Online Shopping - Buyers Guide For Personal And Portable Audio

There are many types of personal and portable audio products available for people who want to listen to music on the move, including personal stereos, portable CD players, radio-cassettes and CD radio-cassettes that pack as much punch as a home audio system.

There are also portable digital audio formats which produce CD-quality sound from very compact devices and many portable products can be used as static audio systems around the home.

FEATURES TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A PERSONAL STEREO

With such a wide range of personal and portable audio products available, it is probably wise to have a fair idea of what you are looking for in a portable audio player. Below are some features that you may want to bear in mind.

Controls
Cheaper personal and portable audio models will use mechanical push buttons, but more expensive personal and portable audio models use feather touch microprocessor controlled buttons. These allow users to go from fast automatic transition: i.e. from Fast-Forward to Play.

Build Quality
Many personal stereos now offer locking systems and tape stabilisers, which stop the cassette from jiggling about and the tape slipping from the playback head. Some models even have special housing to withstand damage when jogging or on the beach for example.

Auto-reverse
A handy feature to look for is auto-reverse as it automatically plays both sides of a tape so you do not have to turn it over manually. There are several types of auto-reverse systems. Many auto-reverse models use a twin playback head, which switches to the second head and plays the tape in the reverse direction at the end of side A.

Noise-reduction Systems
Noise-reduction systems are needed as cassettes run at a slow speed, which results in tape hiss. The Dolby noise reduction system "listens out" for the quiet parts of a signal, which are usually low-level, high frequency signals. These are then boosted during recording. When the tape is played, the boosted signals are pushed back to their original level, and noise signals are pushed down also. This means that the noise is now at a lower level in relation to the sound and so hiss is reduced. Dolby B is the most commonly used noise reduction system, which reduces the tape noise by about half. Dolby B encoded recordings are compatible with tape decks without noise reduction.

External Speakers
Many personal and portable audio products can also be used with a pair of external speakers, which plug into sockets at the side of the machine. This allows the personal stereo to be used as a mini-audio system.

PERSONAL AND PORTABLE AUDIO - PERSONAL CD PLAYERS

Portable users can also experience the benefits of CD. CDs offer superior sound quality, they do not wear out and they offer fast track access and you can programme the machine to play specific tracks, CD portables can also play CD-R discs and a growing number are also compatible with CD/RW.

Anti-shock Systems
CDs are read by a laser and on personal CD players a sudden movement can cause the laser to mis-track or jump. Mis-tracking does not damage CD discs, but it does cause the sound to disappear momentarily. Most personal CD players now have an anti-shock system to counteract this problem.

Running Time
The development of lasers with lower power consumption, enhanced battery technology, and improved electronics has greatly improved running time and playing times of 10-25 hours are now common.

PERSONAL AND PORTABLE AUDIO - PORTABLE RADIO CASSETTES

Portable radio cassettes consist of a radio-tuner and cassette deck. Some portable radio cassettes have twin cassette decks for copying or "dubbing". All radio cassettes have built in amplifiers and speakers.

FEARURES TO LOOK FOR ON PORTABLE RADIO CASSETTES

Sound
The power output of the amp may be measured by the peak music power output (PMPO) or root mean square (RMS). The former takes the highest signal readings and adds them together. Others use the RMS system, which is an average reading. Amplification systems can be quite sophisticated with some using four or more amplifiers to drive the speakers. This enables each part of the speaker to function at its best because each amp is tailored to its performance.

Frequency Balance

  • Graphic Equalisers:- These consist of sliders - each controlling a small frequency band to suit your tastes.
  • Tone Controls:- These work in a similar way, but they cover a wider range of frequencies.
  • Speaker Systems:- These consist of one-way, two-way and three-way formats. The one-way system is a single speaker designed to cover a wide range of frequencies. Two-way systems consist of a woofer (bass frequencies) and a tweeter (high frequencies) and three-way systems include additional unit for mid-range frequencies.

Radio Tuners
Radio tuners offer two types of transmission AM and FM. There are two main types of radio tuners.

  • Analogue Tuners:- These consist of a dial and tuning scale and by moving the dial you can manually scan the radio channels.
  • Digital Tuners:- These use a microchip, which automatically finds and locks on to channels. They allow you to store your favourite radio stations by pre-set tuning and retrieve them at the touch of a button.

Tape Features
Most tape decks have an automatic recording facility and offer features such as automatic shut-off at the end of the tape. However some tape decks are adjustable, allowing the user to make louder or softer recordings as desired.

  • Auto-reverse:- This automatically plays both sides of a cassette either by a double track or swivelling heads. It means that you do not have to turn the tape over.
  • High Speed Dubbing:- A double tape deck makes it possible to copy cassettes on one machine. Most double decked machines offer "high speed" dubbing, which typically runs the tape at twice the normal speed. This allows a 45-minute tape to be recorded in less than 23 minutes-for a slight loss in sound quality.
  • Synchro-start:- This synchronises twin-deck recording. The "record" deck is put on record/pause and the playback deck is set to play/pause. Recording automatically begins as soon as the play button is pressed on the playback deck.
  • Automatic replay:- This allows you to put a cassette into each tape deck and listen to them sequentially.
  • Dolby B Noise Reduction:- Portable Cassette systems with this facility help reduce the tape hiss noise.

PERSONAL AND PORTABLE AUDIO - CD RADIO-CASSETTES

Most of these audio systems offer the same features as radio-cassettes, but have the additional CD deck. Additional features found with CD players are found on these machines too. Additionally, CD Radio-cassettes usually offer several specific recording features, such as automatically calculating the amount of tape needed to record a CD.

PERSONAL AND PORTABLE AUDIO - MINI DISC

Mini Disc is a digital format that uses a tiny disc that is stored inside a protective jacket. Each disc stores up to 80 minutes of near-CD quality sound in standard recording mode. All MD personals use an anti-shock system and some can also record. (Please see the Mini Disc Buyers Guide for more information.)

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LinkTastic Online Shopping Personal And Portable Audio Buyers Guide In Association With...

Home Appliances - Personal Audio - Portable Audio - 24-7 Electrical

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