Cassettes Cassettes Cassettes Cassettes

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

 

[OldiesButGoodies]

There are some strong feelings about cassettes out there on audiophile world.    I think many of the folks that are critical have limited experience with good cassette decks.  A decent deck is pretty hand when you borrow an LP from a friend (very common for me) and do not have reels to play with (for all the sonic advantages of R2R,  I at least do not have spare tapes to afford using them to record the occasional borrowed LP or NPR concert). 

The other option is to use software like Audigy to digitize the stuff we would normally record.  That option is harder to execute on successfully than perhaps it sounds (pun intended).  Every time I try it, the sound that comes out is  dry and unappealing (user error and cheap sound cards may be partly the cause, admittedly),  and the process more cumbersome than popping a cassette, adjusting levels and recording.

Another argument that  attracts me is the availability of good quality pre-recorded tapes at places like Half Price Books.  To me that is a cool factor.  Some of the recordings I have run across are amazingly good. 

OBG

PS:  And the hardware decks can be beautiful and fun to play with and maintain

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I think many of the folks that are critical have limited experience with good cassette decks. 

I worked through school in our AV department.   We had three head decks from Nakamichi and Studer.   These decks were about as good as it gets.   I listen to cassettes (when I have to) with the Dolby off because it kills the air in the music.   However, when you do that you usually get what is (at least in the digital age) an unacceptable level of hiss.

I do recordings with an E-Mu 1212 card and Audition 3, and I haven't looked back.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Oh, and I do have a Tascam 102 MKII deck for when I need cassette playback.   Not top of the line, but certainly not bottom either.

[OldiesButGoodies]

That Tascam is a nice deck - may add it to the Pepe Cassette deck museum some day.

How do you use the Emu card in practice?  balanced inputs from the pre tape-out and record,  then playback to balance out or digital out to a DAC?

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I just use the analog inputs from the tape out on my Marantz 2230.   Nothing fancy.   The built in DAC is quite good (it has the same chip as ProTools uses, that was the big selling point for me).   It was a PITA to set up, but now that it is configured I find it to be quite excellent.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Here is the main mixdown deck we used (to get back on topic for you)...

[OldiesButGoodies]

I will use the profits from selling the 1st 3 decks on Epay to source an Emu card for my XP PC.   

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

There is a beta driver for Win 7.   It will remain beta forever as they have stopped support for that card, but it has been stable on my Win 7 64 bit for at least a year now.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

And they seem to be selling for around a C-note in eBay completed listings.   If it takes three Naks to raise $100, this only further confuses me as to the entire undertaking.

[OldiesButGoodies]

I will report as the sales happen.  My track record on the last 6 decks I have sold is an average 40-50%  gain  ,  so thank God for the few remaining cassette lovers.  I am betting there is beer money for me in this batch, just as there was with the Pioneer decks in the past.

[gdv]

Markshan...

Loved your original "I am your father" pic!!!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Not questioning the merits of the decks.
Just seems like a *lot* of work for limited gain. 
I could only imagine what your wife said.

[OldiesButGoodies]

I guess you need to know me better to understand.  This is not work for me - playing with all these different decks is a ton of fun. Turning over the ones I cannot fix myself to Anders et al to fix is fun,  and it helps the economy  .  I guess I would not mind turning this basement into a small-scale version of the shop in Babcock Blvd.  Racks full of electronic crap to play with and sell every once in a while.  I had not thought of it that way but I like that idea. 

The best part of the basement deal in the new house is that I am king down here,  I can do pretty  much anything I want as long as it doesn't interfere with access to the garage.  Am I crazy?  Compared to who? 

OBG 

[MacGeek]

The guy in Ohio who sold the decks is already there.  There must have been 70 to 100 pieces of gear in his man cave, in various stages of operability or repair.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for us), most of the best stuff left the place in my car.