A lot of people assume that all music is stored on phone or tablet these days. Show what some people call “millennials” a cassette tape and they’d probably look at you wondering which hole you dug that up from.
I’d even go as far as to say some people may never have used a CD in their lives. You may think there wouldn’t be a need for a product combining both of these “dated” audio formats but fortunately for some, that just isn’t he case. Here we have the Teac AD850.
The first thing you’ll notice about this isn’t the tape deck (more on that later), but the sheer number of things present on the front panel. There’s plenty of dials, buttons and knobs to know that there is a serious amount of stuff going on here.
You can use the Teac AD850 as an all in one music system. Plug it straight into an amplifier with speakers and you’re good to go. There’s a USB input, CD player, analogue RCA input, the ability to plug in a microphone and that old school cassette deck I mentioned earlier.
Want to playback music on USB, CD and cassette?
I still get asked from time to time if we have any cassette players around and now I can finally say yes. It isn’t just a player though as there is also a facility to record to cassette. You can record from any of the inbuilt sources or add your own via the RCA input. It’s really straight forward to use and it takes minimal effort. This feature alone should see the AD850 do well.
But there’s a lot more this can do.
Instead of having a separate CD player plugged into your hi-fi, this offers a decent alternative as an all in one space-saving solution. Fewer cables, fewer boxes and fewer remote controls. CD playback is good without blowing you away but it does play back CDR’s and MP3 files, which is always a bonus.
The USB input on the front isn’t just for playing music files. You can also record from in-built sources such as CD and record them straight to a USB stick. Rather handy for people that want get all their CD’s transferred to a more portable device. Whilst you’re doing that you can also digitalise all of your old cassette tapes which saves the need for buying all of your classics again.
A handy microphone input enables you to use this as a kind of karaoke machine. Just plug it in the front and away you go. Couldn’t be simpler. I must add that the microphone can work in conjunction with the CD drive, tape deck and the USB. A really versatile feature which will boost the interest in the product.
This really is a jack of all trades and will do really well for Teac. It combines a lot of classic audio formats and puts them all into one box for an easy to use solution.
Want to see for yourself then pop down to your local Richer Sounds store for a look. Just don’t forget those tapes!
Click to find out more about the Teac AD850.
Author: Bradley, Plymouth store
I hate to be a pedant – no really – but it is fewer cables, fewer boxes and fewer remote controls.
There is less traffic on the road after the rush hour because there are fewer cars. You couldn’t say fewer traffic and less cars; it makes no sense. I have less money is correct. I have fewer coins than I had, etc.
Actually, I like being a pedant. Fewer reviews like this and I’d have less opportunity. 🙂
Hi Billy,
Yes, you are right! We have now corrected our grammar. Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention.
…I hope you don’t think fewer of Richer Sounds now.
Thanks,
Ian