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I'm primarily into digital, and FiiO manufactures some of my favorite digital players. However, it seems that FiiO just introduced a cassette Walkman, and I thought that some of you tape enthusiasts might be interested. You can check it out on Amazon at the link below.
Happy listening!
Follow Ups:
There are few out there now.
Here is We Are Rewind:
https://www.wearerewind.com/
I used to be very involved with analog tape; although, not quite as involved as many of you are today.
My first open reel tape recorder was a Revox A77, and I knew that machine inside and out. I learned how to align its tape heads by colloring them with a marker and observing the wear pattern after playing a short length of tape. Then I would align the heads so both sides of the wear pattern were parallel and the tape gap was centered. After getting the visual alignment perfect, I would align azimuth electrically by playing a test tape. After that, I would complete all the other electrical adjustments involving bias and equalization. I was a PMEL technician in the Air Force, so I had access to some very good electronic test equipment. When I was finished making all the adjustments, I would conduct a listening test to make sure there was virtually no audible difference between "source" and "tape monitor" when recording a vinyl record. I actually owned two Revox A77 tape decks and I kept them both in optimal alignment.
Later, when Nakamichi introduced their Dragon cassette recorder, I bought two of them along with the service manual so I could keep them in perfect alignment, too. Although open reel tape was definitely superior to cassette, the performance of the Nakamichi Dragon was so good that I switched from open reel to cassette tape for its convenience and lower operating cost. Furthermore, nearly every audio enthusiast I knew owned a cassette tape recorder, so I could easily trade tapes with all my audio buddies.
The Nakamichi Dragon provided an additional advantage in its ability to automatically align its playback head azimuth to the specific tape being played. It was simply the finest cassette tape recorder available for extracting all the musical information from each tape being played. I really enjoyed that tape recorder.
Nowadays, I've traded in all my analog components for digital, and I have no regrets. However, I definitely have fond memories for analog tape. It was my format of choice during those early years of high-end audio.
Happy listening!
John Elison
A LOT has happened since the A77 and the fun element has increased manyfold.
And on top of that you will never know what good audio can be until you have a chance to try the modern tape.
I think I do know what good audio sounds like because I listen to DSD almost exclusively. Currently, I own just over 400 albums in DSD256. I also own a TASCAM DA-3000 DSD recorder with which I've recorded a number of vinyl records played from a SOTA Millennia turntable. In addition to this, I have a good friend who also owns a TASCAM DA-3000 in addition to several topnotch open reel tape recorders that he uses to make DSD128 copies of high-speed open reel master tapes. Have you ever heard a DSD128 copy of a master tape? How about a DSD256 copy of a master tape? Many of the DSD256 albums I now own were recorded directly from original master tapes. Consequently, I think I have a very good idea of what high quality audio sounds like, and I love the sound of high-speed analog tape. However, the best part about digital is that a Hi-Res DSD copy of an analog master tape sounds identical to the analog master tape as far as I can tell. You may feel differently, but I can't hear the difference. Therefore, getting back into analog tape would be a waste of money for me. I'm not rich!
Happy listening!
John Elison
We listen to it too, both here, in the office, and at home.
But tape is special in many other ways, including the sensual. I have been obsessed with tape recording for over 60 years, and that disease just would not go away... perhaps even getting stronger.
It is also perhaps the most inconvenient medium of them all. :)
"But tape is special in many other ways, including the sensual. I have been obsessed with tape recording for over 60 years, and that disease just would not go away... perhaps even getting stronger.
It is also perhaps the most inconvenient medium of them all. :)"
+1!
Here is a YouTube review of (4) new production units:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asvi0iU7fR0
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