Date:         Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:58:16 -0400
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Some advice on cassette decks?
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At 02:55 PM 8/31/2006, Tom Fine wrote:

>I think these questions will decide your cassette deck. I will argue 
>that you do not need an audiophile/azimuth-adjusting deck like a Nak 
>Dragon if you have a bunch of recorded spoken-word tapes that were 
>made on decent equipment. A little azimuth drift will not have 
>nearly the bearing audibility as the original recording technique 
>(ie a built-in mic on a boomy table just won't yield a very good 
>recording, whereas a feed off a decent lecturn mic will be audible 
>whether or not there's a little azimuth misalignment).

Except...the closer the tape is to unintelligible, the less you want 
to risk adding any additional distortions during the transfer project.

>Finally, what are your input parameters? Do you have a balanced 
>pro-level system? If so, you'll probably want a balanced-output/+4 
>nominal level cassette machine.

Aphex 124 and other Balance Boxes are available fairly inexpensively. 
I'd select cassette deck independent of this parameter (he says with 
four Aphex 124s wired to his jackfield, along with four Dragons.

I think Parker's reference for Dragons is a good one - I bought most 
of mine via ePay and one via the Nak lists. My only negative on eBay 
was a retaliatory one over my giving the seller a neutral on the 
second Dragon. Dragon 3 was via eBay and Dragon 4 came from the same 
seller. One of those needed the pressure roller arms relubricated 
(goo, arms didn't move). Dragon 5 came as a swap (via eBay but 
refurb'd) for a Studer A807, Dragon 6 came from the Nak list as I was 
planning on driving right by the guy's house.

Dragons #1 & #2 (and #5) were refurb'd by TAP electronics in So. 
Calif - #1 before it was put on eBay, #2 at my expense (making an 
$800 machine cost $1350), #5 at the buyer's expense -- before the 
swap. I had #4 done here at a service depot that has some great 
people. #6 had been refurb'd before the sale by someone else. #3 
worked fine out of the box (as did #1, #5, and #6 when I got it) Only 
#2 and #4 needed work when I got it. While I was fussing with #2 -- 
which actually received a whole new mechanism -- I found that TAP had 
another all new mechanism which I purchased at that time, to be safe, 
so I have 6.5 Dragons, really.

I also have an MR-1 which is good, but you can tell the loss of the 
azimuth control.

Cheers,

Richard

Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.