In this video, I'll be comparing two brand new Walkman-style portable stereo cassette players from brands you may recognize, including Toshiba and Maxell, with two vintage models, including an actual Sony Walkman. The first contender is the Aurex Walky AX-W10. Aurex was originally Toshiba's premium brand of audio components, but nowadays they seem to use it on all of their audio products. This model is not officially sold outside of Japan, but you can find it on eBay for around $59 including free shipping. And the second new model is the Maxell MXCP-P100. also not officially sold outside of Japan, but you can find it on eBay for around $128 including free shipping. And the first vintage model is a Sony Walkman WM-FX195, which originally sold for $19.99 in around 2001 to 2002. It uses the same cassette mechanism that Sony used in all of their non-auto-reverse cassette Walkmans made from 1999 onwards. And finally, the Aiwa HS-TX776. I can't find an original price for it, but Radio Shack sold a rebadged version of it, the Optimus SCP-99 for $89.99 in 1998. That's a lot of nines. The Sony is all original and still working fine, while the Aiwa needed a new belt, which cost around $13 including shipping. The two new models both feature a Bluetooth output as well as a conventional 3.5 mm headphone jack, and the Aurex model can record as well as play, a feature I will not be testing in this comparison. And the two vintage models also include an AM/FM radio tuner, which again I will not be testing because it's not the main point of this comparison. Inside the box, the Aurex comes with a USB-C to standard USB cable and an instruction pamphlet written entirely in Japanese. The USB cable is only for powering the device. It cannot be used to transfer the audio from it into your computer. And it runs on two AA batteries. It does not have an internal rechargeable battery. On the top, it has the standard tape transport buttons. Stop, fast forward, rewind, play, and record. There's where the cassette goes in. It does have a clear window on the front. On the top is the volume control, an aux input for recording, the 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, and the USB-C port. On the back is the button for Bluetooth pairing, the aforementioned AA battery compartment, and on the bottom is the Virtual Surround feature, which enhances the stereo effect. The Maxell also comes with an instruction pamphlet written in Japanese, and a USB-C to standard USB cable, which is for both powering and recharging it because this one does have an internal rechargeable lithium ion battery pack. And this one is brand new, so I have yet to remove the protective plastic film. So, I'll do that right now on camera... On the top, it has play, fast forward, and rewind. that may look like a recording button because it's red, but it's actually just the stop button. This model does not record. It also has a removable belt clip on the back. And on the top or side is the volume control, the Bluetooth pairing button, the standard headphone jack, and the USB-C port. And it has a nice clear window on the front. And here is the Sony. It has basic mechanical pushbutton controls for the tape mechanism, an FM, AM, and tape selector, an on/off switch for the Mega Bass. The WM-FX193 model was identical, except it did not have Mega Bass, while the 195 does. On the top is a switch for Sony's Automatic Volume Limiting System, although in this case, it's not actually automatic. All it does when you turn it on is reduce the volume by a fixed amount. There's the headphone jack, a local or DX switch for the FM tuner, and the tuning dial for the radio tuner, and the volume control on the back. It did originally come with a belt clip, although in my case, it's missing, and I don't have one that fits. It runs on two AA batteries. And on the bottom is an artifact where a DC power input jack could have gone, but is not equipped on this model. And the cassette door does have a little window through which you can see the tape. And here is the Aiwa, which is by far the fanciest model. On the front is the radio tuner display and presets and tuning controls and equalizer control. But when you're playing a tape, all it says on the display is TAPE. And this is an auto-reverse cassette player, so you get this switch to manually switch sides. And hidden inside is another switch to control whether you want it to auto-reverse once to play both sides of a tape and then stop, or to auto-reverse continuously until you manually stop it. As you can see, these two vintage players are smaller and thinner than the modern ones, but it's not a massive difference. And if you go back to the 1980s, you can certainly find many vintage Walkman-style players which are even larger and chunkier than these modern ones. Including the batteries and a 60-minute cassette tape, but not including the belt clip if so equipped, the Aiwa weighs 252 grams. The Maxell weighs 240 grams. The Sony weighs 216 grams, and the Toshiba weighs 279 grams. As stated by their respective manufacturers, the Aiwa's battery life is up to approximately 22 hours when using alkaline batteries. The Maxell's battery life is around nine hours using its built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery, which takes two hours to fully charge. The Sony claims a battery life of up to approximately 25 hours when running on alkaline batteries. And the Toshiba claims a battery life of approximately 16 hours when using alkaline batteries. Like I said, I did need to replace the belt on the Aiwa, during which time I also calibrated its speed, but all the others are the way they left the factory. I did not make any adjustments to them. And the Aiwa is the only model in the test which includes auto-reverse, Dolby B noise reduction, and proper equalization for chrome and metal tapes. And while those are certainly nice features to have, I will not be employing them to give it an unfair advantage against the other models in the test which lack those features. And likewise, all the sound modification circuits that these models may have, such as Mega Bass, Multi Sound Processor, or Virtual Surround, will be left off during this comparison. And now, finally, it's the part you've all been waiting for: Direct audio quality comparison tests. First, with the short sample of music repeated on all four players from this standard Type I normal bias tape which is not Dolby NR encoded. And here's another audio quality comparison test, now on Chrome tape, but again without Dolby NR encoding. This time it's acoustic guitar music, which should be more revealing of any unwanted background noise, flutter, or pitch variations. "Charboil & Company for Longhorn Steaks, Talking About 60-second instrumental. That mean there ain't going to be one bit of singing on this thing. Picking and grinning. Just picking and grinning. Hey, you got a pretty guitar, buddy." And this time I'll be playing it through and alternating between the players at regular intervals in alphabetical order. Aiwa, then Maxell, then Sony, then Toshiba. The Aiwa is playing about half a percent fast and the wow and flutter is very good at around 0.10% WRMS. The Maxell is playing about 0.6% fast and the wow and flutter is around 0.15% WRMS. The Sony's speed is almost perfect. It's about 0.2% fast, but its wow and flutter is a miserable 0.35% WRMS. Clearly, it could stand to have its belt replaced. The Toshiba speed is around 1.2% fast and the wow and flutter is around 0.25 to 0.27% WRMS. Because some people are concerned about how loud these players can get with the volume turned all the way up, I'll measure it by connecting the output of each of these players with its volume turned all the way up, playing this special test tape which has a 0 dB tone on it, connected to the input of this cassette deck with its input level set halfway. And the higher up on the meter the level gets, the louder the output of the player is. Yeah, I noticed the Aiwa kind of always fades on slowly as you start the playback, but once it gets up to full volume, it comes in at +1 on the meter. But the Maxell almost instantly comes in at full volume. Again, +1 on the meter. The Sony is the loudest so far at +3 dB. But if I turn on the AVLS, it drops all the way down to -15. So that's what, an 18 dB drop in level by turning on the AVLS compared to the normal mode. And finally, the Toshiba comes in at -3dB, so its output level is lower at maximum volume than all the other players I've tested. As for the azimuth, or head alignment, on the Aiwa, you just have to hope they got it right at the factory because your ability to access the screws to adjust it are blocked by this plastic bezel here. You can just about see them, but you don't have any direct access to get a screwdriver in there without disassembling the entire player. And it's the same thing with the Sony. Again, this plastic trim piece blocks your direct access to adjust the azimuth. But on the Maxell, once you open the door, which is sometimes easier said than done because it's very stiff, but once you get it open and you press play, you can see a little cutout in the plastic, which they very helpfully provided to adjust the azimuth very easily. And it's the same thing on the Toshiba. They helpfully provided a cutout in the plastic allowing you easy access to adjust the azimuth. And I like to adjust it by ear, by playing a good quality pre-recorded tape containing live music with a section of applause, which is basically white noise, and summing the output of the two channels to mono, such as with this helpful switch, and adjusting it for the brightest, clearest sound. So, I'll do that now on the Maxell and see how far off it was... It was just a little bit off. Not too bad. The Toshiba was actually almost perfect. Adjusting it away from where it was set at the factory actually made it worse instead of better. And even though I can't adjust it, the Sony sounds fine. Nice and crisp. The Aiwa doesn't sound quite as good. It could stand to be adjusted, but like I said, you don't really have access to do that without taking the entire thing apart. So, as for how these new Walkman style cassette players stack up to vintage ones, I really wanted to like this Toshiba Aurex player because I like the physical design, and they got the azimuth right, and it would actually sound pretty good if it wasn't for that speed accuracy and wow and flutter being unacceptable. That's where a lot of these modern players fall flat, and unfortunately, despite its well-known brand name, this one is no different. But on the other hand, this new Maxell really comes the closest in terms of overall quality and performance to vintage Walkman-style players of any new player I've tested so far. "We will now pause for several seconds of fine music to give you a chance to experiment with the radio controls." It sounds good, it has good output power, the speed is accurate, the wow and flutter is acceptable, and the azimuth only needed a very slight and easy adjustment to be perfect. And by the way, it also has easy access to adjust the speed in case you ever need to do that. And I know some people have concerns about it having a built-in rechargeable battery, but for me, it's not a major problem. And I believe somebody already has opened one of these up and found out that it's not too difficult to replace that battery if it ever needs to be done years down the line. So, the Maxell MXCP-P100 earns my recommendation as the best new Walkman-style portable cassette player, superseding the FiiO CP-13. Although, I heard they're working on a new model, the CP-15, so, I'll be interested to see how well that one turns out. "Instruments and vocals are placed in their proper staging locations, stereo imaging is improved, and a larger, more true-to-life sound field is created. The music takes on a new spatial quality. Tone bursts, resonant lows, sizzling highs, and dramatic passages seem to float in midair. And you are center stage, right in the middle of the performance. Listen..."