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so why do we still have tape decks?? what's your reason?

The attached picture was my first cassette deck in the late 60s. I was probably 8 years old when I got that. Over time, I learned about music, amplifiers, speakers, and cassette decks! Always cassette decks! My first cassette deck was also my very first portable music record and playback device. I recorded so many things with it. I rode miles from Quebec into Ontario with one on the handlebars of my 'mira-mart' 10 speed. I've wiped out with it, and it has survived! Sanyo may never really have been known for their hi-fi, but they made audio equipment that lasted. I've had many cassette decks since then. I loved my TEAC Z-7000 cassette deck. You felt the quality in the controls, the weight, and with metal tapes? I couldn't tell the difference from metal taped music from my TEAC Z-7000 or a CD. It was really in a league above any of my other cassette decks before or since. But it is an electro-mechanical device that is extremely complicated. The unit is full of cards going into a backplane. I had considered repairing it until I looked inside. My favourite deck right now is a JCV TD-V711 3 head deck. I really like this unit! I also have a Denon 3 head deck that I quite like. I sold all of my needle meter type decks. Have had so many, I just found the sq of the older meter style decks didn't compare with the newer designed decks with different types of noise reduction. I would only use dolby S. All the other dolby versions generate a hiss to my ears. I do have a few nakamichi projects as well as a couple of B&O decks that are currently shelved. I like repairing them. It is a challenge. I have to disassemble them further each time I dig into one. It normally takes three or four sessions before I can fix it. Each time I learn a little more about it. I like the sound of tape done well. I think I prefer to hear CDs recorded onto cassette over the CD itself. Even though I have a pretty good DAC for my CD transport. Just the way I hear things.
 

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  • Sanyo M-48M cassette tape recorder.jpg
    Sanyo M-48M cassette tape recorder.jpg
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I still have cassette decks and reel to reels because I'm just plain an idiot! It's nostalgia. ZERO practical reasons. ;)
Although I DID sell down my collection the top 3 Reel to Reels and 7 cassette decks. As I retire next year, I'll probably keep only one of each, as they need to fit in the coffin one day. :rflmao:
 
Easy answer: IMO, because its resolution and most especially HF and dynamics are unsurpassed. You can hear into the noise floor, and past whatever tape hiss there might be.
 
Same reason I drive old classic cars:
It’s fun !!!
Other than that it’s either nostalgia or the fun of putting on a reel of tape when friends are over.
Why not RTR??
 
2 reasons. 1st is like many others, nostalgia and the challenge of keeping these fussy machines going.
2nd is practical, when my Grandfather and my Uncle passed away, I inherited their tape collections.
My Grandfather was a Jazz musician, and he made recordings of his performances. Surprisingly for being on cassette, they are very well recorded. I don't know what kind of gear he used to record, probably paid someone to do a lot of it, but they're on high quality cassettes and sound great. BTW, his personal home stereo system was Hafler (he lived in Phoenix, where the stuff was made IIRC) with Bang & Olufsen speakers.
My Uncle was a funny guy and he had his performances recorded. He did comedy and had a Barber Shop quartet going. The recordings are surprisingly HQ, and hearing both of them again is quite fun.
 
i am not far off of @JediDude. my grandfather was a working jazz woodwinds player (mostly baritone sax, plus anything single- or double-reed plus harmonica and violin) from the 30s to the 70s, spanning travelling bands, big bands, swing bands, and studio playing in hollywood. a little small-group stuff, but since (to quote him) he "couldn't solo to save his ass" he stayed in the larger group contexts.

he bought a revox a-77 in 1972, and used it to practice into, test mouthpieces and reeds, and record from the radio. he'd had a califone 4-track, and before that a mono recorder, since the 50s. i have two boxes of recorded tape, including lots of conversations, recordings of his grandkids (including me), recordings of him playing dances with his brother, messages they sent back and forth to the family in philadelphia from los angeles, things like that.

in the 1994 earthquake the a-77 fell off the shelf, and was pretty damaged. after he'd passed in 2003 it sat in his study. sometime between then and when granny passed in 2013 i ended up with it, and i finally got it fixed in milan by gio currado about a month ago. soup to nuts, it sounds great, and works perfectly.

i am now trying to sort out the stuff he recorded on the a-77 (2-track) and the stuff from before. the califone still works, so i can hear what's on tapes, but i don't want to put anything 2-track on there. i have a couple of "TDK Professional" 6-spoke 10.5" metal reels of tdk super-dynamic, one from ampex full of prt-1800, and one from scotch of either 207, 208, or 209 (i can't remember).

soon i'll be listening to tape after tape, avoiding the ones that suffer from sticky shed. i am also slowly refurbishing a 4-track ampex tube machine, and have a sony tc-500a waiting for me with my sister down south. my plan is to digitize that which sounds good, toss any tapes that can't be salvaged, and send to my family members in california, pennsylvania, and the dc area digital files with the information that's handwritten on the boxes photocopied...
 
My last cassette deck that I bought new is a JVC KD-55J 3-head unit that I put away in its box about 30 years ago. It worked great except it started randomly stopping during FF and REW depending on the tape shortly before I put it away. I figured that it would be a pretty simple fix but never got around to it because CDs became my main music source. It's still in its original box and I have little to no desire to ever use it again since it's mainly streaming now for me. I'll probably end up giving it away to someone who really wants it.
 
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Well I had professional Ampex recorders because I was in the live and remote recording business. Whn digital came along and everyone thought they could do them selves I got out of the business and eventually sold all my machines. I kept my AG 500-2/4 and my altered HS B-77 to play tapes. But eventually I dubbed all the tapes to CD and got rid of the Revox. The AG 500 is in my little museum. No more DAT tapes, Super Beta tapes, S-vhs tapes, 1/2 inch 4 channel tapes, 2 track and 1/4 trk Stereo tapes. No video tapes either all being Dubbed to DVD. The only scotch tape any more has sticky on one side. Maxell tapes have turned into Maxell CD's. Cassette tapes that I recorded my self from LP's are all gone , because I still ave the LP's. The LP's sound even better with the RCM with Groove washer G3 cleaning fluid. One of these days I guess I will need an electrostatic cleaner.

I can remember when live master tapes always sounded better than Lp's. But that was back then and not now.

Even a souped up AMPEX MR-70 couldn't match the quality of a Sheffield Labs direct to disc LP. Those recordings Mercury and Command made on 35 MM tape were great, but I know none of us can afford to start using that format. By the way a MR-70 using Maxell high output metal based tapes, XL II as I remember, had over an 88 db dynamic range at 30 ips.
 
Here's another one, because very few could afford these machines when they were new. This hobby goes along well with my 16mm horror film collection. And cars from the early 70s too, before everything in life became disposable. Thank GOD for the "stereo wars" years. Streaming with ear pods or crappy bookshelf speakers sounds so empty when you are spoiled by actual HI-FI.
 
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ToyDoctor said:
because very few could afford these machines when they were new
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^^^ Word! I'm finally feeling '1982 rich' lol

Getting a deck for $90 bucks + $150 in parts for something that was nearly $1k in 1982 is the equivalent of a nearly $3k DAC or streamer today. Sure I can buy one, but can't justify the cost vs. utility/value so love the vintage market + diy to get sonic bliss and unique statement pieces without feeling any buyers remorse whatsoever.
 
Way back when I thought tape recordings made on Studio Ampex machines were the absolute best., I mean most lp's were either made from Studer or Ampex master tapes. The Sheffield Labs came along with their direct to disc albums. They were a notch above most anything else that was out their. Command and Mercury had been using 35 MM recording tape machines and they were great to. The advantage to tape was you didn't have tracking errors or phase errors like you did with LP's. You just had to make sure you were not driving the machines into distortion or storing the tapes improperly.

Today we can get all sorts of aides to make sure positively that are cartridges have been aligned the best they can be. But doesn't tape still out perform an LP? I would say yes.

But arguments can still be made why different formats are better than others. None of them are perfect in my book. If records are kept immaculate they will easily out last tape. Digital should be the best, but the way it has been used and is being used leaves us blaming the format for the sound when it the engineers, producers, and musicians that are the problem. Streaming adds additional compromises with its compressions and manipulations getting the signal from A to B.
 
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Because a professionally restored, quality deck sounds f'n fantastic. Recorded or pre tapes, many of stuff that's too expensive on vinyl, thru a tube amp sounds incredible (through SS sounded good, but not great like now). It's my equivalent CD or FLAC convienence when I want music.
 
fabchef said:
Hi everyone, just wanted to get your reason for using this, as many see it, obsolete technology? Weather tape deck, reel-to-reel..ect...why do we still hold on to this format?

For me, i like the dynamics of this analog format. You can hear the high's and lows a bit better at times than digital...

So what does this format mean to you? what equipment do you use , prefer and why do you use it (t-decks,reel-to-reel)?? do you plan on letting it go one day?

thanks
fabs
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I have a Sony cassette deck that I purchased a few years ago. I keep it for the same reason that I have a few VCR players/recorders: I can use them over and over again. Remember, with these, you can tape on them, and then tape over the same part again, and again. Also, I sometimes record programs off of my tuner, to listen to later.
 
manchild said:
20 years of collected music. I'm not gonna throw it away. I olny have one deck,
but most all of my old tapes still sound fine, don't wanna lose that music.
Steve
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Exactly. I have old blues programs that I taped 40-50 years ago that I want to keep, like Tom Mazzolini on KPFA (before KPFA got too weird). I taped them on a Teac 360s cassette tape using Maxell tape, and they actually still sound remarkable.
 
Because the tape deck I purchased in the 90's still works and I stall have prerecorded tapes hanging around plus my chrome and metal mix tapes. It would also be nice to make new tapes if I feel like driving my old 1981 Corvette with a Kenwood stereo (you could only install a stereo with knobs in that car unless you wanted to dice up the dashboard, so tape or just a radio). Speaking of car stereo, I remember in the late 80's going to high end car stereo shops and seeing brands like Concord and Nakamichi tape units (along with Alpine and Kenwood which most people purchased back then). I wonder how good the Nakamichi decks were compared to the home stereo stuff, nobody I knew had one.

I actually added a Tascam CD-A500 (single CD and single tape) found at a recycler 10 or so years ago in mint condition that worked (and free).
 
unknownk said:
Because the tape deck I purchased in the 90's still works and I stall have prerecorded tapes hanging around plus my chrome and metal mix tapes. It would also be nice to make new tapes if I feel like driving my old 1981 Corvette with a Kenwood stereo (you could only install a stereo with knobs in that car unless you wanted to dice up the dashboard, so tape or just a radio). Speaking of car stereo, I remember in the late 80's going to high end car stereo shops and seeing brands like Concord and Nakamichi tape units (along with Alpine and Kenwood which most people purchased back then). I wonder how good the Nakamichi decks were compared to the home stereo stuff, nobody I knew had one.

I actually added a Tascam CD-A500 (single CD and single tape) found at a recycler 10 or so years ago in mint condition that worked (and free).
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It got to where the factory cassette decks were actually quite good.
 
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