Cassette Decks

Is it just for making tapes for people who only have tape players?

Hit a pawn shop.

I have a nice Teac with Dolby S that actually sounds better in some ways than my CD recorders. So if yop have something important to do with it you might check into that.
Or ..... better yet ..... look for a Nakamichi Dragon on e-bay ...... I'm thinking cassette decks can't go for too much nowadays.
 
Lt. Bob said:
Is it just for making tapes for people who only have tape players?

Hit a pawn shop.

I have a nice Teac with Dolby S that actually sounds better in some ways than my CD recorders. So if yop have something important to do with it you might check into that.
Or ..... better yet ..... look for a Nakamichi Dragon on e-bay ...... I'm thinking cassette decks can't go for too much nowadays.
Click to expand...

I've been watching Naks on eBay for the last couple of weeks. A Dragon goes for a grand. One with old fashioned needle meters would be cool, maybe a 480. www.naks.com is a useful site.

What am I going to use it for? Uh, well, I dunno. It seems a studio should have at least one analogue medium available. I've already got the lava lamp.
 
apl said:
I need one for the studio.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

For what purpose? On the high end, the Nak CR-7A is about the best they ever made. Just make sure it has the gear mod. It'll probably run you about $500. Lesser 3-head Naks are good and much cheaper. The dual capstan system with 3-heads is the key. I still have a 482Z which sounds excellent.

Cheers,

Otto
 
ofajen said:
For what purpose? On the high end, the Nak CR-7A is about the best they ever made. Just make sure it has the gear mod. It'll probably run you about $500. Lesser 3-head Naks are good and much cheaper. The dual capstan system with 3-heads is the key. I still have a 482Z which sounds excellent.

Cheers,

Otto
Click to expand...

I've been particulary interested in the 48x series because it's got needles in the meters. My Yamaha CR-620 has needle meters for the tuner.
 
I suppose the only real work it will do is the occasional bounce from PC -> tape -> to PC to try to get some "analogue warmth."
 
Didn't some, more recent, NAKS have problems with capacitors going bad quickly, not to mention idlers needing replacement every few years ?
 
Check out the TASCAM 102 MKII. It’s what I’m using now. The TEAC CX-3 and its pro cousins like the TASCAM 112 MKII and 122 MKII would also be great choices.

I was actually in the market for a 112 when I ran across the 102. I’ve used all the standard broadcast TASCAM cassette decks over the years and the 102 MKII sounds every bit as good. It has Dolby B, C and HX Pro.

If you want to do layback from your PC to analog I agree with FALKEN that you should go reel-to-reel.

The smaller units like the TASCAM 22-2, Fostex Model 20 and A2 would be perfect for this.

I especially like the TASCAM 22-2… it’s a beauty.

P.S. I have a feeling cjacek won't like the fact that the 102 has only two heads. In that case check out the 103, which has three heads so you can monitor off tape while recording. :)
 
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The 102 MKII is a nice deck but too bad it only has 1 DC motor and 2 heads but then again it doesn't cost a fortune, for a new deck that is. ;)
 
Beck said:
P.S. I have a feeling cjacek won't like the fact that the 102 has only two heads. In that case check out the 103, which has three heads so you can monitor off tape while recording. :)
Click to expand...

LOL!! ...but how did you know ? :D :D :D ;) ;)
 

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The 1/4" idea is kinda appealing. One big role this equipment has is to look way cool.
 
Nakamichi !
I've tried dozens of cassette decks and this one sounds best.
#2 for me would be a Tascam (not Teac though, they're not built as good IMHO) #3 is Technics RS (it's a consumer deck, but very good)
 
My favorites are Technics,...

of which I have many. You could say Technics "RS", but that's a family of about a hundred drives, from low end to high end. The really nice ones are at least RS-B48, RS-B50, RS-B78R, and my favorite of all time is the high end and hard to find RS-955!!! Some older ones would be RS-M234, RS-M240, RS-M270, etc. All these Technics "RS" cassette decks I've mentioned are relatively high end, with Dolby and dbx NR. I'm partial to dbx. Forget the rest, (like RS-B11, RS-B17, etc.,... are junk!) Need I say more?

Oh, yeah! Some newer Technics that I'll recommend are RS-B465 and RS-B555, both with Dolby B/C and HX-Pro. They're pretty decent drives.

Sure, I have some Sonys (TCE-W375) and TEACs, too, which are decent enough to mention. Can't remember all the model numbers, though.

Aw heck! Get 'em all!..... :eek: ;)

[Technics RS-955]
 

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