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THE Cassette Player Above them ALL!

niklasthedol

niklasthedol

Super Member
Banned
There is ONE cassette tape player ABOVE them all out there.

Forget Tandberg and definitely forget nakamichi, Revox and all the others.

Anybody here ever heard it?
Anybody here will ever want to own one of these?

5387379000_cb37bcbd7b_z.jpg


Lyrec TR-55 Quality Control Cassette tape bidirectional player.

:thmbsp: :D

"dolph"
 
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Hi Dolph: very interesting gear, this is the first time I see it on pictures. So, it uses cassette tape which is not stored in the plastic case, making it look like a R2R machine?
 
This machine was used for making quality control of cassette tape masters before multicopying and putting them into the cassette shells.

I guess a few cassette tape deck manufacturers also used it to make quality control on the recording results of their prototype decks before production.

"dolph"
 
It is a Quality Control machine used in duplication plants for verifying a duplication run before the duplicated tapes are loaded in shells. That's what this Lyrec is. Also consider that this machine cost many times the price of any normal cassette deck. And is also made to far higher standards. Dolph, cassette duplicator masters are 1/2" or even 1" bin loop tape in most high speed duplicator systems used in tape plants. Just some info! You are right about it's quality. Do observe the tape loaded on the machine is a pancake of duplicator tape. Commercial mass manufactured cassette tapes are duplicated on pancakes of tape on machines like this ran at high speeds. They are loaded in shells with another machine called a cassette loader. It has C-0 cassette shells loaded in it and a special playback system recognizes a tone and the tape is automatically snipped and the tape spliced to a leader and wound into the cassette shell and spliced to the other length of leader.
 
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I would like to compare it's quality to the TCD 911.
Thanks Kent.
So it's one step ahead in the process from what I thought it was.
Lyrec also made equipment, used worldwide for tape duplicating, cassette loading, CD boxing, LP matrisses (or whatever it's called in english) cutting etc.

"dolph"
 
I love the Lyrec recording lathes a lot and the Frieda mastering deck like crazy. Their tape duplicating gear was and is outstanding. A superb company who in many ways is equal to or superior to Studers and doesn't get the love they deserve. :tresbon:
 
They were a minor "Boutique" compared to Studer and mainly supported the far east, middle east and Europe.

Two handpicked chief engineers from Lyrec were travelling around the world to service these machines for more than 30 years in a row.
Studios and Radio Broadcast Station called to order service from a planned schedule, just like a car is running faultless today (at least a few cars do).

However the great the Frida is, the Lyrec TR-55 MM from 1987 onwards (HX-Pro introduced in these decks just like the Frida had from the beginning) has a reputation like a Silver Ghost.

It's extremely rare and by many of those who had the extreme rare opportunity to compare with Lyrec Frida, Nagra T, Stellavox TD9, Studer J37, Studer A80 and Telefunken (all the very top of the best) considered on top of all of them.

I want it.
I would keep my Frida, but I want the TR-55 MM (Master Maker).

"dolph"
 
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I skipped on a Studer A80 1/8-inch 1-7/8 ips end of last year that came from EMI's Johannesburg studios.
I figured I'd never get reels of tape for it, and it was a little beat up.
Superficially, it looks exactly like the wide-tape A80s, but for the head block, which has several large vernier dials for head alignment. The lyrec appears to have similar controls.
They wanted $300 for it.
But I took the 1/4-inch A80 they had!
 
Ah yes, lots of fiddly bits, as the English like to say

I find way too many challenges to successfully splicing 1/4 inch:no:
 
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