[I have to make an edit here: It's a 350, not a 250! Sorry. The 250 was a player only, obviously I'm talking about cassettes that were recorded on this machine, so it's a Nak 350. Sorry for any confusion. I'd change the title if I could get in there, but may not be able to.]
I have a good number of cassettes, some high quality for the time and some not at all high quality, from the late 70's and early 80's, that were recorded from various live performances, that I want to attempt to capture. I'm guessing that these tapes have one more pass – if any! – left in them. They were originally recorded on my Nak 350 portable, which I still have. But I'm worried that its transport may not be the best for the job, and it also hasn't been touched in decades and no doubt needs to be serviced.
If there's anyone with experience with these machines, I basically am wondering whether it will be best to stay with the same machine for this purpose? I was thinking about getting either a similar vintage stationary device (like a 500) or a somewhat newer one like the BX-1, which I've seen good reviews of, one of which is currently for sale on eBay with new belts and idler, which sounds like a good grab. But I'm not sure if that's warranted, or if I should just go with new belts in the 350 and see how it goes.
Thoughts? Anything else I should know or do? I've read about putting the tapes through a cycle in a fruit dryer to precondition them before attempting to play them, but not sure whether that's necessary or not.
Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
I have a good number of cassettes, some high quality for the time and some not at all high quality, from the late 70's and early 80's, that were recorded from various live performances, that I want to attempt to capture. I'm guessing that these tapes have one more pass – if any! – left in them. They were originally recorded on my Nak 350 portable, which I still have. But I'm worried that its transport may not be the best for the job, and it also hasn't been touched in decades and no doubt needs to be serviced.
If there's anyone with experience with these machines, I basically am wondering whether it will be best to stay with the same machine for this purpose? I was thinking about getting either a similar vintage stationary device (like a 500) or a somewhat newer one like the BX-1, which I've seen good reviews of, one of which is currently for sale on eBay with new belts and idler, which sounds like a good grab. But I'm not sure if that's warranted, or if I should just go with new belts in the 350 and see how it goes.
Thoughts? Anything else I should know or do? I've read about putting the tapes through a cycle in a fruit dryer to precondition them before attempting to play them, but not sure whether that's necessary or not.
Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
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