Cassette's Not Dead, Apparently!

[ursus262]

Here is mine, a DCC recorder:

[Alex Nikitin]

Sorry chaps 1/4'' x 7.5ips is the only acceptable tape speed for me in the home hence R+R or nothing..

I've used a cassette deck at 3.75 ips as a secondary source at the recent hi-fi show in Weybridge. Perhaps you should listen to a deck like that - you may change your opinion on cassettes .

Apologies for the picture quality.

Cheers

Alex

[Beechwoods]

If your going for machine to record with at least buy something like a Wega Elcaset machine (1/4'' x 3 3/4ips) which were extremely close to a semi pro open reel..

The Wega is a lovely looking machine, very rare, I've only seen one once since I started keeping an eye out for them about 3 or 4 years ago. They're really only a badged EL7 with a black fascia though. Not that that is a bad thing!

The thing that cassette has over reel to reel, are the benefits of developments like Metal and Chrome tape formulations, and biasing / eq to take advantage of this. Developments like Dolby HX-Pro also allow the medium to punch well above it's weight. Now if the market had allowed similar development of consumer reel to reel, or for Elcaset to take off, that would have been particularly excellent for us tape heads

[trio leo]

Back in the 80s I spent what to me was a lot of money on a Teac Tascam C3 cassette deck, being a 3 head machine it was sold to me because I could not tell between the record source and the recording I was listening to, it was built like a tank,I really loved using that machine, at the time I used Ampex professional tapes, with great results.
Unfortunately I had to sell it.

Years later I bought a Yamaha KX 530, which to be fair is a smashing machine and I haven't used it for about 5 years, however last week I plugged it in again and I'm going to do some more recording to cassette, then I will put a cassette player in my classic car, I have about 2500 7" singles from my motown/pop era, I'll enjoy taping some of those memories.

regards Al

[Beechwoods]

Recording vinyl to cassette is like have a warm bubble bath with candles and the rest A very enjoyable passtime Enjoy!

[Rare Bird]

Alex: I used to own a Tascam 122 & 234 cassette machine with higher speed..

Nick:
All that Metal & Chrome never bothered me, it bothered me when i had cassette decks but not open Reel. i buy the best tape for the R+R machine.

I have noise reduction units but never use them on the machine.

[Beechwoods]

I like my DBX unit as the best NR outboard you can get, consumerwise at any rate (IMO), but it steals that smidgen of presence I love on raw reel transfers. At 7 1/2 ips or higher the noise floor on a good machine in a good reel is low enough to disappear anyway, NR isn't at all necessary...

I wouldn't mind hearing a DBX encoded LP though. Never found one that had any interesting stuff on it, or cost little enough to go for it, though!

[Alex Nikitin]

Alex: I used to own a Tascam 122 & 234 cassette machine with higher speed..

And I suspect these did sound considerably worse than a good R2R. However the deck I've used at the show is nothing like those decks. The deck in the picture I would happily put against a good R2R at 15 ips (as 7.5 ips has very little chances). It is a cassette done right . 20Hz-30kHz bandwidth, about 65-67 dBA SNR with a good Type II or Metal tape (without NR, obviously - the deck hasn't got any).

Cheers

Alex

[Beechwoods]

Alex, a friend of mine has one of your modified Technics decks and going by the high-res transfers I've heard off it is definitely right up there with the best decks. I am happy that my CR7 is up there too, but only after a service and alignment by B&W that cost nearly ⅔ the value of the deck!

Most people haven't heard cassette done well. For me the key thing is not so much to record, and play that recording back brilliantly, but to squeeze every ounce of fidelity from a pre-recorded tape from some other deck. In my experience, decks tend to record better than they can play back, which means you can retrieve shockingly good playback from old tapes recorded on moribund equipment, with the right playback machine.

People have given me tapes they have recorded themselves and been shocked at the quality of the straight transfers I've got off them; they have never heard them sound that good, and they often sound 'generations' better. That's why I find my tape obsession so rewarding!

[TheVillageIdiot]

I've used a cassette deck at 3.75 ips as a secondary source at the recent hi-fi show in Weybridge. Perhaps you should listen to a deck like that - you may change your opinion on cassettes .

Apologies for the picture quality.

Cheers

Alex

My dear Alex, that deck looks like one of their TOTL from Uher, am I right?

Btw. I agree some of the TOTL cassette deck's sonic is as good as 7.5ips as may be hard to believe for some people.

My favorite deck certainly is.