KeepItSteel wrote:
Long time hifi dabbler but mainly a serial streamer these. I have a lovely old Technics SL1200 Turntable and a nice old Marantz CDP that I run through a Modern Marantz amp (PM6006).
I also have a cassette player in my car and it would be nice to make use of it, especially if I can record some of my nicer vinyl collection.
Can anyone recommend a few basics to keep an eye out for? I know next to nothing about cassettes other than I messed around with them in the 90s.
Is a three head player really better than two? (What’s the difference?)
What type of cassettes should I record onto? (Metal etc)
Will I be able to take an aux line in from my amp to the recorder? (for recording from Spotify etc)
What kind of money should I be spending?
I’ve seen some early Technics RS decks with pretty analogue pointy level things (M205 I think) that would look lovely paired with my TT, but I have no idea I’d theyd be any good. Happy to consider a marantz or others, just not JVC.. don’t ask.
Cassettes are great fun! I still use them regularly for music production, recording jams etc. and general listening.
3 head decks enable you to monitor the recording directly off the tape as you make it. The third head is a seperate playback head (2 head machines use one head for record and play, plus an erase head). They don't sound better per se (actually all else being equal they sometimes sound worse) but you can check recording quality in real time which allows you to tweak levels, bias etc to your liking. I've owned and enjoyed them in the past, but these days I know how to make good sounding recordings and many of my favourite decks are 2 headers.
Metal tapes are pretty much unobtanium these days and certainly not good value for money. Tape should be a cheap format. I personally favour re-using secondhand tapes. Quality blanks last well and normal/ferric, chrome, and metal all have pros and cons. I actually quite like the punchy sound ferric tapes give - at the end of the day it's a relatively lo-fi format so why not go all the way. I have a stash of new Maxell XLII chromes for important recordings but they're too valuable for knockabout stuff.
I always recommend late period (mid-late 90s) Yamaha decks as IME they are the most reliable tape decks ever made. They also sound very good. Denons come a close second. My personal preference is for older Pioneers, Tascams and JVCs but they can all be a bit of a labour of love. There were loads of great decks made by all the Japanese hifi firms but most of them are old enough now that they'll need fairly extensive servicing, and good tape deck engineers are few and far between. My main decks are from the 70s. Only really viable if you know a good (cheap) tech or can service them yourself.
Spend as little as possible! £20 on eBay should buy a little used one owner Yamaha 2 header which will sound better than a worn out Nakamichi. The most important thing is to find something that works, and which hasn't had heavy use.
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record onto modern format (ducks for cover)