The greatest consumer cassette tape deck ever produced?*

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Cowboy Kim, Feb 3, 2017.

  1. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    If you want a type II TDK that's not gonna break your toes is the TDK CD power Type II. Its more than good enough...
     
  2. harby

    harby Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    Or time to start slitting and packing your own C45, enough for 38 tapes:
    [​IMG]

    (EE specifically made for low speed, 25-25Khz at 3-3/4IPS a typical spec for EE on R2R decks)

    BASF was the only one who could make true chrome tape due to their patents; other Type II were analogues (pardon the pun).
     
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  3. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    :D..That's a good idea... They sell those empty tape shells. But you just gotta make a tape leader so it wont snap all the time.......:nyah:

    What I was gonna say earlier is I'm not really sure if I have to pull out a chunk of change for a metal tape. If I wanna further in high fidelity, Ill have to fire up my reel deck and its only gonna cost me $16.00 for a 7 inch reel.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2021
  4. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Wonderful shipping update... From Pacoima last Wednesday then the packaged showed up Friday in Orange County....
    All that time I thought it should be passing the end of Northern California on Shasta.....:confused:
    I'm not gonna watch anymore FedEx "Fut-Bol" season....:doh:
     
  5. OhHiMahk

    OhHiMahk The search function is your friend

    Location:
    USA
    This thread has been nostalgic and a lot of fun to read. There’s a lot of knowledge here.

    I have a Nak CR-1A that’s been boxed up for about 15 years and no existing tapes other than a couple of sealed Sony HF-90 that I probably bought in the late 90s. During the mid 80s I had an Onkyo Integra deck of which model I don’t recall, but pictures of the TA-2047 look pretty familiar so maybe that’s it. I also owned a Nak car cassette deck during the late 80s. It sounded good but wouldn’t surprise me if someone else made it for them.

    I worked for a Nak dealer in the late 80s and we rarely sold anything above the CR-3A, which I think was around $800. The strange thing was that when I wanted to copy a cd onto tape, it was one of the B&O decks (probably a 5500 or 6500) that made some of the best and most versatile tapes that sounded great on anything you played them on.
     
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  6. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Get the duster and fire it up. The real good type I blank tapes compatible to your deck are still out there within reach and reasonably price. I had a CR-1A. It sounded just as good as the CR-3A on playback. On top of the mid to hi-end Naks I own today, I still have 1 BX-1 that sounded just as good as the mid-end Naks when it comes to playback. Sometimes it even surprises me. The ambient can be so big. Its probably because the deck has a low mileage that I got from my neighbor and bought it in the 80's. When he gave it to me, it was in the box for over 30 years. I said wow!
    PS. I have a bunch of Sony HF-1. I never gotten into it but when I recorded one time, I thought it sounded very good. Its got a great sound on midrange...

    Tell us some insight in the early days of Nakamichi....
     
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  7. macster

    macster Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, Ca. USA

    Sooo, what are you going to do with it?

    M~
     
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  8. Mike Rivera

    Mike Rivera Senior Member

    Location:
    Northeast Florida
    I still have my CR-1A that I bought new and it works fine (after a belt change about 15 years ago). The tapes I made back in the late 80's sound very close to the CDs I used as master material and it plays pre-recorded tapes very well. Great machine. Time to set yours free again ...
     
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  9. OhHiMahk

    OhHiMahk The search function is your friend

    Location:
    USA
    I don’t know. Part of me says to just sell it and another part says hang on to it just in case. But there is no logical reason for me to keep it. I had it tuned up by Nak before I put it back in the box but after reading here that it needs to be used, who knows if it still as good as good as when it left service.
     
  10. macster

    macster Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, Ca. USA
    Wow, I hooked up the CR3A today and wow, it's not bad for someone who just wants to listen to cassettes this is not a bad deck. It's get the piano correct. Only 5 more decks to put through their paces.

    :rolleyes:

    M~
     
  11. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
  12. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I left my amp and cassette deck running all night on auto repeat. Normally I couldn't sleep at night without a radio on but today I feel like a million bucks waking up with a "stereo" on... :wave:
    Since the Christmas vacation I been running my tube amp almost 24 hours especially running all night while asleep... LoL. Its a good thing I have a fan pointing at it other wise it would have probably blown up.
     
  13. macster

    macster Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, Ca. USA
    Soooo, how's the hunt?

    M~
     
  14. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Thanks for asking. Well the conclusion is return to nowhere. I told guy "conservatively" I can take it off his hands and get it fixed but I know its gonna cost me a fortune. I think he just wanna do a flip by giving me an offer that has a pricetag in it. I told him its kind of awkward for me to pay close to a thousand that a machine is not even running....:biglaugh:
    Forget about the word being insulted but I thought it was Christmas....:-plnktn-:
    Well no harm no foul I'll still look for others. I talked to Perry. Ill tell you all about it on PM later maybe tonight.
    Gotta get ready for todays agenda. I have a few things I need to do including finishing up the package so I can send it back to the seller.
    Gotta take DJ Scratch for a stroll and ride before she destroys my Gino Vannelli tapes..
    Thanks,,, CCG

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
  16. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Announcement for a new Type II High Bias Cobalt Cassette Tape that will be in the 2022 market production.
    TASCAM Master 424 Studio C-60 High Bias Type II Cobalt Cassette
    $21.99
    Free Shipping
    PREORDER TODAY


    The TASCAM 424 Studio Master Cassette Rejuvenates the Sound of Analog
    Limited Edition Cassettes Developed & Optimized for use in Vintage TASCAM PortastudiosSanta Fe Springs, CA - December 2021... To this day, many aspiring and professional audio recording aficionados adamantly maintain that analog recording and the 'good old days' of tape will never be replaced by today's random access digital solutions. And considering that many of today's digital recordings are mastered at least partially in the analog domain for the 'warmth' that man

    ***This Product Available in the U.S. Only***
    [​IMG]
    The TASCAM MASTER 424 Studio Cassette type is a limited release genuine high bias cobalt oxide cassette specifically engineered for outstanding output (4db louder than standard Type II cassettes), low distortion, and unmatched musical clarity when used with TASCAM Portastudio cassette recorders. Industry leading specs like high coercivity for superior storage capacity and almost double the retentivity of standard cassette tapes for enhanced imaging of your recordings ensure your recordings will be higher-fidelity and stronger than ever. The tape formulation was engineered and tested specifically in recalibrated and restored vintage TASCAM Portastudio workstations.

    The TASCAM Portastudio opened the door to home recording over 40 years ago and was THE sound for thousands of albums over the decades, from Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska to DeWolff’s TASCAM Tapes. The TASCAM Portastudio's legions of fans and users range from Lady Gaga, Wu-Tang Clan and Beck to Bootsy Collins, Beastie Boys, and the Mars Volta. With vintage TASCAM Portastudios selling at a premium price on the used market, TASCAM is proud to provide the gold standard for the cassette medium for a limited time.

    MASTER 424 Studio Cassette SPECIFICATIONS

    Physical Properties
    Base Material Polyester Tensilized
    Standard Width 3.81mm
    Width Tolerance +0/-0.05mm
    Total Thickness 16.3μm
    Base Thickness 12.2μm
    Yield Strength Kg/3.81mm >=0.70
    Breaking Strength Kg/3.81mm >=1.5
    Magnetic Properties
    Coercivity 540 Oe
    Retentivity 1,700Gauss
    Erasure Field 1,800 Oe
    Squareness 0.72
    Electromagnetic Properties
    Recommended Sensitivity Reducation for Test [email protected] 2.5dB
    Bias Ratio 0.0dB
    Maximum Output Level for 3% THD +2.6dB
    Third Harmonic Distortion at Reference Level 2.0%
    Maximum (Saturated) Output Level at 12.5 KHZ -0.5dB
    Relative Tape Sensitivity at 315 Hz -1.0dB
    Relative Tape Sensitivity at 3150 Hz -1.1dB
    Relative Tape Sensitivity at 10 Hz -1.5dB
    Relative Tape Sensitivity at 12.5 Hz -1.0dB
    Relative Tape Sensitivity at 15.5 Hz -0.6dB
    Reference Level to Bias Noise Ratio -60.0dB
    Reference Level 250nW/m
    Recommended Bias 2.0dB*
    ***Specification is for +2 db over biasing at 6.3kHz.20db below reference level.
    Record Equalization - For optimum performance, record equalization should be set after biasing , as the oxide in this tape responds somewhat differently due to its high performance characteristics.***
    [​IMG]
     
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  17. Dan C

    Dan C Forum Fotographer

    Location:
    The West
    There was a period in the mid 90s that I bought a lot of Scotch XSII stock. It was almost budget in price, sold in 5 or 10 packs IIRC, and not only sounded great but was the most robust, meaning it would withstand my car’s deck that could be rough on certain tape stocks. This was during my starving college days and early journalism career when I put a ton of miles on a modest Geo Prizm and made a bunch of dubs from library CDs I’d check out. A lot of these tapes ended up in the garbage after me and the elements wore them out, but I still have a good number of them today. That was a really good tape made during 3M’s analog twilight.

    dan c
     
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  18. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Thanks for the insight. I'm not really a regular scotch tape user besides I recorded a lot of the earlier scotchmaster type III and they sounded really nice. How ever I recorded a few albums in the 90' using that silver scotch and I was just listening to it last month and that's what I felt too. There are few other versions and hoping to try them out too.
     
  19. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    My latest deck collection. Tandberg TCD-310. Amazing Sound!

    I went inside this machine and theres no way that this machine will have excess wow and flutter. The engineering and design is total heavy duty. The capstan motor is 3 times bigger than the norm but the question is, why is it so quiet?
    Frame construction is armored car. There is nothing flimsy in this unit. and the sound,, I'm blown away...:frog:

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Trying to snag a Revox B215 today... I might just have a 50/50 chance to do a touchdown on this one. I gotta pull out some miracle to make this happen...:help:
     
  21. macster

    macster Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, Ca. USA
    I have the manuals, just so that you know. A guy that does reasonable price repairs. He will fix what is wrong with it, he is fast, honest and has always done good work for me.

    M~
     
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  22. Vinyl Fan 1973

    Vinyl Fan 1973 "They're like soup, they're like....nothing bad"

    Any feedback on a used NAD 6325?
     
  23. macster

    macster Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, Ca. USA
    Post this over at tapeheads.net and you should get some good info on this machine.

    M~
     
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  24. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Okay great! The guy responded. earlier. Trying to get back to him now I might be able to snag this one. So what do I need to look out when I'm testing it...
    Seems to be in low mileage..

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2022
  25. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch The Face Of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I had a NAD 6240 which is pretty much the same in older version. They sound good and the inside is very well made with a lot of practicality in a sense. maintaining and changing the belt is one of the easiest. The only thing that I don't did is the casing like the face and housing is brittle plastic. if you put an acetone by accident in any parts of those plastic, it will melt not like other machines. I just don't know why?
    So it means you have to be careful in cleaning the inside with plastic parts...
     
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