Robert
Tapehead
I look on cassette in a similar way to vinyl - astonishment that it can be made to work so well.
Ownership of good cassette machines is about respect for the engineering as much as performance.
Vintage cassette deck (70's...)
- Thread starter gerlando
- Start date
I look on cassette in a similar way to vinyl - astonishment that it can be made to work so well.
Ownership of good cassette machines is about respect for the engineering as much as performance.
being able to tweak the bias can make a great differrence when using whatever blank or reused tape one has.
The system on the Casette Deck I is very basic and simple compared to both the Dragon and 1000xzl which use early rom circuits and micro motors.
The 670 and casette deck 1 do it manually without micro circuits
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
I thought azimuth was more about physical alignment of the heads, whereas bias is electrical 'tuning' of the signal during recording. The 1.5 has bias adjustability, and I understand the azimuth on the 1 is adjusted by a small motor.
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
It wasn't until I got my first decent deck (the Nak 1.5) that I realised what a great tape the humble TDK-D is. My first deck was a Teac A-103. D tapes sounded really dull on it. My workaround then was to record with Dolby and play-back without, and generally with at least TDK-AD or SA tapes.
Werner
pfm Member
Bias adjustment is mandatory if a decent result is required. And when noise reduction is used then adjustment of record level is even more important.
And for a really good result record equalisation should be parametric, too, but that is a rarity.
Auto-tune systems can be fine, but they can also be thrown off, as they monitor only a few frequencies. But they are certainly more convenient than
opening up a deck and hanging it off a computer.
Last month I characterised a number of tapes:
http://audiochrome.blogspot.be/2018/03/cassette-tape-comparative-measurements.html
These pages nicely show the practical differences in bias and sensitivity that have to be ironed out with calibration.
Playback azimuth is about tape path compatibility with alien cassettes. It should be set to a universal standard (which cannot practically exist, but that is a different story). Front-panel access to PB azimuth is to allow to tweak to wayward alien cassettes.
The Dragon has automatic PB azimuth adjustment.
The Nak CD1 has manual PB azimuth control, through a mechanical linkage from the front panel to the already-present head adjustment screws. There is no motor involved.
Record azimuth in a three head deck is important because the record head has to be totally aligned to the PB head. As the tape path varies with each individual cassette rec azimuth has to set prior to each recording. The Nak 680 series did this automatically, under motor control.
All three head Naks have fully adjustable azimuth, height, and tilt settings for the rec and pb heads individually, so if you wanted you could always pop off the cover and set pb azimuth for any present tape, and also rec azimuth for any new recording. Just be sure to return the settings always to normal, and don't touch height and tilt.
That dullness was likely due to a lack of (internal) calibration.
Cheap tapes can be fine. Provided they are of relatively consistent azimuth and have only few dropouts they can give a flat frequency response just like any other tape, once calibrated. What they cannot provide is the significantly lower noise and higher MOL/SOL of quality tapes, but this is only of
relevance if no noise reduction is used.
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
My mistake. Thanks for pointing that out.
it is a pretty bulletproof approach ... i think CasetteDeck 1 is the cheapest and newest deck Nak built with such uber controls. the Dragon and the original 1000zxl took very complex approaches in comparison and are much older when it comes to service implication & S/H purchases on ebay etc.
Great pic of the 680 above, the 670zx also has auto azimuth alignment and the front facing trim pots below the meters like the 680. These are for calibrating individual tapes or brands
Great pic of the 680 above, the 670zx also has auto azimuth alignment and the front facing trim pots below the meters like the 680. These are for calibrating individual tapes or brands
Werner
pfm Member
DR-1 is one generation more recent. DR-1 is a CassetteDeck 1 in a more technical-looking dress.
hairyderriere
pfm Member
It's interesting, isn't it? For a while, recently, I considered that I might save up for a new DAC, perhaps a NOS one. I had in mind one in the range of USD3 to 4k. All that has changed now, at least for the time being.
Granted, there's a lot of good to be said for native digital recordings / production and playback. Yes we have Spotify Premium (kids) / had TIDAL / have mucked about with alternate streaming services. I still want a modern NOS DAC, just much less urgently. And they change and evolve so often, don't they?
I'm having a lot of fun with cassettes again and realise I could land a very nice condition, serviced Nakamichi for half that amount I had in mind, and 'make do' with my present DAC for a bit longer. Conceptually, a modern DAC makes much more sense in a lot of ways. But somehow I just don't care. I'm happy to let the world continue roaring ahead. There's an addictive, almost elastic dynamism, rhythmic snap and tonal veracity to decent cassettes played on a well sorted machine that - bandwidth limitations aside - only my vinyl system achieves as easily for my listening. I'm also hugely averse to waste, especially e-waste and to throwing old things away.
Sometimes I listen on this (an off topic deck, sorry):
hairyderriere
pfm Member
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
For me, the magic of cassette tape is extracting a fulsome and accurate transcription of the music onto a good quality ferric (Type I) formulation, and not be able to tell easily source from tape. Even though I have a small stash of new TDK SA, SAX and a couple of used MA-X formulations, I'm much more inclined to collect a stack of of TDK-D90s. I got myself 20 pieces of NOS TDK-D120s recently for loose change, and will try one or two out this weekend on my Nak.
Using TDK-D on a Nak is like using a good quality MM cart on a well sorted TT. It's not the optimal combo, but it allows the hierarchy of the deck to shine through regardless.
Using TDK-D on a Nak is like using a good quality MM cart on a well sorted TT. It's not the optimal combo, but it allows the hierarchy of the deck to shine through regardless.
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
Why is that? I thought dual capstan decks, particularly Naks, rotate at slightly different speed to keep optimal tape tension. I've also heard it is beneficial to fast-forward and rewind them before use to loosen the tape up.
Werner
pfm Member
A dual capstan relies on a delicate balance between the take up torque and grip and supply torque and slip. This is influenced by the drive at both sides, the belt between the capstans, backtension belt, state of rollers, tape thickness, tape smoothness. If one of these is more or less off disaster ensues. Don't be surprised if your D 120 gets eaten.
Single capstan drives are safer under extreme conditions and require less maintenance.
I am not an expert. I only learned this recently. But you can ask df_genius or A.N.T.
Single capstan drives are safer under extreme conditions and require less maintenance.
I am not an expert. I only learned this recently. But you can ask df_genius or A.N.T.
ToTo Man
the band not the dog
Indeed, in my very limited experience of cassette decks, unless it's running perfectly to spec, dual capstan machines can be a PITA. Not a good choice for a user like me who is unable to service/maintain decks.
Nevertheless my own attitude has been to buy anything at the price Im happy with and then get it serviced...usually to sell to friends and family ...i include the service in the price and B&W serviced decks sell well in my experience. Frankly turning anyone on to cassettes for the first time in a Nak is a gas... they always want one...women as much as men of a certain age... anyway the women I meet!
Women who know the medium know its simple robust and easily dusted somewhat child resistant and up till recently not a much regarded ...you couldnt give routine generic Japanese players away. So from a family point of view playing tapes was cheap.
if you are starting dont waste your money on low end decks, buy a Deck with a Nakamichi tape mech. If you havent heard one then you wont know what tapes are capable of so in some sense are wasting your hifi budget.There are loads of engineers now offerring Nak servicing and the Nak Forum is a good resource.
I accept a lot of the Japanese and European decks look gorgeous but if they arent top flight models then you wont know what the conversation is about. The choice is fairly limited and prices are rising
No insult intended to all the fab looking decks... sonically a fair to middling Nak will deliver astonishment from old tapes made on other machines.
My favourite sounding deck was my cheapest too a 480. The older ones CAN be a hassle re orange caps but were sonically from the peak of the tape research curve.
Women who know the medium know its simple robust and easily dusted somewhat child resistant and up till recently not a much regarded ...you couldnt give routine generic Japanese players away. So from a family point of view playing tapes was cheap.
if you are starting dont waste your money on low end decks, buy a Deck with a Nakamichi tape mech. If you havent heard one then you wont know what tapes are capable of so in some sense are wasting your hifi budget.There are loads of engineers now offerring Nak servicing and the Nak Forum is a good resource.
I accept a lot of the Japanese and European decks look gorgeous but if they arent top flight models then you wont know what the conversation is about. The choice is fairly limited and prices are rising
No insult intended to all the fab looking decks... sonically a fair to middling Nak will deliver astonishment from old tapes made on other machines.
My favourite sounding deck was my cheapest too a 480. The older ones CAN be a hassle re orange caps but were sonically from the peak of the tape research curve.
Werner
pfm Member
Nak OEMd for many others in the 70s, but that is not what is meant here.
Ian is referring to the ‘classic’ Nak transport, which was entirely unique to them.
From the BX series on Nak dropped the classic and started using Sankyo mechs. These can also be found in some Yamahas, TEACs, Kenwoods, and Onkuos.
Classics are hard to maintain. sankyos suffer from a few wide spread defects with age.
Some say the best ever transport was made by Aiwa.
Ian is referring to the ‘classic’ Nak transport, which was entirely unique to them.
From the BX series on Nak dropped the classic and started using Sankyo mechs. These can also be found in some Yamahas, TEACs, Kenwoods, and Onkuos.
Classics are hard to maintain. sankyos suffer from a few wide spread defects with age.
Some say the best ever transport was made by Aiwa.
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
Thanks for taking the time to reply. Let me get this straight in my head.
A single capstan deck relies on the supply reel to resist the capstan drive and take up reel, so as to maintain some tension across the heads. Is this also the case with dual capstan decks? I would have thought the passive resistance (back tension belt) is redundant on a dually.
The other question I'm trying to understand is how tape might get chewed up in a dual capstan machine. The only scenario I can think of is if the take-up reel loses drive or does not keep up with the capstan drive. The outlier situation is if the mechanisms is a fair bit out of whack and the tape path is unstable. Otherwise, how would tape get chewed up? I've only ever experienced tapes getting eaten in in-car decks and an earlier single capstan deck.
I suppose if a D120 gets eaten, it would teach me not to use them on my Nak. I'm sure no damage to the Nak will ensue. The cassettes were cheap enough, so I'll revert to D90 and D60s.