Topic: Recs on Analog Tape Decks ???

[kindms]

Looking to get some recomendations on Analog tape decks for transferring old cassette masters to HDD. I guess azimuth & bias adjusments would be nice. Any suggestions. Love to get some feedback

[leegeddy]

Looking to get some recomendations on Analog tape decks for transferring old cassette masters to HDD. I guess azimuth & bias adjusments would be nice. Any suggestions. Love to get some feedback

Nakamichi CR-7A features manual playback azimuth and bias controls.  these decks are still pricy in the used market, though.

marc

[Chuck]

I've got a Nakamichi BX-1 that I don't use any more.
It's not in the same league as the CR-7A though.

[setboy]

yeah i am going to need some thing for this too so any thing you guys can say will help

Raphael

[hexyjones]

It's pretty easy to pop the door off of ANY cassette deck...get in there with a small screwdriver...and make the azimuth adjustment by hand...it's a cinch...and essential when doing cassette transfers...

[jk labs]

If you are forced to do this on a less than stellar machine..... 

Keep in mind that heads can be aligned (azimuth) with a small screwdriver. Ideally you'll do this on every tape anyway to get as much HF energy out as possible. You don't need record bias on playback.

IMHO the issues will be mechanical quality of machine and tape path, build of pb head (width of the air gap f.ex affects high frequency pickup), playback electronics. And pb level adjustment if you must involve the Dolby decoder to get what you want...

I think you'd get good results on some of the better units from Denon, Sony and Tascam (units I know. I am sure there are others are in the same league).   

[marc0789]

Looking to get some recomendations on Analog tape decks for transferring old cassette masters to HDD. I guess azimuth & bias adjusments would be nice. Any suggestions. Love to get some feedback

carefully shop on ebay for a bx-1 that has had the gear upgrade, and will take some serious hours. pretty damn cheap nowadays. also loved the lx-2. you'll still spend a lot of money on a crx7 or dragon, it's probably a little bit of overkill for your purpose.

[macdaddy]

i have a nak dr-1. i bought it new some ten years ago (i have no idea what it runs used). it still runs very well (but there are low hours on the thing, and i have maintained the unit thoroughly since purchase). the deck has all the tuning capabilities you would need (and you won't have to use a screwdriver)...

[Chuck]

Looking to get some recomendations on Analog tape decks for transferring old cassette masters to HDD. I guess azimuth & bias adjusments would be nice. Any suggestions. Love to get some feedback

carefully shop on ebay for a bx-1 that has had the gear upgrade, and will take some serious hours. pretty damn cheap nowadays. also loved the lx-2. you'll still spend a lot of money on a crx7 or dragon, it's probably a little bit of overkill for your purpose.

I've got a BX-1 I'd be willing to sell.
It has the "new' idler wheel on it.