EscapeVelo
Charleston, SC
What say you? Tell us which of these much maligned beasts you think qualify.
"Best of all time" and "dual well"? Kinda impossible.
I'll nominate the Tascam 302.
from the Sweetwater.com website.
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"Since this machine comes from TASCAM, you know you're going to get the best audio possible from the cassette format thanks to the unit's built-in Dolby HX Pro sound technology which extends frequency response while minimizing distortion on Normal, Metal or CrO2 tape. The 302 even lets you fine tune the amount of high frequency response via a convenient front panel control. And of course the 302 ships with the industry-standard Dolby B and C noise reduction. All of which means that you end up with an impressive frequency response of 25 Hz to 20 kHz using high quality Metal tape - no sacrifices here - plus a 79 dB signal-to-noise ratio and distortion of less than 1% at 1 kHz.
But what sets the 302 apart from other cassette recorders is the fact that it is actually two fully independent cassette decks housed in one 3U rack-mountable enclosure. Each of the 302's decks is capable of recording individually or simultaneously, giving you incredible flexibility for normal or high speed dubbing, continuous recording or playback. That's because both decks have independent sets of interface connectors, transport control keys, noise reduction functions, LED peak meters and more. And with such advanced features as Control I/O and Cascade, the 302 can even link with up to ten additional machines for multiple dubbing! You can even quickly access either side of your cassette via the unit's bidirectional Sync reverse capabilities.
The 302 carries a list price of $699"
I can't say that the TC-WR99ES is better than the other TOTL Sony dual well decks mentioned so far... but I have been relatively happy with mine.
John