Take a Tandberg 3014 A, any Nakamichi top-of-the-line model, Revox B 215 or even a NAD 6300 and compare it to a regular reel to reel deck. The best cassette decks can have even surpassed the sound of a modest 1/4 tk open reel. It has always amazed me the grade of quality and perfection the cassette tape evolved to, running at the very slow speed of 1 7/8 ips and using a 1/4 tk format in such small surface of tape! When was the last time you listened to a good recorded Chrome tape played in a high-quality deck? Many people have not had this opportunity and all they remember were those tapes from dad’s car, beaten by the sun and playing in a cheap Kraco unit! How many of you have experienced a custom recorded TDK metal tape playing back on a properly aligned Nakamichi Dragon? You’ll have to hold on to your pants and I’m deeply serious. Who wants to bother now with the old tape again? Only we, the remaining tape lovers who knows where the real quality and music enjoyment is.… The Machine
Alternatives to tapedeck download#
No wonder why the CD took over, just to be displaced later by the stream and download services. With cassette and vinyl, you need to have the proper set-up to get the most out of it and that takes time, knowledge and money! The general consumer is always looking for ease of use, flexibility and bargains. Why do you think the CD took the market like a storm? Simply because even with a “cheap” player you could obtain a fair sound quality (excellent quality for John Q Public) no matter where. Sure! When you deal with a low quality, commercial duplicated tape on a crappy shell and playing it back on an even crappier machine which has not seen a Q Tip with alcohol on the heads since who knows when, then that’s not a fair accusation! That’s not the same cassette tape that I, and many other cassette lovers, know! Unfortunately, this handicap is like that of the vinyl. They usually mention the hiss, low quality and bad sounding characteristics of the cassette tape. Every time I read something in the press about the cassette revival I have noticed the writer’s prejudice against the cassette. Many unjustified criticisms have been made to the cassette media. At the end, I got rid of all three since every time I needed a service, in shipping cost alone, I use to spend a fortune due to its weight! (over 50 lbs)! The Z 7000, a beautiful, impressive and heavy machine, is highly complex and prone to problems. Later, I discovered the hard way that these specific decks are a pain in the ass to work with and only 3 or 4 techs are willing and capable to service it. For example I collected all Teac “Z Series” decks (only 3 models were produced). That’s why you have to be careful as to which deck you are going to buy and from whom. Other models require a lot of inventiveness and imagination on behalf of the service tech because many parts and replacements are no longer available. Those who are adventurous enough to attempt a service without the Nak specific tools, tends to end in the same way: recommending a Nak tech to their customer after the damage is already done. I know a lot of good technicians that can’t properly service a Nak simply because they don’t have the required aligning tools and tapes. To make things even more interesting, some brands require specific gadgets to be serviced, like Nakamichi for example, making the available techs list even more reduced. On the other hand, audio cassette players are more complex machines than their bigger relatives and just a small number of capable techs are still dealing with these. One of the main advantages the cassette has over the open reel is the prolific abundance of nice units still working around the world and for relatively good/affordable prices. Well, all this noise has been growing lately and it was inevitable that the cassette tape would take the opportunity to jump on the train as well. Having such a copy is like having a “piece” of the Master Tape itself and I’m not kidding. The copies are duplicated in real-time, direct from the duplication masters and using the best recorders they could afford from Studer, Telefunken, Philips and Nagra.
Today this is a complete different story. The hiss was always high, but even though I can recall a nice and acceptable sound from many of my older brother’s tapes he brought from Vietnam. In the past, the pre-recorded tapes were duplicated on poor stock tape, 1/4 tk format and 3 3/4 speed. Many companies have resurrected the old “pre-recorded” reel tapes market but this time with exclusive music and performers dubbed on high quality tape from ATR or RTM, running 15ips on a 1/2 Track format and with such a high sound quality that right now this is the best media to take you closer to the “real thing”. With the new tape revival around the world, more and more audiophiles are getting into the exclusive, and sometimes expensive, hobby of open reel playback.
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