Sansui WS-X1 - An Obscure 6 Track Cassette Recorder from the 80s
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- Here’s the link to our new Bandcamp page where you can hear a full mix of the song recorded in this video.
wehappyfewmusic.bandcamp.com/...
In this film we do a mini review and test recording on a Sansui WS-X1. This Japanese made deck was introduced at the end of 1989 and is one of the few multitrack cassette recorders that had 6 tracks. They’re pretty rare these days and tricky to find in working condition, but I was lucky enough to borrow this unit from Volume Unlimited Studios, in North London.
volume-unlimited.co.uk/volume...
Sansui were best known for making domestic audio gear, but decided to branch out into the home studio market in the late 80's. They created this deck and the Mr6, which was a rack mount version of the WS-X1. With the right gear you can sync both units together to create a 10 track multitrack cassette recorder, now I'd love to see one of those babies in action some day!!
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#japanese #japanesegear #analog #TapeRecording #cassette #Tascamportastudio #Retrorecordingtechniques
#sansui #sansuiwsx1 #analogtape
Looks a very versatile and feature-rich machine. The on board fx there are tremendous on a machine like this.
Yes, the onboard effects are great bonus and a rare feature on a multitrack cassette recorder.
Sold these when they came out working for Carlsbro , great machine and very good value. Thanks for the video
Oh that’s cool, were they popular when they came out?
@@wehappyfewmusic I don't think we realised quite what a well thought out well engineered package they were at first. Tascam was market leader at the time and this was a brand no one had heard of.
I've always been intrigued to find out more about this machine. Thanks for the video! ✌️❤️
Thanks for checking it out man! It’s an interesting machine to use, and I was happy to have the chance to borrow it! 🙌
The fidelity is quite remarkable! Who'd have thought an extra .15875mm of tape per channel would have that much of an effect?
Your maths skills are much better than mine! 😅 Yes, the detail and quality of recording are really impressive. The Dolby noise reduction might be an important factor too?
Did many, many recordings on this unit back in the day - loved it!
Cool, an original user! Did you do your mix downs to deck B or an external unit back then?
@@wehappyfewmusic Wow, we're talkin' over 25yrs ago - I would guess we used the B deck. We're going to have to find another one because we still have the 6 track masters!! I upgraded to a 488 and have hundreds of cassettes I am going to be digitizing. Whew!
@@schance1666 Yeah that is a long time ago, I can barely remember what happened last week! 😂 That’s cool you progressed onto the 488, I love the mk2 version. Hope you can find some decks to get your music digitised.
@@wehappyfewmusic I've got both my original mk1 and picked up a mk2 for peanuts about 10yrs back. In addition to digitizing stuff, I am setting them up to record 8 tracks of analog at once, mainly for drums and bass gtr (and then dumping that into the DAW). They sound great overdriven, unlike digital!
@@schance1666 You bought your mk2 at the right time, they’re kinda expensive now. That’s a nice analog front end you’ve got there by the sound of things, can’t beat a bit of tape saturation! 👌
Very nice demo. Its a beautiful machine and sounds great. Thank you for the music
Glad to hear you like our demo/music, much appreciated!
Wow. Very awesome n unique track machine especially for its time. Definitely would have picked this over the old 4 track back in the day. That price was kind of insane though
Yeah it’s a pretty cool machine but you’d of needed to be loaded in 1989 to afford one 💰😅
I have mine still, from new, bought it when it came out - i remember wanting a good deck for ages, saw this and just couldn't resist. The 4 track was just too small and the 8 was way out of my price range at the time. Still works, and in great condition , but deck B - just gave up the ghost and is stuck with the heads out. Had so much fun, mixing and playing with it. The sound quality is great and so many options. I felt it mixed down really well and even bouncing down tracks on the one deck was pretty good. I think you could get at least 3 bounce downs before you started to notice a bit too much noise. So in the end, it kinda felt like a 12 track! - Great to watch your video and see this little piece has its place in the history books 🙂
Hi thanks for stopping by and that’s impressive that you’ve had yours since new! As you mentioned, those extra 2 tracks make it much more versatile than a regular 4 track portastudio. Glad to hear you enjoyed the video too! 🙌
A buddy of mine and I both use the Vestax MR-66 and it's been an incredible sounding and surprisingly reliable 6-tracker. I can't remember if they're compatible speed-wise
Nice, I’ve not used one but like the look of those units. I think the vestax can also run at 9.5cm per second, so wonder if the tapes are transferable between the sansui?
I had one of these in the late 90's.
Nice, did your deck B work well at the time?
@@wehappyfewmusic Everything worked fine except one channel had a weird sound every now and then and I had to physically press on the fader to get it back to normal.
Great video, man. I had this unit a couple of years ago and really loved it, but my particular unit kept having little issues that added up to a less-than-fun experience. The fidelity was great and I miss the all-in-one package, but the MR6/MX12 combo seems to be a bit more robust in terms of longevity. Great stuff!
P.S. it took my tech serious sweat and tears to get deck B working. Once it did, the sonic quality was vastly inferior to a standard cassette deck, for whatever it’s worth (and wayyyy worse than a VHS mixdown 📼)
Hey man, great to hear you like the video and reassuring to hear I’m not missing much with deck B being out of action. I’ve also found a MR6 now and agree that it’s probably the better option in many ways. It’s good to have the choice of picking your own mixer to suit your needs. 👍
Awesome!! I have one of these in very good condition!! Have never tested it fully because im worried about the belts and dont fancy a RUD situation!! This video is really nice, im happy that ive finally seen the machine used with a full band set up and for its intended purpose, kind of sad that I didnt do it myself, great demo!!
Thanks, you should get your machine out and give it a spin! 👍🙌
@@wehappyfewmusicI Have recently!! My Lad was asking how it all worked and I was trying to explain the concept of recording the separate channels and playing them back but I don't play any instruments and only have a limited soundcard, so finding your video today has really helped him to understand, I would love to use it as more than a mixer with reverb and i know both decks spin up!! But I don't want to risk it! I have had a couple of offers and a few people willing to change the belts but it's a project for the future, All the experts seem to be interested as a conversation piece because it's all so different!! Thanks again mate, This is the best video on the tube!! If I post any content I will be sure to link this video as an example
There was a splendid looking one on Ebay this week, and I jumped on it thanks to your video, so here's hoping that one comes as described. Lots of doubt because of the lack of info on these, but once I noted the rear and saw all the routing possibilities (effect loops galore!) and the 6 individual tape outs (!), I had to have it (I've been using a PlayDifferently Model 1 as my analog summing mixer, which has no panning), so I was desperately looking for some unit that could glue my current old school industrial improv workflow (the less screens the better!) together, and make working the stereofield a little less of a hassle.
Being 40, I do feel a bit giddy, going back to the (then perceived as annoying) cassette wrangling of my teenage years... :)
Hey that’s cool, I’m sure you’re going to love all the routing options and tapey sounds of this unit! I’m in a similar boat to you where I had a really basic 4 track as a kid so was pretty excited to play with all the ‘posh’ multitrack tape recorders as an adult! 🤩😅
@@wehappyfewmusic Ha, I joined a Facebook group, and it seems I've purchased the unit from the guy you loaned it from. Small world. :)
@@myc61 oh wow, a small world indeed, I think that’s my Facebook group too then! 🙌
swanky unit thanks for sharing !- that's a quite open snare sound for a guy using mallett and muffling on the snare drum. - is the drums over-dubbed? I also don't hear it in the bleed from the other solo performances.. so I guess I'm answering my own question
Hey thanks for watching and yeah it’s a nice bit of kit (was pleased to be able to borrow it). The drummer did some clever stuff with a midi trigger on the snare.
Interesting
Thanks for checking it out.
Hi Adrian, nice little machine.
Thanks Paul, it was a nice machine to work with/borrow.
Thought about diagnosing why deck two isn’t working?
Yeah needs looking into, the studio it came from has a great tech guy who I’m sure can get to the bottom of the issue.
Is there any other multitrack recorders like this with the two decks that you know of?
No, I think this one’s pretty unique from that point of view.
Wow where do you find the epic gear at lol
It’s a cool unit, but I borrowed this one from a recording studio in North London called Volume Unlimited. 😊
I have one 🎉 its great.
Cool, they are nice machines! Have you had yours long?
@@wehappyfewmusic nope. This year I got it but I have wanted one since it was released, I still have the brocure from 30 years ago. I also have TOA MR-8T, Yamaha MD-8, Tascam 488 MKII
@@Novaheart1998 That’s amazing that you’ve managed to keep hold of the brochure all that time, and finally got one. What’s the TOA like, they seem to be pretty rare but look really solid. I also got a Yamaha MD-8 recently, keep meaning to check it out properly but love the mixer.
@@wehappyfewmusic the TOA I have works on Japan power so I have a power converter cause Im in Canada. it looks great and is well made but there is some bleed between tracks. Sound quality is good. I haven’t used the other ones much I have been too busy these past 3 years but I have music projects I want to do using them and a Roland MC500 MKII , no computers 🎉💃💩
@@Novaheart1998 interesting project, @espenkraft did a video on the Roland MC500 a couple of years ago. Would be nice combined with a tape machine. 👍
does this use 8-track cassettes or a normal 4-track
Hi it just uses regular type II cassette tapes.
what's an 8tr cassette ?
@@rainbowdeep9234 8-track cassettes are a stereo magnetic-tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. They are bigger than standard cassettes and you need a special 8 track machine.
@@rainbowdeep9234 it has 8 tracks of magnetic strip, kinda of looks like a game cartridge, you got Google look it up
But they weren't cassettes , they were cartridges . HA HA @@wehappyfewmusic