I have been restoring reel to reel and cassette tape machines since 1980 when plenty where new. I run a service / restoration shop in Brooklyn NY for tape machines. I’ve never been busier with high end, home & pro recording studio folks.
Right now there is a trend of selling broken reel machines for outta-sight prices, then needing repairs after fact.
Heads do wear, but reconditioning / lapping gives many years of life.
Just a little Reel vs Cassette comparison:
There are 3 companies that manufacture new reel to reel tape. On the cassettes front I’m pretty sure no one is making CrO2 tape anymore. and that is the only tape that has the low noise floor and HF response the sounds good with music.
Going back to the beginning of this thread. cassettes no matter how well the calibration on the machine is will never surpass the quality of Reel to reel for so many reasons.
If you would like to discuss further feel free to contact me .
....after looking at this thread, a lot of this was discussed
-Andrew
Funktionaltech.com
Right now there is a trend of selling broken reel machines for outta-sight prices, then needing repairs after fact.
Heads do wear, but reconditioning / lapping gives many years of life.
Just a little Reel vs Cassette comparison:
There are 3 companies that manufacture new reel to reel tape. On the cassettes front I’m pretty sure no one is making CrO2 tape anymore. and that is the only tape that has the low noise floor and HF response the sounds good with music.
Going back to the beginning of this thread. cassettes no matter how well the calibration on the machine is will never surpass the quality of Reel to reel for so many reasons.
If you would like to discuss further feel free to contact me .
....after looking at this thread, a lot of this was discussed
-Andrew
Funktionaltech.com