronics behind the inputs.. But I do seem to remember that depending on the devices used, RCA to RCA always worked well, RCA to jack (mic) was a matter of luck, but headphone to mic ALWAYS worked, just sometimes it recorded mono instead of stereo)

I get it now. Clever! I might try that. A 3.5 mm jack is what I meant when I said 1/8th inch.

 

[goodman]

Is it possible to record an external source (CD or turntable) to cassette with a boombox's microphone jacks
(connected by an RCA-to-1/8th inch adapter) and using the mic mix level control to set the recording level?

Оf course it is possible, but 99% of mix mixing inputs are mono
and you'll lose the stereo effect and dynamic range (no high freq).

It's better to buy vintage cassette deck and restore it with new belts.

 

[floyd]

Оf course it is possible, but 99% of mix mixing inputs are mono
and you'll lose the stereo effect and dynamic range (no high freq).

It's better to buy vintage cassette deck and restore it with new belts.

Microphone mixing level knobs are basically for microphones and generally they're not in stereo it's one microphone playing into the boombox that's what microphone mixing means but these are also used as audio inputs it will work but like I said it's made for a microphone.

 

[floyd]

Microphone mixing level knobs are basically for microphones and generally they're not in stereo it's one microphone playing into the boombox that's what microphone mixing means but these are also used as audio inputs it will work but like I said it's made for a microphone.

If you had left and right or multiple microphone inputs then it's possible that the microphone inputs would play in Stereo as long as it's recorded in Stereo from the microphone inputs.

 

[floyd]

As wild as it sounds I own a mixer and I don't even know how to use the damn thing lol.

 

[goodman]

As wild as it sounds I own a mixer and I don't even know how to use the damn thing lol.

If you don't have user manual, you can search in google for pdf file or for some video lessons in youtube...

About general question: Boomboxes with Recording Level Controls?
There is a many, but boomboxes with more features are more expensive from standard boomboxes.

 

[smeltedcheese]

Оf course it is possible, but 99% of mix mixing inputs are mono
and you'll lose the stereo effect and dynamic range (no high freq).

It's better to buy vintage cassette deck and restore it with new belts.

I hear you. I just like the all-in-one functionality of a boomer and would like to make use of it if I can. My standards for audio quality are pretty low.

 

[goodman]

I understand you very well.
Buying a cassette deck is investment.
You must repair it or pay for this.
You must have space in home for this deck, too.

 

[Reli]

The audio quality thru mic inputs is usually horrible. It's better to just buy a bluetooth cassette and leave it in the tape deck.

 

[H3NK3L]

The audio quality thru mic inputs is usually horrible. It's better to just buy a bluetooth cassette and leave it in the tape deck.

If one can find a decent bluetooth cassette - in my experience they are a bit of a hit or fail. Personally I m not a huge fan the "tape-head pushed against tape-head" principle they seem to have and from the 4 or so I tried, 3 had scratches on their (very cheap) tape-heads and needed some intervention to stop making weird noises. But they ARE fun to play with, you can even sticker them to look like "awesome mix tape" or "vintage tape" or ...

To get back to boomboxes , you can with certainty recognise a stereo-mic boombox when it has a Left and Right microphone jack - and those usually have a left and right REC level pot or slider as well. Most of them will go MONO if you only plug in one jack though.