Tascam M-30 and Tascam 34: How do I dub vinyl records to tape with these?

**Secret Saucer** · 11-22-2020

Originally Posted by TalismanRich

SS, fair enough. I've done direct comparisons from my LPs and the 88/24 digital recording and couldn't tell ANY difference. I listened on both headphones (AKG and Sennheiser), my JBL 308 monitors and my IMF TLS50Mk2 speakers. Even the noise profiles sounded the same. That's usually a dead give-away for me.

My cassette deck is an old Harmon Kardon but it was never equal to the original records, even with metal tape.

Here's a review of my deck, written in 2000 roughly 8 years after production had stopped on the unit. Note -- I don't write this to show off, just to show that a lot of people don't really know what cassette as a format was capable of at the end of its run during the '80s / early '90s. My cassette dubs don't equal the original records, but neither do the digital dubs. Any dub unless it's digital-to-digital is going to lose something I'd think. But back to cassette, technology and sound quality performance continued to improve, albeit at a price almost no one was willing to pay. I bought mine used 15+ years ago:

...

"OLDE WORLDE - NAKAMICHI CR-7E CASSETTE DECK GET THE NAK
The very best cassette deck ever made? You'd have to look long and hard to better the Nakamichi CR-7E, says David Price.

When you meet someone at a party or down the pub and get talking about hi-fi, here's a great way to find out just how well they know the subject: If they
reckon Nakamichis are the best cassette decks ever made, they know something. If they say the Dragon is the best, they think they know a lot. If they say it's the CR-7E, they really do.

You see, the Dragon - wonderful, mad creation that it is - isn't actually the best thing the legendary Nipponese cassette masters did. It's a big, bold, lavish technological tour-de-force, that's for sure - but it was never their last word in terms of sound quality. That accolade went to the ZX-9, and then the CR-7E came along with better record/ replay electronics and sounded even better still.
The Dragon isn't a one-off product. In Japan, Nakamichi have traditionally been known as cassette deck specialists, but actually produce a whole range of audio electronics - from receivers to CD players - most of which is pretty unremarkable stuff. Commonly available in Japanese hi-fi shops at prices some 40% lower than over here, it's seen as good, solid, respectable fare - quite like Audiolab used to be known here. To differentiate their high end 'statement' products they market a range of gear under the Dragon brand, including CD players and amps. It's madly expensive, complex and packed with high tech.

In 1988 though, Nakamichi decided that all their conspicuous technology used in the Dragon could be refocused towards getting the very best sound with absolutely no compromises. Out went mind-bogglingly complex auto-reverse mechanism with automatic electronic azimuth adjustment, and in came a beautifully engineered direct-drive, dual capstan unidirectional transport automated for convenience and given remote control too.

At £1095, it cost £155 less than its flagship bigger brother, but sounded even more stunning. Its feature list is Spartan by comparison - the usual logic controlled transport keys in the middle, with fader up, down and REC MUTE buttons beneath. Counter mode selectors and timer controls made a token gesture towards domestic acceptability, and then there was the manual tape sector (for types I, II and IV cassettes) with switchable EQ.

For the first time on a Nakamichi though, these weren't strictly necessary as the CR-7E could also chose tape types automatically if desired. Adjustable playback azimuth - a grand name for what NAD modestly call PLAY TRIM - meant the '7's record/replay head could be motor-adjusted by up to two- thirds of a degree to play tapes recorded on lesser decks to their best potential. There was switchable Dolby NR (B and C, but as per Nak tradition, no HX or S). You also got an amazing set of meters with switchable PEAK HOLD - and the claim that they read up to +10dB was no idle boast!
Although Nakamichi's rivals had offered auto tape calibration for many a long year, Nak debuted theirs with the CR-7E. It was simple to use - you just loaded a blank tape, pressed AUTO CALIBRATION, a light flashed for fifteen seconds and you were ready to record. Sound quality is startling - better than every other cassette deck in the world bar none; it even gives high quality semi-pro open reels (like Revox's B77) a sharp slap around the face. (note--I don't agree with that statement, just bolded to emphasis that the deck made a serious SQ impression. Reel is better IMO)

With a decent metal tape, you can casually record at +10dB, such are the Nak's stunning discrete heads, and even beer-budget ferrics sound better than anyone else's cassette deck running the most expensive metals. Pitch stability, dynamics, depth perspective, noise levels - everything - is superb. Replay of pre-recordeds is a revelation - if they're decent all-analogue copies they'll trounce even a modern high end CD player. In fact, the Nak's resolution far exceeds CDs - to fully hear what it's capable of you need live recordings or a high end vinyl source.
£500 should get you a minter - not much for a piece of hi-fi history with performance that blows the very best MiniDisc recorder into the dust. Just make sure it's been looked after meticulously and is fully boxed. It's easy to tell a good used example - if it sounds like nothing you've ever heard on earth, then it's working properly!

This review was published in the January 2000 issue of Hi-Fi World.
"

Originally Posted by TalismanRich

How effective is Amadeus Pro's repair functions? Some of my albums have clicks and pops from years of use. That always drove me crazy, hence the reason I used to dump LPs to cassette or reel. Reaper doesn't allow you to redraw waveforms. Audacity will, but its a bit of a pain to do so. It would be nice to have a system with a better repair algorithm.

I don't use it. Most all my records NM and don't have much in the way of needing repair. However, I have used the repair function in the past and thought it was good in the beginning, but stopped using it. I couldn't fail but notice where the repair had been made. Perhaps if I'd spent more time finely adjusting the functions I might have made a more acceptable repair, but I found I was bothered less by a rare tic or click than by hearing that slight split second dip you hear when you play over a repair.

Program info here:
Amadeus Pro - Audio waveform editor / sound and voice recorder for macOS X

You can look at these sections of the manual for info on the Amadeus repair functions:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/AmadeusProM...2.8/manual.pdf

9 Sound Restoration
9.1 Elimination of pops and cracks

I used the "interpolate" function a lot, but I as wrote, I always ended up hearing the fix and decided it was just better to leave the sound of the record un-futzed with. In the end I was less bothered by the click than the fix.

I don't have much experience with digitizing software, just Amadeus Pro, Vinyl Studio (I liked Amadeus Pro better) and the free one people like whose name I've forgotten...that's right -- Audacity.

**Secret Saucer** · 11-22-2020