[Rob Babcock]

Just curious.  I havent' owned one in years, but ironically I've been sorta checking out prices online.  I may have to get a cheapo deck to transfer some old tapes (impossible to get on CD) to CD-R.

I always had a lot of fun making mix tapes back in the day.  Of course, CD-Rs are a helluva lot easier and better sounding, but burning 'em on the computer just isn't the same, somehow.  It's too easy, almost impersonal.  Not like the TLC and effort involved in level matching, editing, etc you had to do back in the day.

[BikeWNC]

I have a Sony cassette deck that I use from time to time to make tapes for my daughter's pre-school class.  The teacher actually prefers tapes and remarkable still plays LPs in the classroom.  The cassette deck is not a permanent component in my system, it just gets put in as I need it.

Andy

[nathanm]

I used to think cassettes were a half-assed medium doomed for mediocrity.  Still, I have a whole steamer trunk full of the things and I didn't want to let them sit and collect dust.  So I took a chance and bought one of them Nakamichi thingys everyone's talking about.  Well, to make a long story short I never knew cassettes could sound this good.  This deck is phenomenal.  Pitch deviation?  What pitch deviation?  Swishy, crappy treble?  What swishy, crappy treble!?  Going from a POS Pioneer thing to this fine machine was a real quantum leap.  I recorded some guitar and drums into the thing and felt like throwing my ADAT in the trash.  ANALOG!!!  I immediately remembered the good 'ol days of analog sound, but now it was better than I remembered.  

Okay, so it didn't work for long and now it needs some service so it can record again, but the playback is still fantastic.  It is superior to my vinyl rig definitely.  I'll take a little steady hiss over random crackles any day.  The tape handling is wonderful, no slop.  My only complaint would be the faceplate\buttons, which are all black you can't see what's what in a darkened room.  Minor issue, though.

I have this old demo tape from a band from when I was doing my zine.  I love the music but the tape was starting to go to hell.  I even hooked up my POS deck to my computer and recorded it in case it bit the big one.  The treble was mangled, wow and flutter like you wouldn't believe, it was not pretty.  But when I played it on the ZX-9 it utterly kicked ass.  This is a finely engineered piece of equipment.  I guess there's a good reason that a tape deck which was made in 1980 still cost me 600+ bucks used.  I can see why they command those kind of prices.  Sorry to gush, but this is exactly the kind of performance I was looking for on that "half-assed" cassette medium!

[Rob Babcock]

I used to have a decent deck, and I've heard a lot better than anything I've ever personally owned- and I agree that cassettes could sound really good.  Plus it was just fun to use tapes.

Overall, I do prefer the sound of a good CD recorder (I have a Denon recorder in my stereo rack that never gets used, since the PC is so fast & easy), but I may have to find a good 3 head cassette deck.

[BikeWNC]

Believe it or not my mother has a Nakamichi tape deck.  I don't  think she uses it any more.  I think I need to make a trip back home.  Scope it out.  Maybe she wouldn't notice it's missing.

[Rob Babcock]

Maybe Nathans next sampler will be a tape!

[ABEX]

There are a number of pieces I only have on Cass. and was listening to one last night or yesterday morning. I wish I still had an HK deck that had better heads than the Phillips I use now or a NAK,but for the amount of time I spend with a Cass deck I do not think I shall be searching hard for a replacement. NAK has some reliablity issues I have read so maybe the Philly is better to have.

[cjr888]

I still have a few hundred live tapes on analog, but no tape deck, and a few dozen DATs laying around.

I used to live by Terrapin Tapes (www.ttapes.com) for anything -- whether be media, equipment, or repair/alignment, etc.

Not all the Nak decks are great, but above a certain level they are awfully hard to beat.  They can be tempermental, and you do need to keep them in good shape..  Find youself a bargain on a Nak Dragon and you'll be awfully happy.

Outside of Nak stuff, you can't beat Tascam for reliability and good transfers though.  As long as you have someone to look it over or calibrate, they are probably your best bet for reliability, and people can update them -- and you can find bargains from studios ditching them for close to nothing or on closeout.

[nathanm]

Also, the thing is you've gotta use Metal Type IV bias tapes - don't mess with anything less IMO.  Yes, they still sell them out there!

Before my ZX-9 I had a Tascam 122MK III and it too is a very well built pro rig, but this thing was a total nightmare.  Could not bias it worth a crap and had horrendous tech support from the shop I bought it from.  After sitting in their shop for three months I finally got it back equally as broken as when it went in.  Idiots.  I wonder what a proper one sounds like.

My Nak worked fine out of the box but after 2 months or so it refused to do it's bias calibration procedure thingy properly.  Doh!  Still, sonically it bettered the Tascasm IMO.

Rob: Not too long ago that is how I did it, tape trading with folks in the underground metal scene.  I wish I knew there were better decks at the time! Ha! ha!  Oh well, it was still fun.

[RussKon]

i have a large collection of cassettes so i picked up a pioneer elite CT-05D
dual cassette deck...

this outstanding deck converts the analog signal to digital and removes the noise and then converts it back to analog for playback....

it does the same function when dubbing tapes...(it is a dual well deck)

really outstanding sound!!!

[nathanm]

this outstanding deck converts the analog signal to digital and removes the noise and then converts it back to analog for playback....

it does the same function when dubbing tapes...(it is a dual well deck)

Eeek!  Convert to digital!? Blasphemy!  Here's a thought to frighten the vinyl lovers: What if there was a PHONO preamp that did the same thing???  A Phono\ADC box!?  The horror, the horror...

That reminds me of 'Digilog', remember those?    I think it was that the pressing plant made the cassettes from a digital master.  Hmmm.

[RussKon]

before you criticize you should probably listen....

it works esp well on older tapes or dubbed tapes....

[nathanm]

(It was tongue in cheek.)  Yes, it would be interesting to hear it.

[djklmnop]

I've replaced casette tapes with Minidisc.  They work as a stand-alone and is much more flexible all around.

Andy

[DVV]

I never gave up my Sony TC-K808 ES. It's a machine with all the bells and whistles, from dual capstan and quartz control, to three heads and manual calibration. True, it hasn't seen all that much work lately, but I just don't see myself without it.

The two problems associated with cassette and open reel format were wow and flutter and head azimuth. If the tape you are listening to has been made on a poor machine, it makes no difference if your deck has very little wow and flutter because it was also recorded on the tape.

Azimuth was also a problem. Obviously, different machines were adjusted with different deviations from ideal. If you are unlucky, and your deck is at the plus deviation extreme and the one the tape was made on was at the minus extreme, you would end up with a mushy sound, little or no highs, etc.

Therefore, if you own one, or are thinking about buying one, make sure you have somebody reliable with associated gear (test tapes and an oscilloscope) who can really adjust it well. Do that and you will like what you hear.

While Nakamichi was considered king of the road with their Dragon model, there were other products out there which could stand up to perhaps not the Dragon, but other Nakamichi decks. To name but a few, there were ReVox/Studer, Sony, Tascam, Pioneer and some Denon decks (probably others as well). If you are scouting for a decent buy, make sure it has three heads at least, and try buying a demagnetizing tape, TDK used to have a good model. You will need it.

Also, try finding a deck with a manual calibration rather than automatic. Autos were quirky, they could play weird tricks - never liked them.

Of course, I also still keep my open reel deck; after all, I got into all this through taping.

Cheers,
DVV

[audionutter]

YES! I still have and use cassette tapes and deck on an almost daily basis. In fact I have a total of 5 Nakamichi decks (2 and 3 heads) and 2 Sony Walkmans. Sad, isn't it?

Naks very rarely give problems but as with all tape decks, do need servicing every couple of years or so. Maintenance servicing for adjustment of tape speed, azimuth, etc, not replacement of parts type of servicing. If you want to experience the Nak sound quality, it is best to get a 3 head machine, the ZX9 that nathanm has is a heck of a machine!

Contrary to what others may think, Naks are very, very reliable cos how many other hi-fi components would still be working more than 20 years after it's manufacture? Plus their crystalloy heads are very hard wearing so last for a very long time indeed. If anyone is interested to find out more about Naks, go to:

www.naks.com

[eberlin@thejgroup.com]

I have a 3-head Nakamichi MR-1 professional cassette deck.  It has both 1/4" and balanced XLR inputs/outputs.  This machine was primarily used in recording studios.

I don't use it a whole bunch but it sounds great when I do.
eb