General tape / cassette talk here.

Moderators: lazyben, static14, texasvinyl

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By maxlevel
#116807
Mateo Sanboval wrote: Wed Apr 03, 2019 4:47 am
maxlevel wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2019 5:15 pm The DC2 has Dolby C, that unit is closer to the D6C or D3 series. But I never use C anyway, hardly use Dolby as I try and avoid cheap tapes. For example That’s VX-90 you dont have hiss, so why use Dolby? It just takes away the highs if your recording is good enough.
Exactly why I own a D6 and not a D6C.
I’m going to watch for a D6 but you can’t get them at good prices anymore. My D3 is excellent, but I think for playback only
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By Mateo Sanboval
#116816
maxlevel wrote: Wed Apr 03, 2019 3:31 pm
Mateo Sanboval wrote: Wed Apr 03, 2019 4:47 am
maxlevel wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2019 5:15 pm The DC2 has Dolby C, that unit is closer to the D6C or D3 series. But I never use C anyway, hardly use Dolby as I try and avoid cheap tapes. For example That’s VX-90 you dont have hiss, so why use Dolby? It just takes away the highs if your recording is good enough.
Exactly why I own a D6 and not a D6C.
I’m going to watch for a D6 but you can’t get them at good prices anymore. My D3 is excellent, but I think for playback only
I bought mine new a few years ago and then had it serviced. It's a damn fine machine. I'll dig up some pics.
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By maxlevel
#117251
Not possible to use as line out, but might help a little. It certainly sounds great when used mic level... Sony SEQ-50

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By ScoJo
#120088
Rollers in disguise!

Lovely.

Well I've had a miserable tape-related day. In testing out our Blow Out Rcds cassette release of the Coupe de Villes, all evidence pointed to my TEAC deck being fucked. Ugh.

So I dug this bad bwoy out of storage:


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Cleaned heads, popped in new Duracells and flattened the EQ.

And it promptly ate my copy of the Coupes K7.

Fucking tapes. I give up.
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By inksb
#120091
A fear I have often. That's a bummer @scojo

@bub that's amazing, I haven't seen one of those in many years.
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By Bub
#120094
Inks, it's a Walmart exclusive. Only sold in-store unfortunately & doing store pick up isn't possible so I've been checking different locations near me all week. It's been brutal to say the least.
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By inksb
#120097
Bub wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 8:40 pm Inks, it's a Walmart exclusive. Only sold in-store unfortunately & doing store pick up isn't possible so I've been checking different locations near me all week. It's been brutal to say the least.
I didn't realize it was a new one. I am going to stop by my local Walmarts tomorrow to see if I can find one.
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By Mateo Sanboval
#120105
RIPiP to ScoJ's Walkman.
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By Mateo Sanboval
#120114
I think I might make that my first tattoo.
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By Mateo Sanboval
#123766
Nice one, Bez. I had the one with the built in microphone for a while. Those're loads of fun.
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By maxlevel
#124021
So the It’s OK Kickstarter finally arrived and it’s very cool and strange. It’s currently playing via Bluetooth, and sounds adequate, hissy and slightly shit compared to any decent Walkman. But it’s new! It’s a new machine.

Currently blasting Gary Numan - M.E as currently obsessed with the album it’s from.
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By Mateo Sanboval
#124037
What a wild deal, Max. I'll be interested to hear your detailed evaluation after you have put it through its paces.
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By inksb
#124038
that's such a weird and strange contraption. I kind of love it even though I wouldn't use it much. Interested to hear your final thoughts on it after you use it for a while
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By maxlevel
#124144
@mateo and inksb

It’s certainly a strange item. Unfortunately it’s really not amazing after a weekend of fiddling about, but it does have that child like love factor which you won’t really find anywhere else unless you can find a Sony Godzilla promo machine from 199- merchandise for the Godzilla remake of the same period!

The design is fine and functional, which I like generally. The real issue is the mono playback head. The unit is made from leftover government issue metal plate designs, so really it’s just a voice-grade unit transplanted from a court recording unit, or a police interview machine. The motor is noisy and actually intrudes on playback a tiny bit, which suggests it’s going to need revising as it’s a little strange they couldn’t work out how to wire it without affecting playback hiss levels. There’s no tape type selecter, so my lovingly recorded type IV is underwater. And the machine doesn’t recognise the Bluetooth in my car stereo, or rather it finds it but can’t hold the signal - it finds my portable bedroom speaker fine.

On the plus, it does have the classic microphone record option lost to many decades of Walkman upgrades but features in my favourite designs like the TC-50 which buzz aldrin landed on the moon with and played ‘fly me to the moon’, and also the classic TPSL2. So you can make a mixtape with voice annotation, which is obviously lovely. It’s also quite small and light.

Overall it’s not for audio people, but people who might like a little play now and again.
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By Mateo Sanboval
#124171
maxlevel wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 11:42 am @mateo and inksb

It’s certainly a strange item. Unfortunately it’s really not amazing after a weekend of fiddling about, but it does have that child like love factor which you won’t really find anywhere else unless you can find a Sony Godzilla promo machine from 199- merchandise for the Godzilla remake of the same period!

The design is fine and functional, which I like generally. The real issue is the mono playback head. The unit is made from leftover government issue metal plate designs, so really it’s just a voice-grade unit transplanted from a court recording unit, or a police interview machine. The motor is noisy and actually intrudes on playback a tiny bit, which suggests it’s going to need revising as it’s a little strange they couldn’t work out how to wire it without affecting playback hiss levels. There’s no tape type selecter, so my lovingly recorded type IV is underwater. And the machine doesn’t recognise the Bluetooth in my car stereo, or rather it finds it but can’t hold the signal - it finds my portable bedroom speaker fine.

On the plus, it does have the classic microphone record option lost to many decades of Walkman upgrades but features in my favourite designs like the TC-50 which buzz aldrin landed on the moon with and played ‘fly me to the moon’, and also the classic TPSL2. So you can make a mixtape with voice annotation, which is obviously lovely. It’s also quite small and light.

Overall it’s not for audio people, but people who might like a little play now and again.
That sounds like a fun, if ultimately flawed machine. If the price came down a touch, or I find one second hand, I might be inclined to give it a try
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