Buying a Cassette Deck
It's hard to imagine an audio system these days that
doesn't include some form of audio recorder. Despite the inroads of the compact disc,
cassettes are still a mainstay, and even many advanced audiophiles who might not choose
the cassette as their primary music source are likely to have a recorder for making tapes
to listen to in the car or when jogging.
If, however, your cassette deck is intended to be a major
source of real high-fidelity sound -- and it certainly can be, digital media
notwithstanding -- go for things that are likely to improve performance, even at the cost
of some convenience, or higher price. Forget autoreverse and dual-well dubbing,
particularly the high-speed variety; the first is prone to alignment problems, the second
usually results in inferior copies. Two free-standing recorders will usually do a better
job, even if it's a more awkward procedure.
Because a recorder is an active component that you actually
have to operate, the position of the controls and the way they work is of vital
importance. Switches and knobs should be sufficiently large and sensibly enough laid out
that making a recording involves little hunting and fiddling. Meters should not only be
clearly visible, but the common bar-graph variety should have enough segments: five or six
just ain't enough to tell you what's going on.
Matching the machine and the tape is critical, and no two
tapes are exactly alike, so the ease with which you can tailor your recorder's performance
to the tape (or tapes) you want to use will have a direct bearing on the quality of sound
you get. Equalization is usually no problem, but proper bias is a must. The standard
three-position bias switch is almost never enough: each position is just a
"ballpark" setting that may or may not be correct for the tape you use.
A variable bias trim that can be adjusted by ear can be an
economical solution, but it is difficult to use except with three-head machines that allow
you to monitor the adjustments as you make them. The best is the computer-controlled
automatic bias control; it's a worthwhile investment if you do a lot of taping. If you're
stuck with the standard switch, have the dealer adjust bias for a specific tape, and use
only that.
Tape is inherently noisy; one development that made the
cassette a hi-fi medium was the invention of noise reduction circuitry, beginning with
Dolby B. You can count on virtually every deck to include that basic system, which thus
has the advantage of universality: if you're trading tapes, it's safe to assume the
recipient can decode Dolby B. For your own use, however, more advanced systems will
probably be desirable. Get Dolby C at the very least; Dolby S is even better. Dolby HX Pro
is a worthwhile addition as well, although it's not a noise reduction system, but rather a
record-only process for reducing high-frequency distortion.
It's no easy matter to keep a tape running smoothly,
considering the slow linear speed and the difficulty of controlling the physical effects
of the cassette shell itself, so cassettes can be flutter-prone. The result, in extreme
cases, is a sort of "honkytonk" or underwater sound. Many companies do produce
excellent transports, however, that minimize these problems; try out a piano recording if
you can -- sustained piano notes are among the best flutter revealers. Remember too that
whatever speed irregularities there are will affect both recording and playback, so don't
try your listening test with a commercial cassette. Record it yourself, preferably from a
CD.
Much is made of the composition of a cassette recorder's
heads, but that can safely be ignored; heads made today will probably last as long as you
own the recorder if cleaned regularly. But the number of heads can be important.
Two-head recorders contain one for recording and playback, and another for erasing earlier
material; three-head devices give each function its own head, optimized for that function.
More important, three-head decks allow off-tape monitoring, which is a boon if you make a
lot of tapes.
Something as complex as a cassette deck offers a lot of
options, but most of the bells and whistles are rarely used, and just add to the cost.
Better to spend your money on an upgraded noise-reduction system or an extra head.
There is obviously a desire to make a cassette deck as
programmable as, say, a CD player, for example, and so various find-and-play schemes have
been developed. As a rule, however, most of us listen to our tapes straight through; when
we want to find something in the middle of the tape, its not that hard manually.
Misaligned heads can seriously degrade sound quality, so a
few companies offer machines that enable a user to make his own adjustments, particularly
of azimuth. Usually this invites trouble, as the user is just as likely to misalign
things as to fix them. Make sure your heads are correct when you buy the recorder, and
have them checked by a service facility if you find they have become misaligned. If the
heads need more attention than that, there's something seriously wrong.
Picking a cassette recorder may take some time because of
the range of models available, but the process is much easier if you know going in what
you need and what you don't.
...Ian G. Masters
ian@mastersonaudio.com
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