Sony WM-FX495 Walkman Stereo Cassette Player with In-line Remote

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [672kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000094FVE
• Item model number: WM-FX495
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,512 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Sony's WM-FX495 stereo cassette player is portable enough--and, at under half a pound--light enough to go anywhere. In addition to playing tapes, the Walkman offers drift-free, digitally synthesized FM stereo and wideband AM, TV (channels 2 to 13), and weather band (channels 1 to 7) reception. The feather touch controls are sensitive and logic controlled for fast and easy operation. The player's automatic volume limiter system (AVLS) maintains an even volume level, guarding against unintended level increases; it also normalizes the output of musical passages that vary widely in level. The tape deck's auto-reverse lets you enjoy uninterrupted listening to both sides of a cassette with no need to open the player and turn over the tape. For those who enjoy deep bass sound, Sony's Mega Bass system will surely impress, providing a distinctly rich sound, even though earphones.

For the radio, 40-station preset memory offers one-button tuning to your choice of seven TV stations, four weather-band stations, 24 FM stations, and five AM stations. At the press of a button, the "digital auto preset scanning" feature plays a few seconds of each memorized radio station, in sequence, to help select stations for listening and to determine which to set into memory. An FM local/distant (DX) switch improves reception of fuzzy stations.

Supplied MDR-027 over-ear headphones offer wide dynamic range and clear sound, and the unit also comes with a carry case and belt clip. A single AA battery provides up to 35 hours (maximum, using Sony Alkaline batteries) of continuous tape playback, or up to 40 hours of FM radio reception. A battery level indicator, located on the LCD screen, will keep you updated on battery life remaining.

What's in the Box
Sony WM-FX495 stereo cassette Walkman, MDR-027 stereo headphones, in-line remote control, carrying case, ninety day warranty and user's manual.

Product Description

Digital Synthesized AM-FM Tuner With TV Tuner & Weather Band / 40 Station Presets / Auto Reverse Stereo Cassette Player

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Sound Quality And Easy To Use, September 20, 2003

By 

Dr Lawrence Hauser (NYC, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony WM-FX495 Walkman Stereo Cassette Player with In-line Remote (Electronics)

I recently tested, and reviewed, Sony's WM-FS222 S2 Sports Walkman Stereo Cassette Player which I found seriously flawed in a number of significant areas. Most importantly, I was unhappy with the standard headphone set included with the unit and discomfited by unacceptable levels of distortion at surprisingly low volume levels. Having returned that Walkman for credit, I decided to have another go at a Sony product finally selecting the WM-FX495 Cassette Walkman after much thought and consideration. Thankfully, this portable tape player met all my expectations. First of all, the included headphone set is adequate (and comfortable) and the reproduction sound quality overall is excellent. A plastic case that comes with the unit has a belt clip which provides adequate stability for vigorous exercise and a handy remote module allows for control of playback without having to take the Walkman out of its case. Moreover, auto reverse and continuous play functionality allow for uninterrupted playback of cassettes. Although I am always wary of electronic products which rely upon only one AA battery to meet their energy requirements, in this instance there does seem to be ample power and indeed, each battery lasts hours and hours; even longer than I anticipate it will! Finally, this Walkman is very light and therefore hardly noticeable when carried and its controls are both super-sensitive and efficient. A convenient hold switch on the remote (which does not affect volume control) guards against accidental, and unwanted, activation of the controls and permits unfettered movement while listening to one's favorite music. In summary, having been disappointed by a previous testing of a Sony portable cassette player, I feel I have now discovered a winning model with the WM-FX495 Cassette Walkman. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a portable, high fidelity, tape player.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Suitable for exercise, February 9, 2004

By 

John Faughnan "John G Faughnan" (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony WM-FX495 Walkman Stereo Cassette Player with In-line Remote (Electronics)

I agree with the other positive reviews, here I'll just point out a few things missing from the reviews I read and the product description. I bought this unit as an exercise peripheral for listening to lecture tapes.

1. There's an attachment point for a wrist strap, but oddly enough I didn't see the 5 cent nylon wrist strap in the package. I passed a very slender nylon pull tie through it and then locked on a metal key ring. I can use that to attach the device to gear.

2. It comes with a very lightweight unpadded nylon jacket with a belt clip. The clip is worthless (slides off a belt) but I threaded a thin nylon climbing belt through the jacket and it's easy to carry this way.

3. It has a remote with an somewhat longish cord. Looks promising if one keeps the cord bundled up safely. I used another nylon tie for that.

4. It's made in Malaysia (I think that's where SONY's better quality stuff is made now).

5. It's VERY light -- feels empty. That's good.

6. The included headphones are not appropriate for exercise. Most people use earbuds or the ultralight over the head earphones (same style as in the poorly reviewed SONY sport). So budget another $10-15 for exercise headphones if you don't have any on hand.

Seems to be about the best available device for exercise on the market nowadays.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Persevere with the interface; you will be pleased!, October 15, 2004

By 

Nathan B. "Nathan B." (Boston, Ma.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony WM-FX495 Walkman Stereo Cassette Player with In-line Remote (Electronics)

I took delivery of this Sony Walkman (WM-FX495) a few days ago. I purchased it through www.amazon.com and it arrived five business days later w/ free shipping and no hassles.

Overall, I would have given this product a strong five stars for sound quality and fit & finish. However, many people (less technically minded) are going to be troubled by the less than intuitive interface. Please read on.

I read some of the reviews of this product before I ordered so I was already expecting some of the short falls of this device, which are few. The main short fall of this product is initially dealing with the interface out of the box, but once I got use to the menu-based interface and got all the presets "dialed-in" to the radio stations I like, I found it to be very simple to use. At first, I was not sure if I would use the in-line remote, but once I programmed all the presets, it made the device even easier to use. I also liked having the redundancy of two ways to access all the radio and cassette tape features. This will prove even more important as time goes on, as inventible the most used buttons will fail to function.

I would have to say the best feature is the favorite button, or as Sony refers to it as Direct Station Buttons (DSB). Or the F1 thru 5 presets on the outer ring . You will have a "one-touch" button access to your five favorite stations regardless of what frequency the device was set to before it was shut off.

Sound reproduction is excellent (the best in this price range), provided you have high quality headphones. If you have the cash, I would suggest you drop it on a pair of Bose QuietComfort 2 headphones.

Reception is good, provided the station is not too distant.

As for the battery life, it is still too soon to tell, but so far, I have use this product for many hours on a high quality fully charged Ni-MH battery and it is still going strong.

The two major improvements of this product I would suggest to Sony is one, provide a flow chart diagram of the menu-based interface (a picture is truly worth a thousand words!). Secondly, is to provide an AC power adaptor input on the unit for people who would rather not rely on batteries.

Just remember direction <> = play ...according to Sony.

Enjoy!!