Most cassette decks need full serviicing and retuning by now. Done so the 480 is one hell of a deck albeit and entry level Nakamichi. I collect Nakamichi decks and still looking for more. To date only managed to acquire one each: BX125, BX150, BX300, CR7, ZX9, RX505, 680zx and two: 480 decks one black one silver. Ok re the 480. It’s the best basic 2 head Nakamichi ever. Because it shares the classic Nakamichi dual capstan transport and uses the pad lifter on the head. The heads are also made in house by Nakamichi. The main necessary electronics are also top notch sharing the best circuits with the higher end Nakamichi. Nothing was spared within it’s basic specs. Missing is Dolby C which generally one does not need as all commercially prerecorded tapes if Dolby encoded need only Dolby B to playback. For recording Dolby B is very good for ferrics. I find Dolby C a little over boost in the lower treble with any deck. With type ii and metal you don’t need Dolby as all Nakamichis can record at high levels with no distortion. Yes the 480 has no user tape recording calibration like higher end Nakamichis. But you can calibrate any blank tape inside using 400hz and 15khz test tones and comparing the db levels using an oscilloscope or a computer sound level apps to match source and recording. A bit of work since you cannot monitor but after a few recordings and checking results you’re good to go. You’ll be amazed how good it can record as did l. I pre-calibrated mine to TDK AD, SA and MA as l have lots of these. Of course nowadays since acquiring the CR7 and ZX9 my recordings are done on these.
Many single-capstan decks from other manufacturers outperformed the 480 soon after its release, and any deck with Dolby C wipes the floor with any deck without it in terms of flatness of frequency response, particularly with Type I tapes where performance can come very close to that of Type IV tapes. I have a Teac V-1050 here that's flat from 20Hz to 20kHz within 1dB when using a cheap TDK FE Type I tape with Dolby C and measures 0.045% WRMS wow and flutter. It's a far more recent deck than the 480 but cost peanuts by comparison.
Yes, I was surprised that it didn’t, but it could come down to condition and wear on these two specific devices as well as the tapes I’m using for each.
Your watch matches that deck perfectly. Those where good days 👍
Most cassette decks need full serviicing and retuning by now. Done so the 480 is one hell of a deck albeit and entry level Nakamichi. I collect Nakamichi decks and still looking for more. To date only managed to acquire one each:
BX125, BX150, BX300, CR7, ZX9, RX505, 680zx and two:
480 decks one black one silver.
Ok re the 480. It’s the best basic 2 head Nakamichi ever. Because it shares the classic Nakamichi dual capstan transport and uses the pad lifter on the head. The heads are also made in house by Nakamichi. The main necessary electronics are also top notch sharing the best circuits with the higher end Nakamichi. Nothing was spared within it’s basic specs. Missing is Dolby C which generally one does not need as all commercially prerecorded tapes if Dolby encoded need only Dolby B to playback. For recording Dolby B is very good for ferrics. I find Dolby C a little over boost in the lower treble with any deck. With type ii and metal you don’t need Dolby as all Nakamichis can record at high levels with no distortion.
Yes the 480 has no user tape recording calibration like higher end Nakamichis. But you can calibrate any blank tape inside using 400hz and 15khz test tones and comparing the db levels using an oscilloscope or a computer sound level apps to match source and recording. A bit of work since you cannot monitor but after a few recordings and checking results you’re good to go. You’ll be amazed how good it can record as did l. I pre-calibrated mine to TDK AD, SA and MA as l have lots of these. Of course nowadays since acquiring the CR7 and ZX9 my recordings are done on these.
Many single-capstan decks from other manufacturers outperformed the 480 soon after its release, and any deck with Dolby C wipes the floor with any deck without it in terms of flatness of frequency response, particularly with Type I tapes where performance can come very close to that of Type IV tapes. I have a Teac V-1050 here that's flat from 20Hz to 20kHz within 1dB when using a cheap TDK FE Type I tape with Dolby C and measures 0.045% WRMS wow and flutter. It's a far more recent deck than the 480 but cost peanuts by comparison.
I would think that stereo VCR would outperform a cassette deck
Yes, I was surprised that it didn’t, but it could come down to condition and wear on these two specific devices as well as the tapes I’m using for each.
excelente tengo una igual en color negro