I have the opportunity to get a very good Nak Cassettedeck 1 or a DR-2. Which one would you choose? And why? Thanks for giving a newbie some valuable advice.
Cassettes were never the subject of the loudness wars, like CDs and vinyl. For that reason the dynamics on the humble cassette can be quite surprising. Tape is a natural medium. It breathes.
I don’t get all the angst and hand wringing regarding expensive cassette decks. I have many Sony and Aiwa portable Cassette players in perfect working order. I even have the Sony Professional Portable Cassette Player. These players can be obtained on eBay. I also have a collection of hundreds of cassettes obtained from multiple sources including Mercury Living Presence, Japanese cassettes, digitally remastered cassettes, everything from Woodstock to AC/DC to Zeppelin to New Order to Heifetz. Grado SR80 headphones. Tape is a natural medium. It breathes. Dynamic, full, musical. Where’s the beef? 🍔
Sony Walkmans (Walkmen) are so cheap second hand if one doesn’t work or sound good just throw it away. The ones that sound good are the keepers. Problem solved, gloopy.
Too much angst and complexity with the big decks. Nothing wrong with the Sony Walkman portable Cassette players as far as I can tell. No power cords, no interconnects, no fuses, no transformers. Tape is a natural medium. It breaths. Dynamic, sweet and airy.
I admit I am fond of the Nakamichi Dragon CD System, though, what with the vacuum surrounding the CD whilst spinning.
If you ask me, ordinary 30 year cassettes played on a portable cassette player sound superior to many if not most CDs based strictly on musicality. They’ve got danceability! And not only that but digitally remastered cassettes are definitely superior to their CD counterparts.
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