My New Cassette Deck (Nak Cr4a)

[RnR]

Hey guys,

I grew up during the "CD era" and often dismissed cassettes as being crappy or obsolete.  Well, I recently purchased a Nakamichi CR-4a off of Pepe and couldn't be more happy with it.  I was previously using a Nak Cr-1a (2-head, freebie) which is a nice workhorse, but to get the most out of cassettes, 3-head is the way to go. 

I met him at his place (very nice system and acoustic environment) and we first did a playback demo on a home-recorded type iv (metal).  Compared to my old deck the CR4a had much better mids/highs, sounded more dynamic, less flat, and had an obviously lower noise floor.  Much less "hiss" that is so often associated with cassettes.   We also demoed a commercially recorded type I cassette, which yielded all of the same sonic benefits we noticed with the type iv.  Playback was overall cleaner with a more even frequency response.  I previously found all tapes to sound rolled off with recessed mids and rolled off highs.  Kind of like listening to speakers that needed recapped.  Difference is very noticeable on things like cymbals and intimate breathy vocals.  The dual capstans insure more stability in playback and recording.  Ever start out a tape and there is a bit of flutter until it evens out and starts to sound normal?  No flutter on this guy.  I actually thought a lot of my cassettes had gone bad due to age/abuse but they've found a new life in my new deck and are sounding quite good.

Then we did some recording (fun!).  This model is pretty slick because it has a calibration feature that auto-mutes playback, omits a test tone, and allows you to monitor and reference the front meters for balancing the frequency response, and overall rec levels.  I'v noticed that on lesser decks the first couple seconds after you hit record are wobbly sounding but after doing some tests the other night I can say it sounds just as strong in the first couple sec's as it does in the middle.  I record LP-->Cassette quite often, and also some local Sunday night radio programs that usually reside on the lower side of the freq band 


I personally have a lot of fun with tapes, so don't be prejudice to the cassette medium until you've spent some time with a good deck.  After all, it IS analog. 

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

but to get the most out of cassettes, 3-head is the way to go. 

Only for recording.   For playback, the third head makes no difference.   What you are hearing is more likely just an overall improvement in build quality.

[OldiesButGoodies]

Hey guys,

I grew up during the "CD era" and often dismissed cassettes as being crappy or obsolete.  Well, I recently purchased a Nakamichi CR-4a off of Pepe and couldn't be more happy with it.  I was previously using a Nak Cr-1a (2-head, freebie) which is a nice workhorse, but to get the most out of cassettes, 3-head is the way to go. 

I met him at his place (very nice system and acoustic environment) and we first did a playback demo on a home-recorded type iv (metal).  Compared to my old deck the CR4a had much better mids/highs, sounded more dynamic, less flat, and had an obviously lower noise floor.  Much less "hiss" that is so often associated with cassettes.   We also demoed a commercially recorded type I cassette, which yielded all of the same sonic benefits we noticed with the type iv.  Playback was overall cleaner with a more even frequency response.  I previously found all tapes to sound rolled off with recessed mids and rolled off highs.  Kind of like listening to speakers that needed recapped.  Difference is very noticeable on things like cymbals and intimate breathy vocals.  The dual capstans insure more stability in playback and recording.  Ever start out a tape and there is a bit of flutter until it evens out and starts to sound normal?  No flutter on this guy.  I actually thought a lot of my cassettes had gone bad due to age/abuse but they've found a new life in my new deck and are sounding quite good.

Then we did some recording (fun!).  This model is pretty slick because it has a calibration feature that auto-mutes playback, omits a test tone, and allows you to monitor and reference the front meters for balancing the frequency response, and overall rec levels.  I'v noticed that on lesser decks the first couple seconds after you hit record are wobbly sounding but after doing some tests the other night I can say it sounds just as strong in the first couple sec's as it does in the middle.  I record LP-->Cassette quite often, and also some local Sunday night radio programs that usually reside on the lower side of the freq band 


I personally have a lot of fun with tapes, so don't be prejudice to the cassette medium until you've spent some time with a good deck.  After all, it IS analog.

Adam:  Thanks for dropping by and "adopting" the CR-4a.  I really enjoyed that deck and its internal quality (the chassis is copper plated, for example).  I agree that being able to monitor recordings makes recording a lot easier and the quality is often better (as Mark hints) on playback as each head has been optimized for purpose and in general the deck is targeted to satisfy more demanding ears.   I concur that recording to tape can be a lot of fun, and can sometimes (IMO) take the edge off of digital recordings.

Have fun,

Pepe