mr clean Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 I thought they were great in the late 70s and the 80s but anyone who was alive back then knows their faults. This is a good read. Check it out. https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/audio/a24848370/cassette-tapes-national-audio-company/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 some twenty years ago a well set up good quality cassette tape deck with a good tape and proper adjustments made for that tape could sound as good as any comparably priced CD player of the day. VHS tape machines sounded even better with half inch tape and their large rotary heads. It was too late in the day for them but they were pretty good. most people have never heard a well set up cassette deck running a top quality tape.You could set the VHS machines to slow speed and put hours and hours of good sounding music on them for a party or for back ground listening, you still can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr clean Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 I had one of these in 78. I was 15 and thought it was the really something. It sounded good to me but then I got a pioneer cd player and it sounded much better . A lot of tapes were very poor quality but it was still great for the time. I had some good quality tapes I recorded off albums that sounded pretty good. I know there were better tapes and machines than I had. Sounded better when I was stoned 😎! https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrEzNzy7XVcf5cAzSqJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;_ylc=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-?gprid=XuGjL38dQuqMxJSVkeEdxA&pvid=xMcooTEwLjL39q_AXC.BcwEOMTk5LgAAAAB2CBwu&p=jvc+cassette+deck+kd+10+80s&fr=yfp-t&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt&y=Search#id=18&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hifidatabase.com%2Fstatic%2Fgallery%2F8%2F6628-jvc_KD-10.jpg&action=click Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totalcomfort Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 I still have tape issues, this is my current player also have a nice 8 track and a RTL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 I still have my Technics RS676AUS cassette deck....one of the better ones circa 1975...had great heads on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 still have my Pioneer CT-F1000 plus original box from cica 1979 had the Pioneer 6 cassette changer also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parlophone1 Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Never had a good deck, could not afford it in my young days. They chewed through cassettes which made me very angry. But whenever I had a chance, a good cassette was on my stack. Still have a few of them today. Unfortunately, the only deck is my old car radio at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kink56 Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Nakamichi Revox Tanberg I had a Nak Dragon and CR5A, they were quite capable units. I have never owned a pre-recorded cassette. But all my TDK and Maxell mix tapes sounded excellent. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Teac R-888X and R-999X were stellar units I had a Nakamichi RX-505 and a R-888X and used and Nakamichi TD-700 in my car. Akai had some stellar units as well G70? I used the awesome TDK MA-XG cassettes with a solid metal frame. Sold off my units and gave away my cassettes eon's ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeloManiac Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 I hate cassettes. In fact, when I salvaged my old stereo system from my parents house when it was sold, I deliberately left the onkyo tape player behind. Why this hate? 1) terrible quality of tape, which leaves a brown residue on the reading head, which muffles the sound 2) nightmares about tape ending up in the mechanism with nothing left but to tear the tape in pieces 3) tape stretching, with horrible tone distortion. No mister, Tape will never enter this man's house again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 45 minutes ago, LeftEyeShooter said: I hate cassettes. In fact, when I salvaged my old stereo system from my parents house when it was sold, I deliberately left the onkyo tape player behind. Why this hate? 1) terrible quality of tape, which leaves a brown residue on the reading head, which muffles the sound 2) nightmares about tape ending up in the mechanism with nothing left but to tear the tape in pieces 3) tape stretching, with horrible tone distortion. No mister, Tape will never enter this man's house again! While I never used MP tapes, I always used a decent brand and NEVER anything over 60 minutes. The thinner tape required form longer times was a recipe for disaster. That and a decent transport and you wouldn't have had most of your problems. I still have a Tascam 102MkII (I think that it is.. ) I also have a Tascam DA-30 DAT recorder...sweet, but hardly used now. It has very, very few hours on it. Bruce 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeloManiac Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 90 minute tape would allow to record two albums, one on each sides... most of the time. Until I finally lay hands on the record itself, and found out that there were actually three more songs on the album. Epiphany!!! Also, if you had a favourite song: play, stop, rewind, play, stop, rewind ad infinitum... This would kill a cassette too! I mostly bought Maxell tapes, there were different types and different qualities, of which I don't remember the details. Also BASF and TDK were popular brands here in Belgium. Of course, I'm now writing about the tapes I recorded myself, from vinyl albums I owned myself, or from friends. The commercial, pre-recorded cassettes sold next to the vinyl albums, were actually much, much, much worse quality. Not just the tape itself, but also the plastic casing was stuff nightmares are made of. The worst that would happen is leaving your cassette in your car on a hot summer day. You'd find it back, bent and distorted by the summer heat, nothing left to do with it but throw it in the dust bin. Or, like I did once, 'transplant' the tape from its bent casing into another casing. This of course, could only be done if the casing wasn't glued together, but screwed together... Oh the memories.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricktate Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 I got an Akia GX F-71 3 head deck from Crutchfield and it still kicks butt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glens Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 7 minutes ago, LeftEyeShooter said: The commercial, pre-recorded cassettes sold next to the vinyl albums, were actually much, much, much worse quality. Not just the tape itself, but also the plastic casing was stuff nightmares are made of. Squeak, squeak, screech, screech. It could often be temporarily fixed by ejecting the cassette and slapping it against something, both sides, to pack the tape more evenly. That is if the noise resulted from interrupted-and-resumed play and/or FF-or-RW. 10 minutes ago, LeftEyeShooter said: nothing left to do with it but throw it in the dust bin. Or, like I did once, 'transplant' the tape from its bent casing into another casing. This of course, could only be done if the casing wasn't glued together Done that many a time. Simply pry the shell apart if glued. Of course, you'd need a screwed-together shell available for use... 13 minutes ago, LeftEyeShooter said: 90 minute tape would allow to record two albums, one on each sides... most of the time. Yeah, 90 minute tapes were the best compromise. It was often possible to juggle the order of the songs on the album(s) so that two programs of somewhat less than 45 minutes each could be derived. Record the longer of the two, then cut the tape splicing the leader back, and record the other side. Minimized blank tape time 'til the direction switched. I once recorded my live UFO album and instead of cutting the tape just faded it out right into the leader and faded it back in on the other side, then filled up the remaining space with other material on the second side. That was ~1979. To this day, when listening to that "album" I expect that same Michael Schenker's solo to fade out, then back in again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRS94 Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 TEAC A440, 1977 timeframe, mades lots of tapes on this thing. Been sitting in the basement since 1990. Apparently belt kits are still available. Cool old stuff. New when my K'horns were new! Maybe a resurrection is in order.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 It was what it was. I only lost a couple tapes over time. Still have a bunch of Maxell, never been unwrapped. Best ones I ever made were for a husband and wife duo, who gave me their reel to reel stereo masters to copy to cassettes that they would use when they sang at churches and small gatherings. I dubbed those on a simple Nakamichi, but a good five years later the husband told me they were the best dubs anyone had made for them. It wasn't a pricey model, but solid. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeloManiac Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Of course, the obvious advantages were: 1) scratch free and dust free playback, if you made a tape of a relatively new album 2) (illegal) sharing of music with friends 3) creating your own 'mix' for your girlfriend 4) distributing obscure live bootleg recordings (this is for the millennials here) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Some of the 8 track cassettes had soft plastic idler wheels which after 30 years would dissolve and turn to goo which would enter your machine and make it real goooy and a mess. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opus Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 I still have my Nakamichi. Properly recorded, on quality tape, cassettes sound very good. I used to use Nakamichi branded tape to record vinyl to. Nakamichi bought their tape from TDK. They would get the middle of a 'pancake' of tape and put it in their Nak branded shells (the middle of the 'pancake' is supposed to be the most uniform). I always used the 'metal' tape. I have a couple of reference recordings that Nakamichi did to showcase the sound of cassette. They are fantastic sounding! Another aspect of making tape sound good is keeping the heads clean and demagnetized. It's not hard to do, and makes a big difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Gotta keep 'em clean! Store bought tapes require a cleaning after one play it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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