[Spareribs]

I love cassettes. I used to play them all the time in my car and loved them. All these forms of media, CD, vinyl and cassettes are great. If ya can, get a good amp.

 

[Uri Cohen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spareribs /img/forum/go_quote.gif I love cassettes. I used to play them all the time in my car and loved them. All these forms of media, CD, vinyl and cassettes are great. If ya can, get a good amp.

Don't worry my late 70s Marantz is more than able to handle the job.

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif S-VHS tapes were obviously used for digital PCM recording via ADAT, but I've also heard that they sounded great when used for analog audio recording only, much better than cassette tapes. I never tried this myself though. Can anyone confirm it?...

I had an Onkyo Integra cassette deck from the early 80's,nothing special. I gave it to a local Head-Fi member years ago because it never got used. Around 1995 a friend loaned me a couple hundred Jazz CDs which I first test recorded onto some decent cassettes and then compared the SQ to VHS (using a $600 Sony VCR). I thought the VHS sounded better. I bought a JVC S-VHS deck soon after which gave equal or better results. It's been over 10 years since listening to those VHS tapes so my memory of that isn't sharp. I do remember that I used $5 S-VHS tapes and even the slow speed(6 hour) sounded very good.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif VHS Hi-Fi had a frequency response of 20Hz-20kHz, whereas regular VHS was 50Hz-12kHz, at least this was what the professional decks could record at. The problem is that S-VHS only had a 46dB SNR and VHS was 43dB with up to 3% distortion. That is why I'm unsure how good it really was for audio. I'm not sure what the specs are for the highest quality cassette recorders and tapes. Edit: Apparently cassette players had an signal to noise ratio of 50-70dB, and the tapes had a dynamic range of 60-70dB. So I guess cassettes were better.

The main problem with all these machines is that they are all very complicated mechanically so you really do need to get one that's been serviced or find a place that can do this like Electronics Service labs

A well set up cassette deck can sound excellent as can a VCR but since the VCR is much harder to align and the video tracks take most of the width as a 2nd hand buy I'd say cassette is safer.

I still run both and as with cassette the later generations of VCR followed the pattern of diminishing build quality in the transport coupled with more advanced electonics to filter and align the signal with digital time base correction etc...

VHS machine's peaked in the early 1990's with models like the
Panasonic NV-HS1000 where the transports were still tip top but the electronics were also mature. Of course the professional machines continued to be very well made and these are cheap and plentiful 2nd hand today.

With cassettes I think you need to go back the early '80s to hit a similar optimum level of build quality and useful electronics. Of the Nakamichi machines I have the 582Z has been much more reliable than the CR7E, which is meant to be one of their best ever recorders but dates from the late '80s.
It's recordings arn't quite so stellar but they are still jaw droppingly awesome for someone who has never heard how good cassette can sound.

So I would go for 5, 6 or 700 series and also ZX series and give the CR, RX BX, DR and 'cassette deck' series a miss on the level of relability.
Again witht he pro machines like the Nak MR or the Tascam ones the build remained much higher throughout so these are a safe enough 2nd hand buy.

As mentioned above all the big Japanese electronics firms made good cassette decks especially in the early '80s and Aiwa, Akai, Pioneer ,Technics and Sony were particularly proficient in this technology. Also don't overlook the European brands like Tandberg, Revox, Uher and B&O which made excellent decks.

 

[Uri Cohen]

So I got myself a deck!

It is not a Naka but it is a Denon DR-M30HX from 1987. Doesn't come with a remote (not like I need one anyway), and it only cost me $25.

Also got DSOTM for $1 as well.

So what I think of it: Shut off the NR and it sounds great. Vinyl will still have the upper edge but there's no pops and ticks here!

I talked to a few audio shops in the flea market and of course when I say Nakamichi they all say the same thing: "Great sounding decks but terrible reliability." While they know the Naka decks are great they all hate fixing them. They all recommend not to get one or else when it breaks it becomes a nightmare. So I settle on the higher end Denon for $25.

So in the end I think it is worth it to get both a Tape Deck and a Turntable.

I'm happy, now where are those 25 cent tapes?

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HyperDuel /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I got myself a deck! It is not a Naka but it is a Denon DR-M30HX from 1987. Doesn't come with a remote (not like I need one anyway), and it only cost me $25. Also got DSOTM for $1 as well. So what I think of it: Shut off the NR and it sounds great. Vinyl will still have the upper edge but there's no pops and ticks here! I talked to a few audio shops in the flea market and of course when I say Nakamichi they all say the same thing: "Great sounding decks but terrible reliability." While they know the Naka decks are great they all hate fixing them. They all recommend not to get one or else when it breaks it becomes a nightmare. So I settle on the higher end Denon for $25.

Those Denon ones are pretty good, I remember a friend having one in college.

It's got some nice features like the HX Pro headroom expansion which is a Bang and Olufsen invention that improves high frequency fidelity by clever use of bias feedback.

Most of these features like 3 heads and fine bias adjust with Dolby B/C and HX pro are for recording rather than playback so for this you should only use Dolby B as that's what most prerecorded cassettes use.

The best ones are from the mid '80s onwards and use BASF Chrome Dioxide Type II tape with Dolby B. Before this there was no IEC standard so recordings are a lot more hit and miss and can sound distorted because the deck isn't set up correctly for the particular settings the record company used.

If your Dolby sounds flat then that means it's not been calibrated recently as it tends to drift out of alignment over time. My Marantz SD45II deck from that period sounded pretty good for as while after being set up but had to be serviced once a year at least to remain in alignment and I think that this is the case for most decks around this time when the build quality was rapidly diminishing with the use of lightweight plastic logic controlled transports etc..

So I wouldn't listen to those guys in the flea market as they probably wouldn't know how to align a cassette deck if it fell on them. It's pretty specialised knowledge these days and even people who have all the kit are not always any good at it as there is art as well as science to knowing how these things should sound.

The best thing with this Denon you have is it's ability to be bias fine tuned to any blank tape out there, as of course all the formulas will have now changed many times since the '80s.

You should get hold of some blank TDK-SA 90s and make some tape compilations as this is great fun and will actually make dirty compressed MP3's for instance or compressed audio streams off internet radio a lot more listenable by adding nice warm tape compression.

What you do is plug in your headphones and put a blank tape and make a test recording, while pressing the monitor button which allows you to compare the sound comping off the tape with the sounding being fed in from source ( that's why you need 3 heads; the other one erases ) and slowley tweaking the bias knob to try and match the tonal character of the two signals.

While recording use Dolby but turn it off on playback as you will still get the benefit of encoding which smooths the signal a bit on a deck like this that's not properly dolby aligned.

You should find that this deck will make pretty nice recordings.

 

[Uri Cohen]

Now I got myself a good deck how about a Walkman? Good to have cassettes on the go.

Any ideas on what to look for?

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HyperDuel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now I got myself a good deck how about a Walkman? Good to have cassettes on the go. Any ideas on what to look for?

Any of the Sony DD series is the best one ever made but make sure the gear is intact. Busted ones have a rhythmic clicking sound. See more info here Walkman Central - Sony Walkman Reference
They can all drive serious headphones as well unlike today's weedy Mp3 players so no need to carry an amp...

 

[memepool]

Coincidently Hi-Fi World magazine reviewed the Sony TC- WE475 cassette deck this month which is a rare occurence these days, and gave it a thumbs up saying it's very well executed for a 130USD double cassette deck and actually made in Japan of all places.

Amazon.com: Sony TCWE475 Dual Cassette Player / Recorder: Electronics

so anyone else wanting to make the most of dirt cheap music on cassettes would do well to grab one before Sony change their mind I guess