Sony WM-FS399 Sports Walkman
I've always loved music, and my daily walk with my dog seemed like the perfect
time for some private listening (besides, my toy poodle isn't much of a
conversationalist -- he's more interested in finding dead squirrels and discarded
junk food). It seemed to me that if skateboarders, joggers, and even bike riders
(go figure!) could listen to tunes while doing their thing, I could, too. So, after
deciding what features I wanted, I visited my local mega-store and bought a Sony Sports Walkman WM-FS399 for $69 plus tax.

What I got for my money was a full-featured AM/FM cassette player housed in an industrial-strength plastic case. It had water (or beer) resistant rubber gaskets
around the cassette lid as well as the push buttons (not all sports are on the
field). The WM-FS399 also included Dolby B playback circuitry; tape equilization; a defeatable peak volume limiter; something called "Mega Bass" (required by Sony marketing, I'm sure, but which is really unnecessary); and a pair of those headphones that burrow into your ear canals. The Sony requires two AA batteries, which the instruction sheet boasts will last for 18 hours with the
cassette player, or 30 hours with the radio.

For the first few weeks, I used the headphones that came with the Sony (their
own model MDR-W14). They're lightweight and fairly comfortable (once I got
used to the business ends probing my ears). Interestingly, I found that the level
of bass response depended on how the headphone band was positioned on my
head -- the further back I rotated 'em, the more bass I got. But, truth be told, I
wasn't too happy with these headphones.

Then I remembered the pair of Grado SR-60 headphones I compulsively bought
two years ago and never used. After digging 'em out and plugging 'em in, I
realized that compulsive can be good. What an improvement! Bass was now
there in plenty, and well defined at that. Mids were great, and the treble was an
order of magnitude better (read: cleaner) than with the stock Sony headphones.
The Walkman worked harder to drive the Grados to satisfying levels, and I'll
probably get fewer hours out of the batteries, but that's a small price to pay for
the sonic improvement I heard. I now find myself (to use a patented reviewer's
phrase) "hearing things in recordings that I hadn't heard before." This marriage of Ms. Sony and Sir Grado was certainly made in walkman heaven (how did I pick gender here? Think about it).

As far as cassette playback goes, the Sony offers a wide, smooth frequency
response, with little tape flutter. The transport mechanism uses an "anti-rolling"
design which works well. The FM sensitivity and frequency response are both
quite good.

My bottom line? The Sony WM-FS399 is a well engineered, well built, and
dependable portable that also sounds good (with good headphones). It uses
batteries sparingly, has an excellent tape transport, good electronics, and a very
acceptable radio (at least FM, which is all I listen to). My advice on the stock
headphones, however, is to give 'em to your kids, or to Goodwill. Then pick up a pair of entry-level Grados, plug 'em in, and enjoy the music. Sony got this one
right!