I've been testing this cassette walkman, and I'm having a blast reliving my childhood
So eat all my greens I did, and one audiobook about anthropomorphic animals that live in a big forest was socketed into my cassette player. That cassette player was my only way to listen to just about anything beyond the radio at the time.
CDs where well into their popularity by that point, but I remained a cassette kind until I was about 10. So tapes have always held a special place in my heart.
While my extensive collection of audiobooks and music has long since been sent to the great cassette deck in the sky, I've been able to accumulate others since. But I need something to play them with.
We Are Rewind's cassette player brings a premium-feeling build and Bluetooth to a classic design. If you're looking for the best way to play that collection of tapes you've got lurking in the attic, this might be the way to go. It's not cheap, mind you.
Enter, then, We Are Rewind and the Walkman-like Cassette Player. It looks like my old player, albeit in a more premium feeling shell. I've been playing with it for the last few days — and I'm hooked.
By the time I was 8 in the (very) early 2000s, cassettes had been through around 50 years or so of technological development. There were noise reduction devices built in that would get rid of crackles and pops, and special mechanisms that would stop tapes from getting snapped by over-eager rewind and fast forward.
And sound enhancers that made music sound better, even with special kinds of tape that would increase sound quality. I only used cheap players, so I never really got to try all those features out. I just plopped a tape in my player, pressed play, and away I went.
The We Are Rewind player doesn't feature any of these technological advancements either, making it both an incredible blast of nostalgia for me and a very simple device to use.
Open it, put the tape in, and press play. Get to the end of the tape, turn it over, and play from the other side. No frills, no fancy auto stop mechanisms, no auto reverse — just you and a cassette tape.
There is some noise that comes through during playback, as I remember with my old player. Given that it's not going to be my primary music playback machine, I don't really care — and if nothing else, it takes me back to a car on the highway on the way to some countryside cottage for vacation.
Was I looking for mind-blowing Hi-Fi sound with the We Are Rewind cassette player? No. I wanted something that would play my burgeoning selection of old cassettes, and the We Are Rewind player gives me everything I could ever want. It plays my tapes.
Those with impressive equipment would probably tell me that there's some wow and flutter score that means its not as good as a top of the range player from the late 90s, and that it plays things slightly fast.
To my ear, that's used to vinyl playback, it seemed completely fine — and I've now listened to a good few hours of music and audiobooks.
Despite its nostalgia invoking simplicity, there are a couple of modern touches that make it feel a whole lot better to use. There's a built-in battery, and you can charge it with the USB-C port on the side.
That's good for 12 hours of playback, apparently, which is nice. I'm not sure if that battery figure holds up if you also use my favorite modern extra, the Bluetooth 5.0 connection.
That has allowed me to listen to my cassettes over the best wireless headphones and the best Bluetooth speakers, making it around 72% more convenient than the wired options I used to use when I was a small one.
I love physical controls on just about everything that I use. I don't enjoy touch controls, or even some of these funny rubber covered buttons that get gross after years of use.
The We Are Rewind features the ultimate physical controls — mechanical switches that move components in the device for some of the best feeling buttons this side of pressing the big red button in the President's office.
Clicks and clunks are the lifeblood of usability in my mind, and beyond the cassette playing abilities of my new tape playing companion, it's that tactility that makes me really love this thing.
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Tom's Guide
19-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
I've been testing this cassette walkman, and I'm having a blast reliving my childhood
When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother... "mom, can I buy the latest Redwall audiobook tape so that I can listen to it in the car on the way to vacation?" "Yes," she replied, "but only if you eat all your greens." So eat all my greens I did, and one audiobook about anthropomorphic animals that live in a big forest was socketed into my cassette player. That cassette player was my only way to listen to just about anything beyond the radio at the time. CDs where well into their popularity by that point, but I remained a cassette kind until I was about 10. So tapes have always held a special place in my heart. While my extensive collection of audiobooks and music has long since been sent to the great cassette deck in the sky, I've been able to accumulate others since. But I need something to play them with. We Are Rewind's cassette player brings a premium-feeling build and Bluetooth to a classic design. If you're looking for the best way to play that collection of tapes you've got lurking in the attic, this might be the way to go. It's not cheap, mind you. Enter, then, We Are Rewind and the Walkman-like Cassette Player. It looks like my old player, albeit in a more premium feeling shell. I've been playing with it for the last few days — and I'm hooked. By the time I was 8 in the (very) early 2000s, cassettes had been through around 50 years or so of technological development. There were noise reduction devices built in that would get rid of crackles and pops, and special mechanisms that would stop tapes from getting snapped by over-eager rewind and fast forward. And sound enhancers that made music sound better, even with special kinds of tape that would increase sound quality. I only used cheap players, so I never really got to try all those features out. I just plopped a tape in my player, pressed play, and away I went. The We Are Rewind player doesn't feature any of these technological advancements either, making it both an incredible blast of nostalgia for me and a very simple device to use. Open it, put the tape in, and press play. Get to the end of the tape, turn it over, and play from the other side. No frills, no fancy auto stop mechanisms, no auto reverse — just you and a cassette tape. There is some noise that comes through during playback, as I remember with my old player. Given that it's not going to be my primary music playback machine, I don't really care — and if nothing else, it takes me back to a car on the highway on the way to some countryside cottage for vacation. Was I looking for mind-blowing Hi-Fi sound with the We Are Rewind cassette player? No. I wanted something that would play my burgeoning selection of old cassettes, and the We Are Rewind player gives me everything I could ever want. It plays my tapes. Those with impressive equipment would probably tell me that there's some wow and flutter score that means its not as good as a top of the range player from the late 90s, and that it plays things slightly fast. To my ear, that's used to vinyl playback, it seemed completely fine — and I've now listened to a good few hours of music and audiobooks. Despite its nostalgia invoking simplicity, there are a couple of modern touches that make it feel a whole lot better to use. There's a built-in battery, and you can charge it with the USB-C port on the side. That's good for 12 hours of playback, apparently, which is nice. I'm not sure if that battery figure holds up if you also use my favorite modern extra, the Bluetooth 5.0 connection. That has allowed me to listen to my cassettes over the best wireless headphones and the best Bluetooth speakers, making it around 72% more convenient than the wired options I used to use when I was a small one. I love physical controls on just about everything that I use. I don't enjoy touch controls, or even some of these funny rubber covered buttons that get gross after years of use. The We Are Rewind features the ultimate physical controls — mechanical switches that move components in the device for some of the best feeling buttons this side of pressing the big red button in the President's office. Clicks and clunks are the lifeblood of usability in my mind, and beyond the cassette playing abilities of my new tape playing companion, it's that tactility that makes me really love this thing.
The Verge
15-05-2025
- The Verge
This modern cassette boombox will lure you in with glowing VU meters
We Are Rewind, a Paris-based company that has relaunched the cassette player with modern features like support for wireless headphones and rechargeable batteries, has announced a larger boombox version. Streamlining the design of the portable stereos that were popular in the '80s, the €449 (around $500 USD) GB-001 can function as a Bluetooth speaker and stream audio from a mobile device. But its most appealing feature is its ability to play and record to cassettes, potentially reviving the mixtape for another generation. The GB-001's cassette deck mechanism features a user-adjustable motor with internal speed regulation for accurate playback. It also has a 'noise reduction circuit' that emulates Dolby B so it can properly play tapes recorded using that older noise reduction system without any loss in sound quality. It can record on tapes, too, from external sources that include a wired microphone or a pair of mics connected wirelessly over Bluetooth. The GB-001 has four speakers — two 'powerful woofers for extended bass response' paired with two 'soft dome tweeters for refined voices and treble.' We Are Rewind describes the GB-001 as having a 'natural sound signature' so, unlike the boomboxes of the '80s, it's not going to drown out lyrics with overpowering bass. And in keeping with current trends in audio gear, the GB-001 includes a 'spatialisation function for a wider, more immersive stereo image.' A rechargeable, user-replaceable 3,000mAh battery provides up to 10 hours of playback through the speakers when playing a tape, or up to 15 using an external audio source. That jumps up to 15 and 28 hours, respectively, when using headphones, but We Are Rewind didn't specify if that's through the 3.5-millimeter audio jack or Bluetooth. Even if you're not in need of its cassette capabilities, the design of the GB–001 still makes it an appealing alternative to Bluetooth speakers that often look like beach toys. It not only has a retro-looking folding carrying handle, it also sports a pair of functional analog VU meters that are backlit with a soft warm glow. For those of us who grew up enamored with the design of stereos from the '70s and '80s, the VU meters alone could help justify the splurge.
Forbes
15-05-2025
- Forbes
We Are Rewind Cassette Tape Boombox Revives A Classic Vintage Music Format
With a retro look combined with brand new tech, the cassette tape format continues to make a bit of a comeback. We Are Rewind GB-001 is following on from the global smash of the original WE-001 portable cassette player. T While vinyl record sales have seen a resurgence of the old format in the last decade, the venerable cassette tape has also seen an increase in sales by more than 400% during the last decade. Admittedly, that's figure build on a low base where the format almost entirely disappeared, but there's no doubt that interest in the classic 1970s analog tape format has been rekindled. The GB-001 is a new boombox cassette player and recorder that rivals home speaker systems because it's also a Bluetooth speaker and delivers sound with a full-spectrum stereo soundstage because it had separate left and right woofers and tweeters. Whether you're listening to old-school cassettes, using a wired connection or streaming music over Bluetooth, the GB-001's two woofers for extended bass response and two soft dome tweeters for a sweet treble, are powered by 104W of output. We Are Rewind has also added a few special features to the GB-001, such as dynamic power control to reduce distortion, refined equalization for a more natural sound signature and a spatialization function that creates a wider and more immersive stereo soundstage. This new boombox has a premium cassette deck mechanism, complete with a user-adjustable motor that includes internal speed regulation. The deck also includes a noise reduction circuit that emulates Dolby B, enabling it to play pre-recorded Dolby B cassette tapes. For recording and playing tapes, the GB-001 can handle both Type I and Type II Chrome cassettes with optimized biasing. This feature ensures low noise recording and, according to We Are Rewind, the best possible frequency response. The GB-001 also has an active AC erasing head. The GB-001 sports two backlit analog VU meters that provide visual feedback on playback and recording levels and it also has a microphone input with an adjustable level for capturing live recordings. With the strong look of an iconic 1980s boombox, the GB-001 has a sleek and neo-retro design. However, beneath its retro look, the next-gen boombox has plenty of modern technologies, including Bluetooth 5.4 and a rechargeable battery that can be easily replaced. The boombox can be connected to any analog audio source via a 3.5mm AUX input for playing music from a radio tuner, turntable or even a MiniDisc. Users can listen to their favorite tunes by streaming over Bluetooth from a smartphone or computer. If the idea of a classic 1980s boombox that can play cassettes and handle Bluetooth streaming, as well as an analog input, then the new We Are Rewind GB-001 could be the answer to many people's dream by turning almost any space into a concert venue using the microphone input. It's also possible to plug a guitar into the GB-001 and use it as a guitar amp. Finally, there's also a dual wireless microphone system for acting out those classic 1980s rap battles. The GB-001 Boombox is available now from We Are Rewind and is priced at £379 / €449.
