Cassette's Not Dead, Apparently!

[niklasthedolphin]

Double ended Noise reduction system are killing any attemp of making great recordings.
That includes Dolby B, C, S, High Com, dbx I & II etc.

"dolph"

[Alex Nikitin]

I hope this is of some interest - here are recording-playback frequency response graphs for 7 of my cassette decks.

Few notes:

Scaling on the left is set by the computer sound card input and levels are different for different decks, depending on their output level. However all graphs are explained in the legend on the right hand side. "0dB" graph is for Dolby level, the rest are relative to that. I've used SONY UX-Pro C-90 Type 2 cassette and graphs were made using AudioTester software, calibrated with an external generator and RMS meter. Graph were taken after decks were serviced and aligned.

Alex

[Giant Haystacks]

i have good car audio the nakamichi mobile dragon cassette .i also have nakamichi top mobile transport and dac and it just cant competewith the tape
but the metal tapes are terrible bad value for money now

[Barry]

I hope this is of some interest - here are recording-playback frequency response graphs for 7 of my cassette decks.

Few notes:

Scaling on the left is set by the computer sound card input and levels are different for different decks, depending on their output level. However all graphs are explained in the legend on the right hand side. "0dB" graph is for Dolby level, the rest are relative to that. I've used SONY UX-Pro C-90 Type 2 cassette and graphs were made using AudioTester software, calibrated with an external generator and RMS meter. Graph were taken after decks were serviced and aligned.

Alex

Not sure if this is related to the equalisation that Nakamichi use, but for years I have never been happy with the sound of pre-recorded cassettes; always preferring to make my own. Out of over 200 cassettes I have made, only 4 are pre-recorded. The only machine on which they sounded good was the Nakamichi. When I had the bias on my Nak adjusted for TDK metal tape, I mentioned my findings to the man at Bowers and Wilkins, who did/do the servicing for Nakamichi. He replied that this was because it was only Nakamichi and a couple of other manufacturers (I can't remember their names) who had stuck rigorously to the original equalisation specification written by Phillips.

Regarding your measured response curves, the nearest machine that corresponds to my Naks is the BX300E. It's gratifying to see that the response is flat to +/-1dB from 20Hz to 7kHz.

Regards
Barry

[Alex Nikitin]

Another set of measurements - now it is the distortion of the tape v level at 315 Hz for 26 different cassettes. The behaviour of the distortion curve - both in the low level area and in the saturation - is extremely interesting.

I also added 3 more decks to the frequency responses page.

Alex

[Giant Haystacks]

all this frensied discussion on cassette is disturbing my service on one of my spare mobile dragon, nakamichi td1200mk2 ,a change of 2 belts should be enough , this machine has automatic azimuth correction anyway,
does anyone know of a tereffic audio tape sight based in australlia i think i found it once and never since .
also i have to come out and admit my guilt i have been hoarding hard out at metal audio cassettes 6 years , so just by chance if someone has a set of pinch rollers for a nakamichi 1000 tri tracer there could be a useful trade aranged
they are very small and i am having trouble finding a set

[ronjakcs65]

Hi Neil.
Regarding youre post about tdk sa90 cassettes,Richer sounds stock them £0.74p
Each.Made in Taiwan i believe I have about fifty tapes never had a problemwith them,
get stocked up, All the best
ron. s

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Neil.
Regarding youre post about tdk sa90 cassettes,Richer sounds stock them £0.74p
Each.Made in Taiwan i believe I have about fifty tapes never had a problemwith them,
get stocked up, All the best
ron. s

Thanks....



Regards D S D L

[Beechwoods]

50p if you buy from their online store or quote the online price in their shops. And free delivery.

[Dave Cawley]

When is Metal not Metal?



On Alex's advice I picked up the rather nice Revox B-215 on Saturday. It came with a TDK tape that said Metal Position, but not that is was actually Metal tape?

Is the very best Metal tape better than say the Sony UX Pro ? And if so in what ways?

Thanks



Dave