Features, price

Average sound, lightly build, concept of "commands behind door" unpractical

This tape deck "has it all" : Dolby B/C/S/HX, 3 heads, 3 motors, 2 capstans, auto-tuning everything, optional remote control, etc. But it feels flimsy, the commands are small and behind a door, and the sound is disappointing : lack of high frequencies, or distorded high frequencies if the manual bias is used to compensate. A trace of wow and flutter too, but it could be due to the wearing-out of my deck (I bought it used).

Similar Products Used:

Teac, Pioneer, Nakamichi, Sony

Dolby B/C/S, auto bias, recording level/balance knobs

Is not a weakness but a complain: Yamaha should revise the recording level knob size/placement

I've spent some time filtering tracks from tapes recorded over the years using a two-head cassete deck, the following are my comments on how this Yamaha unit performs as a cassette recorder/player.

I use to leave a gap between tracks of about 3-4 seconds, to allow the "search" mode from car stereos to decently work, and because music requires so (except for DJ purposes).

Both using "manual" or "pause/record" modes, all the compilations made sound as expected. Leaving gaps seems a smart approach, as when a track had to be recorded again and "manual" rewind and adjust were employed to record again, there is no audible evidence of the previous recording. But when the "pause/record" mode was employed, no audible evidence of the previous recording was also left in the recording.

I could not distinguish from the original compilations from CD using dolby S, when the recording bias was manually adjusted. The "auto bias" feature results in a slightly brighter recording, which can be ressolved with the "play trim". Therefore I've left the "auto bias" feature for when in a hurry -for instance, recording from a broadcast for subsequent editing. One interesting thing about the dolby S feature, is that recording with this option sound less bright in car stereos with dolby B, that recordings made with dolby C.

The only complain I have on this cassette deck is the size and location of the recording level knob. This is the most frequently used knob in a deck; consequently it should have a more decent size, and should be placed so nothing would interfere its adjustment.

Another improvement I might suggest -perhaps a must for a cassette deck of this cathegory, is to incorporate output volume/balance knobs, to allow high quality compilations on CD recorders, which do not have "recording balance" features.

But the two above paragraphs are not enough to qualify this cassette deck with less than a five-minus. Enjoy it.

Similar Products Used:

Carver TD1200 cassette deck

Very good sound.

Disasterous. Servo mechanism moves tape before head contact . Accurate editing is impossible. If pause mode is used *throughout* taping ALL the side of the tape... then there is no problem. In the real world this does NOT happen. Once you release "pause/record" it is *impossible* to start from the same place (unlike with mechanical decks). Trying to do so (and accurately edit) causes a section of previous recording to remain... smearing of the sound... noise .. as the tape head makes contact with the ALREADY moving tape!!! Ridiculous. It is therefore *impossible* to make seamless recordings once the pause / record function is lost. Cannot record accurate sequences. Useless for recording off the radio or editing and recording previous recording from second deck... which was it's main purpose. Left to use original mechanical much inferior sounding deck which does not leave "gaps" and "smears" between recordings / segments.

IMPOSSIBLE to use for *exactly* what you would need a high quality deck for in the first place. Recordings are unlistenable due to gaps between, smearing of the sound, noise...

Any answers?
Any models which sound as good but which CAN be used for accurate and seamless editing????

Similar Products Used:

Various mechanical decks. On mechanical decks there is no such problem.

3 head, 3 motor design makes tape transport precise and flawless. Great control functions that are predictable and silky smooth.Fully adjustable bias control with autotune. State of the art dolby systems. Realtime tape counter MM: SS:

Counter reset is behind a normally "closed" panel.

All around great performer, rugged yet smooth operation. I also liked the peak-hold on the display- it markes the highest peaks and holds then for 2 seconds- allowing operator plenty of time to adjust recording volume.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha K-1020