wjm@whuxj.UUCP (MITCHELL) (06/13/84)
----- News saved at Wed, 13-Jun-84 16:15:54 EDT
<gulp, gulp, gulp>
Say it ain't so, Joe (old quote attributed to a young lad upon hearing that
a famous athlete was indicted for some criminal
activity)
Unfortunately, tapes aren't uniform among a given brand. Admittedly, some
brands show less variation than others (Maxell is one of the better ones in
my experience, TDK isn't quite as good), but there are significant variations
in sensitivity, bias requirements, and such between given lots of ANY brand
of magnetic tape. This is particularly annoying if you want to make high
quality recordings and/or you use Dolby C for noise reduction (dbx is not
as particular to precise level settings).
However, technology has come to the rescue, since many newer decks use
microprocessors to find the appropriate bias and Dolby reference level
before recording on a particular tape (some of the newer Nak decks also
adjust the head azumth (the playback head on the Dragon and the TD-1200 car
deck, the record head on the older models with auto azumth adjustment).
On some older decks (including my Nak) it is necessary to make some front
panel adjustments, which really aren't that difficult (certainly no more so
than setting the appropriate record level).
As for Revox vs. Nak - they are both high quality decks (with similar price
tags). I would tend to go with Nak, simply because I don't agree with
Willi Studer's philosophy of decreeing that thou shalt use a particular tape
and optimizing his machine for it. While I can't argue with the results,
I'd prefer to have the freedom to choose a tape that I can get easily, at a
reasonable price, that works well mechanically and then optimize the deck for
it.
As for cassettes vs. open reel - I don't think that one can argue that an
open reel machine will give higher quality recordings.
(Although high end (Nak, Revox) cassette decks come VERY close.)
You're recording on wider tape at at least 4 times the speed (a good cassette
deck will outperform an open reel deck at 3 3/4 ips).
Also, open reel tapes can be edited and repaired if damaged (I have fears about
the long term mechanical reliability of cassettes), and the open reel tape
has more headroom (which is crucial for live recordings).
However, there are applications that force one to go to cassettes - car units
and Walkmen type units. Also, more people have cassette decks than open
reel decks, and there is practically no pre-recorded open reel material
(except for Barclay-Crocker's stuff).
You probably can get a good open reel deck and a passable cassette deck
for the price of a Nak or Revox cassette deck, but you probably should make
that choice based on the quality of cassettes you want to produce. If you
want high quality cassettes, go the Nak or Revox route, if you want good tapes
that don't have to be cassettes and can live with lower quality cassettes
(Keep in mind that these cassettes won't be too bad, they just won't be
comparable to what you'd get from a high-end deck (close to open reel))
go the 2 deck route.
Regards,
Bill Mitchell5121cdd@houxm.UUCP (C.DORY) (06/14/84)
<snarf, snarf, ...> I have a slight problem with Bill Mitchell's comments on the Revox/Studer cassette deck. Willi Studer's concept is right on the money -- to set up an analog deck (either cassette or reel-to-reel) properly, one must be ready to spend a lot more time and use a lot more test equipment than to level match a VU meter to preset test tones as in the Nak. To set bias and record eq (playback eq is supposed to be a standard -- but that's another story), one must make tradoffs of frequency response, signal to noise, and distortion. Now, this requires a distortion analyzer, scope, ACVTVM, and a good clean signal source -- these items are not included with the purchase of a tape deck and moreover, most audiophobes do not have this equipment at their diposal. So, what Willi Studer has done, is set up his cassette deck CORRECTLY for one brand of tape in each tape type (I, II, and IV) with the customer choosing the tapes. This assures the customer of a deck set up for the tape he/she will use on a regular basis. (Now, you say "I use umpty-ump different chrome tapes -- I buy whatever is on sale." Well, this is all well and good, but I seriously doubt that you're getting optimum performance from any sngle tape.) Craig Dory AT&T Bell Laboratories Holmdel, NJ