In Reply to: Trying to find ELCASETTE would be like finding EDISON CYLINDERS. posted by grhughes on March 22, 2007 at 06:20:45:
You would think Elcaset decks are hard to find, they weren't for me. I found (2) EL-7 decks, and 30 tapes, on the net in a matter of 3 days. They aren't cheap, ranging $200-500 range, but they can be had.I agree, I don't use Dolby, to me it's basically like turning down the treble. The tapes sound better without it. I've dubbed about 10 FeCr 90 minute carts so far on the Elky, they are MARVELOUS.
The beauty of the ElCaset system is, the deck pulls the tape out and threads it along the 3 heads and dual capstans, much like a VHS or Beta video tape does. The deck is able to control azimuth much more accurately than on a compact cassette format. NAK does similar voodoo with tape handling, using dual capstans, 3 motors, and pushing the factory pressure pad away to handle the tape. That's why NAK is so good.
But I'd much rather see a compact cassette at 3.75 IPS than 1-7/8 IPS. I'm well aware of the track width/speed increase, and how it adds to fidelity, S/N and frequency range/dynamic range. I've taken recordings from compact cassette at 1-7/8 IPS, transferred them to Elcaset at 3.75 IPS, and it actually makes the recording sound BETTER by equalizing it, and adding strong bass and midrange, where there was none before. Also the fact the Elcaset tracks are twice as wide, being 4-track 1/4" compared- to 4 track 1/8" of the compact cassette
but getting back to the topic, if one put on a search on ebay, you could easily acquire 100 Elcaset blanks in a matter of a year, maybe sooner. I found 30 in 3 days. And I let 6 go to other buyers. If I had a "take no prisoners" approach ($$), I could have bought those as well.
I highly recommend that Elcaset format, everyone I know who has it raves about it, including myself- but I'd also like to investigate/experiment with the compact cassette at 3.75 IPS.
I've dubbed a few vinyl records to Type II at 3.75 IPS on a BIC T-3, the results are quite promising- not reel to reel/Elcaset quality, but pretty darn good. I want to get a deck that handles metal tape at 3.75 and see how that works.
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Follow Ups
- I found 2 EL-7 Elcaset decks and 30 tapes, in 3 days online - akai m8 07:57:15 03/22/07 (0)