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Anyone still using Sony cassette decks? |
dontsleep33
Premium Member
Rank: Sonyphile
Joined: May 03, 2008
Posts: 742
From: MG,Brazil
 |  Posted: 2004-06-16 04:37
I love the sound of a good cassette deck! When recorded from cd or other high quality source I think the cassette adds a nice softer sound to the original.
In my experience I have found cassettes to hold a certain
"emotional charge" if you will. If you listen to the tape alot or the tape is listened to during a period of high emotional state.
For instance after finding a tape I used to listen to alot during a special time in my life,I got the feeling I was there again.
Now we can say its the music that makes us feel that way and I beleive that to be true also.Everyone has gotten that special feeling after hearing a song or piece of music that "brought them back".
But it is my opinion that analog tape attracts and captures this certain
"emotional charge" in a way that CD cannot.Its just different.
To me I liken the idea to "sympathetic magic".Sympathetic magic was and still is used to obtain a favorable outcome in a situation or circumstance by witches.By thinking about or acting out an action sometimes over an over, visualizing the outcome to obtain the outcome in reality later.The over an over experience is what I think causes this charge to be captured on the tape.Because we listen to the tape over an over.
So with that comparison submitted think about the emotions that can be emitted and then be sensed by certain people or animals all the time without us being conscious of or knowing it.
And thats where my theory about analog tape comes in.We basically give off vibes that the tape will hold onto,and later it has the ability to play it back to us in a strange and mysterious way.
Anyway you guys probably think im nuts and its all in my head but think about it.has it happened to you?
Feel free to comment on this,I would like to hear your point of view.
  
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jehill
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Senior Advisor
Joined: Mar 13, 2003
Posts: 13790
From: Sewell, NJ
 | Posted: 2004-06-16 15:13
"I love the sound of a good cassette deck! When recorded from cd or other high quality source I think the cassette adds a nice softer sound to the original."
Records, 8-track tapes and cassette tapes are recorded with different equalizations. It would appear that your preference is the equalization provided in cassette tapes. I recall comparing the same track on a record and an 8-track. Clearly, bass was emphasized on most 8-track recordings.
"We basically give off vibes that the tape will hold onto,and later it has the ability to play it back to us in a strange and mysterious way."
Nah. If anything holds onto the vibes, its your brain. Whenever we hear a song that stood out in our mind in the past, we are reminded of the past. The song "Sugar Shack" gives me goose bumps and reminds me of an old girl friend. Vinyl was the media in use by DJs at the time. I am sure that if CDs were the media at the time, hearing the selection would have the same effect.
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-John
Sony A/V System: KDL-55XBR8, BDP-S550, AVD-C700ES Super Audio CD/DVD Receiver, 4 SS-LA500ED surround speakers, 1 SS-LAC505ED center channel speaker and 1 SA-WD200 Active Subwoofer
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Maxxwire
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
 | Posted: 2004-06-30 01:18
In order for a recording to hold information it would have to be within the frequency spectrum of the medium that it is being recorded on.
I have seen photographs of people's auras, but if the emotions you are refering to are on a wavelength that is similar to these auras then I'm sure that it would exceed the 15k hz maximum frequency response of cassette tape.
I have seen MRIs of people's brains as they were listening to Music and they found that there was much more activity evident when people were listening to Music that they were familiar with than when they were listening to unfamiliar Music.
I have a Sony TC K65 Cassette deck that I bought 24 years ago and it still works great!
_Maxx
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A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
The OCCC Furu-Charged Sony DB 930
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Freeze
Rank: Sony Devotee
Joined: Apr 30, 2004
Posts: 99
From: Tacoma, Washington
 | Posted: 2004-09-05 15:15
I think it's a tactile thing. I was really into the labor of music. Cassette decks needed love: demag, cleaning...ah, the fun. It was even better with reel to reel. The joy of putting the reel on the left, screwing it down, threading the tape past two (closed loop) capstians, loading onto an empty reel. Or how about dropping the needle onto a 12" vinyl disk? Now that's touchy-feely.
Music's become too easy.
Thanks.
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Fan of the Blue Light Special
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Maxxwire
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
| Posted: 2004-11-07 02:14
I still have my Sony TC K-65 cassette deck that I bought back in 1980. I don't have occasion to use it much any more, but it still works fine.
_Maxx
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A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
The OCCC Furu-Charged Sony DB 930
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Maxxwire
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
| Posted: 2004-11-07 02:18
I have a friend who has over 1,000 cassette tapes that he listens to day and night. A while back I lined him up with a Nakamichi Pro cassette deck and he couldn't beleive how much better his tapes sounded.
Dontsleep you are right about the sound of a good cassette deck!
_Maxx
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A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
The OCCC Furu-Charged Sony DB 930
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RickeyM
Premium Member
Rank: Sony King
Joined: Sep 09, 2004
Posts: 1408
From: Baltimore, Maryland
 | Posted: 2004-11-07 12:18
I bought a TC-RX77ES (three head, auto-reverse, etc.) this past Summer at a local Pawn Shop. They let it go dirt cheap 'cause it was only an old single well Sony deck.
HA, fools!
BTW, it works great  .
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Graduate of Sony University, class of '94.
Support your local S.P.C.A. Adopt
If older is better, I must be approaching magnificence!
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Maxxwire
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25729
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
| Posted: 2004-12-03 14:46
A while back I had a Dual brand Cassette deck pass thru here and it had phenomenal specs which included up to 18k hz recording capability. Watch out CD!
_Maxx
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A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
The OCCC Furu-Charged Sony DB 930
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alvarez
Rank: Sony Buff
Joined: Mar 08, 2006
Posts: 11
From: buffalo
 | Posted: 2006-03-18 13:09
ricky m, hi i bought a sony rx77es used on ebay and it works fine . i mainly bought it becuz of the mic imputs which are rare on a lot todays cassette decks. i like to record living room jams with my other guitar playing friends. i recently noticed a spinning squeal coming from the deck. this comes and goes. it does this even if the tape is not engaged and rolling. other wise its a great deck that i got used for 80.00. does something need oil? i have tons of music that i recorded on better grade tapes fom lp,s cd,s and f.m. broadcasts and i love to listen to some of the old out of print stuff. any ideas what thi s could be? anyone. thanks , alvarez
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jehill
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Senior Advisor
Joined: Mar 13, 2003
Posts: 13790
From: Sewell, NJ
| Posted: 2006-03-18 16:10
You need to either open it up and figure out what is causing the squealing yourself or take to a repair service. Its probably simple to repair so it shouldn't cost much.
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-John
Sony A/V System: KDL-55XBR8, BDP-S550, AVD-C700ES Super Audio CD/DVD Receiver, 4 SS-LA500ED surround speakers, 1 SS-LAC505ED center channel speaker and 1 SA-WD200 Active Subwoofer
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alvarez
Rank: Sony Buff
Joined: Mar 08, 2006
Posts: 11
From: buffalo
| Posted: 2006-03-19 12:12
thanks john, i,ll pull it apart and see whats up. i jus saw one on ebay [rx77es] and it was being sold as is with a similar noise problem. just a tip for anyone using a cassette deck for live recordings. make sure speakers are off before hitting record. i took out two e.m.i.t tweeters on an older pair of infinity speakers and had to replace both.
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Reinhart
Rank: Sony Addict
Joined: Sep 08, 2003
Posts: 197
From: Central Florida, near the Spacecoast
 | Posted: 2007-02-22 00:14
Probably belts.
And, if it has a direct drive closed loop dual capstan, REFRAIN FROM PLAYING ANY MORE CASSETTES ON IT UNTIL THE BELTS ARE REPLACED!!!
Directly driven dual capstans provide a great deal of stability, but they can also damage tapes if the closed loop belt should fail. This means that the forward direct-drive capstan may still run, but the aft belt-driven capstan (driven by the forward direct-drive capstan motor) won't, which will act as a brake on the tape and could cause the tape to snap!
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OPCAR
Rank: Sonyphile
Joined: Dec 23, 2006
Posts: 442
From: Belgrade, Serbia - Europe
 | Posted: 2007-02-22 19:42
I still have my Sony TC-K71 and TC-U60 cassette decks. I don't have occasion to use them often any more, but they still work fine.
Danijel
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parney
Rank: Sonyphile
Joined: Jul 23, 2003
Posts: 522
From:
.JPG) | Posted: 2007-05-13 21:05
went out yesterday garage saling and bought 2 decks.One is a sony TC WE-405 Cassette Deck I paid $5.00 for and the other is a pioneer ct 500 deck I paid $1.00 for they both work fine. It was kinda fun listening to my old tapes and as a bonus I came across a tape with my daughter first talking as baby she s now 24 .Also my brother in law helped me and he actually dropped the pioneer from waist height and it still works LOL. Does anyone know where I might find a manual for the sony on line?Also does anyone know what year these decks are from? I dont think these could replace the sound from my cd players but I was quite amazed by there sound .Its been many years since I've heard any tapes and I really expected them to sound alot worse.
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kirton
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Enthusiant
Joined: Jan 19, 2006
Posts: 49
From: Devon, England
 | Posted: 2008-05-10 15:31
I agree with you Dontsleep regarding the different sound on cassette.
I use a Bang and Olufsen cassette deck in a 1990's stacking system.
I have artists like knopfler and Clapton on cassette, CD and vinyl.
It seems to me that various compilations sound different on various machines.
For example Claptons "Pilgrim" is better (for me) on Cassette.
Knopflers "Sailing to Philadelphia" better on CD and the Sampler album "30 Years at Marquee" is better on Vinyl.
Kirton 
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