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In Reply to: RE: "Audio purists love the analogue sound that comes from the classic cassette." BBC posted by Chip647 on May 20, 2013 at 12:35:59
I never stopped using them.
I have 200+ tapes that I made on various Nakamichi decks (480, 680, ZX-7) many years ago on high quality tape (Maxell, Nakamichi, 3M) that I still listen to frequently.
Most are compilation tapes ...90 minute tapes that took three times that long to make.
Dean.
Follow Ups:
... when they turn up (regularly, and in droves) at my favorite local emporium.
Typically, they'll appear as a kraft paper grocery bag full of castoffs; typically a mix of commerical and home-made tapes of all levels of quality. Metal tapes, unfortunately, are pretty rare in this venue - but good type II tapes turn up regularly.
At least in recent years, I've gotten better about actually parsing each bagful and returning the truly dreck-y ones. Fortunately, my favorite local emporium still has a generous return policy!
all the best,
mrh
They made a pretty darn good tape, and employed HxPro as I remember. I especially liked their LED meters, very fast, accurate, with pretty green, yellow, red colors.
I musta made 400-500 cassette recordings back in the daze. The ones I made using the B&O 9000 decks were astonishingly good. The B&O decks would lay down a test signal on the tape and adjust the recording bias to perfectly suit the tape - very cool! And B&O worked hand in hand with Dolby labs to develop the HxPro circuitry. It took a pretty keen ear to tell the difference between a vinyl album and a tape of it made on the B&O - no kidding!!
-RW-
That is a great-looking H/K deck! I've always preferred the silver or matte nickel style chassis - they're so much more "elegant" and the control labeling is much easier to read than the black faceplates with white labeling. My little H/K TD202 (which is 30+ years old!) is black, and that's the only thing I don't like about it, but hey, it is what it is.
:)
I am using cassette & reel-to-reel to archive my vinyl, in the last 2 years I have recorded about 800 cassette tapes and over 100 10.5" reel to reel tapes. When using a metal cassette with dolby S it is impossible to tell the difference between the source and the tape, if there is a difference I can't hear it. When using a chrome cassette with dolby S there is a slight difference in the high end, but not very much and you can only really hear it when switching from source to tape.
Also I have no problem playing tapes recorded on my Dragon on other machines a Tandberg 3014 and Revox B215 they sound great. I have had all my decks serviced and calibrated. Even when I play tapes recorded on my Dragon on my 3-head Sony or Aiwa decks they sound very good.
I record all tapes on the Dragon using dolby B, which to my ears is better then dolby C which does seem to have issues when played on other decks. I found that I prefer the sound of my Dragon when recording on chrome or normal cassettes and the sound of my Sony deck K909ES when recording to metal tapes.
If you have not heard cassettes played on a properly calibrated and serviced cassette deck you have not heard how good cassette tapes can sound.
Jeff
We’re Burning Daylight
I recorded *many* cassettes using either a B&O 9000 or Tandberg 3014 deck. And if you used top quality tape, the cassettes were virtually indistinguishable from the source. The best tapes were made using the B&O 9000 deck with Dolby B HXPro - what a fabulous deck! And so very easy to use....
-RW-
My most recent equipment purchase was a Nak BX-300. Glad I did. I had made a LOT of cassette recordings back in the 1960-80 period, off-air from programs like "Jazz Alive." Damned if the Nak doesn't make them -- well, many of them -- sound fantastic. Some are plagued with the hum that was either on the original broadcast or my then-tuner's capture of the broadcast, or my then-cassette deck. But I've been fair stunned at how good the best ones sound.
"I have 200+ tapes that I made on various Nakamichi decks (480, 680, ZX-7) many years ago on high quality tape (Maxell, Nakamichi, 3M) that I still listen to frequently."
My biggest issue with cassette playback is reliability. I do have a Nak CR-5, but play it infrequently, because I don't want to ship my unit to Tucson every year to get it serviced. I've had problems with the machine stopping prior to the side finishing.
I also had a Tandberg 3014A which repeatedly ate tapes, even after being serviced. It seems like one would need a controlled environment (humidifier, dehumidifier, static suppression, etc.) in order to get any semblance of reliability for cassette playback.
I've never used a ZX-7..... Is that machine reliable?
...some are reliable, some aren't ...sometimes even within the same make and model.
I have had several Nakamichi 480 decks over the years and it is my favorite model. They were $500 back in the day and are easy to find today for $50 or less. An overhaul will set you back $250 - $300, but I'd rather do that than spend that much (or more) on any other model.
Like a car, if you don't use a cassette deck routinely it will need more frequent service.
If you ever need your Nak serviced, contact Larry or Herb at Approved Audio Service in Litchfield, CT. Larry and Herb have been working on Naks since day one. Their prices are reasonable and their work is top notch. No affiliation, just a fan.
The ZX-7 is a great deck ...the ZX-9 (a direct drive ZX-7) is better yet.
Back when I was selling hi-fi (long, long ago) we had lots of problems with Tandberg decks. If you ever get the chance, open one up and poke around. Yikes! They certainly weren't built to be worked on.
Dean.
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