I’ve been doing this since 1984 on my Nakamichi 582Z, later on 682ZX, using any tapes of reasonable quality. Recently I got a good used NAD 6300 cassette deck and worked on its alignment from playback frequency response to Dolby, to recording. A bunch of TDK FE tapes are all it takes to give me crazy better sound from my SACD, CD, HDCD, records etc. The fun is so huge! In fact, I do frequently listen to music via an instant recorded cassette tape loop
Original recording quality makes such a difference it’s baffling. I’ve been clouded into thinking that I can only listen to HiRes to truly enjoy hifi gear (closed-minded but not 100% wrong) but I recently downsampled some DSD256 from 2L to a 320mp3 and was blown away by how great it still sounded.
After I could no longer get replacement parts for my Nakamichi LX 3 cassette deck I got gear to convert my cassettes to wav format and burned them to CDs. Hundreds of cassettes. It took years. But I only did the conversion for recordings if there was no digital source available. Every time the industry changes format there are a lot of albums that are lost. A huge amount of music and artists were lost with the switch from 78 rpm records to 33 & a 3rd, and again from there to cds and their souless digital sound. A great pitty indeed. However, I could get a richer analogue sound from digital sources by running the signal through a ten band graphic equalizer and then through a Pioneer reverberation amplifier. And now, thanks to your great video, I will look into Dac devices and see if I can splice them into the signal flow. Thanks for the tip!
The right DAC can do this to an extent. A lot of people prefer Wolfson DACs in digital audio players (like the early iPods) because they closely resemble the sound signature provided by the warmth of tube setups. not that its s proper substitute, or even on the same level; I know we're on a video thats dedicated to digital to analog conversion, but for someone like me that doesn't necessarily want to (or is able to) spend the money on a good tube amp/pre-amp setup but still wants that warmth in their mustic playback, there are other options on the digital side that can translate into your analog recordings somewhat.
I want to thank you for making this video. After watching, I thought it might be some fun to give this experiment a go, as I've enjoyed streaming hi-res from Tidal and Qobuz, but wanted my streams to have a little less "digital edge," especially since I mostly listen to Jazz. So, in part because of you, I bought a nice Technics direct drive cassette deck, ordered some blank cassettes and crossed my fingers. I cannot BELIEVE the results. Honestly, I remember cassettes sounding like crap when I was a kid. That's because I was listening to pre-recorded tapes and poorly recorded radio. The collection of albums I'm building now sound so good, they're blowing me away, and rivaling some of my audiophile vinyl. I'm sure you could achieve similar results on the digital signal with a bit of tone control or introducing tubes to the system, but that's missing part of the point. It's fun to have hi-res music on a physical format. Cutting these tapes is so much fun and storing them on my shelf makes me feel closer to the music. Again, THANK YOU, and keep videos like this coming!
I've been doing this for years and I couldn't agree more. I make 7" mixtapes from *ONLY* lossless hi-res SACD/DVD-A/FLAC sources to my Tascam 22-2 (2 track) at 15 IPS. It's a blast to see the reaction on guests' faces when they hear how good they sound. Plus the limited duration of under 22 minutes means I don't have to talk anyone into a lengthy listening session.
I just bought an Ibasso DC06 which renders MQA16x - excited to make new tape recordings with it - with my TEAC V7000. Used to do them through my Sony NW-A55 DAC and using MQA core decoding with USB Player Pro (Android). So now I can use my iPhone Tidal ==> Ibasso dc06 (full MQA decode) ==> analog TEAC V7000. Cheers
I got The Downward Spiral by NIN on cassette for collection and i must say it's the best pre recorded original cassette I have. It was recorded with Dolby S HX Pro and on a Sony TC-K 570 with Dolby C on the quality is very close to digital sources like CD or Tidal. Of course a type iv or a good type ii home recorded one would be even better, but nonetheless I was so amazed by the quality of the original, since they usually sound not so well and most are more enjoyable with just not even Dolby B on.
This is something that recently occurred to me as a possibility, but wasn't sure what the actual results would be. Am going to put this into practice. Thanks for the presentation, and i really enjoy your channel overall.
Ease of use, versatility, and cost all will combine to affect the future of cassettes, but I agree that assuming quality of source, quality of deck, and quality of tape? You or me or anyone else, as an audiophile music lover, CAN enjoy taped audio once again, and THIS time enjoy it even more. That is what gives me a lot of hope to see taped analogue audio return to the ears of people. It's just a sweeter sound that harsh digital in some ways, and there are stats that digital can stomp analog formats with-- like channel separation and the high end-- which really don't matter all that much to the human ear. Most people can not HEAR above 15,000 Hertz. But they can darn sure hear warble, wow and flutter, tape hiss, digital brash midranges, and digital muddy bass notes. Tape kinda "rounds out" the harshness of digital, and many humans end up liking it just fine.... IF it is done right. Which your video-- this video-- explains oh so well. Gotta have all three-- quality of source, quality of tape, quality of deck. Ya really need good speakers as well!
Yes, excellent idea! HiRes cassettes recorded from streaming HiRes, is a relevant way to get analog playlist, by the "Tape effect" giving his sweet touch to the best digital music. Ok there is a bit less dynamic and details, but more round and warm sound, sometimes less is more! Furthermore with well recorded cassette, it would be possible to enjoy our preferred music AFTER the end of the streaming or download subscription. Cassette, with good system, sounds somehow like vinyl, but with customized playlist advantage:). Check second hand market, to preserve the planet and your finance. Warm regards.
@@anadialog It's interesting how some people like a flavor of distortion added for music to become more pleasant to listen to. Whatever is involved in this "tape effect" has some explanation that undoubtedly can be reproduced with some circuit without actually having to go the "tape route". I would expect there is more to it than simple compression (65dB max) and high frequency low-pass filtering but those are probably part of it. Any idea?
Of course, it's analog, can't replicate that with a plug-in. In any case forget the low pass filter, that was maybe taking place in prerecorded tapes. On my type II, III or IV cassettes I have the full frequency spectrum, higher than CD, and very high dynamic range. The rest is mainky distortion, I did a dedicated video on the topic, solid bass and smooth treble: ruclips.net/video/aTYc7vZuM-c/видео.html
@@anadialog Yes, I can agree it’s unlikely there is anything currently available as DSP processing layout that can replicate the analog effect of a tape deck, but as an audio engineer, I am sure it would be a possible thing to design, but not trivial. Same goes with vinyl playback. Actually it would be an interesting challenge to design the digital equivalent of analog artifacts of tape and vinyl. For example, wow and flutter on a tape probably helps making synth tones sound more musical and a DSP could easily add such effect (tiny shifts in playback speed). But that’s just one of several such effects and getting them right would require a ton of A/B comparison and tuning. There is nothing magic about it but it would probably take long time to get everything right.
I'm a Dragon owner too. I record SACD, DVD-A, K2 CD, XRCD into cassettes from high quality blank tapes that i bought between late 1980s to mid-1990s using a Lexicon RT-10 player as a playback source, awesome results. I also record them into mini-disc since I have a SONY MZ-1 recorder unit i bought from 1990s
When you transfer digital audio to analog, something magical happens! It's much smoother and "3 dimensional" "realistic" if you will! We've all heard great sounding "digital records" ( I know, AAA is the best) but im making point here! Sure, a lot of people hate digital record's, but when you compare it to the CD (to my ears , my opinion) , there's a "depth there that's not on the CD! Most people hear it, some dont! So just as a 192k/24bit cut to a record sounds amazing, same goes for the cassette!
Speaking of DACs, I just got my Schiit modi 3 the other day. It sounds so good! Very detailed in all frequencies. Yes, the lows as well. No fatigue either(unless ear damage-volume is used of course) And it's very affordable as well, highly recommended! I use the coaxial digital out from my bluray player for playing CDs, or the usb for streaming with a computer. Gonna try it with my Pioneer CT-S410 deck someday!
Interesting video ;) Ever since I can remember, I've been putting together my own mixtapes sourced from vinyl, radio, CD...I must say pre-recorded tapes are not crap, I mean...many of them are, but you can come across excellent commercial cassettes. Plus, if you have a deck with azimuth adjustment knob and an external Dolby decoder device, you can acheive a very good sound with almost any cassette that you play on your tape deck ;)
I agree and also made a video (link below), I just wanted to mark the difference with some harsh language! ;-) ruclips.net/video/MpL6zeDbss4/видео.html
This is a great idea, I do something similar with Minidiscs... not 100% analog I know, but I use to "download" my SACDs to Minidiscs using the analog output of my Oppo 105D... sounds amazing, I know Minidiscs are not analog, but they have a particular sound signature that I love (maybe because of ATRAC and DSP magic).
The BASF TP II Reference Maxima were my facorite go to Tapes back in the days.The holy Grail probably was the SONY Metal Master Tape with white ceramic housing. Beautiful looking and sounding. They were like 20 Marks for one back in the early 90s.
You can un wrap the first layer of MQA and be just fine. I use an Aurender with a Usb converter connected into my Audio Research Dac 8 and downloaded the update to the Aurender for Mqa. I compared it with a ful MQA Dac and there was a difference but nothing major enough for me to spend more, but the better the Dac overall the sound quality will get better. I tried the Liberty Dac which unwraps all the layers in my testing. I agree with your findings.
The Nakamichi Dragon, the first production cassette deck built around Rijckaert - de Niet and Niro Nakamichis's inventions, was introduced in North America in November 1982. The Dragon, which was priced at US$1,850, replaced the far more expensive, already discontinued Nakamichi 1000ZXL as the company's flagship model.
Your totally right, the better source, the better sound, a great deck, can make excellent recordings, I still love cassettes, a great topic & a great video.
One thing that I forgot to mention to you, if you get the opportunity please start doing the research for and go buy the New Bluenote Tone Poet series, they are awesome, mastered by Kevin Gray and set up by Joe Harley, they are to die for and much cheaper than the Music Matters by about 15.00 dollars or more depending on where they are purchased, in your case what country. For a system the equivalent of yours and mine, they will blow your mind!!!
I haven’t used tapes since my early 20’s, but even when I was a kid, I was very picky about what tapes I used. I only used Sony UX or TDK SA or MA tapes. Think I spent a fortune on tapes when I was younger! Unfortunately now it’s a lot harder to find good type 2 and type 4 tapes that are new old stock, and that stock available is very pricey. The people who have this stock usually tend to know how much these tapes are worth now.
This is very true and unfortunately the downside of this process...but things are changing and excellent type 1 cassettes are now back in production...maybe, if we insist, we may see the birth of a Chrome cassette! In any case, you must hunt ebay and look for the a good opportunity...
ANA[DIA]LOG if they brought back the chrome cassettes, I’d probably consider getting back into it, maybe even consider getting a 3 head deck and really make a go of it. Unfortunately another thing you have to consider with buying new old stock cassettes is that you don’t know if they were stored properly or where they are coming from. If say they came from a place of a humid climate, then the tape can get mould from over 20 years of storage, even if the tapes are sealed and never been opened, this would most definitely make the tape unusable, I have seen it on a RUclips channel called Cassette Comeback.
Excellent videos. Love your channel. You are introducing me to the analog world. Thanks! So, Will Hi Res recording work if I use the following chain: From my Mac, my 192K recording, Ableton Live in 192K >>> Arturia AudioFuse2 (192K too) >>> Dual C-844 (double speed) Does this make sense? If so, what do I call my final result? Hi resolution cassette? What cassettes are best on Dual C-844? Thank you for your lights.
Thanks! As long as you connect an analog output to the deck you are good. Just keep the levels near 0db on the deck, just slightly above. Best tape is type 4, very expensive, otherwise a good NOS type 2 is very good by TDK, Sony, Maxell. If you don't want the hassle even a Fox from Recording the master is good. Remember that if you record in double speed you won't be able to listen to that cassette on other players.
@@anadialog Thanks a lot for your reply. Are there a specific quality or brand of cables for the analog connections that you could advise? Some praise that stock clinch cables are good enough, others see miracles in cables that cost more than a car. But being reasonable in costs, have you found that any given cable could improve the connections (at least not degrading the signal, but letting pass everything that should pass through it) Thank you!
I discovered a long time ago that if you still own a Classic DVD-Recorder and put the recording quality on SP+ it will record the Audio in PCM without any MPEG or AC3 Codecs. You basically have a 24 bit DAT Recorder that records up to Two hours on a 8.5GB Double Layer DVD-R Disc ($15 in a 25pack). Make sure you don't have a video source connected. If you have a built-in HDD you can do the same thing with that also extending the time you can record exponentially. Old DVD Recorders are dumped and you can get them everywhere for less than $25. I don't have to tell ya that at a lower Quality you can do the same with AC3 or MPEG making 6 hours real time audio (+black video) recording or more on a Disc possible. Mine can go up to 12 hours on a 4.7Gb Disc and than the bit-rate is 128Kbps stereo AC3 (20Hz-15KHz) with 90dB dynamic range. It is basically a MPEG (Quasi Tape) Recorder. It's the stunning quality that makes this a no-brainer and the discs are cheap. Just food for thought.
interesting video. i thought i was the only one doing this type of thing. i've been using 24/196 files (or higher, if i can find them) that i've downloaded and installed on an old ipod (with the highly praised Wolfson WM87588G internal DAC) that i modded 656GB storage to hold it all, running RockBox software to handle the files. Connected that via line-out (NOT the headphone jack. people can't understand the difference and think this step is irrelevant, ITS VERY RELEVANT) to one of the 4 official Apple docks I own (from varying years for specific models, all of which also contain different models of Wolfson DACs) with a 3.5mm to RCA into my cassette player. I shoud probably use the official Apple 30-pin to RCA cables as they're specifically meant for this type of thing and offer a more established stereo separation, among other things, but I have to find a set that isn't priced at an arm and a leg The biggest bottleneck is my cassette deck. Its not a bad deck, (Technics RS-T17), especially for the $4 i paid for it last year. It could be better though. The wow and flutter is awful at the first minute or so (probaby needs belts) but it makes pretty good recordings on my various type 2 tapes. Unfortunately I only own 2 Type 4 tapes (Sony and Maxell) and I'm not really trying to use them until I'm no longer hindered by my deck. I'm definitely working on it though. I'm searching for a nice single deck I can afford every single day waiting for the right one to pop up thanks for this video, I love your content. I'm glad you made this. It honestly didn't teach me much at this point (although about 6 months ago it woulda saved me alot of headaches lol) but its good for reassurance that I've got it all figured out, as well as letting me know that I'm not the only one who takes this type of thing seriously in 2021
As you now know , I can not use this if it needs a patch up player . Software developers have no logic , that is for sure . The sound of the Dragon there was Atmospheric , who needs Dolby C exrta compression , there is never a hiss over the top of the music , never has been .
The sound of the cassette deck it was always a top notch I am screaming from the 70s and 80s I recorded a chrome cassette from an nice turntable the guy I gave the cassette he put it on a top notch car pioneer deck his jaw dropped instantly to the floor and also I recorded another cassette from a CD player wonderful sound Guys listen to this ANA DIA LOG Gentleman he is giving you the best advice you can get listen to him and follow his knowledge he is the best guy for music reproduction
Recording from tidal on tapes is an amazing result, but the more amazing result for me is I have digital cd copy's, for example, MFSL CD's and First releases 80's CDs. when you recording from tidal pink Floyd it's 2011 remaster digital but earlier CDs have better quality.
Pre-recorded cassettes are not very bad, but they are not as good compared to recordings that I have made on my own. The best pre-recorded cassettes in my collection are Stone Temple Pilots' Core and my bloody valentine's loveless. Every other album I own is a step down from those two. When I made a copy of loveless from the original tape to Type IV metal tape, I was blown away by the jump in the quality.
One last addition to the argument: pre-recorded cassettes that existed before they faded out actually have pretty good quality since most of them after the late 70s (I believe) had a Dolby B or S encoded signal or decent mastering. Anything prior to the late 70s or after the 2000s when they were discontinued for a while, do not sound good. When cassettes started making a comeback, they started to just sound as bad or worse than pre-recorded cassettes before the late 70s. This is not an accurate comparison, but Nirvana albums for example. I have "Bleach" and Nevermind. I have the cassette repressing of "Bleach" and streaming the album sounds better than the cassette reissue. The original cassette pressing of Nevermind sounds excellent and is much more of an enjoyable listen than listening to "Bleach." If I get an original or earlier 1988 (or 89) cassette pressing of "Bleach," I will post another comment and give you my thoughts on how both versions sound. I am assuming that the earlier pressing will win.
You should try to use the HiFi video tape recorder. The frequency modulation of audio signal should give great quality gain. Also it should be amazing to see if someone can build the delta-sigma ADC producing the DSD direct to a tape and vice versa. Even it can be done without the fixed sampling frequency, recording the pure PWM signal, so sych recordong system will become some hybrid between digital and analogue worlds.
Thanks for a great video as always! I know that you used Tidal as your example, but I suspect that Qobuz can be used as well..correct? What do you think about the quality of the Denon DRS-810 or Yamaha K-1020 cassette decks?
Digital source music to analog-deck-tape make source music analog again, no sample rate, no bits, just fluid sound from magnetic head, I agree with You, I have made my own audio tapes from digital sources, Gentlman MTV live to cassette have great sound on chrome audio tape with Dolby B pressed to add loudness like filter to recorded music.
i do the same! mqa or dsf files from dac to cassette (i m using a cheap teac v1050 deck) and i listen with some Sony walkman of the '2000 era... just wonderful.. are we crazy? ;)
My goal when i record cassettes is to obtain a "better" recording than the CD format. I use analog output of my SACD player and record a cassette with Dolby B if needed. Super ferric cassettes are the best to add some warmth with amazing results! Deep bass and smooth highs; very analog and natural sounding. No listening fatigue.
Beautiful bossa-nova to start the video, now his master Joao Gilberto has leave us a little bit more alone. The harder point to accomplish in these days is the third: a GOOD CASSETTE DECK. No manufacturer makes them anymore. The e.Bay alternative is risky business (and not necessarily affordable). The big royal way (open reel, my favorite storage medium) is, I think, more easy to go, but it is extremely expensive: you can find machines on the market for not too much money. A pity these need a strong, if not full, restoration service that cost an arm and a leg. Minimum for a modest open reel recorder plus restorarion: $5.000 in the States. Here in Europe it can be even costlier. Good cassette decks, in the case they're not in catastrophic state, most probably must be submitted to a "re-sheeting & paint" process that can let you straight to bankruptcy. At the end of the day, everything is a question of money. It doesn't give the happiness. It BUYS, instead, it.
Wise words...sadly true! It takes also time and effort besides some money but after the hassle you are tremendously rewarded and....its an investment, all this stuff is going up and up in its value! A good practice is ALWYAS to send a deck, cassette or reel to a lab for full calibration and check up, possible for enhancements! Some labs and private gurus do this! I have a few special treats coming up in this sense...hehehe!
@@anadialog A friend off mine allso owns a Nakamichi Dragon. He had some problems with it. Luckely for him, there's a Nakamichi service centre over here in Maassluis near Rotterdam. After a week he got it back and is playing with the deck eversince. Have to say allso the cost were not that high. It needed a ner idler, some oil and new pinch rollers and belts. Total cost inc payment for work €352,70 Think it was a fair price. Ofcourse he asked me to do it but, the Nak is to me a bit complicated. I will stick with my Studer A721 much more easier for service. No belts, no idler and so on. Just 4 motors for playing a cassette.
You’re sure right about eBay. Had to return a Nak a few years ago that was not nearly as described. Did not get all my money back. If I can’t buy used equipment locally, I don’t buy it.
@@Gregor7677 After seeing others' bad experiences with eBay I never trayied to buy used gear through it (not to mention to participate in an auction). Every single piece of used audio I've aquired (very few) has been from well kown friends of mine.
What stinks is Type II have become out of reach for me so I'm stuck with Type 1 with Dolby C/S or DBX depending on what I'm recording but I make it work.
Most SACD are very poor quality. Just normal PCM masters converted in DSD at the end of the process. A well mastered CD is better. Native DSD recordings, well mixed and mastered are outstanding and well beyond the rest IMO.
Good video as always. Thanks a lot. One question: I have to tape decks, one 3 head Sony and one Sony DAT. Where would you do those analog recordings on? Many thanks.
Well DAT is a digital medium (excellent quality)...so perhaps, instead of converting it you could send the digital signal directly to the DAT tape. Remember though that DAT is not a high res format. A few models reach 24 bits or 96khz (not both) but they are rare...if you want to fallow the video then go with the Sony cassette deck!
Maybe it‘s interesting: I just taped from Tidal and Qobuz several test songs on a Chrome Tape and on a DAT Sony Tape at 48kHZ. Both of course analog due to DRM. The DAT sounded richer with more dynamic where the Dolby B Chrome Tape was more reserved. Keep up the great videos.
I knew it.. thank ANA[DIA]LOG to validate my point.. I been saying this to my friends 15 years ago... DVD sound quality is better than all.. Unfortunately DVD sound quality is the most underrate of all medium. there is not much coverage on any of this in audiophile magazine at all. My friend thought i was crazy. Today Not even youtuber cover this .. I think your channel is the first one who cover DVD sound quality.It's ironic why such a hardcore audiophile fan not manage to discover this pinnacle of sound quality- DVD-audio. you mention DVD-audio only.. I think all DVD-video is equally DAT quality audio better than CD. Most of them included PCM 2.0 (48khz)by default. I think PCM 2.0 (48khz) itself looked bad in marketing that why is so underrated. But don't judge by it cover. Do cover more about DVD music. I always love do recording from DVD source. It's amazing experience to turn my Panasonic Walkman into audiophile quality.. LOL. you got good taste in choosing Sony UX-S. I always use them to record DVD source because i try most other blank tape it's just won't work well. sound crap. Any recommendation of good or better blank cassette beside Sony UX-S?
DVD-Audio for stereo sound is no better than Compact Disc. There is 0 benefit for higher sampling/bit rates. 5.1 and so on is a different story all together. I guarantee for stereo sound you will fail a blind test. Watch some vids on sampling rates and how it works and your see that all higher sampling does nothing but use more data.
I absolutely 100% disagree! I did a video on DVD-Audio: ruclips.net/video/4_n_eNK5IMk/видео.html I have a few of these disc. They completely blow away any CD version of the same album. I would guess any of these without any doubt. DVD-Audio was one of the best things we had. Yes, we have high-res files which technically it's the same thing but the quality of the mastering was much more natural. In any case a high sampling rate and a high bit depth is the key to true high fidelity. In fact higher frequencies are recordable only with these high sampling rates. I have demonstrated in this video how important is what lies beyond 20khz: ruclips.net/video/Btn572ZIC8k/видео.html The topic is complex. The huge bottle neck of this technology as I always say are the mics. Unless we are recording with high res mics we do not have high resolution audio. Now finally things are changing. Apart from this, a high sampling rate and great but depth greatly help a tape transfer.
Bitperfect player like Usb player pro for your digital audio player(fiio. X7 II) with DAC is the most price accessible to all without the time consuming hassles of dedicated audio desktop rigs. It's 90% there in audio quality vs the 1000 plus desktop DAC rigs. Qobus. Tidal Google music most accessible within Usb audio pro.
Audirvana now changed and it is available for windows with loads of features BUT it is a subscription. Then you also need a subscription to a streaming service of high quality. I prefer Qobuz. You can just use the Qobuz app and you are good, the important is that your PC can handle high-res music.
It's a lot easier and takes up less space if you download a free application like "Audacity".. record all the music you want from wherever you stream it from online with Audacity or similar... Then you just need to save your new digital file as wav, ogg, mp3 etc... Preferably wav. The saved file will sound as good as the original!
Yes of course, but that is a digital format. This is not a video to try to save a digital file, this is a video to analogize the glare and cold flat 1s and 0s of digital audio...obviously for convenience we can get the best of both, meaning using also the digital files! No need to leave aside one or the other...
Prerecorded cassettes are as you said, but "prerecorded" streaming services are crap too. I remember that in 90s and 2000s to get good quality mp3 you have to make them by yourself because "prerecorded mp3 was crap as well. Now streaming services take their crappy mp3s make them hi and that's it. They just convert them to xkilo bits and xbilions herts.
Hello Master of Analog, if I were to record a CD or high-resolution album with the WE ARE REWIND Walkman, the sound quality would be good. With the Walkman WE ARE REWIND, does it make a difference whether I use a normal cassette or one made of chrome, or better yet one made of metal, but that probably won't be available anymore?
Other than the sound, analog is amazing also because you just pop the phisical music container in and you are ready to go, no need to use a screen to mediate between you and your music (as someone that works the whole day with a computer the "ritual" of playing a vinyl is refreshing!). Also note that for the digital part it is really important that the whole chain stays in bitperfect: that means in short that the dac should use the same resolution and depth as the source, otherwise a lot of the detail becomes useless! It is similar to what happens when you take an image and enlarge it at 101% without a complex scaling: everything becomes blurry, as you are messing with the strict grid positioning that digital has. Audirvana is amazingly easy to set up (and a really great software too!) but the same can be achieved with foobar 2000 too, at the expense of a little of search and configuration!
Hi! Would it be possible that a cassette recorded using a cd as digital source, can sound much alive, with more textures, airy and with more 3D respect to the cd where it was recorded?? Many thanks for your reply! Cheers!Raf
Hi there, it is important to make clear that a passage from a source to another medium will never generate more information, actually there will always be some loss. Nevertheless, the analog distortion, the tape saturation, does create a more similar to life sound, more engaging and familiar...in a nutshell more pleasing! For instance I hate the digital glare that even high resolution files have, once recorded on tape that glare and harshness is greatly reduced!
The few new decks around, like Tascam, unfortunately are garbage. You must get a good used deck, possibly served. There are several affordable Nakamichi, Aiwa and Akai top models, Luxman, Duals, Revox, Pioneers...look for 80's models with three heads. Can't go wrong.
MFSL did recording on BAFS Chrome cassettes -Still have Steely dan's Aja but the recording was hit by a aging problem in the 90's -maybe it was stored wrong ,dunno ( roomtemprature ) .
I know! I did a video on audiophile pre-recorded cassettes: ruclips.net/video/MpL6zeDbss4/видео.html Mine was just on overstatement to make the point, I have dozens of excellent pre-recorded cassettes! Plus I also demonstrated they superiority when properly done and compared with high-resolution audio: ruclips.net/video/xtIdGDk4g0M/видео.html
Not to criticise or anything - because I like the sound myself - but “that analogue sound” you are talking about is really distortion. Degradation. And thank you for an interesting topic plus introduction to a wonderful song!
I know and I have said this several times...but its pleasant and to me it sounds more natural than digital. In any case I love and use both formats but on a desert island I would bring analog media hands down...that's all!
You're wrong and ignorant. Analogue sound like tape, does not have a ADC /DAC process. Being freed of these processes means the complete avoidance of sample rates, and thus the filters introduced in such types of conversions. This means that no phase shifts are introduced. I have a TEAC UD 505 capable of Octa DSD, 22,4 MHz, and a special filter moved all the way up to 600 kHz. Most dacs already introduces the filter that removes digital noise from the sample rate itself, all the way down at 50kHz. These filters alters the phase, and ruins the sound, but they are required in digital audio. When listening to pure analog, you aren't listening to samples, you're listening to a true constant signal, which isn't altered by phase corrupting filters, that's why some people prefer it. I like both analogue and digital equally for diffrent reasons.
Tuii Oh no.... another troll that arguments by attacking people... My impression is that you don’t really know anything about digital audio. So this is analogue any kind of format you can imagine: you have tape which have a width where there is a tape head with a coil that cover a certain area. Bigger area will give higher dynamics and less noise, tape speed will give higher frequencies. So analogue is kind of to digital tape speed vs sample rate. And area of sensing coil sort of bit resolution in the digital world. Analogue has “losses” in every single part of the chain from uneven tape transport to noise from thermal activity in any piece of circuitry, signals are small, so noise and signal gets boosted under signal amplification and transport of said signal In digital you do have those filters as you say, like low pass to prevent aliasing, and filters in the sample process itself, but when the signal finally is digital, it can be reproduced 100% every single time. Sample rates does mean something as do bit resolution, but with more than 16 bits the noise floor of a single bit will be much much lower than tape hiss or other noise that is seen as analogue, and with proper dithering that noise you don’t hear anyway is further reduced. And with sample rates two times that of human hearing, no one will hear the lack of frequencies anyway, as no one over the age of 35 hears frequencies over 20000 Hz. As I said: Digital is “perfect”, Analogue is “flawed”. The warmth you are hearing is imperfections manifesting as a “warmth” that is a pleasure to listen to. It is a misconception that digital is not a pure continuous signal. Also there is no “phase distortion” happening either. Not unless you create a filter that does on purpose that is.
But a DAP player with the Tidal app may be preferable in the car. for cars usually have no tape players now anymore. And those that were included in the car standard usually did not have such good quality either. Tidal has a download option, right? . Finding equipment to record 24-bit audio from the analog output of your SACD player may be a little more difficult
ciao gran bei video molto istruttivo , sto trasportando su nastro musica digitale da tidal la mia catena è formata da una piastra yamaha kx1200 un dac sonic frontieres e integrato accuphase, la mia domanda è, quali nastri mi consigli ? grazie
Ciao! Si possono ottenere buoni risultati anche con le ferro e supererò tipo 1. Le migliori però rimangono le tipo 2 e 4 principalmente delle Marche giapponesi, TDK, Sony, Fuji, Maxell etc. Ad ogni modo farò presto un video in dettaglio!
You have some good suggestions and know your audio well. But I slightly disagree about normal bias tapes; I view them as mostly junk. They just do not have enough high end to really vault the format into the hi fi realm. I get that you have a NAK dragon, and it darn sure WILL get the best out of any tape, normal bias or not. But most folks won't ever own a deck that good. And normal bias tapes were designed for voice diction.
Well I do get very good results with Type 1, not all, those with quality. But might as well go for the 2,3 or 4, absolutely! Price is always going to be an issue though.
I have a cheaper Nak 3- head deck and just recently hooked it up to my current system. I swear I never knew it could sound as good as it did with tapes I recorded 30+ years ago. Not good enough to give up my DAC, but surprising.
Hi Bill, you are on the right road...you should make sure all specs are top notch and that you are using high quality cassettes for future recordings...don't need to give up your DAC, use it to create astounding new recordings! ;-)
Since we are going digital to analog, why not send to a reel to feel deck or HiFi vhs video cassette player (my cheap reel to feel)? Could you record to DCC (digital compact cassette) Technics, Philips. Just curious
I have have a Nakamichi CR-2A cassette deck from 1988 and I also have a Yamaha KX-390 from 1998. Yes the Nakamichi is not a Dragon and yes the Yamaha is not Yamaha's best cassette deck I bought for $300 USD new. The Nakamichi was pre-owned and it is an excellent shape inside and out and I got it for steal for only $50 USD a year ago 2018. Yes, you need to have some decent cassette tape to make some decent cassettes. I find that the Yamaha cassette deck makes a far better recording then the Nakamichi does. Yes they're 10 years apart, but the Yamaha just has some extra things going for it then the Nakamichi does. Over the years I have been able to make amazing sounding tapes with both of these decks. My friend has the Nakamichi Dragon and it is an awesome cassette deck but I have actually made cassettes with the Yamaha that are no worse by any stretch then my friend's Nakamichi Dragon! I have told people over the years that if you have a decent high quality cassette deck such as the two I have and you have some decent blank cassette tapes, you can make some damn good recordings. Even with type one such as the MAXELL UR, you can make yourself a pretty damn full range clean cassette recording on one of those tapes if things are set properly in your bias. To this very day the best tape I have ever recorded on and I only own one and that is the Sony Metal Master. It's made of complete ceramic composite and I don't know what's inside that shell but it's just an amazing sounding cassette tape. They were very expensive and they were not very common. Back in the early 90s at a local music shop they had a Bargain Bin there filled with all kinds of things and this Sony Metal Master cassette tape just popped up and caught my eye. It cost $6.99 USD at a Bargain Bin price! That's the only one I've ever seen or held in my hand I should say, physically. Now the next in line for the best cassette tape I've ever recorded on were another expensive and not so common tape in the late 1980s and they were the 3M Black Watch. Even in the late 1980s a 100 minute metal cassette cost $8.99 USD so I didn't buy a whole lot of them but I wish I would have bought cases full of them because they are the most neutral cassette tapes I've ever recorded on. You could put a lot of level into them with zero distortion. The 3M Black Watch we're so neutral that you could not tell the difference between the tape and the original source. I even had my friends do a blindfold test on me to see if I could guess which was which and I couldn't. Great, great tape! You had mentioned that type 2 tapes are the best to record on and you don't recommend type 1 but as far as I know as of today they are not making type 2 tape anymore. At least here in the USA I can only get Maxell UR cassette tape new sealed. So I'm forced with no choice but to go around second-hand shops and get very lucky finding sealed cassette tapes such as TDK-SA for an example or I have bought a lot of pre-owned cassettes that look brand new and they record and sound great! The proof is in the pudding as they say so yes you can still make a great audio cassette tape and you can even do it with a type 1.
Thanks for sharing you experience! Your testimony supports the fact that you absolutely DO NOT need to spend a fortune for high quality results. Congrats! Turning to cassettes, obviously Type 4 are always going to be the best...obvious is also the fact that the old new stock of any type of cassette, especially those from the 80's, for now, cannot be beaten from current production. The tape technology was light years ahead at that time!
Love your videos! Would love to do it! Right now I’m building an “awesome-budget” system. Is there a good budget deck you’d suggest? Currently I’ve got a Technics SL-3350 turntable, Pioneer 780 amplifier and streaming amazon HD with an Echo Link. A Mani phono pre. Next on my list is the Schiitt Modi and Saga+ and of course a vintage Tape Deck. Please let me know what you would suggest as budget one.
@@anadialog Thanks I'll keep looking for one of those you recommend. Currently i'm using Amazon HD streaming. I noticed you seemed to have a slight "eye twitch/tic" I think I may have missed part of your message. Could you please clarify, give me a clue or hint. Sorry I am a bit of a beginner and don't always get your technical jargon;-) And feel free to reply in Italian, I can always translate if that helps.
@@samhalsey5051 I was just suggesting that we all know how to get digital music files off the web. Like torrents etc. I use Qobuz now, its just easier and high-res.
ANA[DIA]LOG Just bought a Nakamichi BX-300... This is Gonna Be Fun! The seller says it is “calibrated to record on TDK tape”. Does that mean I should only use TDK Type IV? Is that one of tapes you feel is best? Also what is a good source for good Type IV cassettes?
Hello sir! Please Help! What DAC you recomand? I have highress audio, flac, dsd on my macbook pro. But I dont know what dac to buy??? As a deck I have Pioneer CT 777 and audio files from HDtracks. Thank you
I just wonder what is the point of recording your music to cassettes if you can stream them anytime&anywhere on your pc or smartphone? Do cassettes sound any better?
I know it sounds crazy, but with proper gear, a good cassette takes the digital glare and coldness away and makes everything sound more...real! Plus, it's a way to make a high resolution digital file...physical!
with a DAP player especially one that you can download the music directly from the streaming service, you may not need a cassette tape. I know, among other things, that Sony has such a player and I mean of course a portable HI-res player
Did Nakamichi ever release a tape recorder with Dolby S? I found my old collection of metal tapes but looks like I recorded most of them with Dolby S on my Sony ES deck I had back then. Would love to pick up a deck sheerly for the sake of nostalgia.
ANA[DIA]LOG - Thanks. In your opinion should I look for Sony KA3ES (what I had) or the Dragon. It’ll mostly be for playback if my tapes I recorded on the Sony. I think I know the answer - as the tapes are mostly in Dolby S.
Hi great video, very informative, but wow,, what a lot of effort, and could also be quite costly, why not just enjoy the music on the format that it arrives on, I used to do a lot of recording back in the 90s mostly specialist radio shows that are obviously unobtainable nowadays,, I still have the collection and listen on occasion, but I would not record stuff nowadays that is readily accessible.
Hi bro, where can I get n buy a good made in japan cassette deck. I'm from India (Mumbai). Can I get it imported to my country. Can u help me with some addresses where I can directly order.
Hi. Pls explain to me why do I need to spend a lot of money on a Nakamichi Dragon and metal tapes (which I can't even find ) when I can listen directly from DAC or CD Player? Thanks
Well, you can use also good type II and a three head deck from the 80's. Because it sounds better. Analog introduces distortion that just makes things more engaging and supple. Plus you can record your high-res music as explained here!
@@anadialog How an analog record made from a digital record can sound better than the source ? BTW, i listened "The dark side of the moon" remastered in 2023 on vinyl and it sounds much better than the original from 1973.... Big difference....
I did that in this video some time ago (check the link below)...but prices are going higher and higher: ruclips.net/video/F3Bv7EUhSy8/видео.html&feature=share9
Yes, I did two videos on this topic. The quality of Hi-Fi VHS is beyond that of many types of media. If you haven't seen them: ruclips.net/video/cnD_h5BVLec/видео.html
@@anadialogThere was a company called "In Sync Laboratories" located in NYC that in the 1980's produced fantastic pre-recorded cassettes (mainly classical). They used second generation dubbing master tapes with Nakamichi decks in real time onto TDK SA & SA-X type Ii cassette tapes. I still have about 100 of them & they still sound excellent.
There’s a ton of decent CD/SACD/DSD recordings out there not compromised by flatwall compression. The Dynamic Range Database is a great place to start. dr.loudness-war.info
recording albums on cassette tape Many people stopped doing when they got their first CD player. And the reason may be that the CD is not subjected to physical wear when playing
1. The sound is enriched, much much better than digital 2. You have a physical item with your high resolution audio instead of a huge file on your computer, or worse just streaming so you don't even own it. Obviously, I do understand that this is not for everyone. You need to be an analog buff and a cassette lover. Apart from that, with the proper gear, the sound is objectively just as good as the source, actually better in terms of warmth and realness...
@@anadialog errrrrrr ???!!!?? 1. the sound is enriched by making it worse? degrading signal to noise, channel separation, ... 2. erhm, physical item consumes way more space than a huge file on my storage. Heck, I can store thousands of digital items in the size of a compact cassette. You can have warmth (frequency response) and degraded signal to noise ration and crosstalk with a nice, high fidelity digital effect filter, ... and if you want wow and flutter the I can DSP filter add that for you, too ;-) and yes, I have a B77 Revox R2R around, too: ruclips.net/video/63WC68SJm28/видео.html you know, for the LOOKs ;-)
@@renerebe so you know what we are talking about (I think). Its a matter of taste in the end I guess.m.I just like to make cassettes out of extreme high resolution digital audio and analog audio...the results are breathtaking...you do need optimized gear....but then, its heaven!
Humm...is that one of those all-in-one stereo sets? If so, I maut admit that we are fighting exactly that...we need pro 3 head decks! The electronic components inside all together deliver a very high quality signal...
Any process you apply to change a final original signal will ultimately be a distorted version of this signal, even if it sounds better. Wether it improves the quality or not is subjective - up to the listener. Do you like the remastered version or the original best? If you like the remastered better, then it is an improvement. Someone else is sure to find the original better. Then for him, it is not an improvement.
![ANA[DIA]LOG](http://yt3.ggpht.com/50CpmGNilS8aoMlarZVhI_GxRDoZdbj4ZgwCMZXg-Rq2PrEvCytlE6RVyLUrNY-rwE_sAlZ1Zw=s48-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj)
I’ve been doing this since 1984 on my Nakamichi 582Z, later on 682ZX, using any tapes of reasonable quality. Recently I got a good used NAD 6300 cassette deck and worked on its alignment from playback frequency response to Dolby, to recording.
A bunch of TDK FE tapes are all it takes to give me crazy better sound from my SACD, CD, HDCD, records etc.
The fun is so huge! In fact, I do frequently listen to music via an instant recorded cassette tape loop
Original recording quality makes such a difference it’s baffling. I’ve been clouded into thinking that I can only listen to HiRes to truly enjoy hifi gear (closed-minded but not 100% wrong) but I recently downsampled some DSD256 from 2L to a 320mp3 and was blown away by how great it still sounded.
After I could no longer get replacement parts for my Nakamichi LX 3 cassette deck I got gear to convert my cassettes to wav format and burned them to CDs. Hundreds of cassettes. It took years. But I only did the conversion for recordings if there was no digital source available. Every time the industry changes format there are a lot of albums that are lost. A huge amount of music and artists were lost with the switch from 78 rpm records to 33 & a 3rd, and again from there to cds and their souless digital sound. A great pitty indeed. However, I could get a richer analogue sound from digital sources by running the signal through a ten band graphic equalizer and then through a Pioneer reverberation amplifier. And now, thanks to your great video, I will look into Dac devices and see if I can splice them into the signal flow. Thanks for the tip!
What a wonderful song and such great sound from the good cassette made on a high quality deck.
For me the best way to get an "analogue sound" from digital is by using a good tube pre-amp. I get that warmth again from good digital recordings.
That can surely help, very true!
The right DAC can do this to an extent. A lot of people prefer Wolfson DACs in digital audio players (like the early iPods) because they closely resemble the sound signature provided by the warmth of tube setups.
not that its s proper substitute, or even on the same level; I know we're on a video thats dedicated to digital to analog conversion, but for someone like me that doesn't necessarily want to (or is able to) spend the money on a good tube amp/pre-amp setup but still wants that warmth in their mustic playback, there are other options on the digital side that can translate into your analog recordings somewhat.
@@jdelfresco1634 Yes 5.5 enhanced ipod vid and other models sound great
I want to thank you for making this video. After watching, I thought it might be some fun to give this experiment a go, as I've enjoyed streaming hi-res from Tidal and Qobuz, but wanted my streams to have a little less "digital edge," especially since I mostly listen to Jazz. So, in part because of you, I bought a nice Technics direct drive cassette deck, ordered some blank cassettes and crossed my fingers.
I cannot BELIEVE the results. Honestly, I remember cassettes sounding like crap when I was a kid. That's because I was listening to pre-recorded tapes and poorly recorded radio. The collection of albums I'm building now sound so good, they're blowing me away, and rivaling some of my audiophile vinyl. I'm sure you could achieve similar results on the digital signal with a bit of tone control or introducing tubes to the system, but that's missing part of the point. It's fun to have hi-res music on a physical format. Cutting these tapes is so much fun and storing them on my shelf makes me feel closer to the music.
Again, THANK YOU, and keep videos like this coming!
How cool! Thanks for this feedback. The same happen to me and its reasonably difficult to convince people that tape is truly amazing. Thanks again!
Agree, similar experience here! Tape does something to the sound that is quite favorable.
I've been doing this for years and I couldn't agree more. I make 7" mixtapes from *ONLY* lossless hi-res SACD/DVD-A/FLAC sources to my Tascam 22-2 (2 track) at 15 IPS. It's a blast to see the reaction on guests' faces when they hear how good they sound. Plus the limited duration of under 22 minutes means I don't have to talk anyone into a lengthy listening session.
Sweet!
I just bought an Ibasso DC06 which renders MQA16x - excited to make new tape recordings with it - with my TEAC V7000. Used to do them through my Sony NW-A55 DAC and using MQA core decoding with USB Player Pro (Android). So now I can use my iPhone Tidal ==> Ibasso dc06 (full MQA decode) ==> analog TEAC V7000. Cheers
I got The Downward Spiral by NIN on cassette for collection and i must say it's the best pre recorded original cassette I have. It was recorded with Dolby S HX Pro and on a Sony TC-K 570 with Dolby C on the quality is very close to digital sources like CD or Tidal. Of course a type iv or a good type ii home recorded one would be even better, but nonetheless I was so amazed by the quality of the original, since they usually sound not so well and most are more enjoyable with just not even Dolby B on.
The first song you played brings back memories. I played that song on bass on a few gigs and that's such a great (and challenging!) song to play.
This is something that recently occurred to me as a possibility, but wasn't sure what the actual results would be. Am going to put this into practice. Thanks for the presentation, and i really enjoy your channel overall.
👍
Ease of use, versatility, and cost all will combine to affect the future of cassettes, but I agree that assuming quality of source, quality of deck, and quality of tape? You or me or anyone else, as an audiophile music lover, CAN enjoy taped audio once again, and THIS time enjoy it even more. That is what gives me a lot of hope to see taped analogue audio return to the ears of people. It's just a sweeter sound that harsh digital in some ways, and there are stats that digital can stomp analog formats with-- like channel separation and the high end-- which really don't matter all that much to the human ear. Most people can not HEAR above 15,000 Hertz. But they can darn sure hear warble, wow and flutter, tape hiss, digital brash midranges, and digital muddy bass notes. Tape kinda "rounds out" the harshness of digital, and many humans end up liking it just fine.... IF it is done right. Which your video-- this video-- explains oh so well. Gotta have all three-- quality of source, quality of tape, quality of deck. Ya really need good speakers as well!
Yes, excellent idea!
HiRes cassettes recorded from streaming HiRes, is a relevant way to get analog playlist, by the "Tape effect" giving his sweet touch to the best digital music. Ok there is a bit less dynamic and details, but more round and warm sound, sometimes less is more!
Furthermore with well recorded cassette, it would be possible to enjoy our preferred music AFTER the end of the streaming or download subscription.
Cassette, with good system, sounds somehow like vinyl, but with customized playlist advantage:).
Check second hand market, to preserve the planet and your finance.
Warm regards.
Indeed!
@@anadialog It's interesting how some people like a flavor of distortion added for music to become more pleasant to listen to. Whatever is involved in this "tape effect" has some explanation that undoubtedly can be reproduced with some circuit without actually having to go the "tape route". I would expect there is more to it than simple compression (65dB max) and high frequency low-pass filtering but those are probably part of it. Any idea?
Of course, it's analog, can't replicate that with a plug-in. In any case forget the low pass filter, that was maybe taking place in prerecorded tapes. On my type II, III or IV cassettes I have the full frequency spectrum, higher than CD, and very high dynamic range. The rest is mainky distortion, I did a dedicated video on the topic, solid bass and smooth treble: ruclips.net/video/aTYc7vZuM-c/видео.html
@@anadialog Yes, I can agree it’s unlikely there is anything currently available as DSP processing layout that can replicate the analog effect of a tape deck, but as an audio engineer, I am sure it would be a possible thing to design, but not trivial. Same goes with vinyl playback. Actually it would be an interesting challenge to design the digital equivalent of analog artifacts of tape and vinyl. For example, wow and flutter on a tape probably helps making synth tones sound more musical and a DSP could easily add such effect (tiny shifts in playback speed). But that’s just one of several such effects and getting them right would require a ton of A/B comparison and tuning. There is nothing magic about it but it would probably take long time to get everything right.
I'm a Dragon owner too. I record SACD, DVD-A, K2 CD, XRCD into cassettes from high quality blank tapes that i bought between late 1980s to mid-1990s using a Lexicon RT-10 player as a playback source, awesome results. I also record them into mini-disc since I have a SONY MZ-1 recorder unit i bought from 1990s
Way to go!
When you transfer digital audio to analog, something magical happens! It's much smoother and "3 dimensional" "realistic" if you will! We've all heard great sounding "digital records" ( I know, AAA is the best) but im making point here! Sure, a lot of people hate digital record's, but when you compare it to the CD (to my ears , my opinion) , there's a "depth there that's not on the CD! Most people hear it, some dont! So just as a 192k/24bit cut to a record sounds amazing, same goes for the cassette!
I agree...
Analogue plays back with more ease than digital playback!?! but if you want to really hear cassette at it’s best keep it AAA+A.
i agree!! well put
Speaking of DACs, I just got my Schiit modi 3 the other day. It sounds so good! Very detailed in all frequencies. Yes, the lows as well. No fatigue either(unless ear damage-volume is used of course) And it's very affordable as well, highly recommended! I use the coaxial digital out from my bluray player for playing CDs, or the usb for streaming with a computer. Gonna try it with my Pioneer CT-S410 deck someday!
Cool...don't wait,try it now!
I have the getting a modi too, is there a budget deck you recommend the Nakamichi Dragon is a bit expensive for me now!
Muito legal ver uma musica brasileira nesse canal que adoro assistir. Greetings from Brazil!
Then maybe you should watch this I made...;-) ruclips.net/video/fO6IZXflk40/видео.html
I am using a Yamaha KX-930 and a 24 bit DA converter and already I am blowing away what I could do in the 90's. DSD on cassette will blow your mind.
Cool!
Interesting video ;) Ever since I can remember, I've been putting together my own mixtapes sourced from vinyl, radio, CD...I must say pre-recorded tapes are not crap, I mean...many of them are, but you can come across excellent commercial cassettes. Plus, if you have a deck with azimuth adjustment knob and an external Dolby decoder device, you can acheive a very good sound with almost any cassette that you play on your tape deck ;)
I agree and also made a video (link below), I just wanted to mark the difference with some harsh language! ;-) ruclips.net/video/MpL6zeDbss4/видео.html
This is a great idea, I do something similar with Minidiscs... not 100% analog I know, but I use to "download" my SACDs to Minidiscs using the analog output of my Oppo 105D... sounds amazing, I know Minidiscs are not analog, but they have a particular sound signature that I love (maybe because of ATRAC and DSP magic).
I understand that! A lot of people love minidiscs! You should check this out: ruclips.net/video/BFKqmt_2XWE/видео.html
I learn a lot with your channel and listening brazillian music still better, Obrigado! Greetings from Brazil!
The BASF TP II Reference Maxima were my facorite go to Tapes back in the days.The holy Grail probably was the SONY Metal Master Tape with white ceramic housing. Beautiful looking and sounding. They were like 20 Marks for one back in the early 90s.
I have one those ceramic Sony. Remember that was expensive.
You can un wrap the first layer of MQA and be just fine. I use an Aurender with a Usb converter connected into my Audio Research Dac 8 and downloaded the update to the Aurender for Mqa. I compared it with a ful MQA Dac and there was a difference but nothing major enough for me to spend more, but the better the Dac overall the sound quality will get better. I tried the Liberty Dac which unwraps all the layers in my testing. I agree with your findings.
True!
Following with interest , that's something I thought nobody use anymore , I think I still have a technics cassete player somewhere 😉
The Nakamichi Dragon, the first production cassette deck built around Rijckaert - de Niet and Niro Nakamichis's inventions, was introduced in North America in November 1982. The Dragon, which was priced at US$1,850, replaced the far more expensive, already discontinued Nakamichi 1000ZXL as the company's flagship model.
Your totally right, the better source, the better sound, a great deck, can make excellent recordings, I still love cassettes, a great topic & a great video.
Yes i do like cassettes too but am only worry about damage them overtimes.
One thing that I forgot to mention to you, if you get the opportunity please start doing the research for and go buy the New Bluenote Tone Poet series, they are awesome, mastered by Kevin Gray and set up by Joe Harley, they are to die for and much cheaper than the Music Matters by about 15.00 dollars or more depending on where they are purchased, in your case what country. For a system the equivalent of yours and mine, they will blow your mind!!!
Thanks for sharing that! I will defeniteky check them!
Great music! Greetings from Brazil!!
The best!
I haven’t used tapes since my early 20’s, but even when I was a kid, I was very picky about what tapes I used. I only used Sony UX or TDK SA or MA tapes. Think I spent a fortune on tapes when I was younger! Unfortunately now it’s a lot harder to find good type 2 and type 4 tapes that are new old stock, and that stock available is very pricey. The people who have this stock usually tend to know how much these tapes are worth now.
This is very true and unfortunately the downside of this process...but things are changing and excellent type 1 cassettes are now back in production...maybe, if we insist, we may see the birth of a Chrome cassette! In any case, you must hunt ebay and look for the a good opportunity...
ANA[DIA]LOG if they brought back the chrome cassettes, I’d probably consider getting back into it, maybe even consider getting a 3 head deck and really make a go of it. Unfortunately another thing you have to consider with buying new old stock cassettes is that you don’t know if they were stored properly or where they are coming from. If say they came from a place of a humid climate, then the tape can get mould from over 20 years of storage, even if the tapes are sealed and never been opened, this would most definitely make the tape unusable, I have seen it on a RUclips channel called Cassette Comeback.
That's a nice Nakamichi player you have there.
Yeah! They are truly amazing decks...
I recorded my sacd discs and records to my cassettes. It makes for lovely sounding tapes.
Good job!
Thank you for the music ideea. Another album on my minidisc collection!
Excellent videos. Love your channel. You are introducing me to the analog world. Thanks! So, Will Hi Res recording work if I use the following chain:
From my Mac, my 192K recording, Ableton Live in 192K >>> Arturia AudioFuse2 (192K too) >>> Dual C-844 (double speed) Does this make sense? If so, what do I call my final result? Hi resolution cassette? What cassettes are best on Dual C-844? Thank you for your lights.
Thanks! As long as you connect an analog output to the deck you are good. Just keep the levels near 0db on the deck, just slightly above. Best tape is type 4, very expensive, otherwise a good NOS type 2 is very good by TDK, Sony, Maxell. If you don't want the hassle even a Fox from Recording the master is good. Remember that if you record in double speed you won't be able to listen to that cassette on other players.
@@anadialog Thanks a lot for your reply. Are there a specific quality or brand of cables for the analog connections that you could advise? Some praise that stock clinch cables are good enough, others see miracles in cables that cost more than a car.
But being reasonable in costs, have you found that any given cable could improve the connections (at least not degrading the signal, but letting pass everything that should pass through it) Thank you!
I discovered a long time ago that if you still own a Classic DVD-Recorder and put the recording quality on SP+ it will record the Audio in PCM without any MPEG or AC3 Codecs. You basically have a 24 bit DAT Recorder that records up to Two hours on a 8.5GB Double Layer DVD-R Disc ($15 in a 25pack). Make sure you don't have a video source connected. If you have a built-in HDD you can do the same thing with that also extending the time you can record exponentially. Old DVD Recorders are dumped and you can get them everywhere for less than $25. I don't have to tell ya that at a lower Quality you can do the same with AC3 or MPEG making 6 hours real time audio (+black video) recording or more on a Disc possible. Mine can go up to 12 hours on a 4.7Gb Disc and than the bit-rate is 128Kbps stereo AC3 (20Hz-15KHz) with 90dB dynamic range. It is basically a MPEG (Quasi Tape) Recorder. It's the stunning quality that makes this a no-brainer and the discs are cheap. Just food for thought.
Nice, thanks for sharing that.
interesting video. i thought i was the only one doing this type of thing. i've been using 24/196 files (or higher, if i can find them) that i've downloaded and installed on an old ipod (with the highly praised Wolfson WM87588G internal DAC) that i modded 656GB storage to hold it all, running RockBox software to handle the files. Connected that via line-out (NOT the headphone jack. people can't understand the difference and think this step is irrelevant, ITS VERY RELEVANT) to one of the 4 official Apple docks I own (from varying years for specific models, all of which also contain different models of Wolfson DACs) with a 3.5mm to RCA into my cassette player. I shoud probably use the official Apple 30-pin to RCA cables as they're specifically meant for this type of thing and offer a more established stereo separation, among other things, but I have to find a set that isn't priced at an arm and a leg
The biggest bottleneck is my cassette deck. Its not a bad deck, (Technics RS-T17), especially for the $4 i paid for it last year. It could be better though. The wow and flutter is awful at the first minute or so (probaby needs belts) but it makes pretty good recordings on my various type 2 tapes. Unfortunately I only own 2 Type 4 tapes (Sony and Maxell) and I'm not really trying to use them until I'm no longer hindered by my deck. I'm definitely working on it though. I'm searching for a nice single deck I can afford every single day waiting for the right one to pop up
thanks for this video, I love your content. I'm glad you made this. It honestly didn't teach me much at this point (although about 6 months ago it woulda saved me alot of headaches lol) but its good for reassurance that I've got it all figured out, as well as letting me know that I'm not the only one who takes this type of thing seriously in 2021
Love this guy he makes some great videos
Oh the Nakamichi Dragon. I haven't seen one of those in over 25 years.
i believe I saw a really bad condition one here the in the Portland area a while back, but $6,000 in mid 80 dollars - not many around i would think.
Well, on eBay there are usually a few...
Allan Jacks Ebay has some used from $2,500 to over $3,000.
I think you can still buy parts for Nakamichi decks. Not for 99% of cassette stuff out there.
As you now know , I can not use this if it needs a patch up player .
Software developers have no logic , that is for sure .
The sound of the Dragon there was Atmospheric , who needs Dolby C exrta compression , there is never a hiss over the top of the music , never has been .
The sound of the cassette deck it was always a top notch I am screaming from the 70s and 80s I recorded a chrome cassette from an nice turntable the guy I gave the cassette he put it on a top notch car pioneer deck his jaw dropped instantly to the floor and also I recorded another cassette from a CD player wonderful sound Guys listen to this ANA DIA LOG Gentleman he is giving you the best advice you can get listen to him and follow his knowledge he is the best guy for music reproduction
He basically does what I did when I was a kid. My dad sold audio and video equipment so I was able to touch pretty good stuff back then.
Recording from tidal on tapes is an amazing result, but the more amazing result for me is I have digital cd copy's, for example, MFSL CD's and First releases 80's CDs. when you recording from tidal pink Floyd it's 2011 remaster digital but earlier CDs have better quality.
The pioneer ct900 s does a great job. I can't tell the difference from my celine dion sacd and the tape I made of it.
Exactly!
Pre-recorded cassettes are not very bad, but they are not as good compared to recordings that I have made on my own. The best pre-recorded cassettes in my collection are Stone Temple Pilots' Core and my bloody valentine's loveless. Every other album I own is a step down from those two. When I made a copy of loveless from the original tape to Type IV metal tape, I was blown away by the jump in the quality.
One last addition to the argument: pre-recorded cassettes that existed before they faded out actually have pretty good quality since most of them after the late 70s (I believe) had a Dolby B or S encoded signal or decent mastering. Anything prior to the late 70s or after the 2000s when they were discontinued for a while, do not sound good. When cassettes started making a comeback, they started to just sound as bad or worse than pre-recorded cassettes before the late 70s. This is not an accurate comparison, but Nirvana albums for example. I have "Bleach" and Nevermind. I have the cassette repressing of "Bleach" and streaming the album sounds better than the cassette reissue. The original cassette pressing of Nevermind sounds excellent and is much more of an enjoyable listen than listening to "Bleach." If I get an original or earlier 1988 (or 89) cassette pressing of "Bleach," I will post another comment and give you my thoughts on how both versions sound. I am assuming that the earlier pressing will win.
You should try to use the HiFi video tape recorder. The frequency modulation of audio signal should give great quality gain.
Also it should be amazing to see if someone can build the delta-sigma ADC producing the DSD direct to a tape and vice versa. Even it can be done without the fixed sampling frequency, recording the pure PWM signal, so sych recordong system will become some hybrid between digital and analogue worlds.
I did! ruclips.net/video/cnD_h5BVLec/видео.html
Properly mastered CD is enough. MQA is a gimmick.
You are amazing as always. Loved this
I just finished watching a video called : I published on Tidal to test MQA - MQA review . A video by Golden Sound . Highly recommended.
Thanks for a great video as always! I know that you used Tidal as your example, but I suspect that Qobuz can be used as well..correct? What do you think about the quality of the Denon DRS-810 or Yamaha K-1020 cassette decks?
Digital source music to analog-deck-tape make source music analog again, no sample rate, no bits, just fluid sound from magnetic head, I agree with You, I have made my own audio tapes from digital sources, Gentlman MTV live to cassette have great sound on chrome audio tape with Dolby B pressed to add loudness like filter to recorded music.
i do the same! mqa or dsf files from dac to cassette (i m using a cheap teac v1050 deck) and i listen with some Sony walkman of the '2000 era... just wonderful.. are we crazy? ;)
Yeah we're crazy but even the sound quality is! ;-)
My goal when i record cassettes is to obtain a "better" recording than the CD format. I use analog output of my SACD player and record a cassette with Dolby B if needed. Super ferric cassettes are the best to add some warmth with amazing results! Deep bass and smooth highs; very analog and natural sounding. No listening fatigue.
Exactly! Good job man...there are a lot of misbilievers out there...
Beautiful bossa-nova to start the video, now his master Joao Gilberto has leave us a little bit more alone.
The harder point to accomplish in these days is the third: a GOOD CASSETTE DECK. No manufacturer makes them anymore. The e.Bay alternative is risky business (and not necessarily affordable). The big royal way (open reel, my favorite storage medium) is, I think, more easy to go, but it is extremely expensive: you can find machines on the market for not too much money. A pity these need a strong, if not full, restoration service that cost an arm and a leg. Minimum for a modest open reel recorder plus restorarion: $5.000 in the States. Here in Europe it can be even costlier.
Good cassette decks, in the case they're not in catastrophic state, most probably must be submitted to a "re-sheeting & paint" process that can let you straight to bankruptcy.
At the end of the day, everything is a question of money. It doesn't give the happiness. It BUYS, instead, it.
Wise words...sadly true! It takes also time and effort besides some money but after the hassle you are tremendously rewarded and....its an investment, all this stuff is going up and up in its value! A good practice is ALWYAS to send a deck, cassette or reel to a lab for full calibration and check up, possible for enhancements! Some labs and private gurus do this! I have a few special treats coming up in this sense...hehehe!
@@anadialog A friend off mine allso owns a Nakamichi Dragon. He had some problems with it. Luckely for him, there's a Nakamichi service centre over here in Maassluis near Rotterdam. After a week he got it back and is playing with the deck eversince. Have to say allso the cost were not that high. It needed a ner idler, some oil and new pinch rollers and belts. Total cost inc payment for work €352,70 Think it was a fair price. Ofcourse he asked me to do it but, the Nak is to me a bit complicated. I will stick with my Studer A721 much more easier for service. No belts, no idler and so on. Just 4 motors for playing a cassette.
You’re sure right about eBay. Had to return a Nak a few years ago that was not nearly as described.
Did not get all my money back. If I can’t buy used equipment locally, I don’t buy it.
@@Gregor7677 After seeing others' bad experiences with eBay I never trayied to buy used gear through it (not to mention to participate in an auction).
Every single piece of used audio I've aquired (very few) has been from well kown friends of mine.
What stinks is Type II have become out of reach for me so I'm stuck with Type 1 with Dolby C/S or DBX depending on what I'm recording but I make it work.
Thanks for video, very valuable. What is your opinion about SACD sound quality?
Most SACD are very poor quality. Just normal PCM masters converted in DSD at the end of the process. A well mastered CD is better. Native DSD recordings, well mixed and mastered are outstanding and well beyond the rest IMO.
@@anadialog Thanks!
Good video as always. Thanks a lot. One question: I have to tape decks, one 3 head Sony and one Sony DAT. Where would you do those analog recordings on? Many thanks.
Well DAT is a digital medium (excellent quality)...so perhaps, instead of converting it you could send the digital signal directly to the DAT tape. Remember though that DAT is not a high res format. A few models reach 24 bits or 96khz (not both) but they are rare...if you want to fallow the video then go with the Sony cassette deck!
Maybe it‘s interesting: I just taped from Tidal and Qobuz several test songs on a Chrome Tape and on a DAT Sony Tape at 48kHZ. Both of course analog due to DRM. The DAT sounded richer with more dynamic where the Dolby B Chrome Tape was more reserved.
Keep up the great videos.
I knew it.. thank ANA[DIA]LOG to validate my point.. I been saying this to my friends 15 years ago... DVD sound quality is better than all.. Unfortunately DVD sound quality is the most underrate of all medium. there is not much coverage on any of this in audiophile magazine at all. My friend thought i was crazy. Today Not even youtuber cover this .. I think your channel is the first one who cover DVD sound quality.It's ironic why such a hardcore audiophile fan not manage to discover this pinnacle of sound quality- DVD-audio. you mention DVD-audio only.. I think all DVD-video is equally DAT quality audio better than CD. Most of them included PCM 2.0 (48khz)by default. I think PCM 2.0 (48khz) itself looked bad in marketing that why is so underrated. But don't judge by it cover. Do cover more about DVD music. I always love do recording from DVD source. It's amazing experience to turn my Panasonic Walkman into audiophile quality.. LOL. you got good taste in choosing Sony UX-S. I always use them to record DVD source because i try most other blank tape it's just won't work well. sound crap. Any recommendation of good or better blank cassette beside Sony UX-S?
Thanks man! Well, I love the Sony UX-pro from the 80's that should be the pinnacle of the tape type!
DVD-Audio for stereo sound is no better than Compact Disc. There is 0 benefit for higher sampling/bit rates. 5.1 and so on is a different story all together. I guarantee for stereo sound you will fail a blind test. Watch some vids on sampling rates and how it works and your see that all higher sampling does nothing but use more data.
I absolutely 100% disagree! I did a video on DVD-Audio: ruclips.net/video/4_n_eNK5IMk/видео.html
I have a few of these disc. They completely blow away any CD version of the same album. I would guess any of these without any doubt. DVD-Audio was one of the best things we had. Yes, we have high-res files which technically it's the same thing but the quality of the mastering was much more natural. In any case a high sampling rate and a high bit depth is the key to true high fidelity. In fact higher frequencies are recordable only with these high sampling rates. I have demonstrated in this video how important is what lies beyond 20khz: ruclips.net/video/Btn572ZIC8k/видео.html
The topic is complex. The huge bottle neck of this technology as I always say are the mics. Unless we are recording with high res mics we do not have high resolution audio. Now finally things are changing. Apart from this, a high sampling rate and great but depth greatly help a tape transfer.
@@Albee213
i can tell the difference. It depends on your earing and system.
@@xzing7 People with perfect pitch fail the tests.
Brilliant , MQA + Tape Calibration + DBX 224X or Sanyo Super D = Recording ### BEST
Well, if you also add DBX the recordings will be even better...why not add double speed?
Waters of March by Jobim, great song.
Art Garfunkel also recorded a fine version.
Bitperfect player like Usb player pro for your digital audio player(fiio. X7 II) with DAC is the most price accessible to all without the time consuming hassles of dedicated audio desktop rigs. It's 90% there in audio quality vs the 1000 plus desktop DAC rigs. Qobus. Tidal Google music most accessible within Usb audio pro.
I am new to streaming music and have a Windows 10 computer, what are the best Audirvana type softwares for this?
Audirvana now changed and it is available for windows with loads of features BUT it is a subscription. Then you also need a subscription to a streaming service of high quality. I prefer Qobuz. You can just use the Qobuz app and you are good, the important is that your PC can handle high-res music.
It's a lot easier and takes up less space if you download a free application like "Audacity".. record all the music you want from wherever you stream it from online with Audacity or similar... Then you just need to save your new digital file as wav, ogg, mp3 etc... Preferably wav. The saved file will sound as good as the original!
Yes of course, but that is a digital format. This is not a video to try to save a digital file, this is a video to analogize the glare and cold flat 1s and 0s of digital audio...obviously for convenience we can get the best of both, meaning using also the digital files! No need to leave aside one or the other...
Prerecorded cassettes are as you said, but "prerecorded" streaming services are crap too. I remember that in 90s and 2000s to get good quality mp3 you have to make them by yourself because "prerecorded mp3 was crap as well. Now streaming services take their crappy mp3s make them hi and that's it. They just convert them to xkilo bits and xbilions herts.
Hello Master of Analog,
if I were to record a CD or high-resolution album with the WE ARE REWIND Walkman, the sound quality would be good. With the Walkman WE ARE REWIND, does it make a difference whether I use a normal cassette or one made of chrome, or better yet one made of metal, but that probably won't be available anymore?
No, the WAR is intended to record on Type 1 tapes
@@anadialog Thank you very much for your help
Other than the sound, analog is amazing also because you just pop the phisical music container in and you are ready to go, no need to use a screen to mediate between you and your music (as someone that works the whole day with a computer the "ritual" of playing a vinyl is refreshing!). Also note that for the digital part it is really important that the whole chain stays in bitperfect: that means in short that the dac should use the same resolution and depth as the source, otherwise a lot of the detail becomes useless! It is similar to what happens when you take an image and enlarge it at 101% without a complex scaling: everything becomes blurry, as you are messing with the strict grid positioning that digital has. Audirvana is amazingly easy to set up (and a really great software too!) but the same can be achieved with foobar 2000 too, at the expense of a little of search and configuration!
Very true...thanks for adding that Marco!
Hi! Would it be possible that a cassette recorded using a cd as digital source, can sound much alive, with more textures, airy and with more 3D respect to the cd where it was recorded?? Many thanks for your reply!
Cheers!Raf
Hi there, it is important to make clear that a passage from a source to another medium will never generate more information, actually there will always be some loss. Nevertheless, the analog distortion, the tape saturation, does create a more similar to life sound, more engaging and familiar...in a nutshell more pleasing! For instance I hate the digital glare that even high resolution files have, once recorded on tape that glare and harshness is greatly reduced!
Any cassette decks you may recommend and are available these days? Found a video from you but it is from 2017...
The few new decks around, like Tascam, unfortunately are garbage. You must get a good used deck, possibly served. There are several affordable Nakamichi, Aiwa and Akai top models, Luxman, Duals, Revox, Pioneers...look for 80's models with three heads. Can't go wrong.
MFSL did recording on BAFS Chrome cassettes -Still have Steely dan's Aja but the recording was hit by a aging problem in the 90's -maybe it was stored wrong ,dunno ( roomtemprature ) .
I know! I did a video on audiophile pre-recorded cassettes: ruclips.net/video/MpL6zeDbss4/видео.html
Mine was just on overstatement to make the point, I have dozens of excellent pre-recorded cassettes!
Plus I also demonstrated they superiority when properly done and compared with high-resolution audio: ruclips.net/video/xtIdGDk4g0M/видео.html
Not to criticise or anything - because I like the sound myself - but “that analogue sound” you are talking about is really distortion. Degradation.
And thank you for an interesting topic plus introduction to a wonderful song!
I know and I have said this several times...but its pleasant and to me it sounds more natural than digital. In any case I love and use both formats but on a desert island I would bring analog media hands down...that's all!
ANA[DIA]LOG I know! And my point was not to disagree with you as I too like the charm of “analogue” sound.
@@roygalaasen sorry I misunderstood!
You're wrong and ignorant.
Analogue sound like tape, does not have a ADC /DAC process. Being freed of these processes means the complete avoidance of sample rates, and thus the filters introduced in such types of conversions. This means that no phase shifts are introduced.
I have a TEAC UD 505 capable of Octa DSD, 22,4 MHz, and a special filter moved all the way up to 600 kHz. Most dacs already introduces the filter that removes digital noise from the sample rate itself, all the way down at 50kHz. These filters alters the phase, and ruins the sound, but they are required in digital audio.
When listening to pure analog, you aren't listening to samples, you're listening to a true constant signal, which isn't altered by phase corrupting filters, that's why some people prefer it.
I like both analogue and digital equally for diffrent reasons.
Tuii Oh no.... another troll that arguments by attacking people... My impression is that you don’t really know anything about digital audio.
So this is analogue any kind of format you can imagine: you have tape which have a width where there is a tape head with a coil that cover a certain area. Bigger area will give higher dynamics and less noise, tape speed will give higher frequencies. So analogue is kind of to digital tape speed vs sample rate. And area of sensing coil sort of bit resolution in the digital world.
Analogue has “losses” in every single part of the chain from uneven tape transport to noise from thermal activity in any piece of circuitry, signals are small, so noise and signal gets boosted under signal amplification and transport of said signal
In digital you do have those filters as you say, like low pass to prevent aliasing, and filters in the sample process itself, but when the signal finally is digital, it can be reproduced 100% every single time. Sample rates does mean something as do bit resolution, but with more than 16 bits the noise floor of a single bit will be much much lower than tape hiss or other noise that is seen as analogue, and with proper dithering that noise you don’t hear anyway is further reduced. And with sample rates two times that of human hearing, no one will hear the lack of frequencies anyway, as no one over the age of 35 hears frequencies over 20000 Hz.
As I said: Digital is “perfect”, Analogue is “flawed”. The warmth you are hearing is imperfections manifesting as a “warmth” that is a pleasure to listen to.
It is a misconception that digital is not a pure continuous signal. Also there is no “phase distortion” happening either. Not unless you create a filter that does on purpose that is.
But a DAP player with the Tidal app may be preferable in the car. for cars usually have no tape players now anymore. And those that were included in the car standard usually did not have such good quality either. Tidal has a download option, right? . Finding equipment to record 24-bit audio from the analog output of your SACD player may be a little more difficult
ciao gran bei video molto istruttivo , sto trasportando su nastro musica digitale da tidal la mia catena è formata da una piastra yamaha kx1200 un dac sonic frontieres e integrato accuphase, la mia domanda è, quali nastri mi consigli ?
grazie
Ciao! Si possono ottenere buoni risultati anche con le ferro e supererò tipo 1. Le migliori però rimangono le tipo 2 e 4 principalmente delle Marche giapponesi, TDK, Sony, Fuji, Maxell etc. Ad ogni modo farò presto un video in dettaglio!
You have some good suggestions and know your audio well. But I slightly disagree about normal bias tapes; I view them as mostly junk. They just do not have enough high end to really vault the format into the hi fi realm. I get that you have a NAK dragon, and it darn sure WILL get the best out of any tape, normal bias or not. But most folks won't ever own a deck that good. And normal bias tapes were designed for voice diction.
Well I do get very good results with Type 1, not all, those with quality. But might as well go for the 2,3 or 4, absolutely! Price is always going to be an issue though.
Good stuff, thanks for sharing, my friend👍
Yeah!!! Im from Brazil :)
I have a cheaper Nak 3- head deck and just recently hooked it up to my current system. I swear I never knew it could sound as good as it did with tapes I recorded 30+ years ago. Not good enough to give up my DAC, but surprising.
Hi Bill, you are on the right road...you should make sure all specs are top notch and that you are using high quality cassettes for future recordings...don't need to give up your DAC, use it to create astounding new recordings! ;-)
Since we are going digital to analog, why not send to a reel to feel deck or HiFi vhs video cassette player (my cheap reel to feel)? Could you record to DCC (digital compact cassette) Technics, Philips. Just curious
Absolutely! Better a VHS or a DAT tape though...reel to reel is too expensive to waist it on digital ;-)
Elis Regina & Tom Jobim, very good.
I have have a Nakamichi CR-2A cassette deck from 1988 and I also have a Yamaha KX-390 from 1998. Yes the Nakamichi is not a Dragon and yes the Yamaha is not Yamaha's best cassette deck I bought for $300 USD new. The Nakamichi was pre-owned and it is an excellent shape inside and out and I got it for steal for only $50 USD a year ago 2018. Yes, you need to have some decent cassette tape to make some decent cassettes. I find that the Yamaha cassette deck makes a far better recording then the Nakamichi does. Yes they're 10 years apart, but the Yamaha just has some extra things going for it then the Nakamichi does. Over the years I have been able to make amazing sounding tapes with both of these decks. My friend has the Nakamichi Dragon and it is an awesome cassette deck but I have actually made cassettes with the Yamaha that are no worse by any stretch then my friend's Nakamichi Dragon! I have told people over the years that if you have a decent high quality cassette deck such as the two I have and you have some decent blank cassette tapes, you can make some damn good recordings. Even with type one such as the MAXELL UR, you can make yourself a pretty damn full range clean cassette recording on one of those tapes if things are set properly in your bias. To this very day the best tape I have ever recorded on and I only own one and that is the Sony Metal Master. It's made of complete ceramic composite and I don't know what's inside that shell but it's just an amazing sounding cassette tape. They were very expensive and they were not very common. Back in the early 90s at a local music shop they had a Bargain Bin there filled with all kinds of things and this Sony Metal Master cassette tape just popped up and caught my eye. It cost $6.99 USD at a Bargain Bin price! That's the only one I've ever seen or held in my hand I should say, physically. Now the next in line for the best cassette tape I've ever recorded on were another expensive and not so common tape in the late 1980s and they were the 3M Black Watch. Even in the late 1980s a 100 minute metal cassette cost $8.99 USD so I didn't buy a whole lot of them but I wish I would have bought cases full of them because they are the most neutral cassette tapes I've ever recorded on. You could put a lot of level into them with zero distortion. The 3M Black Watch we're so neutral that you could not tell the difference between the tape and the original source. I even had my friends do a blindfold test on me to see if I could guess which was which and I couldn't. Great, great tape! You had mentioned that type 2 tapes are the best to record on and you don't recommend type 1 but as far as I know as of today they are not making type 2 tape anymore. At least here in the USA I can only get Maxell UR cassette tape new sealed. So I'm forced with no choice but to go around second-hand shops and get very lucky finding sealed cassette tapes such as TDK-SA for an example or I have bought a lot of pre-owned cassettes that look brand new and they record and sound great! The proof is in the pudding as they say so yes you can still make a great audio cassette tape and you can even do it with a type 1.
Thanks for sharing you experience! Your testimony supports the fact that you absolutely DO NOT need to spend a fortune for high quality results. Congrats! Turning to cassettes, obviously Type 4 are always going to be the best...obvious is also the fact that the old new stock of any type of cassette, especially those from the 80's, for now, cannot be beaten from current production. The tape technology was light years ahead at that time!
@@anadialog You got that right!
Bellissimo il tuo canale. Mi piacerebbe molto che ci fosse anche una versione in italiano...
Ciao Aldo, lo capisco e devo dire che anche a me piacerebbe ma ormai mi sono inoltrato in questa direzione...forse un giorno, chissà...
I love this channel
Love your videos! Would love to do it! Right now I’m building an “awesome-budget” system. Is there a good budget deck you’d suggest? Currently I’ve got a Technics SL-3350 turntable, Pioneer 780 amplifier and streaming amazon HD with an Echo Link. A Mani phono pre. Next on my list is the Schiitt Modi and Saga+ and of course a vintage Tape Deck. Please let me know what you would suggest as budget one.
Thanks! I think the Dual C-844 I recently reviewed is simply amazing: ruclips.net/video/r5zQ8SYbxFQ/видео.html
Otherwise a Nakamichi BX-300!
@@anadialog Thanks I'll keep looking for one of those you recommend. Currently i'm using Amazon HD streaming. I noticed you seemed to have a slight "eye twitch/tic" I think I may have missed part of your message. Could you please clarify, give me a clue or hint. Sorry I am a bit of a beginner and don't always get your technical jargon;-) And feel free to reply in Italian, I can always translate if that helps.
@@samhalsey5051 I was just suggesting that we all know how to get digital music files off the web. Like torrents etc. I use Qobuz now, its just easier and high-res.
ANA[DIA]LOG got in now thanks😉😉😉
ANA[DIA]LOG Just bought a Nakamichi BX-300... This is Gonna Be Fun! The seller says it is “calibrated to record on TDK tape”. Does that mean I should only use TDK Type IV? Is that one of tapes you feel is best? Also what is a good source for good Type IV cassettes?
Hello sir! Please Help!
What DAC you recomand? I have highress audio, flac, dsd on my macbook pro. But I dont know what dac to buy???
As a deck I have Pioneer CT 777 and audio files from HDtracks.
Thank you
It depends for what ans with which budget. Write a new comment otherwise the answer gets buried.
I just wonder what is the point of recording your music to cassettes if you can stream them anytime&anywhere on your pc or smartphone? Do cassettes sound any better?
I know it sounds crazy, but with proper gear, a good cassette takes the digital glare and coldness away and makes everything sound more...real! Plus, it's a way to make a high resolution digital file...physical!
ANA[DIA]LOG It gives another life to the sound.
with a DAP player especially one that you can download the music directly from the streaming service, you may not need a cassette tape. I know, among other things, that Sony has such a player and I mean of course a portable HI-res player
DAP is better than telephone when it comes to sound quality. except LG phone for example LG v30
Did Nakamichi ever release a tape recorder with Dolby S? I found my old collection of metal tapes but looks like I recorded most of them with Dolby S on my Sony ES deck I had back then. Would love to pick up a deck sheerly for the sake of nostalgia.
Sadly no!
ANA[DIA]LOG - Thanks. In your opinion should I look for Sony KA3ES (what I had) or the Dragon. It’ll mostly be for playback if my tapes I recorded on the Sony. I think I know the answer - as the tapes are mostly in Dolby S.
@@torchbox unfortunately, Dolby S came in very late. Only a few decks have it, mainly Sony.
ANA[DIA]LOG Gotcha. Thanks.
There is some diference when we record only in one side of the tape?
I used to record in VHS , 2 hours of music.
What do you mean? Yes, I did 2 videos of VHS audio, great medium: ruclips.net/video/cnD_h5BVLec/видео.html
What is a good quality cassette deck what brands
Nakamichi, Aiwa, Dual, Pioneer, Technics, Revox, Tandberg...I will do a video soon
Hi great video, very informative, but wow,, what a lot of effort, and could also be quite costly, why not just enjoy the music on the format that it arrives on, I used to do a lot of recording back in the 90s mostly specialist radio shows that are obviously unobtainable nowadays,, I still have the collection and listen on occasion, but I would not record stuff nowadays that is readily accessible.
True...but analog buffs already have a lot of that stuff...they just have to decide to use Tidal Qobuz etc.. in the best of ways!
Hi bro, where can I get n buy a good made in japan cassette deck. I'm from India (Mumbai). Can I get it imported to my country. Can u help me with some addresses where I can directly order.
Find some vintage online stores that seem serious and professional or just hunt them on Hifishark. That is what I do!
MQA is also available in a "lossless" format !
I must admit that there is no clear definition. Now I believe that when the origami is fully unfolded it is lossless.
Hi. Pls explain to me why do I need to spend a lot of money on a Nakamichi Dragon and metal tapes (which I can't even find ) when I can listen directly from DAC or CD Player?
Thanks
Well, you can use also good type II and a three head deck from the 80's. Because it sounds better. Analog introduces distortion that just makes things more engaging and supple. Plus you can record your high-res music as explained here!
@@anadialog How an analog record made from a digital record can sound better than the source ? BTW, i listened "The dark side of the moon" remastered in 2023 on vinyl and it sounds much better than the original from 1973.... Big difference....
Awesome review impressed
Superferrics like Maxell XL1-S and TDK AR-X would have worked wonders
Interesting
can you suggest the cassette decks for this purpose that are able to get under 1000$ to under 600$?
I did that in this video some time ago (check the link below)...but prices are going higher and higher: ruclips.net/video/F3Bv7EUhSy8/видео.html&feature=share9
I remember using VHS tapes to do may of my recordings. I could not tell the difference between the source and the tape at all.
Yes, I did two videos on this topic. The quality of Hi-Fi VHS is beyond that of many types of media. If you haven't seen them: ruclips.net/video/cnD_h5BVLec/видео.html
The digital source better not be compressed by the Loudness Wars.
That is one of the reasons why I prefer the original analog recordings, masters and pressings or tape!
@@anadialog If I can't find those, I try to find the FLAC digital file, but I still prefer the analog source too.
Sadly, I suspect that that will be more or less a given that it will be compressed within an inch of its life...
@@anadialogThere was a company called "In Sync Laboratories" located in NYC that in the 1980's produced fantastic pre-recorded cassettes (mainly classical). They used second generation dubbing master tapes with Nakamichi decks in real time onto TDK SA & SA-X type Ii cassette tapes. I still have about 100 of them & they still sound excellent.
There’s a ton of decent CD/SACD/DSD recordings out there not compromised by flatwall compression. The Dynamic Range Database is a great place to start. dr.loudness-war.info
You must take into account the sampling rate the record company uses that your favorite artist has a contract with
recording albums on cassette tape Many people stopped doing when they got their first CD player. And the reason may be that the CD is not subjected to physical wear when playing
What was the point of converting a high resolution digital to a lossy and lesser analog cassette?
1. The sound is enriched, much much better than digital
2. You have a physical item with your high resolution audio instead of a huge file on your computer, or worse just streaming so you don't even own it.
Obviously, I do understand that this is not for everyone. You need to be an analog buff and a cassette lover. Apart from that, with the proper gear, the sound is objectively just as good as the source, actually better in terms of warmth and realness...
@@anadialog errrrrrr ???!!!?? 1. the sound is enriched by making it worse? degrading signal to noise, channel separation, ... 2. erhm, physical item consumes way more space than a huge file on my storage. Heck, I can store thousands of digital items in the size of a compact cassette. You can have warmth (frequency response) and degraded signal to noise ration and crosstalk with a nice, high fidelity digital effect filter, ... and if you want wow and flutter the I can DSP filter add that for you, too ;-) and yes, I have a B77 Revox R2R around, too: ruclips.net/video/63WC68SJm28/видео.html you know, for the LOOKs ;-)
@@renerebe so you know what we are talking about (I think). Its a matter of taste in the end I guess.m.I just like to make cassettes out of extreme high resolution digital audio and analog audio...the results are breathtaking...you do need optimized gear....but then, its heaven!
Would my Kenwood 1070 Cassette pkayer work It was one of the best in its time I've held onto it heavy and big UV meters
Humm...is that one of those all-in-one stereo sets? If so, I maut admit that we are fighting exactly that...we need pro 3 head decks! The electronic components inside all together deliver a very high quality signal...
ANA[DIA]LOG my bad it's the kenwood KX1030 no I wouldn't buy an all in one lol
Is there a need to equalizer in the laptop to record onto cassette tape?
Nope, just normal line level.
If I got it right...this is only to get the same digital audio quality on a tape right? It doesnt improve the sound quality, does it?.
Any process you apply to change a final original signal will ultimately be a distorted version of this signal, even if it sounds better. Wether it improves the quality or not is subjective - up to the listener. Do you like the remastered version or the original best? If you like the remastered better, then it is an improvement. Someone else is sure to find the original better. Then for him, it is not an improvement.