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Chime in.What's the Best Cassette Recorder ever ?

I just recently purchased a used Teac V-900X from a local
used Hi Fi shop and was amazed at the specs of the machine,But more amazed at the sound coming from this unit. I had my CD of Ray Sings Basie Swings and dubbed it onto my Teac cassette recorder with DBX fully engaged on the machine and levels kept at 0 DB or -4 on peaks with my Maxell New XLS Type 2 tape. All I could say was WOW, WOW.
The tape copy had lower noise then the CD and more dynamic punch. I used my old Mit 330 Cable as a dubbing cable from my Toshiba DVD SD 2705 to the Teac. I know thats not much of a front end for playback, But I do not have hardly any Cd's in my collection just tapes and reel to reel live recordings along with a huge collection of live Dat recordings as well .
I did some research on the net and came upon the specs of the Nakamichi 1000ZKL. The freq. response is better then the Teac, But the Teac is no slouch either.
The owners manual on the Teac V-900x state Freq. response 30 to 21k + or - 3 DB. Signal to noise 92 DB(dbx in at 1K,
dynamic range 110 DB DBX IN, 1KHZ PEAK LEVEL. I opened the lid to the machine and I noticed it only has one belt in it not the typical 8 or 9 belts seen in others. The machine has 3 motors 1 DC FG SERVO DD capstan motor,1 DC REEL MOTOR,1 mechanism control motor.Now all I need to do is snap up as many virgin Sealed Metal Tapes I can get my hands on and then have some real fun. I will be recording live on the Teac V 900x next week with a small symphonic community group and will report my findings to all of you on how it holds up to a live recording which I am sure will be a challenge to keep the meters at 0DB.
In the past I have heard the Nakamichi machines most all of them along with the Revox decks as well and I cannot recall the noise levels down as much as this machine can do along with the dynamic range as well.
Waiting for your comments
Don
128x12876doublebass

Showing 2 responses by rauliruegas

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rauliruegas
12,779 posts
 
Dear Don: You already posted: Nakamichi 1000 and I add the 700ZXL.

The subject it is not only on the specs but the Nakamichi unique ( to these two models ) " Auto alibration computer function " where adjust ( in automatic way ): azymuth alignment, adjustment of bias, level/sensitivity and recoding equalization to achieve a " perfect " frequency response from 20hz to 20kh in ANY TAPE!!!!!

Additional both Nakamichi models have many other " unique " functions that along the Auto Calibration put IMHO these Nakamichi machines in a stand alone " league " between a cassette tape recoders out there including yours.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
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rauliruegas
12,779 posts
 
Dear Don: I made several cassette recording copies ( mainly from LP ) through my Nak 700 ZXL ( that I still have ), I made it in different ways: with Dolby C, with DBX and with out any noise reduction system.

The best quality cassette performance were on that recorded cassettes where I don't use any noise reductio device.
The noise reduction system is a " heavy " signal proccess that makes a signal degradation. OF course that everything is on the trade-offs that we choose.

Like any audio device a cassette deck is a " whole " item: quality of the tape heads, quality of the cassette mechanism, quality of the electronic design, quality of the lay-out, quality of the electronic parts, quality of the execuion design, facilities ( like the auto-calibration on my machine and other Naks mahnes. ), etc, etc. As a fact IMHO the noise reduction is not the main/important subject on a cassette machine.

I achieve a " new "/high quality performance level when I buy the 700ZXL service manual and change ( mainly caps and resistors ) several passive parts where the signal pass through for better ones, IMHO it is worth to take the effort to do it.

In those times I heard several cassette decks including Tandeberg but not your specific Teac model and IMHO no one beats the original Naks due not only on its high/superb quality build/design but for the auto-calibration system too.
As almost always the quality is system dependent and " ears " dependent too.

Don, the important subject is that you are having great fun with your Teac, good!

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
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