wjm (04/29/83)
To set the record straight ... Nakamichi DOES use standard NAB tape EQ on its
decks. What is different (I deliberately do not use the term non-standard,
since Nak does it right from a technical point of view) is that they use the
full track width allotted to each track in the cassette format. The other guys
don't want to spend the (SHIFT-4) to put tighter tolerances on their heads
so they allow a wider guard band between tracks than the cassette spec calls
for. This results in Nak decks having a slightly rising high end when test
tapes that were "calibrated" for the wider guard band being used - since Nak
heads can read more signal from the tape - Yes, track width can make a difference,
I once had a deck (not my present Nak 680ZX) where the erase head was slightly
mispositioned so that it would erase part of the right channel of side A while
recording side B - I was wondering why the recording sounded fine while I was
making it (it was a 3 head deck) but why the right channel dropped 10dB after
side 2 was cut. Fortunately, it was under warranty and the manufacturer gave
me a replacement deck (I won't mention the manufacturer's name - except to say
it was NOT Nakamichi - since I think they build fine mid-priced decks and
this was an isolated QC foulup).
The bottom line is that there will be a slight difference between Nak decks
and most other peoples, but given the difference in performance (and bread)
between the Naks' and the other guys, the tapes made on the Naks will probably
still sound better.
End of flame....
Disclamer for those of you in net land with legal ambitions, etc.
I don't own any stock in Nakamichi. I'm just an audiophile who has a weakness
for high quality reproduction and who is a very satisfied owner of a Nakamichi
deck (a 680ZX).
p.s. I think Julian Hirsh discussed this situation in his column in "Stereo
Review" a few years ago (mid-79, if memory serves me correctly, but I could
be wrong) and that's my source of info on this.
Bill Mitchell
Bell Laboratories
(whuxk!wjm)