Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When I saw all the bad reviews I blew them off thinking they're all just too stupid to realize the problem is with their old worn out cassette tapes. Boy was I wrong!! Mine had the same clicking and tapping problem that so many others complained about. There's a constant rhythmic popping sound like a machine gun being fired. (See picture below.) Here's the kicker--the noises are present even without a tape. Just press play and let the motor run without a tape present and you still hear the same clicking and popping--both in the headphones and in the digital sound file recorded on your computer. Obviously this thing is just poorly made.