I can't argue with that assessment. Then again you migt call me biased! Nah but for sure the 680ZX is probably one of the top 5 Naks ever produced IMHO.
This is one nice deck (and one nicely done video!). If I ever find a friend with LP collection bigger than mine (sad joke, sorry!) then I will finally get an excuse to buy one of these Naks! As for now, recording off digital (Tidal, SACDs, CDs, downloads) onto cassettes is accomplished by my lowly LX-3, to be replayed thru my expanding collection of boomboxes. Digital replay through cassettes does sound more "in" for me, but does not justify the efforts: it is easier to just buy LP and have the Ultimate SQ... El Diablo blasting Incommunicado by my fav Marillion, recorded off LP: Friday Night in... Malibu
Dude there's nothing lowly about an LX-3 so congrats! Actually since you do have an LX-3 how about joining my upcoming Phonogram Traveling Tape Project? All you have to do is join my FB audio group Phonogram and get all the info there! My group is a closed group but if you send your request I'll approve you. Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/184446100158/ Cheers! Oz
Thank you, Oz!!! I just have to get onto F***-book first! They kicked me out of their exclusive community... Twice!!! due to inactivity and (myguess) zero "friends": my Boss and kids won't accept me as a Friend, even my son's dog Flake rejected my invitation... Huge Thank You for your kind offer, maybe now Jorge can get enough StreetCreds to be accepted?
Hahaha! That's hilarious in a way. Well sorry it's been a bad experience - but listen, if somehow you just can't quite seem to make it back to Facebook then it's still OK. I will find a way to add you to my traveling tape project - I mean, that is if you would be interested in participating? And just so that you and others here understand what my humble traveling tape project is, I will copy & paste the description here plus give you the link to one of our tape sides from Tape 1/Side A which I made into a video for my YouTube channel: "GENERAL BACKGROUND AND WHAT IS IT? Inspired by the Vinyl Engine Traveling Tape Project from a few years ago written about in Part-Time Audiophile by Panagiotis Karavitis. As Mr. Panagiotis Karavitis himself writes in his article: "The idea originally started on tapeheads.net, but it was picked up by Rob Conroy over at one of my favorite forums, Vinyl Engine" At its core the traveling tape concept is very simple: The goal is to create the world's coolest mix tape made by music lovers from around the world! Not only do we get a chance to contribute music onto the tapes but the best part is discovering others' music and in some small way get an idea of what their systems might sound like! Fun and powerful stuff IMHO." Enjoy! Oz
Never cared about mixtapes or playlists, but this may be interesting! The end result in my room will be only as good as LX-3 and downstream boxes... thats a downer, seeing your setup... Have been talking to my Audiogon buddy and picked up Andras Schiff CD (ECM New Series 2001/02), the thought of someone following Bach partita with, ahem!, whatever, made me smile So, there should be some rules onto what we put into the mix! The first few min of Abraxas are timeless, then Carlos lost me! But thankfully he revisited the idea in Caravanserai (and Borboletta) Thank Gods!!! And came to his senses about the artwork Here below is another tune Not to be used for cassette mix. Original cassette was beyond horrible, so I re-recorded it off LP, w/o Dolby, and with Rec Level never reaching zero (tape is real cheap!). It is listenable through LX-3 but my freshly restored RX-5500 sounded pretty Bad, I almost started another round of calibrations! Played some of my favorites of Enigma, Orb, Dire Straits and only then came to my senses: Panny just does not like to play violin, it is not a crime!
Quite a few years ago, the NakTalk group initiated a world-wide cassette recording project, called the "Marathon Tapes". I was a participant, and managed a web page showing recordings and contributors. That was an exciting and satisfying effort, and the long-standing results are a delightful listen. That page about the Marathon Tapes is still alive and posted on the BleusNak CyberPortal web site: http://www.angelfire.com/wi/blueswapper/nakmarathon.html Best wishes for the success of the latest..... the traveling tapes project !!! Cheers, Bleus de Nakker MadCity. WI USA ********************
Oh my Oz, I'm listening to your Santana recording and I must ask you, is that particular track derived from vinyl? Delightful music. I see on your page photo collage, including an MFSL One-Step album sleeve of Abraxas, that's awesome. Santana Abraxas, one of my very favorites, along with most recent Santana IV !!! Cheers, Bleusy **********
Yessir! On that video the Santana Abraxas is culled from that same MOFI 1-Step/45rpm LP (pictured) that in fact traveled around the world with the traveling tape project. Everyone was asked to record the same track which was "Black Magic Woman" for purposes of comparison amongst all the various systems and such. It is incredible to think there existed an even earlier version of the traveling tape project via the NakTalk "Marathon Tapes" which I had no knowledge about. This is great! MY inspiration for my current traveling tape project came from the Vinyl Engine's Traveling Tape Project that I believe was launched in 2015. That's the same year I decided to launch my own under the banner of my Phonogram audio group in Facebook. Good times and thanks for the link!
Hey Bleus! Just went to the link and read all the info on that page. Just amazing initiative and I have a few questions for you: 1. The final cassette copies were made from two CD-R's, Disc 1 and Disc 2? 2. While I see all the participants and the songs used in the individual playlist, what was the original source of what ended on cassette? LP, CD, open reel? 3. Is there a way to get a copy of these two discs this far into the future since they were made? I would be most curious to hear the sound quality of what was done back in 2004. By the way, I recognize one of the participants in the Nak Marathon Tape Project, Mr. Calitos Guzman! I was lucky enough to have recruited him for my Phonogram Traveling Tape Project. Cool huh? Oz
Howdy Oswaldo, Been a while, I'm back to the forum..... Sunday morning, mug of coffee in my hands, playing the recording of the Nak Marathon Tapes on cassette while writing this note !!! Yes, the Nak Marathon Tapes project was distributed to participants as a two disc package. Original concept was formulated by Carlos and Bleusy, Carlos being the recording and duplicating maven, and I contributed with creating a web page and coordinating all info and photos of participants. What we did was have each participant record on cassette tape and send directly to Carlos in eastern Puerto Rico. Carlos had a nice tape and disc duplicating business at that time, so Carlos (aka - Magnifico) compiled the tapes together into a digital master disc set and then made the cd-r duplications. Sent those out to participants for a nominal processing and shipping fee. Turned out to be a monumental success for us Nakamichi enthusiasts. I then prepared my own personal cassette of the Marathon Tapes, so that was the discs recorded to Maxell MX-S (100 min length) utilizing studio Nak ZX-9 deck. Nice results overall, and I also created the custom Nak Marathon j-card artwork for my copy. Don't know what the other fellows did with theirs, presumably they spun cassettes also. http://www.angelfire.com/wi/blueswapper/nakmarathon.html Delighted to exchange a cassette Marathon for Phonogram, let's communicate via private email to work out details. Rgds, Bleusy kjbleus@ gmail.com ****************
Bluesy! I totally dropped the ball man. I can't believe I hadn't popped back to this since December. I feel horrible. First off thanks for all the great background info. I also have a wonderful Phonogram Traveling Tape Project 2017 cassette sampler I created and distributed to all the participants of my tape project. I'd be happy to make you a copy in exchange for one of your project. I am not sure how to PM through this forum but I will give it a go to see if you receive my message. Perhaps another good way is to simply exchange a proper e-mail address? Cheers! Oz
Howdy Oz, let's be in-touch directly and continue the traveling cassette tapes conversation. Cheers, Bleusy ************
Oh Ozwaldo, please do additional mini vids of recordings on your Nak 680 ZX deck. Perhaps something from your stash of Santana albums ??? Cheers, Bleusy ............
I really should. I haven’t done any cassette related videos in a bit. Both the Nak 680ZX and JVC KD-A8 deserve some love too. Let’s see what I can come up with later this week. Oz LTBS/Phonogram
