John DeVore on Cassettes and tape decks
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- Опубліковано 29 бер 2020
- John takes a tour through his love of cassettes, as a medium and as objects, and talks about some of his favorite tape decks from JVC, Akai, Revox and of course Nakamichi.
An article he refers to in the video:
www.audiostream.com/content/c...
Mixed tapes were the purest expression of love back in the day. :)
Remember the challenge of taping straight off the radio, timing the start/stop of the recording, editing out the DJ...
Then, if you were into live music such as the Dead or Phish, trading tapes was a way to discover and share music and be a part of a larger community of music lovers.
Ah, memories...
Tapes are great in many ways for bands and fans today... Some people don't have $20+ to shell out for vinyl - and some bands don't have the money to press a record - so tapes are an accessible way for a band to support their themselves and give fans an affordable way to support the band.
They're also much more portable than vinyl, so back when we could go to live shows (before covid-19), tapes are much easier to walk away with.
~Nicholas @ LTA
^^^ yes yes yes^^^
Morning John,
Wow ... takes me back to the day of using my own Technics Twin Tape Deck ... might still have it in storage !
The journey continues ...
Gary @ SiServices
Great video John. I too, still have my cassettes and a Nakamichi BX2 and one of the pedestrian Sony Walkman’s. One of my favorite things to do wasr3cod live broadcasts of music performances. In Chicago it was the Jazz fest, the Blues fest and the live broadcasts from Chicago’s best rock station WXRT. That and mix tapes for my daily commute.
Welcome to the club John! ;) After 45+ years of listening to cassettes Im still a tapehead.. spot on to your comments..the feel is completely different from digital.. not to mention the pleasures of calibrating the tapes for recording..and metering! :D
Touching review that I could relate to on many levels. I still have my Nakamichi 600 that I’ve had since the early 1980’s that I play my mixed tapes and music I haven’t purchased or cannot get on vinyl or CD.
Totally engaging video thanks. I still have some of your 0/96 speakers
on my bucket list.
In the mid 90’s my house was broken into and my huge Caselogic case of 120 cassettes was stolen. It had at least a dozen mix tapes from the 80’s that I cherished. I was heartbroken. I took the insurance money and bought all CD’s, never again buying another cassette. Now I’m back into vinyl and still have a rather large collection of CD’s. I don’t think I can ever go back to cassettes... even though you can find them often for way less than $5 each.
I used to record mix tapes plus full albums to play in my car.I still own a Nakamichi BX300 deck
I have the same deck. I love cassettes. I kept my old volvo just because it has a cassette deck.
My BX-300 is still going strong! 😎✌
Thanks John. Enjoyed you chatting. Like that you are passionate about stuff.🙂
My love for cassettes has never faded. I still have over 600 cassette tapes from through the years. My first cassette recorder was a Tandberg 310, then Nakamichi BX100, Nakamichi BX300 and my favorite the Nakamichi Dragon. I would take my Tandberg to our band rehearsals and record them with two Sony condenser mics on each side of my drum set facing the band, Wow! I am amazed by what was recorded and so were my band mates. I have a record label and one of the CD's that I released was recorded on cassette (a punk band called The Chromatics, YT user SpunktheCombo) which can be heard here on UA-cam, and people are blown away by the quality of the sound. One of these days, hopefully I will be able to hear your speakers, the reviews are fantastic and the looks of them are amazing! Thanks for all you do to promote audio!
Awesome!
Still enjoying my Nakamichi BX-300 ✌😎
Totally agree, I still owe my Alpine AL60 from the 80s and a Nakamichi cr4 from the 90s, beautiful design and sound
I'd got to your site because of Steve G., to whom I give thanks and my highest regards. It' very nice to know so many personal facts that make me feel like to had run the same rail tracks... mother piano concertist (although I Never saw her playing), music lover, Diy on speakers and electronics, audio seller, of the analog world... magnetic media lover, and LBNL Cats' owner.
I went to a Telecomm Engineering world as in my country is not easy to give birth to a speaker company, that was always a hiden dream. All summed up, makes me congratulate yourself.
Thank you for this great comment Marcelo.
Love this!
Very nice video.... And I grew up with cassette tapes too... My first gift to my girlfriend which 15 years later became my wife was a metal cassette ( maybe a maxell ) recorded from a cd with my uncle's pioneer deck. I do not have a cassette deck but I have good memories from those days.
Love this and couldn't agree more about the allure of cassettes. For me, my current obsession stems from a recent correction in my thinking. As a teenager in the 80s I had written off cassettes as having marginal sound quality, particularly prerecorded cassettes. In the past few years, though, I've restored a number of decks including an Ampex that was essentially the first stereo deck released (in cooperation with Philips/Norelco), Pioneers, Nakamichi, etc. and have found that the deck I was using back then (a 2-head Akai) must not have been all that great. I'm continually astonished at just how good cassettes can sound, even prerecorded ones, on a good, well-maintained and adjusted deck. I also find that the format forces me to listen to albums from beginning to end again, something I haven't done much of since the 90s (sometimes two or three times in a row on my autoreverse decks). I have a bunch of audio related content on my channel, but this one talks a bit about my experience with cassettes, as well as a guide on how to repair them: ua-cam.com/video/RMlTfnqmVxE/v-deo.html
Me too love cassettes
Dig this content ... much appreciated.
I don't believe I've touched a cassette in a few years, I too have an strong affinity for cassette.
As an avid two channel stereo recording enthusiast since the early 80's, cassette was so nice, so easy, and certainly so much fun.
I still own a couple Nakamichi decks, as well as a Tascam 3 ³/⁴ ips four cassette desk. I haven't used them in years, but I still have everything. I've still got my portable Marantz deck, three Sony DAT decks ... one portable, one pro, and one Sony ES audiophile deck.
As a FOH engineer, I've always been into recording. Despite never being a big fan of the Grateful Dead, I was still always looking for 𝘘𝘜𝘈𝘓𝘐𝘛𝘠 live shows to (legitimately) capture on tape.
So, I discover The Black Crowes allowed taping, I'm a fan. In the 90's they were tight, working relentlessly on the road, in their prime, and most importantly had their 𝐻 reasonably under control.
They're touring, I catch them in Indianapolis, at the beautiful Murat Theater (beautiful restored
proscenium theater, seating limited at 2k).
As a working FOH engineer, I have multiple individuals that facilitate me securing the ideal location to capture a solid stereo perspective.
The Black Crowes, they did the rest.
Despite a couple issues, the recording turned out stunningly good, so much better than I anticipated.
Even myself approaching 60, I'm a second generation stereo cassette recordist. My late Dad and I, both being RailFans, would travel the country and both film and record vintage Steam Locomotives, beginning in the 70's. He ultimately transitioned from film to video, as the source. He would edit/sell the material as a hobby at conventions, and mail order (remember mail order?)
... selling both stereo HQ VHS tapes, and audio cassettes.
I can say this unequivocally, there is NOTHING as impressive as a quickly approaching, massively powerful Steam locomotive ... bathed in echo from the surroundings ... powerful powerful stuff.
As soon as the train has passed, while attempting to remain absolutely silent ... when the steam whistle fades away and the crickets and other naturally ambient sounds resume, I press stop ... and chaos commences! All the gear is packed up again, and the chase continues! You have to get far enough ahead of the train to about out a reasonably good location and execute the process all over again. It's exhilarating.
As I type this out on my phone, I really miss those times with my Dad. He and I were big fans of the work of the late Brad Miller, founding engineer for Mobile Fidelity. I believe MoFi's very first release was of a Steam Locomotive.
Check out the CDs, Sounds of Trains, Bainbridge records. Just like the infamous Telarc cannons, these are system destroyers if your rig isn't up too it.
I'll stop here, I could continue going on and on, ... stream of conscious style, endlessly.
Thanks
Amazing stories! Thanks for sharing.
I enjoy cassette decks for many of the same reasons. I had a JVC (KD-V400) with crazy displays too, but switched to a string of Akai GX machines with equally futuristic displays and better sound.
Loved my GX9!
There were times I liked my cassettes recordings better than the original LP sound. BTW still have my DDII Walkman!
Yes, a 90 minute mixtape would take hours. That was love and so much fun. A few years back I had a mix tape party, people brought there favourite mix tapes, it helps when your friends are DJ’s , we watched the sun rise. Growing up in NYC in the 70’s and a young punk driving back from clubbing in the early hours brings back that time, talked to Iggy Pop about this .
Very cool
bits vs atoms!
Yes!
I don't miss carrying around suitcases full of cassettes in my car. Streaming is much easier and sounds just as good.
Cassettes enclosed in clear plastic present a superior SOUNDSTAGE. Audiophools!
I considered the Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1 but ended up with a much older 580. I prefer to have the adjustable bias and Dolby level so that non-TDK tapes will still perform their best. (Nakamichi calibrated all of their 12 o'clock settings with TDK tapes.)
i loved thoe high quality maxell tape s that came out and we recorded alot of music off the radio...
My first tape deck was a 2-head Kenwood. Then a three-head JVC tape deck. I still wish I bought a Harman Kardon 3-head deck . It was a beautiful champagne finish deck.
Yeah, I remember those sweet champagne finish HKs.
I have a few boxes (the "I'm very cool" wooden wine box storage method) of tapes, some my bands lots of Dead and a few treasures from artists who shared monitor mixes or demos. SONY TCD 5M was my deck. I think I sold it for rent in college. Have an old dual (for duplicating) Technics up in the attic. Might have to dust it off.
A mixtape on cassette is a true labor of love, especially if its on a good tape, levels adjusted per song, j-card filled out, tape labeled, etc...Too easy to drag and drop.
Damn right!
Hi there! I also love and i have an old collection of cassettess but unfortunately i don't have cassette deck!? I had an Akai Gx-a5x so I wanted to fix it and .... ?? Maxell XL-IIS cassette is my favorite! Greetings from Serbia!
The ones I'd record myself from records or with a microphone were always better than studio cassettes. Cassettes were certainly better than 8 tracks, but I admit to being glad when they were replaced by cd's, and a pain to rewind & find a certain track. Funny how some are eccentric about certain formats.
I have still my Alpine AL60 and my Nakamichi CR4, tape is not so good in sound as reel2reel but I have a lot of very good memories too
check out fluffer on tidal---the piece Monolith is cool!
John, do you find that when making a tape on the Nak or other high quality machine, that the newly recorded mixed tapes can sometimes sound better if recorded with no Dolby noise reduction (neither B or C)? I find that on my Awia AD F770 without the use of Dolby, the tape sounds better,, especially the high frequencies....although yes, a bit more tape hiss...I also find that pre-recorded store bought tapes that were recorded in Dolby B sometimes sound better without Dolby activated during playback. How do you feel on this, and what do you do on your rig? Thanks.
I have two of the newer Walkmans and they are played in my cars. I have a number of cassette decks and it's the easiest format for me to record and play back You Tube media. The problem is getting new blank Type II tapes which will soon be gone.
The most amazing thing is that SACD files played from youtube sound different (worse imho) than tape -sourced youtube music......
Love cassette back in the day I even had the elcasette yea I old lol
Sony Elcasette at 3 3/4 ips ! Yes!
Very interesting. I just repaired a Sony KA1-ES I had from way back (replaced belts and pinch roller). It is remarkable how good it sounds.
Getting parts is really a challenge.
I miss 8 tracks.
Still have my AIWA 6900. Never gets used but just can't seem to part with it.
Same here, i used to make selections for my friends as selling pop or western music is banned in iran , and the only way we could get them was to copy them on cassette.
Some computers still have hard drives with magnetic platters on which your music is stored. How is that so different than cassette tapes and vinyl (regarding your little "philosophical" take on the matter)? To me it sounds more like a hybrid between the two... a "magnetic vinyl".
Tdk,basf,denon,agfa...
45 minutes a side ... some LP's would just not fit in (like Tubular Bells - for years and years I've never heard the sailor's pipe song)
Big bummer when your tape gets chowed to crinkle cut by those little wheels, esp. when driving a car, and more so if it was one of your expensive chrome or metal tapes ...
Always had good success with my machines. Primary decks were high end Sony. (3 header back in the 70's) & a couple of my secondary machines for less critical use were decent performing, lower priced Technics. (saved head wear on the big Sony) Generally bought top name tapes (Max, TDK & Sony) & overall had practically zero issues with damaged tapes, even in car & portable players. Maybe I was just lucky, don't know. Did appreciate it when some manufacturers started thinking outside the box & got away from the typical 60/90/120 min format & started making 100's. I used quite a number of those in later years. Just had that little extra time per side for most any LP yet with thick enough coating & enough strength to be way better all-around than the rather thin 120's.
I hate that me being born in 82 apparently makes me a millennial.