Serious Portable Soundsystem, Funny Name
Written: Dec 05 '01
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Pros: Small size, dual tape decks, CDRW player, microphone jack, remote control, good speakers
Cons: Holds only one CD, analog radio
The Bottom Line: Probably the best boom box you can buy for the money. More features than most of the more expensive boxes.
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| johnenfield's Full Review: Aiwa CA-DW248 Cassette/CD Boombox |
Ever since I got my first tape player that had two tape decks and a microphone jack, many years ago, I have enjoyed dubbing music and books on tape. I like to sing and my family and I often used that old stereo to record us singing along with our favourite songs and later, when kareoke tapes came out, we often used it with them like a kareoke player. Say what you will about kareoke, but I've always found it a lot of fun. When I wore that stereo out, I started looking for a different one, and found it rather difficult to find one with all the features I wanted.
I wanted something: smaller than the shelf hogging stereo I had; that would dub tapes and CD's; had a microphone jack (really hard to find now); and had good sound. I found it at Sears in the Aiwa CA-DW248 boombox. For only $70 I got a portable sound system that rivals the big entertainment center sized ones. It has dual tape decks with synchro-dubbing; a programmable CDRW player (plays the re-writable CD's and regular CD's and lets you set up track playing programs); detachable stereo speakers that deliver clean, big sound for their size; a microphone jack on the front of the unit where it's easy to get to; headphone jack next to the mic jack; AM/FM radio; equalizer with preset settings for rock, jazz, and pop; and Q Sound which gives it a fuller, richer sound to poor quality recordings. To top all that off, it comes in a trendy silver coloured cabinet with wire mesh covers for the speakers.
The remote control is mainly for running the CD player as the radio and tape decks are manual only, but for a system of this size and price that's not too bad. It only holds one CD, but again, it's a small portable unit.
My favourite thing about this system and the main reason I bought it is its capability of recording from CD, tape, or microphone onto a cassette tape. You can sing or talk into the mic while the music is playing on the CD or one of the tape decks and the recording deck will pick up both inputs with very little distortion.
I also have figured out how to use it in conjunction with a software program called Neromix Born To Burn from Ahead Software, to record from mic, CD, or cassette onto a file in my computer. I hooked up the boom box to the sound card with an audio cable that has male ends like those on a set of headphones on both ends (you can get them from stores like Radio Shack for a few bucks). The software then helps you record the input as MP3 or .WAV format files. I record in .WAV then I use my Adaptec JustBurn software to burn the files onto CDROM's with the CDRW burner on my computer. The whole process takes very little time and results in high quality recordings on CD's that can be played on any CD player.
The other features of the sound system are good as well. The radio has strong reception and good sound in mono or stereo settings. It's too bad the radio isn't digital, but then I guess the unit would be more expensive. The tape decks work well and with the synchro dubbing setting, you can duplicate tapes or CD onto tape rather quickly.
This little boom box is definately worth the $70 I paid for it and I think I'll get many years of use out of it. With Aiwa's and Sears' warranties backing it I shouldn't have too much trouble with it. I have a larger table top Aiwa stereo and so does my Mom and we both have had good luck with them over the past several years. I like using this new one for recording with the computer as I described above as it is small and will fit right next to my computer in my home-office area.
If you want a full-featured boom box for not a lot of money, this unit is hard to beat.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 70
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Epinions.com ID:
johnenfield
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Location: Las Vegas, NV
Reviews written: 116
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Studying to become an A+ Certified Computer Tech. Christian, bookworm, gamer & movie buff.
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