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  • Cassettes

    I've recently started getting master copies of tapes made to cassette, which are physically smaller and more affordable than two-track 15 ips R2R tape. Not everyone believes me, but the sound comes shockingly close to that "tape magic" you get from R2R in something as simple as an un modified Nakamichi CR-3A although I also have a Dragon. I had wanted the R2R of Jacintha's "Autumn Leaves" but ran out of money and room, so got a copy from the last set of dubs of Patricia Barber's "Café Blue" and am otherwise collecting cassettes and vinyl LPs as well as CDs plus high-resolution PCM downloads, at least for now.
    Transrotor Rossini Turntable w/Jelco SA-750DB
    Audio Note Io Gold Cart. w/AN-S9 SUT
    Audio Note CDT-Four Transport/Woo WDS-1 DAC
    Ayre QX-5 Twenty Dig. Hub & 13” MacBook Pro w/Roon w/Melco N1A NAS
    AN OTO Phono SE Signature Int. Amp w/AN-E SEC Silver Speakers w/Murata Super Tweeters
    Purple J-Corder 1520 R2R and Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck
    PSAudio P10 AC Regen./Equi=Tech Bal. Transformer
    Harmonic Technology, Audio Note, Kondo Sound Labs, Stealth, AQ Cables
    Woo GES w/Sfax SR-507 Headphones

  • #2
    The problem with cassette is it is noisy without noise reduction and adding noise reduction causes new problems.
    Magnepan 1.6 QR Loudspeakers, Amherst A-2000 MOSFET 150 WPC Amp, Conrad Johnson PV-10A Modded Tube Line & Phono Stage, Electrocompaniet MC II Class A Head Amp, Audio Technica AT-OC9XML Cart (Stereo) , Graham Engineering 2.2 Tonearm (Stereo) , VPI Aries-1 Turntable (Stereo) , VPI Clamp, Denon DL-102 Cart, (Mono) , Luxman Tonearm (Mono) , Kenwood KD-500 Turntable (Mono) , Michell Clamp, Marantz 20B Analog FM Tuner, Pioneer SACD, Onkyo DX-6800 CD Transport, DIY 24B/192K DAC, Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones, Headroom Max Balanced Headphone Amp, DIY Silver Interconnects

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Galileo
      I've recently started getting master copies of tapes made to cassette, which are physically smaller and more affordable than two-track 15 ips R2R tape. Not everyone believes me, but the sound comes shockingly close to that "tape magic" you get from R2R in something as simple as an un modified Nakamichi CR-3A although I also have a Dragon. I had wanted the R2R of Jacintha's "Autumn Leaves" but ran out of money and room, so got a copy from the last set of dubs of Patricia Barber's "Café Blue" and am otherwise collecting cassettes and vinyl LPs as well as CDs plus high-resolution PCM downloads, at least for now.
      Thirty years ago, a recording engineer gave me a Steve Earle cassette directly copied from one of his master tapes. It was shockingly good. Of course we tend to forget just how awfully made those cassettes were. High speed duped from crappy sources. So yeah, I'm sure they could shock some people. Not to mention, most cassette machines really needed to have their heads aligned.
      Myles B. Astor, PhD, Administrator
      Senior Editor, Positive-Feedback.com
      ________________________________________

      -Zellaton Plural Evo speakers
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      -VPI Vanquish direct-drive turntable
      -VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy dual pivot tonearm, VPI 12-inch 3D Fat Boy gimballed and SAT LM-12 arm
      -Lyra Atlas SL Lambda, vdh Colibri Master Signature, Mutech Hayabusa,
      -Technics RS1506 with Flux Magnetic heads, Doshi V3.0 tape stage (balanced)
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      • #4
        As good as my Dragon is, it's no match for the R2R Studers!! Not even close.... and I've tried.

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        • #5
          I used to do a lot of home recording on both cassette and reel to reel ( no longer, I now record digitally with the pc ). Even using metal tape with cassette vs 7.5 ips reel to reel, the cassette always seemed like it was a little strained while the reel was effortless.
          Magnepan 1.6 QR Loudspeakers, Amherst A-2000 MOSFET 150 WPC Amp, Conrad Johnson PV-10A Modded Tube Line & Phono Stage, Electrocompaniet MC II Class A Head Amp, Audio Technica AT-OC9XML Cart (Stereo) , Graham Engineering 2.2 Tonearm (Stereo) , VPI Aries-1 Turntable (Stereo) , VPI Clamp, Denon DL-102 Cart, (Mono) , Luxman Tonearm (Mono) , Kenwood KD-500 Turntable (Mono) , Michell Clamp, Marantz 20B Analog FM Tuner, Pioneer SACD, Onkyo DX-6800 CD Transport, DIY 24B/192K DAC, Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones, Headroom Max Balanced Headphone Amp, DIY Silver Interconnects

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          • #6
            I never had a cassette deck in the same zip code as a Dragon. Used my Mom's ReVox when I could. I even went with costly metal tapes to record onto. Commercial tapes here were a disaster. Just shoot me bad. I elected to record from LP. It was what MP3 is for me today, just for convenience. I remember bitching about sound quality along with my cousins. We came up with a funny theory that Cassettes were the reason stereos in the 80s all sprouted graphic equalizers and that people started that flying V pattern on them. Come to think of it, that might have actually been the case.

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            • MylesBAstor
              MylesBAstor commented
              Editing a comment
              "Flying Vee!" Know what you are referring to but never knew it had a name! 👍

            • JackD201
              JackD201 commented
              Editing a comment
              A friend who owns a chain of gas stations actually named them Flying V as an inside joke. LOL.

            • JCOConnell
              JCOConnell commented
              Editing a comment
              Flying Vee is a famous electric guitar body from the fifties

          • #7
            Originally posted by JCOConnell
            The problem with cassette is it is noisy without noise reduction and adding noise reduction causes new problems.
            It's not as noisy as you might think, depending on how you record and playback the cassettes.
            Transrotor Rossini Turntable w/Jelco SA-750DB
            Audio Note Io Gold Cart. w/AN-S9 SUT
            Audio Note CDT-Four Transport/Woo WDS-1 DAC
            Ayre QX-5 Twenty Dig. Hub & 13” MacBook Pro w/Roon w/Melco N1A NAS
            AN OTO Phono SE Signature Int. Amp w/AN-E SEC Silver Speakers w/Murata Super Tweeters
            Purple J-Corder 1520 R2R and Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck
            PSAudio P10 AC Regen./Equi=Tech Bal. Transformer
            Harmonic Technology, Audio Note, Kondo Sound Labs, Stealth, AQ Cables
            Woo GES w/Sfax SR-507 Headphones

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            • #8
              Originally posted by JackD201
              I never had a cassette deck in the same zip code as a Dragon. Used my Mom's ReVox when I could. I even went with costly metal tapes to record onto. Commercial tapes here were a disaster. Just shoot me bad. I elected to record from LP. It was what MP3 is for me today, just for convenience. I remember bitching about sound quality along with my cousins. We came up with a funny theory that Cassettes were the reason stereos in the 80s all sprouted graphic equalizers and that people started that flying V pattern on them. Come to think of it, that might have actually been the case.
              I actually bought a lot of commercially produced cassettes off of eBay and have gotten fabulous sound but, again, following the technically correct playback settings does not produce the best sonic results and I am using three-head decks one of which has auto playback alignment on a per-cassette-side basis,
              Transrotor Rossini Turntable w/Jelco SA-750DB
              Audio Note Io Gold Cart. w/AN-S9 SUT
              Audio Note CDT-Four Transport/Woo WDS-1 DAC
              Ayre QX-5 Twenty Dig. Hub & 13” MacBook Pro w/Roon w/Melco N1A NAS
              AN OTO Phono SE Signature Int. Amp w/AN-E SEC Silver Speakers w/Murata Super Tweeters
              Purple J-Corder 1520 R2R and Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck
              PSAudio P10 AC Regen./Equi=Tech Bal. Transformer
              Harmonic Technology, Audio Note, Kondo Sound Labs, Stealth, AQ Cables
              Woo GES w/Sfax SR-507 Headphones

              Comment


              • #9
                Originally posted by Bruce B
                As good as my Dragon is, it's no match for the R2R Studers!! Not even close.... and I've tried.
                My Dragon is no match for my B77 either - both tuned and in top condition... cassettes, up to a point
                Analog:
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                • #10
                  A cassette recorded hard with metal tape can probably match reel to reel with standard tape at 3 3/4 ips but who uses only 3 3/4 ips on reel to reel anymore? At 7.5 or 15 ips on reel to reel with standard tape, its no contest.
                  Magnepan 1.6 QR Loudspeakers, Amherst A-2000 MOSFET 150 WPC Amp, Conrad Johnson PV-10A Modded Tube Line & Phono Stage, Electrocompaniet MC II Class A Head Amp, Audio Technica AT-OC9XML Cart (Stereo) , Graham Engineering 2.2 Tonearm (Stereo) , VPI Aries-1 Turntable (Stereo) , VPI Clamp, Denon DL-102 Cart, (Mono) , Luxman Tonearm (Mono) , Kenwood KD-500 Turntable (Mono) , Michell Clamp, Marantz 20B Analog FM Tuner, Pioneer SACD, Onkyo DX-6800 CD Transport, DIY 24B/192K DAC, Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones, Headroom Max Balanced Headphone Amp, DIY Silver Interconnects

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                  • #11
                    I am still pulling for 8 tracks you can buy a whole garbage bag full for a dollar. They are coming back every thing else did.

                    Comment


                    • #12
                      Originally posted by JCOConnell
                      A cassette recorded hard with metal tape can probably match reel to reel with standard tape at 3 3/4 ips but who uses only 3 3/4 ips on reel to reel anymore? At 7.5 or 15 ips on reel to reel with standard tape, its no contest.
                      Respectfully, I disagree. First, I think Chromium Dioxide tape sounds better than metal. Secondly, I don't use the playback decoding and EQ settings the way you're supposed to. The result is that a cassette dubbed from a master tape sounds as close to a live microphone feed as my two track, 15 ips tapes do.
                      Transrotor Rossini Turntable w/Jelco SA-750DB
                      Audio Note Io Gold Cart. w/AN-S9 SUT
                      Audio Note CDT-Four Transport/Woo WDS-1 DAC
                      Ayre QX-5 Twenty Dig. Hub & 13” MacBook Pro w/Roon w/Melco N1A NAS
                      AN OTO Phono SE Signature Int. Amp w/AN-E SEC Silver Speakers w/Murata Super Tweeters
                      Purple J-Corder 1520 R2R and Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck
                      PSAudio P10 AC Regen./Equi=Tech Bal. Transformer
                      Harmonic Technology, Audio Note, Kondo Sound Labs, Stealth, AQ Cables
                      Woo GES w/Sfax SR-507 Headphones

                      Comment


                      • #13
                        Originally posted by JackD201
                        I never had a cassette deck in the same zip code as a Dragon. Used my Mom's ReVox when I could. I even went with costly metal tapes to record onto. Commercial tapes here were a disaster. Just shoot me bad. I elected to record from LP. It was what MP3 is for me today, just for convenience. I remember bitching about sound quality along with my cousins. We came up with a funny theory that Cassettes were the reason stereos in the 80s all sprouted graphic equalizers and that people started that flying V pattern on them. Come to think of it, that might have actually been the case.
                        This is slightly off topic, but I used Double Advents in the late 70s, which sounded shockingly good for the money even according to the old TAS, and I tried to calibrate them with a ten band graphic equalizer, in fact I tried two different ten band graphic equalizers. The results were always the same: everything below 1kHz stayed relatively flat but beyond that, as you reached towards 20kHz, the amount of boost just went up and up and up. I think the charm of most of the Advent loudspeakers (except for the Advent/3) was their ability to act as a natural low-pass filter.
                        Transrotor Rossini Turntable w/Jelco SA-750DB
                        Audio Note Io Gold Cart. w/AN-S9 SUT
                        Audio Note CDT-Four Transport/Woo WDS-1 DAC
                        Ayre QX-5 Twenty Dig. Hub & 13” MacBook Pro w/Roon w/Melco N1A NAS
                        AN OTO Phono SE Signature Int. Amp w/AN-E SEC Silver Speakers w/Murata Super Tweeters
                        Purple J-Corder 1520 R2R and Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck
                        PSAudio P10 AC Regen./Equi=Tech Bal. Transformer
                        Harmonic Technology, Audio Note, Kondo Sound Labs, Stealth, AQ Cables
                        Woo GES w/Sfax SR-507 Headphones

                        Comment


                        • #14
                          Originally posted by Galileo

                          Respectfully, I disagree. First, I think Chromium Dioxide tape sounds better than metal. Secondly, I don't use the playback decoding and EQ settings the way you're supposed to. The result is that a cassette dubbed from a master tape sounds as close to a live microphone feed as my two track, 15 ips tapes do.
                          cassette has way more wow and flutter and a lower S/N ratio than 15 ips open reel tape
                          Magnepan 1.6 QR Loudspeakers, Amherst A-2000 MOSFET 150 WPC Amp, Conrad Johnson PV-10A Modded Tube Line & Phono Stage, Electrocompaniet MC II Class A Head Amp, Audio Technica AT-OC9XML Cart (Stereo) , Graham Engineering 2.2 Tonearm (Stereo) , VPI Aries-1 Turntable (Stereo) , VPI Clamp, Denon DL-102 Cart, (Mono) , Luxman Tonearm (Mono) , Kenwood KD-500 Turntable (Mono) , Michell Clamp, Marantz 20B Analog FM Tuner, Pioneer SACD, Onkyo DX-6800 CD Transport, DIY 24B/192K DAC, Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones, Headroom Max Balanced Headphone Amp, DIY Silver Interconnects

                          Comment


                          • #15
                            Originally posted by JCOConnell

                            cassette has way more wow and flutter and a lower S/N ratio than 15 ips open reel tape
                            I don't think it has to do with technical specifications. I think it has to do with what moves you.
                            Transrotor Rossini Turntable w/Jelco SA-750DB
                            Audio Note Io Gold Cart. w/AN-S9 SUT
                            Audio Note CDT-Four Transport/Woo WDS-1 DAC
                            Ayre QX-5 Twenty Dig. Hub & 13” MacBook Pro w/Roon w/Melco N1A NAS
                            AN OTO Phono SE Signature Int. Amp w/AN-E SEC Silver Speakers w/Murata Super Tweeters
                            Purple J-Corder 1520 R2R and Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck
                            PSAudio P10 AC Regen./Equi=Tech Bal. Transformer
                            Harmonic Technology, Audio Note, Kondo Sound Labs, Stealth, AQ Cables
                            Woo GES w/Sfax SR-507 Headphones

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