I know, I know, cassettes can sound great! But you know, many people out there (and even here) do think that they suck and sound horribly, but cassettes scale very well with your gear. And if you use excellent gear, even a very old tape can sound great. To demonstrate that, I've made a video that I plan to publish in my Youtube channel: http://www.stereo2go.com/video/does-cassette-sound-suck.mp4 But I prefer to show it to you first BTW: You can download the uncompressed audio from here: http://www.stereo2go.com/audio/So-far-away-Dire-straits-TDK-SA-79.flac
`Great video! I really love the process of setting up and making a recording, then playing it back to see how it came out. You just dont get that satisfying feeling with digital. I also quite like sitting and watching the wheels turn as I listen to a tape. And yes, its amazing how good a recording from 30+ years ago can still sound as good as the day it was recorded!
Thanks! Yes, recording from vinyl or reel is more satisfying than digital, at least to me. But hey, it's not 30+ years, it's almost 40! (39 to be precise )
I think one of this days I'd do another video with an even older tape like that. I have a few SONY CHF, BHF and AHF in perfect condition, and also one of the very first TDK D... However, the sound is not as good as with this TDK SA
Nice video & great choice for tape & deck, Hugo. You have to be careful - some nitpickers are going to view the front image of your CT-F1250 and because you can't see the side profile of the deck, it appears the deck is in source mode and not tape because the button looks like it's depressed. Nando.
I knew you'd love the Pioneer. Yes, it appear that the button is pressed but it's not. If it weren't, the meters won't show anything (although I captured the audio not at the time I was capturing footage). Anyway, I don't care about that. I plan to do more videos like this, with even older tapes. Maybe a very old TDK D
There are a few old tapes I like playing in the CT-F1250. The old Sony Ferrichrome and Maxell UDS II - both Type I cassettes, do quite well . Nando.
You are right, Hugo. The meters wouldn't respond in source mode while the tape is playing. You would have to be recording. I better have another coffee. Nando.
TDK SA 90's were my choice in cassettes back in the 1970"s. They were great value and you got excellent results. I recently found 10 of them hidden in an old piece of furniture and they were all recorded 40 years ago and all but one was still perfect. Couldn't say the same for the pre records though
I'm amazed that I can find a flea market cassette for a few cents and pop it into my car tape deck, yep I still have vehicles with tape decks, and most of the time they sound great. Having a vehicle with a cassette deck usually means your car makes more noise than modern cars so any weakness in the tapes audio doesn't matter except for the occasional really bad junk tape. Most of the tape technology wasn't given more than 10-15 years of life but they seem to be doing great. I'm usually going by prerecorded 30 year old media and not taped on a blank cassette. I may be a little more forgiving with my opinion since I listen to music for several different sources including AM, FM, Internet, CD, Album, Cassette, Live, Shower, etc, and understand all of their limitations.
@Elite-ist Your F1250 is beautiful and impressive with those metal 'supports' (or whatever they are called) in both sides. Mine doesn't have them but have the wooden 'shell'. I like visually the SONY FeCr but the sound response is not as flat as I'd like to. However, I find quite fun in doing this kind of videos and recordings with such old tapes. @Silverera Yeah, I have a box of 10 SA and 10 SA-X from 3rd gen (I bet) and they look fantastic and sound pretty well. Surprised that such old tapes performs as good...
