Who still uses a cassette deck
- Thread starter Plinius
- Start date
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
I still hanker for a Teac C-1, after a succession of Teac decks. Had a Nak 1.5, which sounded very good, but I stupidity part-exchanged it for some Naim. The Pioneer CT-95 that came after the Nak, whilst technically close to perfect, did not engage like the Nak did. But since I don't have any pre-recorded cassettes of value nor do any of our cars have cassette players, having a deck is now moot.
The only exception I'd make is a mint Pioneer CT-F1000 to go with my C-21/M-22 combo. I'll look for one of these in earnest when I have wrested a PL-71 of my friend to complete a vintage, all-analogue system.
DevillEars
Dedicated ignorer of fashion
When Dolby B decks first hit the market back in the late 1960s, I acquired a TEAC A350 - the second deck released in SA with Dolby B (the first was a Wharfedale unit). A couple of years later I sold the A350 to some dude who had decided he wanted to collect cassette decks and didn't have an A350. It was replaced by another TEAC - the A303 - which I eventually donated to a colleague who stills uses it today.
After a good 15 years with the A303, I had a windfall and fulfilled a long-held ambition to own a Nak - I bought a Cassette Deck 1.5 and revelled in it for a couple of years. SQ from old TEAC-recorded tapes was significantly better than when played on the TEACs and new Nak-recorded tapes were pretty damned close to vinyl SQ.
Some burglars must have held a similar ambition to own a Nak because they broke in and stole the damned thing (alomg with a few other bits).
This really p*ssed me off as, by that stage, Nak were temporarily out of the market so, when the insurance paid out, I had to settle for one of the few 3-head decks still available - a Yamaha KX690 Dolby S deck.
While this wasn't a bad deck at all, it just weren't no Nak...
I kept it in use for a few years before a combination of factors - car with CDP and daughter nagging for a tape deck - led me to buy a Yamaha CDR-HD1500 CD/HDD recorder - at which point the cassette deck went to the nagging daughter who still uses it regularly (only one tape loop on the pre-amp).
The tape collection is still stuck away in the garage in sealed cartons (there must be around 300 cassettes recorded over some years) and I have a small collection of sealed tapes which I will probably hand over to the daughter - she doesn't want my recorded tapes as they're "too old fashioned". The generation gap is alive and well and living in Johannesburg...
Looking back at cassette over the years, it gave me a lot of pleasure - particularly in the car and when travelling (via an Aiwa portable and later a Sony Walkman Pro).
Nowadays, I guess - for me anyway - it has become somewhat irrelevant as my tape collection is dated and my tastes have moved on, so I'll probably donate the collection to some worthy cause one of these days.
Had the Nak not been nicked, the situation may have been different... (My blood pressure still rises some 12 years after the break-in)...
After a good 15 years with the A303, I had a windfall and fulfilled a long-held ambition to own a Nak - I bought a Cassette Deck 1.5 and revelled in it for a couple of years. SQ from old TEAC-recorded tapes was significantly better than when played on the TEACs and new Nak-recorded tapes were pretty damned close to vinyl SQ.
Some burglars must have held a similar ambition to own a Nak because they broke in and stole the damned thing (alomg with a few other bits).
This really p*ssed me off as, by that stage, Nak were temporarily out of the market so, when the insurance paid out, I had to settle for one of the few 3-head decks still available - a Yamaha KX690 Dolby S deck.
While this wasn't a bad deck at all, it just weren't no Nak...
I kept it in use for a few years before a combination of factors - car with CDP and daughter nagging for a tape deck - led me to buy a Yamaha CDR-HD1500 CD/HDD recorder - at which point the cassette deck went to the nagging daughter who still uses it regularly (only one tape loop on the pre-amp).
The tape collection is still stuck away in the garage in sealed cartons (there must be around 300 cassettes recorded over some years) and I have a small collection of sealed tapes which I will probably hand over to the daughter - she doesn't want my recorded tapes as they're "too old fashioned". The generation gap is alive and well and living in Johannesburg...
Looking back at cassette over the years, it gave me a lot of pleasure - particularly in the car and when travelling (via an Aiwa portable and later a Sony Walkman Pro).
Nowadays, I guess - for me anyway - it has become somewhat irrelevant as my tape collection is dated and my tastes have moved on, so I'll probably donate the collection to some worthy cause one of these days.
Had the Nak not been nicked, the situation may have been different... (My blood pressure still rises some 12 years after the break-in)...
skyebridge
Registered User
I have a Sony TCWE825S. this is a twin cassette deck, very reliable and good for copying cassette tapes or to/from a R-2-R.
I still have a virtually unused Sony Professional TCD-D10 DAT - you need lots & lots of spare batteries to use the portability to the full, but for recording the sound of birdsong on a summer morning, or bats over the river in the evening i doubt there's much to beat it. I think it was the fore-runner of all these Walkman things.
My R-2-R is a Revox A-77, which i had fully refurbished about 8 years ago, and again use very seldom.
The beginning of the end for me was the advent of a Lexicon DAC with mult-room capability and a pre-amp of virtually Naim quality.
Still, we can dream that the world was analogue at the beginning, and the digital age never quite happened!
Skyebridge
I still have a virtually unused Sony Professional TCD-D10 DAT - you need lots & lots of spare batteries to use the portability to the full, but for recording the sound of birdsong on a summer morning, or bats over the river in the evening i doubt there's much to beat it. I think it was the fore-runner of all these Walkman things.
My R-2-R is a Revox A-77, which i had fully refurbished about 8 years ago, and again use very seldom.
The beginning of the end for me was the advent of a Lexicon DAC with mult-room capability and a pre-amp of virtually Naim quality.
Still, we can dream that the world was analogue at the beginning, and the digital age never quite happened!
Skyebridge
Stunsworth
pfm Member
I have a Sony DAT Walkman. In retrospect something of a waste of money as hard disk recording has taken over. Not working the last time I tried it - horrible distortion, it sounded as if there was a problem with the reply head.
skyebridge
Registered User
Yes, a lot of Sony Walkman variants had reliability issues.
But the TCD-D10 DAT was built like a battleship outside, and had the most incredible recording range (with a really good mike).
Here's a second-hand one for $1,600 - and you can pick up cheap heavily used ones for spares: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=170624862155
Skyebridge
But the TCD-D10 DAT was built like a battleship outside, and had the most incredible recording range (with a really good mike).
Here's a second-hand one for $1,600 - and you can pick up cheap heavily used ones for spares: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=170624862155
Skyebridge
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Stunsworth
pfm Member
This is the one I have...
http://www.datrecorders.co.uk/tcdd3.php
Did find this guy who repairs them for £65...
http://www.andyselectronicstuff.co.uk/sony_dat_recorder_repair_service.html
skyebridge
Registered User
Steve,
that's useful information. i've also got one the same as yours, which died on me.
the list of common problems on the repairs website says it all - though in fairness Sony must have sold millions of these.
Skyebridge
that's useful information. i've also got one the same as yours, which died on me.
the list of common problems on the repairs website says it all - though in fairness Sony must have sold millions of these.
Skyebridge
Stunsworth
pfm Member
I've had the 'Caution' and the unit refusing to open.
For the cost of the repair it's probably worth it just to get some of the recordings off the tapes and saved to hard disk - though most of them where not 16/48 recordings, I used the lower resolution for recording concerts off Radio 3.
I'll drop the guy an email when I get home and ask him to confirm the cost etc.
domfjbrown
pfm Member
I've got a Nak DR2 still in use as I have loads of prerecorded "cassingles" and compilation tapes I sometimes dig out.
I've also got a stash of 12 TDK AR90s (got a job lot, sealed, from a charity shop for £2!) and about 10 SA90s still sealed...
When I eventually get it back from my friend who's rebuilt the power supply, I also have an Akai CD81D 8-track cartridge recorder which sounds surprisingly good. 40 years old this year!
That aside, I have a Philips DCC730, Sony JB940 MiniDisc, and a Pioneer PDR-609 CDR. Still prefer using tapes a lot of the time when compiling things, though using an 80-minute MD, editing it, and dubbing it to a CDR doesn't sound THAT bad...
Taken just after finally getting the deck running again (lots of dexoit and wiggling of ribbon connectors!). It WILL get serviced one day. Apologies for the blurriness by the way.
I've also got a stash of 12 TDK AR90s (got a job lot, sealed, from a charity shop for £2!) and about 10 SA90s still sealed...
When I eventually get it back from my friend who's rebuilt the power supply, I also have an Akai CD81D 8-track cartridge recorder which sounds surprisingly good. 40 years old this year!
That aside, I have a Philips DCC730, Sony JB940 MiniDisc, and a Pioneer PDR-609 CDR. Still prefer using tapes a lot of the time when compiling things, though using an 80-minute MD, editing it, and dubbing it to a CDR doesn't sound THAT bad...
Taken just after finally getting the deck running again (lots of dexoit and wiggling of ribbon connectors!). It WILL get serviced one day. Apologies for the blurriness by the way.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
On cassette deck quality, I own an ex. BBC Denon 790R. They were £499 + VAT ( !) when new, back in the mid. nineties. Studiospares/Canford Audio sold them, as they are suppliers to the broadcast & prof. audio markets. Mine was little used, as the BBC changed theirs for CD recorders at the time. I have owned a Nakamichi but, to my ears, the 790R outclassed it. I still use it occasionally, leaving a tape in just in case I wish to catch something from the radio. Part of my small business ( MGM AUDIO ) is transferring analogue audio media ( R. to R. tapes, cassettes, vinyl ) to CD. Built like a battleship and spares are still available if you know where to look. Martyn Mles .
I have a Sony Walkman pro. Originally bought it as I was travelling a lot, in the days before ipods. Never managed to do a head to head with anything other than a mid range Aiwa (can't remember which one) and the Sony walked all over it. Can't see me ever pressing it into service again. These days I tend to read (kindle on phone) or, increasingly, sleep whilst travelling. Back at base way too many (s/h) records to have time to faff about with tape.
Regards
Willy.
Regards
Willy.
I don't miss tape at all as a medium. Always found it to be more trouble than it was worth. Have always tended to buy my kit second-hand and buying tape decks was always a mine-field.
What I do miss is the mix tape. No better way of ingratiating yourself with a member of the opposite sex, or a bunch of like-minded friends, than a thoughtfully considered tape of music that forms a coherent whole.
'I made you a USB key of heavily compressed MP3 files that you can listen to in any order whatsoever, perhaps copying the few tracks you immediately like to your iPhone' simply doesn't carry the same emotional cache in my book. Though I may simply be getting old and grumpy
What I do miss is the mix tape. No better way of ingratiating yourself with a member of the opposite sex, or a bunch of like-minded friends, than a thoughtfully considered tape of music that forms a coherent whole.
'I made you a USB key of heavily compressed MP3 files that you can listen to in any order whatsoever, perhaps copying the few tracks you immediately like to your iPhone' simply doesn't carry the same emotional cache in my book. Though I may simply be getting old and grumpy
Mullardman
Moderately extreme...
I used to love compiling on my Aiwa AD-F 810, which, IMHO was a massive bargain, but which died a year or so back, aged 19. And anyway, few people use tape as a playback medium now so the social sharing thing is dead.
I still bash out the occasional CD compilation via my Yamaha CD recorder. If anything it is even more tedious than doing so with tape, but still more satisfying than trying to fart about with play lists in WMP on the PC.
Mull
I still bash out the occasional CD compilation via my Yamaha CD recorder. If anything it is even more tedious than doing so with tape, but still more satisfying than trying to fart about with play lists in WMP on the PC.
Mull
The Aiwa deck you speak of is, other than cartridges e.t.c., the only bit of hi-fi I've ever bought new. After wasting money on a chain of tape decks that died horribly, twisting my tapes into unimaginable shapes in the process, it seemed like a sensible move. Far better than it had any right to be for the money.
You're right, of course. Things are very different now. And, to be honest, you'd have to prise my Spotify and Pandora accounts from my cold, dead hands. But there is a wealth of music in my collection now that I simply wouldn't have been turned onto were it not for that surprise track on a mix tape.
Mind you, there's a fair amount of music I've got into as a result of someone queuing it up on the music server at work.
Don't miss tape
You're right, of course. Things are very different now. And, to be honest, you'd have to prise my Spotify and Pandora accounts from my cold, dead hands. But there is a wealth of music in my collection now that I simply wouldn't have been turned onto were it not for that surprise track on a mix tape.
Mind you, there's a fair amount of music I've got into as a result of someone queuing it up on the music server at work.
Don't miss tape
RickyC6
Infuriate the frog-men
My baby is back. Courtesy of those wonderful people at B&W (thanks Paul). Fully fettled back to fresh factory config. It is now playing Horace Parlan - Us Three on a TDK SA, recorded (before it went to B&W) from one of those fancy Blue Note 45rpm jobbies that I borrowed off Jonathan R. God knows how good it will sound when I make recordings now. Hairs on back of the neck stuff. You can stick your Squeezebox up your arse.
Thank you.
PS Oh and thanks to Martin C for letting me have the beast in the first place.
Can people stop talking with this kind of enthusiasm please! I haven't had much time to listen, never mind mess with hifi of late and when these threads arrive in my inbox it well cheeses me offski
Sounds excellent Ricky!
Recently I was at a firm that converts anything analogue (pics and/or sound) to digital. In one room was a shit load of Tascam double cassette players.
In the next room? Something like two dozen Studer tape recorders, including three or four A80's (they are HUGE, makes A77's look like small portables).
There was also a good old 24 channel recorder from Otari, including Dolby cards for every channel.
Analogue tape heaven!
JohanR
In the next room? Something like two dozen Studer tape recorders, including three or four A80's (they are HUGE, makes A77's look like small portables).
There was also a good old 24 channel recorder from Otari, including Dolby cards for every channel.
Analogue tape heaven!
JohanR