garww
New member
I'm not buying 87dB s/n on cassette. Without NR on a decent tape it's about 60dB. With Dolby C, HX pro and proper level setting I'd say it maxes out in the mid 70s. Maybe with Dolby S you could break 80dB, barely.
Everyday, probably not pushing S/N,. for sure. Everything over here gets a buried needle run through and a backing off. S/N is 3 pct distortion level. Here's a "Alien" review with measurements on one of my Sony cassettes;
Sony TC-K555 Cassette Deck Review price specs - Hi-Fi Classic
It clearly states that it can do 70 & 80 with B & C. I've a photo of the Aiwa High-Com sittin' on my Luxman k-8, so it's not like people were not chasing S/N in the late '70s. This $25 Luxman I posted a pic of does 89 S/N with normal tape. My personal recording of Rock and the like rarely got any NR but the other stuff did : ) This last Luxman does well with DBX and the Fuji DRII tapes. The old DBX II might not always track so well, but I can toss that on any deck or recorder. So, tracking a Telarc Firebird CD will be really low, trying to get those orchestra hits to hit in the right spot - good NR pays off.
The point being, a Realtek is spec'd to 90 on the ADC, so why pay $30 for 87 - and nicer ones do 192k in and out