I finally caved in an bought a deck this afternoon while thrift store hunting, a Pioneer CT-S99R for 25 Euros. The machine was "broken" and had a broken rca male plug sticking in the back, all i had to do was replace the fuse.... 25 euros for a dbx, NR b & C, cassette deck. Anyways I opened her up, and took a look around. I was able to clean a couple sections here and there using 90+ alcohol and q-tips, but I can't really take care of the electronics, I don't know how to. What tips/advice can you give to a new owner? Also does anyone have any recommended cheap DAC? it's to connect to my laptop and from my laptop to the deck.
Damn, that thing looks nice! Not too much of a fan of these myself, but insides look to be very good quality. What's the manufacture date on the motors?
Cheap DAC? Check Schiit Audio ad in the latest (May 2017) Stereophile. Page 60: "Obsolete $2,300 Yggdrasil... and if you want a Non-Obsolete 32bit DAC get $99 Modi-2" Brilliant!!! Reminds me of the VW "Drivers Wanted" ad or old Stereophile ads from Head Room, when HeadRoom were making our kind of shit, not just making money! ;-)
Sorry Jorge, I don't read any audiophile magazine, yet. I forgot to ask, for cassette decks, do I really need an amplifier and if so is it cheaper to get a Dac/Amp combo? So far all i've found are headphone amps/dac combos, I don't think i can use those for a cassette deck, if so, I'll probably get a cheap O2+ODAC (revB) from Massdrop.
Nice deck. Looks that the old Airport extreme from Apple is a great DAC: http://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/airport-express-audio-quality-2014.htm and it's damm cheap!
Quick question, I'm trying tor record the 1994 - Vangelis - Blade Runner Soundtrack SACD (DSF) into a Sony chrome class UX 60 tape but so far I think im doing something wrong with the record level. All songs in the album have a high dynamic range, since im making sure that the peaks reach the 0 level following Hugo's old phillips DIN scale diagram but the sounds sounds too dull, if I push the peaks slightly past the 0 level the sound is horrible on playback.
Well, that's a quite difficult case. For classical music and soundtrack, where the dynamic range is the highest possible, you'll need to get the best performance of the cassette. A good chrome tape, you already have it. A good nice reduction system, like dolby C, S or dbx. And you can push the levels 1 or even 2dB.
I had used a garbage Fiio dac i bought for less then 20 euros, I finally bought a Objective 2, ODac Rev B combo. Boy oh boy can I hear the difference in quality. I also brought a denon PMA 300V amplifier from back home, but I think I will unplug the recording outpout connected to the cassette deck and instead just hook it straight from the deck to the DAC. For a first deck, this one isn't bad at all, the track skipping features are lovely. To extend it's life without any servicing I've stopped using the autoreverse and I try to not abuse too much the FF and RW. I haven't really tried recording with dbx, I tried playback with a pre-recorded album from Rod Steward and it sounds like GARBAGE. I think I will stick with Dolby C seeing as I havent really had any azimuth issues or any incompatible tapes with it.
I went with Hugo's suggestion and received a Objective 2, ODac Rev B combo this week. I can really feel the difference between this and the cheap stuff I had before. I'm kind of bumed out though, I'm so broke i let this amazing deal slip away: https://www.ebay.it/itm/Piastra-cassette-AIWA-mod-AD-F880-deck-vintage/273015167310?_trkparms=aid=777003&algo=DISCL.MBE&ao=1&asc=20140620091512&meid=65edd8314e164a4fb4dd8235b0c71f61&pid=100009&rk=5&rkt=10&sd=263416991986&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982
I'm glad that you are happy with my suggestion. The dragonfly seems to be a very recommendable device too, as Boodo khan suggest, but I'm not sure if it only has headphone out or also line out. That F880 is a good deal indeed. I'm going today to see another F880 because my F800 has the rec level knob broken and Sergi cannot repair it, so maybe I replace it. This one is for sale for 75 euros, which is a good deal too...
That is the reason why i went with the Odac, it has an RCA lineout. I have found a much, much, better deal. I went back to the hobbypark market this weekend and I found a couple stalls that sell hi-fi. I found these 2 decks for sale but I didn't bring enough paper money on me: A Nakamichi bx-150e for 50 euros and A Teac V-1030 for 40 euros. I am unsure of which deck to buy. The teac seems like an excellent 3 head deck, it is from 1997. The nakamichi is a 2 head deck from the mid 80's. Looking at the data for the Nakamichi and the Teac, the Teac beats the Nakamichi at every turn.
I bought the Nakamichi, currently repairing the transport, waiting for a new idler and going to clean the seized control motor.
Alright, the nakamichi is now in business. For the cam motor, i just used a 9vold battery and had it amake contact in both directions for around 3-5 minutes each side. For speed adjustment, just followed Mihokm's guide.
