0:00 Introduction 0:30 Tapes to be used during testing (Normal, Chrome and Metal) 2:06 How a tape head works (recording) 4:06 What is Equalization? (pre-emphasis and de-emphasis) 120us vs 70us 6:58 What is Bias? 7:55 How does playback work? 8:40 What is MPX Filter used for? 9:41 What does HX Pro do? 10:50 Monitor, Tape vs Source on 3 head decks. 11:18 Recording level master and tape 12:15 Recording equalization (Sony specific feature) 12:48 Bias fine adjustment 13:18 Dolby B, C and S 13:46 Calibration feature test with TDK D-90 Type I 14:49 Analysis of how the calibration feature works 16:51 Frequency Response of TDK D-90 Tape @ 0dB 19:17 Calibration and Frequency Response of Sony UX-S Chrome Type II Tape 20:55 Calibration and Frequency Response of Sony Metal XR Type IV Tape 22:45 Conclusion and comparison of results 24:31 Music Sample - Source 25:42 Music Sample - Recorded on TDK D-90 - Type I 26:48 Music Sample - Recorded on Sony US-S - Type II 28:05 Music Sample - Recorded on Sony Metal XR - Type IV
@@ivanfilgas2065 Hi Ivan, this tape deck got oscillator controlled speed for the capstan motor, there is no adjustment as the crystal is very accurate and doesn't drift much. If you have issues with speed it's most likely a mechanical issues. Cheers, Jake
Awesome video! I learned so much! And then you taught me so much so that I can use my deck! The more I learn about the tech I grew up with, the more I start to think THOSE were the times of high tech; not now in the 2020s..
Thanks! I agree those were exciting times for technology, getting so much sound quality out of these tiny tapes. No tape deck manufactured today can get anywhere near the quality of the best tape decks made back in the 90s. Cheers, Jake
I've got a weird mental relationship with Type IV tape. On the one hand, they can sound virtually indistinguishable from the source...but on the other hand, the lack of "warmth" is almost no fun! :) Part of me, deep down, I think prefers Type I. It seems like I take more joy perfectly calibrating a Type I tape to sound great than a Type IV. In other words, I know a Type IV will sound great, but it's a thrill getting a Type I to sound great. Much more satisfying to my tinkerer's heart :)
Yeah, a decent type I like the TDK D can sound great and type IV tapes are getting very expensive plus you could argue that the main reason to record on tape these days is to get the authentic tape sound usually a bit warmer with some compression of the dynamic range and that is more pronounced on a type I tape. Cheers, Jake
Hello Sir, Thank you for sharing with us. Its so good to see that people are still interested in this technology, cassettes. I am enjoying my self at home with recordings on tape and putting back music from High-Res files to cassettes. I use a fully serviced Pioneer ct-777 and Sony TC-K970es with tdk SA-X type II (Dolby off) and its a Joy! I want just to mention that in those days, as today, not that many people could afford the High end machines of the time. So not many really knew how good a cassette can sound. So many of us are rediscovering now that music on cassettes can sound incredible well. I have a fully serviced Pioneer A-602r amp and I use 4 speakers at the same time... Canton Karat 60 and MB Quart 980s. Ah you have to hear it to believe it! Playing those cassettes I recorded with Dire Straits or Mark Knopfler (source High-res files)... what a joy. Thank you again for sharing with us. Stay safe
Thanks, I agree that cassette tapes can sound fantastic when recorded and played back on a high end deck. I think it's well worth keeping a few good tape decks around if you have a good collection of tapes. Personally I have a weak spot for analog physical media like tapes and records. Cheers, Jake
Thanks, hope you enjoy your "new" tape deck, I've been very happy with mine and use it quite often. I did have to replace the belts when I got it, but since then it's been running great. Cheers, Jake
@@TheStuffMade Thanks. I subscribed to your UA-cam channel. Hopefully you might be able to do do future tape dfeck videos. I love the format-both reel to reel and cassette.
Thanks for including the music samples. There's quite an improvement from Type I to Type II and less so from Type II to Type IV. So, for bang-for-buck, it makes sense why Type II was used more than Type IV.
Thanks, yeah there are clear differences even the compression, first in my video software and then by youtube, does obscure the details a bit. It's even easier to hear with a good pair of headphones hooked up directly to the tape deck. Cheers, Jake
Hello, You mentioned in this video (which I enjoyed very much) that in the future yoy would perform another frequency reponse run at -20dB . Are you still planning on doing so? Would really be appreciated since I own a TC-k3ESdeck as well. Thanks!
Back in my tape years (80's and 90's) I used type 1 for radio recordings, and type 2 for cd recordings. Mostly tdk-sa or maxell-XL2. I used very few metal tapes as the sound difference with type 2 for me was negatable. It is amazing the quality that is possible on these low tape speeds. However I moved on into the digital age and all my cassettes anded up in the garbage bin. Little did I know people would spend money on these later. Still fun to see some quality 90's stuff, they don't make them like that anymore.
Excellent video explaining the cassette recording system and probably one of the best desks to demonstrate the higher end capabilities that the cassettes format was capable of near the end of the format life by the late 90s, I have the Sony KA6ES, and is almost identical to your KA3 with the only difference being the HX Pro button, the KA6ES has HX Pro but is not switchable. I have posted some music recorded from SACD onto a metal cassette and posted it on my channel.
Thanks, yeah the naming of these late 90s high end Sony decks is a bit confusing, I think the ka2, ka3 and ka6 are almost identical. Anyway, I think there is no need for the HX Pro button, I'd always enable it, I don't see any downsides, however it could be interesting to do a comparison of higher frequency distortion with and without HX Pro. I agree, these decks are very high performance, anyone remembering cassettes as being limited frequency with wow and flutter, hiss, distortion and drop outs should have a listen to one of these with a reasonable quality tape. Cheers, Jake
@@TheStuffMade Think the KA6 is the lowest of the 3 but still a very good deck, I have one of the very few Dolby HX Pro S prerecorded cassettes, the B-52's Time Capsule and will at some point "in the near future" will post Love Shack from it, with the audio being captured at 96kHz 24bit so there is no loss in the transfer from analog cassette to H265 video file, as prerecorded cassettes go it was one of the better quality releases.
@@The70s80scollection I have about 2-300 original tapes from the 70-80-90, but I think none of them are higher than Dolby C, some are very good recordings though, like Dire Straits and Queen etc. You have some great recording on your channel 👍
@@TheStuffMade Thanks, Dolby S prerecorded cassettes are quite rare, I also have a few Prince digilog Dolby S cassettes, they probably are the best sounding prerecorded I have, cant post them on my channel, all Price recorded content is blocked. At some point I want to record something onto a Sony Metal-ES C46 that I have that's unopened using dolby S to demonstrate just how good cassettes can sound.
No, the tape deck will generate all the tones needed for calibration. After calibration you only need to adjust the input level for the source you want to record. Cheers, Jake
Greetings, was the deck pre-calibrated before the video? Meaning internally, according to the service manual, or was just left "as is" from the factory settings? Thanks!
Excellent video! Very nice machine! I disagree on one point concerting compatibility in Dolby Systems. At 13:34 Dolby S was the latest Dolby encoding standard for pre-recorded tapes. Tapes or pre-recorded tapes encoded with Dolby S can be played back without Dolby decoding ( car stereos, portables) and on a Dolby B only deck without unpleasant breathing or mistracking. The sound is surprisingly good and can be compared with a undecoded Dolby B. Many listeners don't like Dolby decoding ( they say as alway's than Dolby muffled the highs) and leave the Dolby switch off at all times. Dolby C is very good ( spectral skewing, anti saturation) but much more incompatible between decks and unlistenable without proper decoding. Resume: Dolby B can be played back without decoding, Dolby C can be played back only with C decoding and Dolby S can be played back without Dolby at all, with Dolby B and of couse for full compatibility and noise reduction with Dolby S.
For me the real question is whether this calibration feature makes any difference ie how the response would look like without or set completely off. I have a TC-K777 and I can’t hers any difference after calibration versus left at default zero, or even purposely set off. We’ll done video, otherwise, thanks!
I just get sony TC-KA3ES. When i start play some cassette, the sound playback is very muddy. The i replace the head with same head on my other sony ES series, but the sound still muddy. When i start recording the playback sound is very different with the source. But when i play the result on the other tape, the sound from the recording is good. So i assume some trouble on the playback system. Any sugestion what must i do first? Thanks dude
Yes, I was/am planning a follow up video with distortion measurements, just never got around to it. The distortion on this deck is anywhere from 0.1% up to 1.5% depending on tape type and recording level and using Dolby NR significantly lowers the distortion. I didn't do the SNR measurements, but I'd assume they are close to the specs. Cheers, Jake
I would be curious to know the results of the record then playback method if possible (not monitoring). I see a lot of signal bleed on my cassette decks with the heads being so close together, not like open reels where there is considerable distance between the two. When I record, then analyze the playback separately, I see much more high-frequency attenuation than when monitoring.
Hi Peter, I can confirm all the tests are done using the monitor function as in simultaneous recording and playback. But I agree it would make an interesting experiment to see how much difference there would be compared to playing back a prerecorded sweep. I am planning to do some distortion tests and have a closer look at the effect of using dolby noise reduction, so I might squeeze in a comparison between prerecorded and using the monitor function. Cheers, Jake
I have a question about the calibration and the bias frequency. My deck (Yamaha K-340) doesn't have a fine control. It only auto detects the tape type. What I wanna check is, if the bias is gotten out of tune due to age. Is there a way to check that with a multimeter or maybe a bias calibration tape?
Hello, your best option is to see if you can find a service manual for your Yamaha deck, it will usually contain all the calibration procedures in detail. Cheers, Jake
@@TheStuffMade I found the service manual. The first step is to calibrate the Playback level, unfortunately I don't own an oscilloscope. Is there a way to get around that? Can I use something different?
@@HardKickinGroupGermany Usually you need tone generator, oscilloscope, true RMS multimeter plus a set of calibration tapes with various test tones to do a full calibration. I wouldn't recommend trying to do any adjustments without following the steps in the service manual. You could try make a post on tapeheads.net and see if anyone can help with advise specific to your tape deck. Cheers, Jake
Thanks, yeah that's a good point. I'll do another video where I'll attempt to measure the distortion of the same tapes, then I'll include a comparison of the frequency response (and probably distortion) with and without calibration. It's not a day and night difference, but the calibration does improve the frequency response. Cheers, Jake
Very good comparisons at the end!!! I'm not sure that I can hear a difference between Type II vs Type IV But, I do hear a little difference in the highs between Type I vs. Type II I'm barely an audiophile, I'm not sure that I would notice though if they weren't played back to back - but it is there!
These are all subtle differences, best to use a good pair of headphones to hear them, but keep in mind the video and youtube compression does mask the quality a bit. However all 3 types of tapes can produce great results, many people back in the day were perfectly happy with the sound quality of the cheapest TDK D type 1 tape, I guess it's like most people today are happy with mp3 quality songs. Cheers, Jake
@@TheStuffMade Of course, I expect some loss by video recording and playing back, but you make a very good point about compression. Good point indeed! I should just repeat this experiment at home and see for myself!
I have a Technics RS-B50 deck which automatically adjusts everything and has no controls except for record level and left right balance. How do I calibrate it?
Hi, most tape decks have fixed bias and equalization with no option to fine tune based on the tape you're recording on. If it doesn't sound right when you record or play back then it will likely need a full service including internal calibration. The procedure for this is usually described in details in the service manual (if you can find one) however be aware it does require access to instruments like oscilloscope and meters plus a set of calibration tapes. Cheers, Jake
@@TheStuffMade Thank you! I guess I'll just use it to play tapes and try to record on Type II cassettes. It's not worth to calibrate the machine internally every time I change the cassette, if I don't have a dedicated knob for that. Thanks a lot for your reply.
Very nice video! I'd like to ask: I have a boom box that has a frequency response between 80-10000Hz (only type l tape). Is that a satisfactory range for a nice audio recording? Do we really need a machine that exceeds the 10000Hz? And if so, what is a referable range for a deck/ boom box? Thanks a lot!
Thanks. I wouldn't worry about it, that frequency response is good for a boom box, it's unlikely the speakers will be able to play any bass below 80 Hz and most Type I tapes start rolling off above 10kHz anyway. A good way to get a feeling for how much effect it will have is to use a computer or your phone with some good headphones, then use a player that have equalizer function where you can suppress the lower and upper frequencies, then listen to some music with and without the equalizer enabled. Cheers, Jake
Thanks, it's just a fairly random piece of music chosen to not trigger the youtube copyright ban hammer. I'd love to use a better known piece, but it would just get banned instantly.
Would love to own one, I have an TC-K677ES and its manual calibration, this is so much easier with the auto, just wish the deck was not so expensive used and all the ones i keep seeing on ebay are 100v from Japan, did they make a 120v version?
It's a really nice deck. I did have to replace the belts in mine when I got it as one of them had turned into goo, but besides that I've had no problems. They did make 100V, 120V and 230/240V versions for 50/60Hz supply, afaik this model was sold all over the world. It's a bit strange because Sony made 2 almost identical versions TC-KA3ES and TC-KA6ES, but the TC-KA3ES is the one with slightly better specs. I also noticed lots of Japanese versions on ebay advertised at around $500 - $1,000. That does seem very expensive, I paid around $150 for mine in non working condition (just needed new belts). Cheers, Jake
@@TheStuffMade Thank you for the reply, at least now I know they did make a 120v, like you saw all the ebay ones right now seem to be 100v, maybe I will get lucky one day.
@@raysrcsandtech You could probably run a 100V deck on 120V AC without any issues, it's all regulated inside and the 50 vs 60 Hz doesn't matter because the speed is controlled by an internal crystal oscillator. But it might run a bit hotter at 120V so it might depend on what climate you live in. I once ran a 100V Japanese record player at 230V by mistake, it ran fine for hours until I noticed and didn't suffer any damage, but that's of course too extreme to be safe. Cheers, Jake
In my experience it is only worth using expensive tapes on cheap decks where Type 1s sound muffled. (as long as they have Cr02 / Metal capacity of course)
Why do you third world people always assume everything is for sale? Honestly, I don't think I've seen a video about an old cassette deck (or some other piece of vintage hifi) without someone with an Indian or Pakistani name asking the price. Does the vid title mention it's for sale? Does the guy mention it being for sale at any point in the video?
If I have a 2-head deck or I don't have a sources / Tape I can record it but their will be no graph of the tape is their a easy way to play it back and have a fhz responds of thee tape? w your software or Analog Discovery 2 Thanks Again
Thanks for the software Using it for the Pioneer CT-F900 ,, And Later w Audio Receiver and Amps, Your software is why I bought Analog Discovery 2. I set the input level to 0DB and It did not like it and around 8k was the roll off I thought I had Bad Heads or Bad old tapes. Testing Tapes and other Tape Deck w no luck. I turned it down to -20db and it got better I than turned it down to -16db input and output and I got my High fhz back and a15k roll off , I tested again and it seems to work better closer to -20db. w a 17k Roller over (Type 2) So is this normal? Using it to Test Tape heads. Next CT-F1250 I hope the head is good.
w this software I test another Pioneer CT-F900 and I think it has a bad erase head. I heard tones when recording from the last test lol wow Testing tape Decks can be a lot of figuring out Electrical and Mechanical Thanks again.
Yeah, these mechanical devices do have a lot of quirks, but when you get everything restored/repaired/calibrated they sound amazing. I always felt my cassette deck sounded better than my CD player back in the 90s as in it didn't have that harsh edge the CD did. Cheers, Jake
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
0:00 Introduction
0:30 Tapes to be used during testing (Normal, Chrome and Metal)
2:06 How a tape head works (recording)
4:06 What is Equalization? (pre-emphasis and de-emphasis) 120us vs 70us
6:58 What is Bias?
7:55 How does playback work?
8:40 What is MPX Filter used for?
9:41 What does HX Pro do?
10:50 Monitor, Tape vs Source on 3 head decks.
11:18 Recording level master and tape
12:15 Recording equalization (Sony specific feature)
12:48 Bias fine adjustment
13:18 Dolby B, C and S
13:46 Calibration feature test with TDK D-90 Type I
14:49 Analysis of how the calibration feature works
16:51 Frequency Response of TDK D-90 Tape @ 0dB
19:17 Calibration and Frequency Response of Sony UX-S Chrome Type II Tape
20:55 Calibration and Frequency Response of Sony Metal XR Type IV Tape
22:45 Conclusion and comparison of results
24:31 Music Sample - Source
25:42 Music Sample - Recorded on TDK D-90 - Type I
26:48 Music Sample - Recorded on Sony US-S - Type II
28:05 Music Sample - Recorded on Sony Metal XR - Type IV
Hi, where can I adjust tape speed ?...which VR...or adjustement point? ?
@@ivanfilgas2065 Hi Ivan, this tape deck got oscillator controlled speed for the capstan motor, there is no adjustment as the crystal is very accurate and doesn't drift much. If you have issues with speed it's most likely a mechanical issues.
Cheers,
Jake
@@TheStuffMade Thanx Jake! Cheers, Ivan
The most complete guide on the Internet. Thank you very much, sir
Awesome video! I learned so much!
And then you taught me so much so that I can use my deck!
The more I learn about the tech I grew up with, the more I start to think THOSE were the times of high tech; not now in the 2020s..
Thanks! I agree those were exciting times for technology, getting so much sound quality out of these tiny tapes. No tape deck manufactured today can get anywhere near the quality of the best tape decks made back in the 90s.
Cheers,
Jake
Thank you! That was the best description of how a cassette deck works that I’ve ever seen. Very nice way to explain it.
I've got a weird mental relationship with Type IV tape. On the one hand, they can sound virtually indistinguishable from the source...but on the other hand, the lack of "warmth" is almost no fun! :) Part of me, deep down, I think prefers Type I. It seems like I take more joy perfectly calibrating a Type I tape to sound great than a Type IV.
In other words, I know a Type IV will sound great, but it's a thrill getting a Type I to sound great. Much more satisfying to my tinkerer's heart :)
Yeah, a decent type I like the TDK D can sound great and type IV tapes are getting very expensive plus you could argue that the main reason to record on tape these days is to get the authentic tape sound usually a bit warmer with some compression of the dynamic range and that is more pronounced on a type I tape.
Cheers,
Jake
Yes... that portable cassette player feeling... amazing. I love the EQ of that Type I !
And probably also love the hiss these days.
Hello Sir,
Thank you for sharing with us. Its so good to see that people are still interested in this technology, cassettes.
I am enjoying my self at home with recordings on tape and putting back music from High-Res files to cassettes. I use a fully serviced Pioneer ct-777 and Sony TC-K970es with tdk SA-X type II (Dolby off) and its a Joy!
I want just to mention that in those days, as today, not that many people could afford the High end machines of the time. So not many really knew how good a cassette can sound.
So many of us are rediscovering now that music on cassettes can sound incredible well.
I have a fully serviced Pioneer A-602r amp and I use 4 speakers at the same time... Canton Karat 60 and MB Quart 980s. Ah you have to hear it to believe it!
Playing those cassettes I recorded with Dire Straits or Mark Knopfler (source High-res files)... what a joy.
Thank you again for sharing with us. Stay safe
Thanks, I agree that cassette tapes can sound fantastic when recorded and played back on a high end deck.
I think it's well worth keeping a few good tape decks around if you have a good collection of tapes.
Personally I have a weak spot for analog physical media like tapes and records.
Cheers,
Jake
Thanks for publishing! Just got one of these decks on Ebay and it was very interesting to see your response test results.
Thanks, hope you enjoy your "new" tape deck, I've been very happy with mine and use it quite often. I did have to replace the belts when I got it, but since then it's been running great.
Cheers,
Jake
@@TheStuffMade Thanks. I subscribed to your UA-cam channel. Hopefully you might be able to do do future tape dfeck videos. I love the format-both reel to reel and cassette.
Same story here 😂
Thanks for including the music samples. There's quite an improvement from Type I to Type II and less so from Type II to Type IV. So, for bang-for-buck, it makes sense why Type II was used more than Type IV.
Thanks, yeah there are clear differences even the compression, first in my video software and then by youtube, does obscure the details a bit. It's even easier to hear with a good pair of headphones hooked up directly to the tape deck.
Cheers,
Jake
Hello, You mentioned in this video (which I enjoyed very much) that in the future yoy would perform another frequency reponse run at -20dB . Are you still planning on doing so? Would really be appreciated since I own a TC-k3ESdeck as well. Thanks!
Back in my tape years (80's and 90's) I used type 1 for radio recordings, and type 2 for cd recordings. Mostly tdk-sa or maxell-XL2. I used very few metal tapes as the sound difference with type 2 for me was negatable. It is amazing the quality that is possible on these low tape speeds. However I moved on into the digital age and all my cassettes anded up in the garbage bin. Little did I know people would spend money on these later. Still fun to see some quality 90's stuff, they don't make them like that anymore.
Excellent video explaining the cassette recording system and probably one of the best desks to demonstrate the higher end capabilities that the cassettes format was capable of near the end of the format life by the late 90s, I have the Sony KA6ES, and is almost identical to your KA3 with the only difference being the HX Pro button, the KA6ES has HX Pro but is not switchable. I have posted some music recorded from SACD onto a metal cassette and posted it on my channel.
Thanks, yeah the naming of these late 90s high end Sony decks is a bit confusing, I think the ka2, ka3 and ka6 are almost identical. Anyway, I think there is no need for the HX Pro button, I'd always enable it, I don't see any downsides, however it could be interesting to do a comparison of higher frequency distortion with and without HX Pro. I agree, these decks are very high performance, anyone remembering cassettes as being limited frequency with wow and flutter, hiss, distortion and drop outs should have a listen to one of these with a reasonable quality tape.
Cheers,
Jake
@@TheStuffMade Think the KA6 is the lowest of the 3 but still a very good deck, I have one of the very few Dolby HX Pro S prerecorded cassettes, the B-52's Time Capsule and will at some point "in the near future" will post Love Shack from it, with the audio being captured at 96kHz 24bit so there is no loss in the transfer from analog cassette to H265 video file, as prerecorded cassettes go it was one of the better quality releases.
@@The70s80scollection I have about 2-300 original tapes from the 70-80-90, but I think none of them are higher than Dolby C, some are very good recordings though, like Dire Straits and Queen etc. You have some great recording on your channel 👍
@@TheStuffMade Thanks, Dolby S prerecorded cassettes are quite rare, I also have a few Prince digilog Dolby S cassettes, they probably are the best sounding prerecorded I have, cant post them on my channel, all Price recorded content is blocked. At some point I want to record something onto a Sony Metal-ES C46 that I have that's unopened using dolby S to demonstrate just how good cassettes can sound.
Do we need input sources in to calibration? Thank you
No, the tape deck will generate all the tones needed for calibration. After calibration you only need to adjust the input level for the source you want to record.
Cheers,
Jake
Greetings, was the deck pre-calibrated before the video? Meaning internally, according to the service manual, or was just left "as is" from the factory settings? Thanks!
No calibration, besides having the belts replaced, this deck is as when it left the factory.
Cheers,
Jake
Excellent video! Very nice machine! I disagree on one point concerting compatibility in Dolby Systems. At 13:34 Dolby S was the latest Dolby encoding standard for pre-recorded tapes. Tapes or pre-recorded tapes encoded with Dolby S can be played back without Dolby decoding ( car stereos, portables) and on a Dolby B only deck without unpleasant breathing or mistracking. The sound is surprisingly good and can be compared with a undecoded Dolby B. Many listeners don't like Dolby decoding ( they say as alway's than Dolby muffled the highs) and leave the Dolby switch off at all times. Dolby C is very good ( spectral skewing, anti saturation) but much more incompatible between decks and unlistenable without proper decoding. Resume: Dolby B can be played back without decoding, Dolby C can be played back only with C decoding and Dolby S can be played back without Dolby at all, with Dolby B and of couse for full compatibility and noise reduction with Dolby S.
For me the real question is whether this calibration feature makes any difference ie how the response would look like without or set completely off. I have a TC-K777 and I can’t hers any difference after calibration versus left at default zero, or even purposely set off.
We’ll done video, otherwise, thanks!
I can hear a difference in all my 3 head decks even if the calibration is slightly off. Is the rest of your system good? Speakers?
Very useful video .Thank you . Happy New Year 2024
Thanks!.. Happy New Year
I just get sony TC-KA3ES. When i start play some cassette, the sound playback is very muddy. The i replace the head with same head on my other sony ES series, but the sound still muddy.
When i start recording the playback sound is very different with the source. But when i play the result on the other tape, the sound from the recording is good. So i assume some trouble on the playback system. Any sugestion what must i do first? Thanks dude
24:31 whats the music ?
Did you ever, or at least can you, do audio tape SNR and distortion measurements with Analog Discovery?
Yes, I was/am planning a follow up video with distortion measurements, just never got around to it. The distortion on this deck is anywhere from 0.1% up to 1.5% depending on tape type and recording level and using Dolby NR significantly lowers the distortion. I didn't do the SNR measurements, but I'd assume they are close to the specs.
Cheers,
Jake
I would be curious to know the results of the record then playback method if possible (not monitoring). I see a lot of signal bleed on my cassette decks with the heads being so close together, not like open reels where there is considerable distance between the two. When I record, then analyze the playback separately, I see much more high-frequency attenuation than when monitoring.
Hi Peter, I can confirm all the tests are done using the monitor function as in simultaneous recording and playback. But I agree it would make an interesting experiment to see how much difference there would be compared to playing back a prerecorded sweep. I am planning to do some distortion tests and have a closer look at the effect of using dolby noise reduction, so I might squeeze in a comparison between prerecorded and using the monitor function.
Cheers,
Jake
@@TheStuffMade It would nice to see that. Thanks for sharing your tests.
Brilliant video! Thanks!
I have a question about the calibration and the bias frequency. My deck (Yamaha K-340) doesn't have a fine control. It only auto detects the tape type. What I wanna check is, if the bias is gotten out of tune due to age. Is there a way to check that with a multimeter or maybe a bias calibration tape?
Hello, your best option is to see if you can find a service manual for your Yamaha deck, it will usually contain all the calibration procedures in detail.
Cheers,
Jake
@@TheStuffMade I found the service manual. The first step is to calibrate the Playback level, unfortunately I don't own an oscilloscope. Is there a way to get around that? Can I use something different?
@@HardKickinGroupGermany Usually you need tone generator, oscilloscope, true RMS multimeter plus a set of calibration tapes with various test tones to do a full calibration. I wouldn't recommend trying to do any adjustments without following the steps in the service manual. You could try make a post on tapeheads.net and see if anyone can help with advise specific to your tape deck.
Cheers,
Jake
Very interesting, thanks. It would have been informative to see frequency response curves without calibration for comparison.
Thanks, yeah that's a good point. I'll do another video where I'll attempt to measure the distortion of the same tapes, then I'll include a comparison of the frequency response (and probably distortion) with and without calibration. It's not a day and night difference, but the calibration does improve the frequency response.
Cheers,
Jake
@@TheStuffMade THat would be great, thanks.
Very good comparisons at the end!!!
I'm not sure that I can hear a difference between Type II vs Type IV
But, I do hear a little difference in the highs between Type I vs. Type II
I'm barely an audiophile, I'm not sure that I would notice though if they weren't played back to back - but it is there!
These are all subtle differences, best to use a good pair of headphones to hear them, but keep in mind the video and youtube compression does mask the quality a bit. However all 3 types of tapes can produce great results, many people back in the day were perfectly happy with the sound quality of the cheapest TDK D type 1 tape, I guess it's like most people today are happy with mp3 quality songs.
Cheers,
Jake
@@TheStuffMade Of course, I expect some loss by video recording and playing back, but you make a very good point about compression. Good point indeed! I should just repeat this experiment at home and see for myself!
I have a Technics RS-B50 deck which automatically adjusts everything and has no controls except for record level and left right balance. How do I calibrate it?
Hi, most tape decks have fixed bias and equalization with no option to fine tune based on the tape you're recording on. If it doesn't sound right when you record or play back then it will likely need a full service including internal calibration. The procedure for this is usually described in details in the service manual (if you can find one) however be aware it does require access to instruments like oscilloscope and meters plus a set of calibration tapes.
Cheers,
Jake
@@TheStuffMade Thank you! I guess I'll just use it to play tapes and try to record on Type II cassettes. It's not worth to calibrate the machine internally every time I change the cassette, if I don't have a dedicated knob for that. Thanks a lot for your reply.
Very nice video!
I'd like to ask: I have a boom box that has a frequency response between 80-10000Hz (only type l tape).
Is that a satisfactory range for a nice audio recording?
Do we really need a machine that exceeds the 10000Hz?
And if so, what is a referable range for a deck/ boom box?
Thanks a lot!
Thanks. I wouldn't worry about it, that frequency response is good for a boom box, it's unlikely the speakers will be able to play any bass below 80 Hz and most Type I tapes start rolling off above 10kHz anyway. A good way to get a feeling for how much effect it will have is to use a computer or your phone with some good headphones, then use a player that have equalizer function where you can suppress the lower and upper frequencies, then listen to some music with and without the equalizer enabled.
Cheers,
Jake
very valuable video
Seeking perfection...
Excellent video!
Thanks for sharing !
ps, what are we listening to? the Music sample,,,,
Thanks, it's just a fairly random piece of music chosen to not trigger the youtube copyright ban hammer. I'd love to use a better known piece, but it would just get banned instantly.
Do I need an AC millivolt meter or what do you use ?
Hi, all the measurements in this video is done using the Analog Discovery device together with my Audio Analyzer Suite.
Cheers,
Jake
Would love to own one, I have an TC-K677ES and its manual calibration, this is so much easier with the auto, just wish the deck was not so expensive used and all the ones i keep seeing on ebay are 100v from Japan, did they make a 120v version?
It's a really nice deck. I did have to replace the belts in mine when I got it as one of them had turned into goo, but besides that I've had no problems. They did make 100V, 120V and 230/240V versions for 50/60Hz supply, afaik this model was sold all over the world. It's a bit strange because Sony made 2 almost identical versions TC-KA3ES and TC-KA6ES, but the TC-KA3ES is the one with slightly better specs. I also noticed lots of Japanese versions on ebay advertised at around $500 - $1,000. That does seem very expensive, I paid around $150 for mine in non working condition (just needed new belts).
Cheers,
Jake
@@TheStuffMade Thank you for the reply, at least now I know they did make a 120v, like you saw all the ebay ones right now seem to be 100v, maybe I will get lucky one day.
@@raysrcsandtech You could probably run a 100V deck on 120V AC without any issues, it's all regulated inside and the 50 vs 60 Hz doesn't matter because the speed is controlled by an internal crystal oscillator. But it might run a bit hotter at 120V so it might depend on what climate you live in. I once ran a 100V Japanese record player at 230V by mistake, it ran fine for hours until I noticed and didn't suffer any damage, but that's of course too extreme to be safe.
Cheers,
Jake
In my experience it is only worth using expensive tapes on cheap decks where Type 1s sound muffled. (as long as they have Cr02 / Metal capacity of course)
dope
Can it be connected to the laptop?
Sure you can record from laptop using the headphone output.
"USB" tape decks may have crap specs. Read 'em before you buy a new "USB Deck"
ये डेंग बिकाऊ हैं क्या मेरे चाहिते कितने इंडियन रुपए में है
I don't have anything for sale.
Cheers,
Jake
अगर ये नहीं डेंग मेरे को चाहिए तो कितने रुपए में मिलेगी
Why do you third world people always assume everything is for sale? Honestly, I don't think I've seen a video about an old cassette deck (or some other piece of vintage hifi) without someone with an Indian or Pakistani name asking the price. Does the vid title mention it's for sale? Does the guy mention it being for sale at any point in the video?
Most confusing video ever.
Which part is confusing? This is a technical video, perhaps not what you expected.
If I have a 2-head deck or I don't have a sources / Tape I can record it but their will be no graph of the tape is their a easy way to play it back and have a fhz responds of thee tape? w your software or Analog Discovery 2 Thanks Again
This is not currently possible, but it's a feature I will probably add at some point.
Cheers,
Jake
Thanks for the software Using it for the Pioneer CT-F900 ,, And Later w Audio Receiver and Amps, Your software is why I bought Analog Discovery 2. I set the input level to 0DB and It did not like it and around 8k was the roll off I thought I had Bad Heads or Bad old tapes. Testing Tapes and other Tape Deck w no luck.
I turned it down to -20db and it got better I than turned it down to -16db input and output and I got my High fhz back and a15k roll off , I tested again and it seems to work better closer to -20db. w a 17k Roller over (Type 2) So is this normal? Using it to Test Tape heads. Next CT-F1250 I hope the head is good.
I wouldn't be worried, frequency response tests are usually done at -20dB for tape decks. Often it will also say that in the specs.
Cheers,
Jake
w this software I test another Pioneer CT-F900 and I think it has a bad erase head. I heard tones when recording from the last test lol wow Testing tape Decks can be a lot of figuring out Electrical and Mechanical Thanks again.
Yeah, these mechanical devices do have a lot of quirks, but when you get everything restored/repaired/calibrated they sound amazing. I always felt my cassette deck sounded better than my CD player back in the 90s as in it didn't have that harsh edge the CD did.
Cheers,
Jake