Tapes

[nicu_martin]

"I have a Tascam CD-RW-700 and a Nakamichi CR-7A cassette player/recorder. They produce nearly equal results as far as sound quality goes, though they produce somewhat different results in some areas. It might surprise some of you but the Nak can reproduce every bit as much detail as the CD burner, even on cassette -- on good type IIs and metal. You have to remember though, the CR-7A (and the CR-7E in Europe) were according to some reviewers the best cassette decks Nakamichi ever produced and one of the best cassette decks ever.

The Nak beats the Tascam for 'real life' presence in vocals. Also, I like the way it deals with highs better than the Tascam. The Tascam, on the other hand, does better at tightening up and delivering bass than the Nak.

So there are (were I should say) cassette decks that could compete. But they were damned expensive in the day and retain quite a lot of value even today.

Someone mentioned a better comparison would be RTR vs CD. I bought a couple of used RTRs about 10 years ago -- a Pioneer RT-707 and a Tascam 34B. The Pioneer model was manufactured from about '77 ~ '82 and the Tascam was an '84 model I think. It was no comparison at all. Both those RTRs drove the CD player to tears and sent it packing. Quarter inch tape at 7 1/2 IPS sounded full, lush, detailed -- wonderful. I thought both those RTRs made mincemeat of the Sony CDP-XA3ES I had at the time. Of course, the Sony was only a player and not a recorder, so my comparisons were of prerecorded CDs vs their vinyl counterparts dubbed to reel.

The downside -- RTRs are bulky, heavy and can be finicky. Lots more care has to be taken with tapes versus CDs or cassettes. A lot of people are mentioning tape hiss but I was never bothered by it. Maybe those decks reduced a lot of the hiss...I don't know. Tape hiss is barely noticeable on the Nak I use. But I really don't think it's as big a deal as people make it out to be.

But back to the original question -- how do cassettes fit in to the sound quality picture along the continuum between vinyl and CDs. I assume we're not talking about any prerecorded cassettes -- I think most here on the forum think prerecorded cassettes were bad to awful. I agree.

But if we're talking about dubbing vinyl to CDR or blank cassette, I'd say that a high quality deck and a high quality blank metal cassette can equal the sound quality of a CDR and may even sound better to some people. If we're talking more common cassette decks and type II tapes, then CDRs are probably going to sound better to most people.

With my Tascam and Nakamichi, I go back and forth with my preference. For a few months I think the CDRs sound better. About 3 weeks ago I started using the Nak again and now I think it sounds better...In a few months I'll probably switch my preference again.

Dale"

[Mitica]

[akaiofil]

[nicu_martin]

"One very odd thing—back in 1998 I acquired a box of about 200 mix tapes sourced from LPs, very good sounding & musically very eclectic. They were just left all by their lonesome in People's Park. I still have them but I rarely play them now. I suppose the person volunteering these tapes had moved on to a completely digital life."

"Recently I dug out the old cassette player, hooked it up to my receiver and played alot of my tapes of 80's/90's metal bands. they sounded fantastic! I still have the Pink Floyd cassettes my uncle made for me 20 years a go, vinyl>tape. those too still sound great."

"Cassette over CD for me.
I put on a cassette, I feel good. I put on a CD I get distracted or annoyed. That's in general of course, but a cassette makes me feel like a pleasant drug is coming on - like I "get into" the music. Not true with a CD. Can't give a scientific reason but it's more pleasant."

[teh_paradox]

eu am vazut prin anii 90 in ungaria cum se copiau benzi din "casete" pe o mecanica orizontala la 2 sau 4x;
adica era o mecanica unde se puneau cele 2 role micute + banda aferenta dintr-o carcasa de caseta asemenator ca la un mag si aceasta mecanica orizontala nu avea vibratii de nici un fel, capul putand fi reglat ca la mag in toate cele 3 planuri (nu mai existau vibratii cauzate de uzura bucsei cabestanului care la o mecanica verticala poate cauza deplasarea benzii creand tensiune si deplasarea benzii in ghidaje)

culmea era ca primeau acele benzi pe role separat si carcasele separat iar la urma tot ce trebuiau sa faca este sa puna cele 2 role in carcasa si sa stranga surubele si aveau o caseta copiata profesional;

prima mea intrebare a fost ce fel de corectie folosesc pt. 4x ca sa nu existe pierderi de calitate si mi-a raspuns omul ca se folosea un cap ft. dur si corectii ft. "alterate" din partea electronica pt. a compensa pierderile/compromisurile datorate vitezei ft. mari de imprimare;

de cum am ajuns acasa am si probat o chestie/idee ce m-a framantat tot drumul in urma acestei "experiente" si anume - ma gandeam eu ca daca e posibil sa copiezi la 4x destul de bine aparent (pt o ureche ne-educata) atunci oare ce castig in calitate as avea daca as copia 1:1 o banda pe viteza 19 nu la 1x in timp real ci la 0,5 x

cu alte cuvinte am facut un mic experiment la vremea aia care m-a dat pe spate

am copiat o banda trasa pe 19 cm/s in felul urmator - am redat-o pe viteza 9 si am copiat-o tot pe 9 ; rezultatul (cu niste maguri reglate ft. bine pe viteza 9) a fost uimitor, puteti incerca cei curiosi

[akaiofil]

[Rycher]

akaiofil, fără supărare, da' tu cine eşti? De ce ar fi mai relevantă opinia ta (daă ai vreuna, că deocamdată joci doar rol de gică contra) decât opinia celui citat de Nicu? Cine eşti tu? Ai ceva scule de să cădem toţi pe jos, s-a adunat toată audiofilia la tine în casă şi nu ştim noi, sau ce?
În acel citat e părerea unuia la fel de pasionat de scule ca noi, ce te ataci aşa imediat? ba e chiar o opinie bazată pe teste şi exprimată cu foarte mult bun simţ.
Chiar nu puteţi înceta cu stilul ăsta de trolling?
Dacă ai ceva de spus despre casete în acest thread, spune, dacă nu, la revedere, vezi în alte threaduri dacă ai ceva de spus.
Am înţeles că nu eşti de acord cu opinia celor care apreciază casetele, de ce insişti?

[Rycher]

Este chiar un forum specializat pe aşa ceva, tapeheads, unde întâlneşti tipi care consideră că o casetă poate suna mai bine ca un CD (bazat pe teste pe scule high end) la tot pasul şi crede-mă că au bani de spart pe scule într-o lună cât nu vei sparge tu într-o viaţă.

[Rycher]

[florinfloreanu]

acum vreun an era la vanzare pe okazii un aparat din asta de inregistrat 8 casete o data. costa vreo 10 milioane, parca.
oricum, casetele trase pe astfel de aparate in tarile foste comuniste, erau niste mizerii. in ultimul timp nici alea "originale" din vest nu mai erau mare branza.

[akaiofil]

[akaiofil]

[akaiofil]

Ca sa revenim la subiect eu am considerat mereu casetele originale ca fiind niste mizerii, in special cele de la polonezi (de care a abundat piata romaneasca dupa revolutie). Nici cele din vest nu te dau pe spate, cu mici exceptii nu neaparat notabile.

Personal cred ca de asta a si disparut deck-ul asa de repede (ma refer la raspindirea de masa), pentru ca in lumea in care se platea copyright (adica se cumparau casete preinregistrate, nu se inregistrau in studiouri cum erau in romania pe vremuri) in momentul in care au aparut cd-urile acestea sunau infinit mai bine decit casetele preinregistrate.

[Rycher]

[akaiofil]

[Rycher]

Nu, dar dacă iar începem cu contre şi intră toţi cei care desconsideră casetele ca să se lege de cei care le apreciază, iar iese un circ şi se alege praful şi de threadul acesta, care începuse aşa bine, cu pozele alea mişto puse de Hi&Fan şi florinfloreanu.
E un thread dedicat celor care iubesc casetele. Şi mai ales celor care ştiu să facă o casetă bună