Well its the weekend anyway. For me still busy here but I was able to sneak in a 90 minute cassette recording. Guess what?? Another unsuccessful recording today. This tape that I used was sounds like youre driving a plastic car. What a waste of 1-1/2 hour.. Terrible! All the frequency information was out to the recorder. Came out with total compression. I never had this experience with tdk or nac normal tapes....
You do use your best deck right? Stick to TDK or Maxwell. Probably been sitting next to a stray magnetic field. Or are these behind new tapes.
John, Yeah youre right... Bu the way.. sorry I have been so busy tied up with my job. We have so much project at work and I'm the only programmer now. After I go home I have to take care of my wife and my kitty. I try to catch up with you as soon as I get free. We got a lot of things to talk about some decks that I been acquiring. CCG
Hi John, Looks like were back in business. Sorry I was so tied up the past few weeks for I can randomly check in. Today I was able to work from home again then afterwards I was back to my deck. I basically pulled out the whole transport. It was a jigsaw puzzle but I got it done the right way. This is the same mechanism they used on the early alpage. This deck is superb and really sounds good. But the maintenance can be a hurdle besides the parts availability. I have to measure each one on the comparator to get a +/- .003. Incredible. Wow and flutter is .021. the only thing I can hear is music and it's holographic and full. I'm gonna leave it running like this and double check everything the next day and button it up. How's everything? Haven't heard from you for a while. Good evening.....
Okay man... Dude honestly. This is the first time in my life I am using a 90's TDK D-90. Not being a snob. I never touched in my early recording days. Right now its survival. But I gotta say I missed out on those. Its actually pretty decent.
Ohhhh man. 16k is borderline... You need that frequency. Its not because you cant hear it. The high frequency completes the missing gap of the full analog sound. That's why it doesn't sound plastic like digital.. Oooooops...
How dare you insult plastic digital! Even my Flintstone consumer 1986, 14 bit / 44.1 Khz converter was flat up to 20 khz. It sounded like poo-poo but it was flat all the way up to 20 khz. LOL Seriously....... This is where most people get confused. Notes on the musical scale don't really go any higher than 10 khz. However these are the fundamentals. They are upper and lower harmonics. For example the last bass pedal on a big church pipe organ is 16 hz (C0) (fundamental). But the lower harmonics go right down to 10 hz. The upper harmonics go right up into the lower midrange. Believe or not the upper harmonics of cymbals can go right up to 50 khz. (My cat has purchased a new set of speakers upon hearing the news.) Although the fundamental of a 27 inch kick might be 130 hz but.... the upper harmonics can go as high as 2 khz. This is why you can hear a bass guitar on your clock radio. Well, the old clock radios of the 1980's. Before 1970 multitracks had a lot of trouble recording the last half octave. The last octave is 10 - 20 khz. So the last half octave is 15 - 20 khz. In this case it will be 16 khz and above. Due to the tape, tape transport design and heads of the period it was extremely difficult to record anything above 15 khz. For those who want proof the Ampex test tests had test tones on them 30 - 15 000 hz.. I spent weeks arguing this subject with the many experienced audio engineers on Gearlust. It wore out many a member. Bob from Motown was a big help. Jaddie did a lot of research on the subject but came to the conclusion (as I had) that those were not conservative specs listed in the manual but the actually performance for the machines. In the early 70's tape heads and tape transports designs changed and so 20 khz and above were now possible. Wierd but true. My sister would say, "Are you giving a college lecture or posting a new Wiki page? Their were exceptions. For example the Scully 284 - 8 / 284 -12 could record at 30 ips and go almost hit 20 khz. SPEC GUY! 284 - 12 (1 inch 12 track) Aug 1967. @ 15 ips..... 35 - 15 000 hz +-2db @ 30 ips......50 - 18 000 hz +-2db I think the higher speed was for copying but don't quote me on it. You could record at 30 ips but there goes your bottom end. Not that anyone had a system back in 1967 that could actually play anything as low as 60 hz let alone 40 hz. If you had a HI-FI set back in 1967 that could do 100 - 13 000 hz you were the envy of everyone in your neighborhood. I cringe when I hear some audiophile complain that his $3000 subwoofer doesn't go down to 16 hz. Poor baby! There was a time when 30 -15 000 hz was super duper HI-FI. In the 60's, 20 - 20 000 hz was TNG stuff. As long as you have 50 - 16 000 hz you are doing pretty good. Back to your point. I agree. 16 khz is the magic frequency. And yet thousands of recordings from the 1960's bottomed out at 15 khz and they sound amazing. It is why these new cassette decks that can't even manage 15 khz with a Type 1 tape are a joke. If a new cassette deck can't at least do: 30 - 16 000 +-3db (40 - 15 000 hz +-2db) then it should get it's "made in China" butt out of my face. My crap-o-la Hitachi (Made In Japan!!) 1985, $175, 2 head deck could pull: Type 1..... 30 - 14 000 hz +-3db Type 2......30 - 16 000 hz +-3db Type 4......30 - 17 000 hz +-3db And back then Metal tapes were all over the place for $3.5 - $4.25. No excuses! But today Type 1 tape is all that is available without becoming poor. So if a deck can't manage 16 khz, then it's off to the Lake of Fire. The "I want a warranty" will not fly me. True Fact: Motown used to half speed master it's records up unitl 1969. But they put a 75 hz low filter when cutting 45 rpms.
What about 40-15000 on Type I and Type II, and 40-16000 on Type IV? Black plastic crap? Also, what is your "magic number" for wow & flutter, above which it becomes unacceptable to you?
Granted, this is not late 1960s, this is from a 1954 Ampex catalog. 55 to 60 dB - this is what a decent cassette machine can do on Chrome tape without NR.
John, Last 3 weeks ago I bought trays of the old tdk. its just a normal with the high output. Its really gonna smoke you in the way how it flaunt its recording sound. "Hi-Output" with a bunch unrealistic highs and bass. I guess if your copying like a radio program it should sound pretty good. Sounds more digital...
LOL You know you can adjust bias and Eq to fix that? I assume you set bias and level for the TDK D? You know saying a cassette deck sounds digital is an oxymoron. If you set your machine properly you should have flat response. Try adjusting the bias and even EQ. I know it goes against the grain but use 70 instead of 120.
Sir, I think you should re-read this. It mentions frequency response for: Data recorders, FM carrier recorders and RTR. There is no frequency response measurements for cassette decks here. And cassette wasn't invented until the early 60's. Or did you mean some other point? As in what a good cassette deck should do? I was referring to reel to reel multitracks. If you will notice no RTR passes 15 khz. And as I said at 30 ips the Scully 8 and 12 track machines can do 18 khz.
The televisions in the early 80's were so bad I doubt weather any connector would have helped. I didn't see a good colour picture until the mid 90's.
Our system was easy to understand. Most televisions back in the early 1980's didn't even have a video/audio input. The first good CRT set I got was in 1999. It had NO inputs. But most TVs had simple video/audio inputs. Maybe S-video. It was not confusing at all.
Yes that's about right.. I'm gonna finish my NAC batch. I think I still have 85 blanks to go before I switch to the new TDK high output so I can master the recording. So far all of my most of my recent recordings are pretty much like the album or better. I can match all the levels and remaster the sound to my own preference. The only fumble is if the original recording was garbage or I suddenly switch tapes and I forgot the machine to use and settings. John. sorry I couldn't really follow-up much here for I'm tied up with the job and family thing. Trying to take care of my baby kitty. she's not feeling too well lately.
Sir, yes I did notice that along with audio recorders they had numbers for data recorders, I apologize for not removing this data from my screenshot. Have you noticed two other screenshots beneath the first one? I posted them to contrast this data with 1980s-1990s cassette deck specs: * in 1954 Ampex claimed that "the top range of a sensitive human ear" is 15 kHz * they claimed that at 55 to 60 dB S/N "background noise is held to generally inaudible levels" * their equipment with 30-15,000 @ 4dB on 7.5-inch tape was professional grade apparently good enough for recording and re-broadcasting symphonic concerts, which does not contradict what you said about 30-15,000 range in pro audio and radio in that time. My question regarding whether 40-15000 @ 3dB on Type I and Type II, and 40-16000 on Type IV is THAT bad, and what value of W&F (can you give a number, say, in WRMS) is acceptable in your point of view is not directly related to the above screenshots. Sir.
You must not have used many personal computers or good VCRs back in the '80s and early '90s. At the higher end - and even down in the middle of the market - there were a slew of connectors and standards here in the US that SCART users in the EU didn't have to contend with (as much, anyhow).
Look at what I found. One of my 1985 recordings. It just sounds great., you know why? See the dolby, its unchecked... Some added 2021 catalog.
John.. This is it man. Best sounding recording setup I ever had.. I haven't taken measurement on my M4 but so far Ive done so many recordings in it. After I got it all ripped to lossless the output is very clear, punchy and warm. It sounds like I ran it through a high dollar mixing board then analog output. Best recording Ive done so far. I was playing with the setting last night. Ive recorded Phil Collins Seriously Live - Berlin 1989. The sound is just totally amazing. Very nice midrange holographic 3D sound on my system. The bass is just phenomenal with extended highs and its clear with warmth.... It really makes me feel I'm inside the music. I cant believe I would experience a bass dynamics like this on my 600 sq ft living room. Its just 1-8 speaker with no subs.. In regards to my remaining LP that I haven't ripped yet.. Now it makes me feel I wanna buy the best sounding cartridge for my turntable in recording purpose. I wanna rip the original non-remastered albums and transfer it my high fidelity cassette deck.
Hi, Now I'm in search for a portable cassette player or an excellent sounding Walkman so could plug it in to my cars 1/4 input. I wanna replace my ipod with a cassette recorder. Its a waste of sound system setup on my car for I have a tri-amp Rockford Fosgate.
My apologies sir. Sorry. I get confused. Down to your question. I assume the 55 - 60 db is unweighted or else that would be really noisy. But 60 db unweighted is very good for the 50's and would be super for a 3 head cassette deck. For a cassette deck: Campbell's Soup Presents THE SPEC GUY All wow and flutter figures are RMS weighted. 0.02 % - If a cassette deck can manage this measurement it is in the realm of the Ampex ATR124. Nice! Collect $200 and pass GO. 0.03% to 0.037 % Any modern 3 head deck should be able to achieve this number. 0.05 % - Very good. My old Nak 582 had this measurement. 0.06 % - Not great but good. It can waver on piano notes however. Most low and mid priced decks have this figure. Personally, I would never buy a cassette deck measuring over 0.06 % RMS. 0.07 % - It is not good but acceptable. Anything higher than 0.07 % RMS is not good.. 0.08 % - Throw it out! 0.1 % and above - Disgusting and vile.. Type 1 & 2.......40 - 15 000 hz +-3db Type 4..............40 - 16 000 hz +-3db I have seen worse but it is not good. However If this is a new cassette deck I am impressed. Of course 40 - 15 000 hz +-3db is really 50 - 14 000 hz +-2db. 30 - 16 000 hz +-3db is the magic number. (40 - 15 000 hz +-2db) +- 3db is a wide range. Professionals use the +-2db because it gives you a clearly view of how linear the equipment is. Stephens even listed +- 1 db and even +- 0.5 db for their tape machines. Here is why I feel the number is magic..... Back in the 60's all the multitracks were limited to 15 khz. (30 - 15 000 hz +-2db) And in the 1970's most 2 inch 24 tracks were +- 2db @ 40 hz. They were exceptions. The Studer A800 Mark 1 and the Ampex ATR124. Put the 2 together and you get 40 - 15 000 hz +-2db. In other words this is the minimum for audiophile sound. Or 30 - 16 000 hz +-3db. Yes, they believed back then that most people couldn't hear above 15 khz. Funny, Jaddie said I was just speculating this and had no proof. Our obsession with 20 - 20 000 hz is really a new thing. Last 40 years really. The arrival of the compact disk meant that the full breath and width of the master could be heard. Unless a record was half speed mastered 30 - 18 000 hz was what could expect off a record. And as you know all cartridges are not created equal. Many MM carts had trouble tracking very low and high frequencies. And of course 99% of MM carts couldn't go any higher than 10 khz. An audio trick using the cavalier allowed for perceived high frequency response up to 20 khz. The cavalier had a resonance of 16 khz. This "cavalier resonance" was used to boost the high frequencies up to 20 khz. This meant that the high frequencies above 10 khz would be time smeared. The trick is pulled off well and does the job. Now with the compact disk that problem disappeared. All frequencies from 5 - 20 000 hz would be played back perfectly. No distortion or vinyl artifacts. For the first time customers would be hearing the master tape.. or a good copy tape. LOL Before this response up 20 khz was dicey.
