What tape deck to make recordings?
- Thread starter Johnny
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i think nakamichi is pretty hard to beat.
if you can find a dragon that would be pretty good.
you know i have also seen a lot of high end rack mount tape recorders going for dirt cheap lately. seems like a lot of people are dumping there tape based gear.
if you can get a studio tape deck for bounce downs chances are it will have low hours and excellent audio converters in it.
some of the yamaha natural sound stuff was pretty decent too.
if you can find a dragon that would be pretty good.
you know i have also seen a lot of high end rack mount tape recorders going for dirt cheap lately. seems like a lot of people are dumping there tape based gear.
if you can get a studio tape deck for bounce downs chances are it will have low hours and excellent audio converters in it.
some of the yamaha natural sound stuff was pretty decent too.
Johnny, a really good answer to this depends on your budget?Johnny said:Thanks Bill if you see a good ebay link let me know, as I have no idea what Im buying
Like Bill pointed out, I would recommend a Nakamichi deck as well. But, the Dragon is really in the "creme de' la creme" class of tape decks and can set you back anywhere from $450 to over $1k. A Nak 2-head unit would be perfect for cutting your teeth with recording mixtapes, so to speak...
As with anything, some units are more desirable than others. Some Nakamichi 2-head units can be had in working condition for under $100 and even under $50. Their low end decks really are better than most other mfr's low end decks and highly underpriced on ebay right now, IMHO.
Here are some recommendations:
[ebay]60415835368[/ebay]An RX-202, which is autoreverse, but flips the tape via a tray that ejects and manually turns the tape. These are somewhat desirable because of that flip-feature, but capable decks for sure. This one appears to have been reconditioned and should give you years of service. Check seller feedback on this...
[ebay]200453540777[/ebay] Here'a a cheap, cheap BX-2, should sell for around $20. Not desirable, but if it works as advertised, it should sound pretty good. Even on a bad day, this would make better tapes than ANY boombox. And under $40.
[ebay]160412692340[/ebay] LX-3 has decent reputation.
Other mfrs worth looking into without breaking the bank are Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer and Yamaha, Teac, Tascam, Aiwa and Akai. Here's a URL to a good guide that may be of some help to you (pricing is dated): http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mleone/gdead/taping-guide/part1.html
Good luck!
JT
Johnny the Nakamichi and the Tascam are two of the best tape deck.
On the Tascam I would go for the 122 B it's a three head, direct drive, and has HX pro.
No need to tell you on the Naks as you have been already told about them.
On the Tascam I would go for the 122 B it's a three head, direct drive, and has HX pro.
No need to tell you on the Naks as you have been already told about them.
Not directly... but they are also in that "creme de la creme" tapedeck category with the Dragon. Some say the Dragon is the best, some say the Tandberg, others swear by the Revox B-215.Fatdog said:
Personally, if Ihad to pick just one tape deck to live with the rest of my life, I would be very happy with the Nak RX-505. It's a 3-head unit, has the cool tape-flip feature that always garners oohs and ahhs from visitors to the house, and it sounds about 90~95% as good as a Dragon or those other two units you mentioned. Oh, and cleverly shopped the RX-505 can be had for 1/3 of the price of those. But, the word is out on them and the prices are starting to rise for them on everybody's favorite auction site...
The only way to ever tell exactly which deck is the best match for a particular system would be to have all three on hand and do side by side by side comparisons where the decks are the only variable. And at that level of cassette audio, it becomes so subjective that it is almost ridiculous. Two people could listen to the same things and reach different conclusions. And lets not even talk about the law of diminishing returns... i.e. the added $$$ that must be spent to get small incrimental improvements in sound...
(Now, with all of that said, I really, really, really want a Nakamichi Dragon.... childhood fantasy, can't erase it...)
In addition to how good a deck is, a little bit has to do with how good one's hearing is. That being said, my Aiwa AD-F660 is the greatest sounding deck I've ever owned. I lucked out and picked it up at Goodwill for $3.00, put some new belts in it, demagnetized, and BAM! Super sweet. 
Yup.Fatdog said:In addition to how good a deck is, a little bit has to do with how good one's hearing is. That being said, my Aiwa AD-F660 is the greatest sounding deck I've ever owned. I lucked out and picked it up at Goodwill for $3.00, put some new belts in it, demagnetized, and BAM! Super sweet.
If you really boil it down to the original question.... WHAT TAPE DECK TO MAKE RECORDINGS...?
The answer could almost be the same as the one I give when people ask what is the best camera....
ANSWER: The one you have!!!! Just use it!!!!
i have had good experiences with
( and yes you guys are too much, with all the hi end hifi !!! )
Yamaha, Technics, Aiwa ( very good ),
lower quality Sony and Pioneer give the tapes a flat plasticy sound.
I always record a bit over the 0 dB Mark for extra boom, around 6db's
and always watching the bias, so the sound wont come out dull.
chrome with a little less bias, 9:30
and normal with bias almost all turned down , 8 oclock or so.
( and yes you guys are too much, with all the hi end hifi !!!
)Yamaha, Technics, Aiwa ( very good ),
lower quality Sony and Pioneer give the tapes a flat plasticy sound.
I always record a bit over the 0 dB Mark for extra boom, around 6db's
and always watching the bias, so the sound wont come out dull.
chrome with a little less bias, 9:30
and normal with bias almost all turned down , 8 oclock or so.
FYI: [ebay]300411154331[/ebay] here is another cheapo deck that is light on features, but good on sound. I used a similar BX-125 for a decade and a half that made AWESOME tapes that I still listen to.... Only difference between BX-100 & BX-125 is that the 125 has dolby C (which you don't really need, anyway). Black BX-125 here for roughly the same moolah: [ebay]260575373606[/ebay]
Considering how these typically sell for low $$, either of these could end up being a great sub-$30 purchase for you. Assuming they work as the sellers says they do.
(as with just about everything on ebay)
Considering how these typically sell for low $$, either of these could end up being a great sub-$30 purchase for you. Assuming they work as the sellers says they do.
(as with just about everything on ebay)
Okay, this is my last recommendation, I promise.... (I was Nak-shopping)
$100 (and that includes shipping) gets you a working RX-202 (guaranteed by seller) which had MSRP of $850 back in the day.
You get the Nak name and the desirable auto flip autoreverse mechanism and all... for about the price of a nice Panasonic RX-5150. This tape deck is guaranteed to give you an automatic "OH COOL" reaction from your friends.
[ebay]330417707784[/ebay]
You could hold out and maybe find one for a bit less.... but that will take time and patience... and I really don't think you'll find one that much cheaper to make the wait worth it.
$100 (and that includes shipping) gets you a working RX-202 (guaranteed by seller) which had MSRP of $850 back in the day.
You get the Nak name and the desirable auto flip autoreverse mechanism and all... for about the price of a nice Panasonic RX-5150. This tape deck is guaranteed to give you an automatic "OH COOL" reaction from your friends.
[ebay]330417707784[/ebay]
You could hold out and maybe find one for a bit less.... but that will take time and patience... and I really don't think you'll find one that much cheaper to make the wait worth it.
KENWOOD
KX 660 - I have tapes I made on this in the 80's that still sound CRYSTAL
KX 880
KX 1100G
or
KENWOOD KX 5010 - I HAVE TWO OF THESE IN BOXES NOW - MY CURRENT DECK
pay no more than 50 quid
KX 660 - I have tapes I made on this in the 80's that still sound CRYSTAL
KX 880
KX 1100G
or
KENWOOD KX 5010 - I HAVE TWO OF THESE IN BOXES NOW - MY CURRENT DECK
pay no more than 50 quid
I'm still here
I got some boomboxes coming up for sale
gotta make some room for my now working GF9191 (seized motor now replaced) and my newly acquired GF 9494
How goes it?
I got some boomboxes coming up for sale
gotta make some room for my now working GF9191 (seized motor now replaced) and my newly acquired GF 9494
How goes it?
cool.ClaretBadger said:I'm still here
I got some boomboxes coming up for sale
gotta make some room for my now working GF9191 (seized motor now replaced) and my newly acquired GF 9494
How goes it?
good luck .
have a nice week!!!
One thing to note about Naks
They're great decks - the best in fact
BUT
Their tapes only really sound good on other Naks
please bear this in mind when you stick you TEAC SOUND 52 into your box and it sounds tinny coz your azimuth is out.
peas
They're great decks - the best in fact
BUT
Their tapes only really sound good on other Naks
please bear this in mind when you stick you TEAC SOUND 52 into your box and it sounds tinny coz your azimuth is out.
peas
Sorry, but I gotta disagree. Are you saying that because that is your experience, or because that is what you heard?ClaretBadger said:
That is more of an audio urban legend than it is fact. But, it is a surprisingly common comment about Naks and I wonder where that came from because that has not been my experience at all. My theory is that, being among the very best tape deck makers, Nakamichi always have that proverbial target on their chest. I think this train of thought came from audio salesmen who didn't have Naks to sell, when they were trying to hock other decks they had on hand instead. Hey, it does "sound" plausible.. Especially when you're trying to justify why you are buying a lesser product.
I am also an active member of tapeheads.net and this topic came up there and was thoroughly discussed a while back. The large majority of folks who engaged in that discussion felt pretty much the same way I do on this topic.
Playback variance from one deck to another is actually quite common, due mostly to slight alignment differences (azimuth, tilt, head height, etc..) from one unit to the next. Doesn't matter if the original machine was a Denon, a Teac or a Nak. If the "other" machine doesn't read the tape properly, it will sound lifeless and flat, or worse even....
I think the key is to have a PROPERLY set up deck for on which to record, and use tapes that you know work good in that machine. I have four Naks here, all of which I've used for recording, and I've played those tapes in a huge variety of other MFR cassette decks (Onkyo, Denon, Pioneer, Aiwa, Akai, Tascam, etc...) and they've sounded excellent.
In fact, I gave out over 20 nak-recorded tapes at the meet earlier this month... So, I ask that any of you who got one of those tapes from me to please chime in here and share your experience. Grab that tape (or tapes) and give a real good listen on your best boomer or non-Nak component deck. Use headphones if you have them... And then, if you have a Nak, listen to it on that deck , too... does it sound better in the Nak? Please share your thoughts regarding the sound quality of the recording. I'd be real curious to hear if you think the tapes sounded flat, or if they were rich and vibrant...
I'm not trying to start a fight, just looking for some feedback to see if there really is any truth to this "nak recorded tapes only sound good in naks" comment. And since I handed out so many tapes that I KNOW came from properly working decks, this would be useful exercise to help further dispell or maybe even substantiate this debate...
ClaretBadger - I'd also be willing to engage in a one-on-one tape trade with you... I'll send you one of my Nak tapes so you can hear how it sounds in your Kenwoods. And I would be very interested in hearing what your Kenwood made tapes sound like in my Naks. I've always thought of Kenwood as a very good amplifier, EQ and tuner company, moreso than any of their other components.
L8R,
JT
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