Equipment Weight -- What does it tell?

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abc123

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I know the subject is confusing but this question is hard to define. Here's the deal. I bought a Fostex X-12 4-track recorder and found to my surprise that it is very small and only weighs a couple pounds. Then, I bought a Sony dual-cassette deck for mixing and, again to my surprise, it is probaly 5 times or more in size than the 4-track and weighs about 4 times as much.

My question is, How come? From my no-tech understanding, I would think that the 4-track recorder is much more sophisticated than the dual-cassette and, therefore, should be larger and weigh more. I once heard a comment that the weight of electronic equipment is a fair indicator of how good it is. Any truth to that?
 
None! Quality equipment is quality equipment.
Garbage is garbage. The weight is more of a marketing/engineering decision.

Look for the quality of the jacks, pots and switches.
 
Doc, that is very true but you can usually tell quality gear by the way it feels. If the knobs are loose, the hinges are flaky and it will blow off your desk if you turn on the ceiling fan it probably is cheap crap.

The first thing I do when checking out new gear is to see how the construction quality is. It doesnt neccessarily mean it will sound good but it is a good indication of how long it will last.
 
All the above, + this: The things that add weight are thicker cases, motors, transformers, power supplies, etc - so, your dual cassette has (probably) a metal case instead of plastic, a minimum of twice as many motors as the 4-tracker, and if you bought it because it was a good mixdown deck it probably has a heavier power supply. In fact, the 4-tracker may have a wall-wart, which is most likely INSIDE the dual deck. Just generally, longer-lasting, better quality parts ARE heavier. But, so is lead, so weight is no guarantee of quality, just a good pointer in that direction... Steve
 
I think the mass of a piece of electronics is often, but not always, an indication of its quality. High current capacity amplifiers require larger transformers, bigger capacitors, more output transistors, and more heat sinks. Same goes for preamps. Well damped speaker cabinets usually need to be massive as well. The list goes on.

Of course, there are always failures. Sometimes someone builds a massive piece of shit. But often I think it indicates that fewer compromises have been made in the design.

barefoot
 
especially in mechanical devices, such as tape decks, weight can be a good indicator of quality. Metal gears and structures weigh more than plastic ones, and plastic gears dont last as long.
 
Btw, there's a guy Pierre Frey at Mapleshade Records http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/main/aboutus.html who makes absolutely outstanding recordings with an old Sony 2-track. Supposedly he glues blocks of lead all over the thing to make it even more massive. He also has a lot of tweaked out "audiophile" superstitions about wires and such which I'm extremely skeptical of, but you can't argue with his results.

barefoot
 
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