Topic: Tapes recorded on a SONY WM-D3

[Jonas Karlsson]

Hi there!

Was thinking of something while transferring my old analog tapes, recorded on a Sony WM-D3, with my Nakamichi Dragon cassettedeck.

All of my tapes were recorded on either chrome tapes or regular ones, but when I play the chrome tapes I feel the sound is a bit "darker" than then they really should sound.

I'm 99,9% sure I put the right switch on the D3 while recording (1992-1998), but still it sounds much brighter and better using the normal setting on the Dragon.

Is it possible that the tapes got recorded right, but you should play it using this setting, or are the recording really that much "darker" than I could remember?

Anyone got any info about this? Tips/ideas?

/Jonas Karlsson, Gothenburg, Sweden

[H₂O]

I have noticed something similar - I have some tapes recorded on a Sony TC-D5 Pro II with Dolby B on and when I play them back in my DR-1 with B on they sound "darker" with what seems like less dynamic.  When I turn off the Dolby B the recordings completely open up.

Is this normal?

[George]

I used to notice this when playing back any tapes I made with Dolby NR, I always kept it off on playback due to the darker/duller sound when NR was enabled.

[Jonas Karlsson]

These are not even recorded with Dolby, just Chrome-tapes 

[mfrench]

adjust your azimuth.

[Jonas Karlsson]

Don't have to adjust it, it's automatic...

[mfrench]

How good is automatic? Is the deck in pristine first order condition, as in, new, just out of box? or has it been sitting around for nearly 30 years+ ?
When manually adjusting, the most minute adjustment changes can either shroud or open up a recording.

[Jonas Karlsson]

I'm referring to the Nakamichi Dragon cassettedeck, not the WM-D3 (as I wrote in my first message), it's when I play these tapes that are recorded on the WM-D3 that I experience that the chrome-tapes are a bit "dull" in the dynamic range, and when changing to normal-setting on the deck, it sounds better.

The question is if the tapes are supposed to be played using the 120 or 70-setting on the Nakamichi Dragon...

[mfrench]

do whatever sounds the best.
I for one don't care if its a Nak Dragon or not. Automatic doesn't cut it for me. I like being able to dial in what I need to, in order to achieve the best results - and if something doesn't allow me to make that adjustment, it might as well be landfill fodder.

[mfrench]

The Nak Dragon,... that the one that rejects and flips the tape too, correct?
That just reeks of misalignment as soon as the thing has some dust in the mechanisms. Even slight misalignments in the tape pathway will display themselves as any number of anomalies. Never mind,... Thats not the Nak deck I was thinking of.

Like I said, all it takes is the most minute change in azimuth to make a huge difference. You can go from a sound like a wet towel covering the sound to wide open unfettered audio. This can make or break a transfer, or make a tape encoded with dolby sound like crap with dolby playback.
I've been known to tape over the tape format selection holes in the cassette shell, in decks that don't allow for this manual selection, in order to change the decks perception of what its playing - whatever it takes to get the sound to its most optimum.

[Jonas Karlsson]

I also taped over to make the tapes play better in non-changeable tapedecks, and actually always liked that better.

Ok, so basically it's up to the listener to make the choice. Chrome or not chrome, play it the way it sounds best to your (my) ears? 

The Dragon has a dynamic range that by far exceeds my other decks, even though I've had no fancy ones. It covers the exact position of the recorded tape's position, which makes every tape sound its best. Been satisfied so far...

I remember reading somewhere that even though you record a tape using the chrome tape and the chrome position, you're supposed to play it using the normal position. But all you find on the internet isn't true, so...