High Quality Cassette Deck?

T

Top Jimmy

New member
I have been mixing down from my FD-8 to cassete with my old SCOTT tape deck. I want to get my tape deck back with my stereo and have a seperate one for in the studio room. Then I could listen to a mix on the stereo itstead of running out to the car.

My question is: I have been searching e-bay for cassette decks and found the the TEAC and Yamaha multihead decks are going for around $100. But you can get a Pioneer, Sony, or similar for around $40. Is it worth it? Will I notice the difference?

With the FD-8 I will always have my masters stored on a Zip Disk. Or should I spend the money on a HIFI VCR?
 
Sooner or later you're probably going to yearn for something better than the so-so recording quality of a cassette deck.
Why not spend the extra dough and get a CDRW? Having the ability to burn mixes on a rewritable cd is great. With all the time you spend making those recordings, why shortchange yourself with out-dated technology?
If cost IS the main issue, I'd go with a Sony or Onkyo cassette player. Both of them sound great and are extremely reliable.
 
Buck is right so if you can afford it go with the CDRW. But honestly I also feel that having a good tape deck around is quite handy for some quick mixes. I have a Nakamichi for 50 singapore dollars (i.e 30 USD) which is a steal and it works great. So hunt around for some cheap and good decks cause people are dropping them like crazy. The reason for price difference like you mentioned is because of the models as well as the condition of the head. So check the condition of the head. Buy from people who looks like they believe in head cleaning. Go with units which are not too old because the mechanical parts do deteriorate. So I must say this for tape decks .. don't buy until you have seen and examinie the unit no matter how cheap it is!
 
Yo Top Jimmy:

If you go Sony, make sure to get the ES model. Sony makes a couple of ES quality tape decks. I have the dual deck which will record on either deck and has high-speed dubbing from one tape to another which gives good fidelity. Also, the dual deck has high-speed rewinding with automatic slow down and the deck also has an automated recoding level - the right volume for mixing down, automatically.

I think I'd like to get a CDRW to mix to CD. But, can I do this from my Yamaha MD-8 digital recorder? And, how big is the learning curve?

Thanks in advance:

bmocini@davenport.edu
 
It's better to get a "used" tape deck from your local classified. That way you can try it out. If the heads are worn or permanently magnetized you'll spend more money replacing them than it would cost to buy a new deck.
 
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