*UPDATE:* I have confirmed that the improvements also apply to Pyle PT-649D decks manufactured since 2021. And the hum in the audio is due to the power switch wiring being routed too close to the tape head. It's an easy fix to move it farther away to eliminate the hum: www.tapeheads.net/threads/vwestlifes-yt-video-review-marantz-pmd-300cp-dedicated-thread-for-suggested-improvements-to-deck.97839/post-775625384
Please elaborate: As simple as just repositioning wire without disconnecting or re-soldering anything? Like just pushing wire over and securing in place?
... simply EXCELLENT Video/Videos! God Bless and Protect you and your Family richly. Happy Holidays and New Year 2023. After watching this Video, I just completed purchase of a Marantz Professional PMD-300CP via Ebay Seller. It's not new, unfortunately ... but it appears to be in great condition, and via emails back and forth prior to buying it ... and explaining that I have a Pyle PT-659DU and ION TAPE2PC USB Dual Cassette Decks to Return to Ebay Sellers for various issues ... he assured me that NOTHING is wrong with it. I tried to see the Serial Number regarding the "21 or 22" Production Number, but it's not shown in the Photos the Seller Uploaded. Thank you VERY much again. God Bless. 🙏🏼🙂🙏🏼
@@RoastBeefSandwich Kind of like the knockoff company "Sanko" instead of "Sankyo," (well known manufacturer of a famous and high quality cassette mechanism used in a lot of vintage decks).
While this cassette deck isn’t perfect by any means, it’s still a big step in the right direction for those who are in the market for a decent cassette deck for their home stereo system, or are simply looking for a decent device to digitize their old tapes into mp3 audio files. Outstanding job as always!!!
Still a pretty sad state of affairs when the best you can find, sold by an actual brand, is a super cheap plastic double deck with integrated adc. It might be a step in the right direction but it's a really small one.
@@deputy3690 Well, that’s actually where you’re wrong… I currently have a JCPenney MCS Series cassette deck from 1984 as part of my stereo setup, and it’s actually been an excellent piece of equipment. I’ve also had other cassette decks from as far back as the mid 1970s before, so I’m pretty sure that I know what I’m talking about when I mention a good quality vintage cassette deck!
The main reason I do only vintage is because they have real dolby. It means I have to occasionally replace belts and gears to make them work, but it's worth it. This is also why I consider the new Teac decks to be non-starters.
Pleasant! The word just kept popping into my mind while watching this. You're steadily progressing beyond presentation, beyond "content" into art territory. Your videos make me feel good, is what I'm trying to say!
Here it is! I thought that said Fostex. I'm happy that they fixed it up, but I would like to see a few changes. Fix up the noise a bit, make the vu stereo, and noise reduction. Mainly I think copying a transitor based dolby b circuit, like something from a teac an-80, and labeling it dolby compatible.
I have owned cassette decks since the 70's and made hundreds and hundreds of tapes. I have owned Nakamichi, Teac, Sony, Kenwood, Yamaha and many others. I recently picked up a used (Technics RS-B605 for $125) on E-Bay. I must admit this makes the best sounding tapes of any I have ever owned. Comes equipped with Dolby B and C AND DBX, even HX Pro. If you can find one at a reasonable price.....grab it! Type: 2-head, single compact cassette deck Track System: 4-track, 2-channel stereo Tape Speed: 4.8 cm/s Heads: 1 x record/playback, 1 x erase Motor: electronic control DC Tape Type: type I, CrO2, Metal Noise Reduction: B, C, DBX Headroom Extension: HX Pro Frequency Response: 20Hz to 19kHz (Metal tape) Signal to Noise Ratio: 92dB (DBX) Wow and Flutter: 0.06%
I have a Technics RS M85mkII that I can't even remember where I got it, that I've had a friend hotrod it with blackgate caps. It's not SOTA as a Nak (which I also have), but GOTDAMN, it'll smoke ANY tape I drop in it and the performance is so satisfying, I have a GANG of type II and type IV tapes I never use because the performance with normal bias is MORE than satisfying enough for me and the music I listen to, doesn't demand the use of HB tape. The only time I'll use those is if I'm recording classical music! I use this deck every day, and this deck here.....NO COMMENT! SMH...
Was having a stressful day and see vwestlife published a 30 minute review on cassette deck and the calmness of it just helped my anxiety, just wanna say thanks and keep up the good work.
This guy keeps his excitement cool while narrating videos. However, you can bet your sweet cassette deck he jumps for joy off-camera when a company actually listens to him.
Your attention to detail is inimitable!! Plus, I cannot imagine a better way to tuck myself in than the combination of VWestlife + Cassette Deck review! Keep up the good work and thanks for the knowledge that your passion brings out.
Interesting factoid: The parent company of Marantz Professional is inMusic Brands. They are headquartered in the town I live in and I have a friend that works there. They also own M-Audio, Alesis and even Ion who made one of the earlier decks, as well as some "Professional" off-shoots of other primary brands. So in this case, they own the branding for Marantz Professional but not Marantz itself. Likewise, they own the branding for Denon Professional and Denon DJ, which are completely separate from the main Denon we know for AV receivers.
That would explain a lot so I appreciate the factoid! Over here in the UK I used to sell Marantz audio products back in the very early 1980's when many people used to complain about the brown finish that they used to use on their hi-fi separates - but it was excellent quality stuff for the price you paid for it, I even had Marantz separates for my home hifi for many years after that. I can't say that these days I have any interest in cassette tapes (I don't do digital download music at all but I do buy CDs and have a small collection of vinyl) but this cassette deck here still doesn't compare to the quality that Marantz produced back then. But at least you've explained why now, because it's just someone else using the brand name.
In the 1970’s, the Marantz brand was made by Superscope, known for their “Superscope Story Teller” children’s line on book and cassette where you can get them back in the 1970’s. Superscope was also owned Sony products back in the 1960’s and 1970’s for their reel-to-reel tape recorders.
I still am glad I have the Teac W1200 deck, for more money. Thanks for this review and your efforts to influence the manufacturers to improve, for those of us who still enjoy cassettes. I remember the Dolby license expired and most decks just have DNR for noise reduction.
Dolby's patent on Dolby NR has expired but their trademark on "Dolby Noise Reduction System" is still in force which means a manufacturer of a new tape deck can include Dolby NR but just not call it "Dolby Noise Reduction System" (maybe they could get away with the acronym DNR since I don't think know DNR is trademark by them). I believe they could also just call it Noise Reduction (or NR) on the label and in the manual and then state in the manual that it's compatible with Dolby Noise Reduction System (TM) technology (Aka Dolby NR) though I not a trademark lawyer so I might be wrong here. And for anyone thinking they can include DNRS but then just licensed the name Dolby Noise Reduction System (Dolby NR) from Dolby, as I understand it they no longer license the name now that it no longer under patent and because so few new tape decks are introduced anymore it's just not worth the hassle to then
@@vwestlife Actually, it's both. Technically, the Dolby system (Dolby B and C, etc) is known as DNRS (Dolby Noise Reduction System, sometimes also written as Dolby NR) but I've seen it shorted to just DNR before (Lookup DNR in Wikipedia to see what I mean.). I'll try remember to remember to always include the S so as to avoid confusion in the future.
I appreciate your video for the information and intended purpose. I see that things have changed in good ways for some things. And not for others. My interest is towards reel-to-reel tape devices. It would be so nice to see them come back into existence again. With modern qualities add.
Happy to see someone still cares about these decks. I thought when the german Renkforce branded model sold out some time last year that would be it. Maybe they do come back with a slightly improved model, too. (Mine is still working fine, let's see about that once the warranty runs out.) P.S.: Now that I think about it I believe mine doesn't have the USB 🤔
Love the image of the "discerning audiophile" who looks like he's on a circa 1960 album cover--also looks like he's just heard some disturbing tape hiss on the headphones while enjoying that Benson & Hedges and cognac on the rocks.
I could never afford a high-end tape deck back in the late 1970s and 1980s when I was a teenager but I knew many people who used to own Revox, Nakamichi, Teac, Denon, Sony, and other Three Head Cassette Decks. Today young people don't have a clue how solid and quality those machines were built. It's a real shame that somebody was allowed to use a legendary name like Marantz be used for this Chinese-made toy, no better made than an average ghetto blaster. It was a different time and different culture back then. We used to visit each other, bring our own LP records or tapes, hang around and enjoyed listening to music together. It was like a religious experience but this is really sad and depressing.
That's really awesome and some manufacturer actually started to listen to what the people want everybody else can follow in that would be a really nice thing wouldn't it. Extremely thorough review I must say
I remember now I had this deck several years ago as a Pyle version for about that price and found some of the problems that you did. It also jammed too. I returned it and then, as I said paid more for the Teac W1200, which is pretty good for me.
Good review - consistent with my experience to date. Having finished digitizing my old vinyl, I decided to move on to my cassettes. I had an ICC IC-4200C and a Technics M14 around so I thought I was good to go. Turns out on one the belts had all "melted" and the other had an electronics problem on 1 channel. I saw the PMD-300CP advertised at a decent price (~CA$199) but none were available. A local supplier had a wait list but figured it would be 6 months to a year. They turned back up on Amazon a few weeks back so I ordered right away. For the price I did not expect something of the calibre of their old SuperScope devices but at least something functional. I have been capturing with Audacity via the USB interface with little problem. So far I have only had one tape that won't play even after several FF/Rew passed but it won't play on anything else either. For my project it does the job. Besides at 71 my hearing is LoFi so I am content with some clean sound. I have enjoyed recovering some music I have not heard in years.
I cannot for the life of me find Les Gillis & Mountain Fire - Never Met a Lady (That I Didn't Like) anywhere. No listings, albums, recordings, nothing. From what I can hear in the video the song sounds really good! Thanks for the heart!
Bravo!!! I watched the entire video nonstop. Very detailed and informative. Even if I were not going to mount the unit in a rack, I would still attach the rack mounts for a nice pro look! 😉
Well, I'm somewhat impressed actually. Indeed, it is nice to see manufacturers listening to the wants of customers. Oh, and nice cameo from Shango! Thanks for the great content!
I bought a new Sony TC-WE475 in 2010, because although my vintage Teac still worked fine, I feared it would soon be impossible to buy a decent deck. I was hesitant because I always considered dual decks inferior, but it was the only "ok" thing on the market at that time. After watching your recent videos, am I ever glad I did, the modest Sony is a Nakamichi Dragon next to this Marantz!
I have to agree! I own 2 TC-WR565 by my own (the second is a spare part) and I am happy I never put my original one to the trash. After 30 years new belts and a set of pinch rollers, a new calibration and it works like the days I was a teen. Over the years I tried to get a ES-class Sony Tape, but the prices - even not working decks - are crazy. But even the 565 is light years ahead, comparted to any of the junk your can buy nowadays. Is it required? I don't think so. But every time I use my deck, maybe once a year, it feels like it was decades ago. In my opinion there's a more "in touch with the music" feeling. Playing or streaming files on a computer is not the same. Yes, the sound quality is superb but that's the end of the story.
Considering buying a Sony TC-WE475 right now locally. Thought maybe a new model would be better than the old sony. (didnt know they still made them). I jumped on minidisc when stationed in Japan 25 years ago to get away from cassette! Guess I just don't like where we are headed and want to go back.
I’m glad you contacted the manufacturer to produce a better tape deck. Also it’s not the real Marantz company, since Marantz professional is a spin-off company owned by Denon Holdings, the company also bought the Pioneer and Onkyo from bankruptcy! It’s so messy that lots of these audio manufactures have been through different ownerships!
It's nice to see that there is some effort to improve the quality of these things to 25-30 year old quality levels! I purchased a JVC dual cassette deck in the late 90's and still have it. At that time I was often playing tapes recorded by friends and I found that a pitch control was invaluable because not everybody's equipment was running at the correct speed. I haven't played a tape recorded by someone else in years!
6:24 This is why I used to buy cases like these at thrift shops and Charity shops. You get really good quality used tapes at a fraction of what they cost brand new. Granted I never found one full of Metal tapes like that case there (must be worth a few hundred even in used condition) but they usually had high end Ferric or Chrome tapes in them. Always look out for recordings of classical music. usually most people that listened to classical music in the 80's and 90's had great systems and mostly got decent tapes (although I would then record over them with drum and bass and rave)
Thank you for this review. It's nice to see cassette decks are still produced. Perhaps sometime in the (near) future they 'll start producing cassettes as well
@@vwestlife Yes, I know. For blank cassettes there's a company in the US and one in France. It's difficult to call this "production" though, muchmore when those produced in France are very expensive for Type I cassettes. Both cassettes Ive read they're inferior to the old Type I. Anyways, I mean, I miss those days you could buy cassettes from a store in your neighbourhood, or your ...town. Regards
@@vwestlife I'm sorry, I haven't seen it yet. I was also referring to the National Audio Company in the US; Ive read that their Type I is not that good compared to old ones (from Sony, Denon, TDk, etc). Until recently I was able to buy new Maxell UR90 (Type I) and the quality was actually what we always got from this company for a Type I. RTM Fox I can only find abroad and for 4£ each (excluding shipping). I dont know if the latter is better than the former, but 4£ for a C60 Type I seems like alot of money. Besides, the last many years I was buying blank cassettes expecting that Maxell would close the product line, following all the other companies. This way I managed to guther more than 200 blank cassettes Type I and Type II. Regards
Marantz are supposed to be top gear. A neighbour threw a Marantz CD63 CD player out. It needed a new laser transport mechanism basically the mechanism that guides the laser. £6 from China working great. I'm a ham radio operator so I know electronics, but this was mechanical. I chose the rest of the separates to make a system of different makes, but all black & 19 inch.
Fantastic review, I would definitely consider getting one of these having watched this video. I think tape-heads need to stop being so highly critical, if you can afford it, buy one of the new decks, even if you intend to sell it and upgrade to the next gen in a years time. I like that this review doesn't focus on audiophile silliness, just the functionality and overall quality at a consumer level. Selling more decks will keep them in production, and maybe one day we'll have glory-day level decks for sale again, like the turntable market has after the [falsely declared] death of vinyl.
The word "professional" is so misused as to be nearly pointless. Whatever. Thanks for a very close and fair look at the Marantz unit. Your videos are so well done, they leave very little to desire.
Another great episode. 👍 An ebay sale turned out good and I got a fully working JVC TD-W315 double auto reverse deck. The transport mech is so quiet you wonder if it is working. No clunking or clicking. Ah, the good olde daze. It may be a gamble to buy an older cassette deck if you can't test it before buying (internet source) but it may be worth the effort. As you mention though, with these new ones you get a warranty and USB, so for many folks this is just fine, especially if they have lots of cassettes and no way to play them. A lot of the decks in the 70s-90s were also cheaply made or lacking features, so do your research when looking for a used deck.
Not sure about in your part of the world, but there are places here where you can get vastly superior professionally refurbished decks with a guarantee for that kind of money.
Well, nice to see that they are at least attempting to respond to feedback and improve the product somewhat. I still think the TEAC W-1200 is a better option, if you can find one for a decent price in stock somewhere. It, too, is far from the old standards, but that's the reality of cassette decks these days, and the TEAC is at least a full-logic deck with actual DNR, records on both decks, and has a headphone out. Good review of the Marantz upgrade, though.
The TEAC W-1200 is a better-performing deck than the Marantz Pro PMD-300CP. For casual listeners, the Marantz Pro is very inexpensive at US$160. The TEAC W-1200 is currently US$500 at Amazon with free US shipping. At Amazon UK, it's US$417 plus international shipping. At Amazon Germany, it's US$388 plus international shipping.
@@neolancer, as VWestlife stated in the video, some folks cannot service a used deck, or don't want to mess with servicing a used deck. Almost all used decks will need at least a belt or "drive tire" replacement. I work on aircraft for a living, so I have a decent used deck in which I replaced the belts. Not all people have mechanical skills, though.
I didn’t know that cassettes were making a comeback until recently. That foot sliding issue was never a problem with me. All of my cassette decks (except my very 1st one) had electronic controls. Those wow and flutter measurements are quite better than some of the mainstream cassettes decks of the 1970s. That mp3 conversion scheme sounds very attractive.
media himself don't comeback for his own, is comeback only if hipsters start to buy because some hipsters youtubers and media clickbait articles say that is cool buy cassettes again, for many of us (REAL COLLECTORS) cassettes, vinyl and cds are never away, we never stop to buy, hipsters only helps to rise the prices a affect us (REAL COLLECTORS), so I hope cassettes, vinyl and cds die and hipsters moves to streaming, of that way we can continue buy for low prices.
Ref my above comment. Don't understand why anyone would want to convert a pre-recorded cassette into a digital format? You can access almost the entire back catalog of the "history of music" digitally via Tidal, Spotify etc. and use third party apps to convert to quality MP'3's or FLAC files. It would ONLY be for the nostalgic idea of actually doing it, or if you had original music on a tape not available from any other source. Surely the converted file would sound crappy vs one from a reliable source?
@@Dimster6666 The problem - as I see it - is that some streams aren’t always available. Physical media - regardless of what it may be - is always available (if the playback deck itself isn’t broken down.
I had almost the exact same tape that played at the end. Fooling around with a Yamaha keyboard with rhythm presets and automatic chords, while fighting with other kids and announcing everything on the microphone.
Excellent information supplied in this video. I had the old design clone version under the name of Eltax. The mechanisms were very bad requiring quite high pressure to engage. I remember the mono meter display which did not bother me, nor the treble cut noise reduction which I never used anyway. I must say that the quality of playback was very good,noticeably crisp and clear. I remember the quality of recording as not being very good. I wonder if the recording has improved,because if not,I would pass on this deck. I have a line in jack on the back of my P.C. so Audacity can be used directly for conversion if required on decks without the USB facility.
2:35 or....they cleverly made the push buttons at 45 degree angle so the finger pushes down instead of forward, so less sliding.Any 80s cassette deck/amp would have such a weight (because of internal heavy components, transformer, metal flywheels, etc) that they didn't need rubber feet to avoid sliding.
Excellent & thorough review as always. While it's nice to see a new deck being made, it's not a patch on even the lowest end deck Marantz made in the 90s. I think calling it "professional" is a bit of a stretch.
Anything with rack mount ears is "professional", just like back in the 1980s when any computer with a handle on it was "portable", regardless of how big or heavy it was.
It's not a professional grade unit. The official brand identity is Marantz Professional, a division of inMusic Brands. It's NOT produced by the home audio brand Marantz, a Sound United LLC brand. The "Pro" division was separated from Marantz home audio decades ago as part of a corporate reorganization.
As for not being able to close the door: Mine had that problem, too, and what I did to fix it is to take a file and taper the sprockets because on every higher end deck I have they are tapered. Just on these decks the teeth on the sprockets just start with a square corner.
Good morning and God Bless and Deliver you and your Family. The purpose of this Comment is to adamantly THANK YOU for this completely excellent Video 📹. After watching, I located a used Marantz Professional PMD-300CP Dual Cassette Deck via Ebay Seller. After I received it, I immediately checked the Serial Number and discovered that mine is a 2022 Year Model 🙏🏼😀🙏🏼. I haven't opened it up yet to check out the Motors, but I will. I'm VERY happy with it ... been over 2 weeks since I received it, and I used it every day to see any issues up front. It came in the Factory Box and everything was included as your Video stated. Thank you again. God Bless you Richly. Sincerely, Christopher D. Swinson
Personally have 2 Denon DN770R dual recording studio decks which I got both for $40 australian, it is a late 90s model and TBH the sound quality is amazing. Lacks the USB functions and not aimed for the consumer market but would be great for bands who want to do small run cassette releases at the highest possible quality without resorting to inferior duplicators or paying for a run from a commercial manufacturer who will run the tape at stupidly high speed. Think the main advantages of the dual recording studio units is that they practically can do double speed dubbing at 1x, still have double speed tape to tape and the playback is pro quality. Still nice to see that decent decks are being manufactured, but dual recording has it's niche for compact small cassette runs.
That segment with the keyboard sounds just like my childhood. Both tape recorders and keyboards were so much fun, until you got in argument with your brother and the parents had to intervene
If they could only work out the quirks like the VU meters, noise reduction (make a standard close to Dolby B that all new decks could use) and delayed start, they could have a really viable tape deck that would be worth having. The older tape decks from the 90's and earlier are so much better and ideal for just playback and record (if that is your main intent) but they are over 20+ years old now. Unless you can find a reputable seller who knows how to properly store, refurbish and/or service them (keep in mind there are some replacement parts that are no longer made, available or obtainable unless with an another known good tape deck) you may have issues in a short period of time. It might take a chunk out of your wallet at first but if you do get an older one (like from the 90s and earlier) make sure it has been serviced and has a guarantee with it. I have bought a few decks that the person selling it wanted it to be the last sale they made and their reputation shot all to hell. Don't get burnt folks. Do your homework. Tape On!
Dolby NR isn't patented and doesn't even require proprietary parts. It can be implemented using standard op-amps or even discreet transistors, as Technics did, some of their earlier Dolby decks had no ICs in them at all. You just can't call it Dolby then, just call it DNR, B-NR or whatever and who knows, knows. Also it shouldn't be a big problem to beef up the mechanism with things like a larger flywheel. And then you would already have something sounding as good as a budget deck from the 80s. Which is already pretty good. But maybe there just isn't a large enough market for new decks.
I bought this model from the US Amazon (I live in the UK and had to buy a step-up-step-down brick transformer) about 5 years ago when it was one of the few new decks available. I still have it and it sounds OK but the cassette doors stick out at the side which face the middle of the deck which gives them a cheap look and means sometimes when you put a cassette in you have to push the tape down and keep trying to close it a few times before it works. It also has a really plasticky smell, especially when you open the doors, which hasn't faded in those 5 years. It looks like they may have changed the door design since then. I took it apart once after seeing your video about the components and the mechanism did have a stamp on with numbers and letters so I assumed it was a Tanashin but I couldn't find any writing or labels on the motor. It has a plastic flywheel too but I don't think that makes lots of difference. Overall it's an OK budget machine but the model I have (whichever one they were making in 2016/2017) does feel quite cheap and the sound is only decent, not great. EDIT - I just finished watching the video and it seems the door design is still the same so that hasn't improved in those 5 or 6 years, it just looked like it had when it was out of the box and also the metal flywheel may be more important than I thought. Also by the looks of it the model I have from 2016 seems to have slower-opening doors. I also have that Panasonic RX-D55 and I can confirm it's the best bet for a modern boombox in itself and also for the cassette feature. Very good sound overall.
Thanks for the information. Some of these decks made in the mid-2010s did use the CSG mechanisms, but later they switched to the no-name mechanisms, and now as of 2021 they switched back to CSG.
Marantz has licensed the "Marantz Professional" name to InMusic Brands (who also owns brand names like ION, Alesis, Numark, and Stanton). So it's not actually the "real" Marantz.
Interesting to see. So glad to have stuck with older components; even if they need refurbishment they still end up a lot cheaper than buying new components and yield far better results. My tape deck, for instance, isn't too different from something like this: it's a Technics with one playback deck, one playback/recording deck, and piano-key controls. The difference is, the Technics deck is much better built, can record onto chrome and metal tape, supports Dolby B and C, and only cost me $35 off of Marketplace.
Nice video Kevin. Looks like the audio spec limitations is due to the transport mechanism and heads used. Specs from Marantz official website: Track System 4-track, 2-channel, stereo dual cassette deck Audio Specification Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 58 dB Wow and Flutter:
*UPDATE:* I have confirmed that the improvements also apply to Pyle PT-649D decks manufactured since 2021. And the hum in the audio is due to the power switch wiring being routed too close to the tape head. It's an easy fix to move it farther away to eliminate the hum: www.tapeheads.net/threads/vwestlifes-yt-video-review-marantz-pmd-300cp-dedicated-thread-for-suggested-improvements-to-deck.97839/post-775625384
me and my mom got the teac w-1200 yasterday during amazon prime so i'm hoping it gets there
You might want to pin this update - it was waaaay down in the comments!
Please elaborate: As simple as just repositioning wire without disconnecting or re-soldering anything? Like just pushing wire over and securing in place?
@@ORAOralSurgery Correct, no disconnecting or re-soldering is required.
... simply EXCELLENT Video/Videos! God Bless and Protect you and your Family richly. Happy Holidays and New Year 2023.
After watching this Video, I just completed purchase of a Marantz Professional PMD-300CP via Ebay Seller. It's not new, unfortunately ... but it appears to be in great condition, and via emails back and forth prior to buying it ... and explaining that I have a Pyle PT-659DU and ION TAPE2PC USB Dual Cassette Decks to Return to Ebay Sellers for various issues ... he assured me that NOTHING is wrong with it.
I tried to see the Serial Number regarding the "21 or 22" Production Number, but it's not shown in the Photos the Seller Uploaded.
Thank you VERY much again. God Bless. 🙏🏼🙂🙏🏼
Kind of a shame the Marantz name is being dragged to this level.
“Marantz Professional” is not affiliated with Marantz.
@@RoastBeefSandwich Kind of like the knockoff company "Sanko" instead of "Sankyo," (well known manufacturer of a famous and high quality cassette mechanism used in a lot of vintage decks).
Old mate Saul must be turning in his grave.
It's like the Aiwa new speakers or AV gear
D+M Holding sold off Marantz Professional, Denon Professional and Denon DJ back in 2017… They’re no way associated with Denon or Marantz anymore
While this cassette deck isn’t perfect by any means, it’s still a big step in the right direction for those who are in the market for a decent cassette deck for their home stereo system, or are simply looking for a decent device to digitize their old tapes into mp3 audio files. Outstanding job as always!!!
Do you always buy junk?
Still a pretty sad state of affairs when the best you can find, sold by an actual brand, is a super cheap plastic double deck with integrated adc. It might be a step in the right direction but it's a really small one.
If that's what you think then you never had a vintage cassette deck.
@@deputy3690 Well, that’s actually where you’re wrong… I currently have a JCPenney MCS Series cassette deck from 1984 as part of my stereo setup, and it’s actually been an excellent piece of equipment. I’ve also had other cassette decks from as far back as the mid 1970s before, so I’m pretty sure that I know what I’m talking about when I mention a good quality vintage cassette deck!
@@douglasallen9428 no, you don't
The main reason I do only vintage is because they have real dolby. It means I have to occasionally replace belts and gears to make them work, but it's worth it.
This is also why I consider the new Teac decks to be non-starters.
I even bought Dolby S decks when they were new, just to have them. Never used Dolby, it makes the sound dull to me.
Fa real fool, Would hat help the bass thump on my FunkMaster Flex cassette , it is a copy
Love your retro transition clips and overall early 2000's vibes. It takes me back to a simpler time.
Pleasant! The word just kept popping into my mind while watching this. You're steadily progressing beyond presentation, beyond "content" into art territory. Your videos make me feel good, is what I'm trying to say!
I always appreciate when you use good music for demonstrations. I’ve found several great new-to-me bands from these videos.
Ditto, discovered Shot in The Dark thanks to Vwestlife!
Even the stuff that's in genres I don't particularly care for, I have to admit is pretty good anyhow.
Good music in your opinion
Here it is! I thought that said Fostex.
I'm happy that they fixed it up, but I would like to see a few changes. Fix up the noise a bit, make the vu stereo, and noise reduction. Mainly I think copying a transitor based dolby b circuit, like something from a teac an-80, and labeling it dolby compatible.
I have owned cassette decks since the 70's and made hundreds and hundreds of tapes. I have owned Nakamichi, Teac, Sony, Kenwood, Yamaha and many others. I recently picked up a used (Technics RS-B605 for $125) on E-Bay. I must admit this makes the best sounding tapes of any I have ever owned. Comes equipped with Dolby B and C AND DBX, even HX Pro. If you can find one at a reasonable price.....grab it!
Type: 2-head, single compact cassette deck
Track System: 4-track, 2-channel stereo
Tape Speed: 4.8 cm/s
Heads: 1 x record/playback, 1 x erase
Motor: electronic control DC
Tape Type: type I, CrO2, Metal
Noise Reduction: B, C, DBX
Headroom Extension: HX Pro
Frequency Response: 20Hz to 19kHz (Metal tape)
Signal to Noise Ratio: 92dB (DBX)
Wow and Flutter: 0.06%
I have a Technics RS M85mkII that I can't even remember where I got it, that I've had a friend hotrod it with blackgate caps. It's not SOTA as a Nak (which I also have), but GOTDAMN, it'll smoke ANY tape I drop in it and the performance is so satisfying, I have a GANG of type II and type IV tapes I never use because the performance with normal bias is MORE than satisfying enough for me and the music I listen to, doesn't demand the use of HB tape. The only time I'll use those is if I'm recording classical music! I use this deck every day, and this deck here.....NO COMMENT! SMH...
Bravo for keeping the cassette light burning !
Please keep it up, appreciate all the cassette based videos tremendously
Was having a stressful day and see vwestlife published a 30 minute review on cassette deck and the calmness of it just helped my anxiety, just wanna say thanks and keep up the good work.
This guy keeps his excitement cool while narrating videos. However, you can bet your sweet cassette deck he jumps for joy off-camera when a company actually listens to him.
Ill never forget when he took Retekis to task
Cassette deck or cassette WRECK? Stay tuned to find out. :)
Your attention to detail is inimitable!! Plus, I cannot imagine a better way to tuck myself in than the combination of VWestlife + Cassette Deck review! Keep up the good work and thanks for the knowledge that your passion brings out.
Interesting factoid: The parent company of Marantz Professional is inMusic Brands. They are headquartered in the town I live in and I have a friend that works there. They also own M-Audio, Alesis and even Ion who made one of the earlier decks, as well as some "Professional" off-shoots of other primary brands. So in this case, they own the branding for Marantz Professional but not Marantz itself. Likewise, they own the branding for Denon Professional and Denon DJ, which are completely separate from the main Denon we know for AV receivers.
Yes, and they also own the Stanton name now too, a once-famous phono cartridge manufacturer whose products I enjoy.
That would explain a lot so I appreciate the factoid!
Over here in the UK I used to sell Marantz audio products back in the very early 1980's when many people used to complain about the brown finish that they used to use on their hi-fi separates - but it was excellent quality stuff for the price you paid for it, I even had Marantz separates for my home hifi for many years after that.
I can't say that these days I have any interest in cassette tapes (I don't do digital download music at all but I do buy CDs and have a small collection of vinyl) but this cassette deck here still doesn't compare to the quality that Marantz produced back then.
But at least you've explained why now, because it's just someone else using the brand name.
In the 1970’s, the Marantz brand was made by Superscope, known for their “Superscope Story Teller” children’s line on book and cassette where you can get them back in the 1970’s. Superscope was also owned Sony products back in the 1960’s and 1970’s for their reel-to-reel tape recorders.
I still am glad I have the Teac W1200 deck,
for more money.
Thanks for this review and your efforts to
influence the manufacturers to improve, for
those of us who still enjoy cassettes.
I remember the Dolby license expired and
most decks just have DNR for noise reduction.
Dolby's patent on Dolby NR has expired but their trademark on "Dolby Noise Reduction System" is still in force which means a manufacturer of a new tape deck can include Dolby NR but just not call it "Dolby Noise Reduction System" (maybe they could get away with the acronym DNR since I don't think know DNR is trademark by them). I believe they could also just call it Noise Reduction (or NR) on the label and in the manual and then state in the manual that it's compatible with Dolby Noise Reduction System (TM) technology (Aka Dolby NR) though I not a trademark lawyer so I might be wrong here. And for anyone thinking they can include DNRS but then just licensed the name Dolby Noise Reduction System (Dolby NR) from Dolby, as I understand it they no longer license the name now that it no longer under patent and because so few new tape decks are introduced anymore it's just not worth the hassle to then
same here teac all the way
Wow, we have the same name. That was eerie seeing "my name" there knowing that I had not posted any comment here!
@@Charlesb88 DNR is Dynamic Noise Reduction, not Dolby.
@@vwestlife Actually, it's both. Technically, the Dolby system (Dolby B and C, etc) is known as DNRS (Dolby Noise Reduction System, sometimes also written as Dolby NR) but I've seen it shorted to just DNR before (Lookup DNR in Wikipedia to see what I mean.). I'll try remember to remember to always include the S so as to avoid confusion in the future.
There's two main issues with this deck;
Marantz & Professional.
Great review.
Actually three: Marantz/Professional/$159 ! Looks and sounds like piece of junk.
While not perfect, this is certainly a step in the right direction. As always, excellent work!
A terrible attempt at making a great good quality deck.
@@deputy3690 no
I rate your reviews very highly, no nonsense BS just clear and precise information one of the best on YT. Great channel.
I appreciate your video for the information and intended purpose. I see that things have changed in good ways for some things. And not for others.
My interest is towards reel-to-reel tape devices. It would be so nice to see them come back into existence again. With modern qualities add.
I always love these reviews, thank you! Keeping the dream alive!
Thank you Shango for the wonderful color schemes!
Happy to see someone still cares about these decks. I thought when the german Renkforce branded model sold out some time last year that would be it. Maybe they do come back with a slightly improved model, too. (Mine is still working fine, let's see about that once the warranty runs out.)
P.S.: Now that I think about it I believe mine doesn't have the USB 🤔
A very thorough and superb review of this cassette deck. Also the presentation and production vales of the presentation are superb.
Love the image of the "discerning audiophile" who looks like he's on a circa 1960 album cover--also looks like he's just heard some disturbing tape hiss on the headphones while enjoying that Benson & Hedges and cognac on the rocks.
I could never afford a high-end tape deck back in the late 1970s and 1980s when I was a teenager but I knew many people who used to own Revox, Nakamichi, Teac, Denon, Sony, and other Three Head Cassette Decks. Today young people don't have a clue how solid and quality those machines were built. It's a real shame that somebody was allowed to use a legendary name like Marantz be used for this Chinese-made toy, no better made than an average ghetto blaster. It was a different time and different culture back then. We used to visit each other, bring our own LP records or tapes, hang around and enjoyed listening to music together. It was like a religious experience but this is really sad and depressing.
We did that with cds. A lot of us had our parents old hifi stuff set up in our rooms.
I really enjoy these videos, but I especially appreciate the news section at the end. That is really useful and interesting.
That's really awesome and some manufacturer actually started to listen to what the people want everybody else can follow in that would be a really nice thing wouldn't it. Extremely thorough review I must say
Glad to see the improvements no matter how small in mass consumer decks again. 👍
Great review... the cameo appearance from Shango066 was a fun addition!
Excellent review 👍. Glad I still have my Technics machines,thanks for giving Michael Yates a shoutout 👌🇬🇧
Excellent- a cassette related video. Good to see tapes still getting the love.
I remember now I had this deck several years ago as a Pyle version for about that
price and found some of the problems that
you did. It also jammed too. I returned it
and then, as I said paid more for the Teac
W1200, which is pretty good for me.
Good review - consistent with my experience to date. Having finished digitizing my old vinyl, I decided to move on to my cassettes. I had an ICC IC-4200C and a Technics M14 around so I thought I was good to go. Turns out on one the belts had all "melted" and the other had an electronics problem on 1 channel. I saw the PMD-300CP advertised at a decent price (~CA$199) but none were available. A local supplier had a wait list but figured it would be 6 months to a year. They turned back up on Amazon a few weeks back so I ordered right away. For the price I did not expect something of the calibre of their old SuperScope devices but at least something functional. I have been capturing with Audacity via the USB interface with little problem. So far I have only had one tape that won't play even after several FF/Rew passed but it won't play on anything else either. For my project it does the job. Besides at 71 my hearing is LoFi so I am content with some clean sound. I have enjoyed recovering some music I have not heard in years.
I cannot for the life of me find Les Gillis & Mountain Fire - Never Met a Lady (That I Didn't
Like) anywhere. No listings, albums, recordings, nothing. From what I can hear in the video the song sounds really good! Thanks for the heart!
Thanks for bringing back the transition jingle. I missed it!
I enjoyed the Shango066 cameo.
Bravo!!! I watched the entire video nonstop. Very detailed and informative. Even if I were not going to mount the unit in a rack, I would still attach the rack mounts for a nice pro look! 😉
would you buy this deck
@@bubexpress5435 Yes!
Well, I'm somewhat impressed actually. Indeed, it is nice to see manufacturers listening to the wants of customers. Oh, and nice cameo from Shango! Thanks for the great content!
I bought a new Sony TC-WE475 in 2010, because although my vintage Teac still worked fine, I feared it would soon be impossible to buy a decent deck. I was hesitant because I always considered dual decks inferior, but it was the only "ok" thing on the market at that time. After watching your recent videos, am I ever glad I did, the modest Sony is a Nakamichi Dragon next to this Marantz!
I have to agree! I own 2 TC-WR565 by my own (the second is a spare part) and I am happy I never put my original one to the trash. After 30 years new belts and a set of pinch rollers, a new calibration and it works like the days I was a teen. Over the years I tried to get a ES-class Sony Tape, but the prices - even not working decks - are crazy.
But even the 565 is light years ahead, comparted to any of the junk your can buy nowadays.
Is it required? I don't think so. But every time I use my deck, maybe once a year, it feels like it was decades ago. In my opinion there's a more "in touch with the music" feeling. Playing or streaming files on a computer is not the same. Yes, the sound quality is superb but that's the end of the story.
Considering buying a Sony TC-WE475 right now locally. Thought maybe a new model would be better than the old sony. (didnt know they still made them).
I jumped on minidisc when stationed in Japan 25 years ago to get away from cassette! Guess I just don't like where we are headed and want to go back.
@@brokenjed If it's in good working order, it's certainly a much better deck than the one in the video.
I’m glad you contacted the manufacturer to produce a better tape deck. Also it’s not the real Marantz company, since Marantz professional is a spin-off company owned by Denon Holdings, the company also bought the Pioneer and Onkyo from bankruptcy! It’s so messy that lots of these audio manufactures have been through different ownerships!
An honest and fair review of this unit Kevin. Great work!
It's always a good day when there's a new VWestlife video out!
23:51 . . . Bet they would never imagine this will now be archived forever for the world to hear!!
It's nice to see that there is some effort to improve the quality of these things to 25-30 year old quality levels! I purchased a JVC dual cassette deck in the late 90's and still have it. At that time I was often playing tapes recorded by friends and I found that a pitch control was invaluable because not everybody's equipment was running at the correct speed. I haven't played a tape recorded by someone else in years!
AC hum is kind of unacceptable for any modern device though...
Good to see that the decks are coming back!
Great stuff. I have been waiting until you uploaded a hi-fi component video - you do them so well and hi-fi is my hobby too.
6:24 This is why I used to buy cases like these at thrift shops and Charity shops. You get really good quality used tapes at a fraction of what they cost brand new. Granted I never found one full of Metal tapes like that case there (must be worth a few hundred even in used condition) but they usually had high end Ferric or Chrome tapes in them.
Always look out for recordings of classical music. usually most people that listened to classical music in the 80's and 90's had great systems and mostly got decent tapes (although I would then record over them with drum and bass and rave)
I use my Pioneer CT-F900 from 1978 with the line out connected into the PC's line in and record using Audacity. Works great for me!
Great review! :D I was actually intrigued by that Tascam CD-A580 at the end.. may try and snag one of those.
I love how detailed this review is. Well done.
Doing God's work in the Philips Compact Cassette post-2K20-era department here. Great stuff there (:
Thank you for this review. It's nice to see cassette decks are still produced. Perhaps sometime in the (near) future they 'll start producing cassettes as well
Cassette tapes are still being made, too -- both blank and pre-recorded.
@@vwestlife Yes, I know. For blank cassettes there's a company in the US and one in France. It's difficult to call this "production" though, muchmore when those produced in France are very expensive for Type I cassettes. Both cassettes Ive read they're inferior to the old Type I. Anyways, I mean, I miss those days you could buy cassettes from a store in your neighbourhood, or your ...town.
Regards
@@papertoyss The RTM Fox is a very good Type I tape. Cassette Comeback did a review of it.
@@vwestlife I'm sorry, I haven't seen it yet. I was also referring to the National Audio Company in the US; Ive read that their Type I is not that good compared to old ones (from Sony, Denon, TDk, etc). Until recently I was able to buy new Maxell UR90 (Type I) and the quality was actually what we always got from this company for a Type I. RTM Fox I can only find abroad and for 4£ each (excluding shipping). I dont know if the latter is better than the former, but 4£ for a C60 Type I seems like alot of money. Besides, the last many years I was buying blank cassettes expecting that Maxell would close the product line, following all the other companies. This way I managed to guther more than 200 blank cassettes Type I and Type II.
Regards
@@papertoyss yeah walmart 2019 to 2022 was doing type 1 called grove oon in store then it stopped they have a few records
Another great review. Many thanks for sharing with us your vast knowledge and sense of humour.
These videos are some real public service! Thank you for this and keep them coming!
Marantz are supposed to be top gear. A neighbour threw a Marantz CD63 CD player out. It needed a new laser transport mechanism basically the mechanism that guides the laser. £6 from China working great. I'm a ham radio operator so I know electronics, but this was mechanical. I chose the rest of the separates to make a system of different makes, but all black & 19 inch.
It's not quite there but for a new tape deck this is pretty good! Hopefully they keep making improvements like this.
Where? It is never going to be anything but toy and garbage!
I originally found Slugbug from your channel, and Paul is now in my top 5 musicians of all time, thank you so much
Fantastic review, I would definitely consider getting one of these having watched this video.
I think tape-heads need to stop being so highly critical, if you can afford it, buy one of the new decks, even if you intend to sell it and upgrade to the next gen in a years time. I like that this review doesn't focus on audiophile silliness, just the functionality and overall quality at a consumer level.
Selling more decks will keep them in production, and maybe one day we'll have glory-day level decks for sale again, like the turntable market has after the [falsely declared] death of vinyl.
The word "professional" is so misused as to be nearly pointless. Whatever. Thanks for a very close and fair look at the Marantz unit. Your videos are so well done, they leave very little to desire.
Another great episode. 👍 An ebay sale turned out good and I got a fully working JVC TD-W315 double auto reverse deck. The transport mech is so quiet you wonder if it is working. No clunking or clicking. Ah, the good olde daze. It may be a gamble to buy an older cassette deck if you can't test it before buying (internet source) but it may be worth the effort. As you mention though, with these new ones you get a warranty and USB, so for many folks this is just fine, especially if they have lots of cassettes and no way to play them. A lot of the decks in the 70s-90s were also cheaply made or lacking features, so do your research when looking for a used deck.
Great review, which had me watching through my fingers for the most part.
I just couldn’t !!
Not sure about in your part of the world, but there are places here where you can get vastly superior professionally refurbished decks with a guarantee for that kind of money.
Well, nice to see that they are at least attempting to respond to feedback and improve the product somewhat. I still think the TEAC W-1200 is a better option, if you can find one for a decent price in stock somewhere. It, too, is far from the old standards, but that's the reality of cassette decks these days, and the TEAC is at least a full-logic deck with actual DNR, records on both decks, and has a headphone out. Good review of the Marantz upgrade, though.
The TEAC W-1200 is a better-performing deck than the Marantz Pro PMD-300CP. For casual listeners, the Marantz Pro is very inexpensive at US$160. The TEAC W-1200 is currently US$500 at Amazon with free US shipping. At Amazon UK, it's US$417 plus international shipping. At Amazon Germany, it's US$388 plus international shipping.
The best option is a second hand decent deck....
@@neolancer, as VWestlife stated in the video, some folks cannot service a used deck, or don't want to mess with servicing a used deck. Almost all used decks will need at least a belt or "drive tire" replacement. I work on aircraft for a living, so I have a decent used deck in which I replaced the belts. Not all people have mechanical skills, though.
I just bought a MARANTZ PMD 502U
I seriously can't wait to test it out
Love how it looks that's for sure.
I didn’t know that cassettes were making a comeback until recently. That foot sliding issue was never a problem with me. All of my cassette decks (except my very 1st one) had electronic controls. Those wow and flutter measurements are quite better than some of the mainstream cassettes decks of the 1970s. That mp3 conversion scheme sounds very attractive.
They are not ....
media himself don't comeback for his own, is comeback only if hipsters start to buy because some hipsters youtubers and media clickbait articles say that is cool buy cassettes again, for many of us (REAL COLLECTORS) cassettes, vinyl and cds are never away, we never stop to buy, hipsters only helps to rise the prices a affect us (REAL COLLECTORS), so I hope cassettes, vinyl and cds die and hipsters moves to streaming, of that way we can continue buy for low prices.
What a bullshit
Ref my above comment. Don't understand why anyone would want to convert a pre-recorded cassette into a digital format? You can access almost the entire back catalog of the "history of music" digitally via Tidal, Spotify etc. and use third party apps to convert to quality MP'3's or FLAC files. It would ONLY be for the nostalgic idea of actually doing it, or if you had original music on a tape not available from any other source. Surely the converted file would sound crappy vs one from a reliable source?
@@Dimster6666 The problem - as I see it - is that some streams aren’t always available. Physical media - regardless of what it may be - is always available (if the playback deck itself isn’t broken down.
Pretty sure I heard Shango066 on one of those cassette clips!
I recognized that voice too
I had almost the exact same tape that played at the end. Fooling around with a Yamaha keyboard with rhythm presets and automatic chords, while fighting with other kids and announcing everything on the microphone.
Great info on the new transport mechanism. Thanks
I have this very same deck... I have no complaints about it... it records and playback very well...
Excellent information supplied in this video.
I had the old design clone version under the name of Eltax.
The mechanisms were very bad requiring quite high pressure to engage.
I remember the mono meter display which did not bother me, nor the treble cut noise reduction which I never used anyway.
I must say that the quality of playback was very good,noticeably crisp and clear.
I remember the quality of recording as not being very good.
I wonder if the recording has improved,because if not,I would pass on this deck.
I have a line in jack on the back of my P.C. so Audacity can be used directly for conversion if required on decks without the USB facility.
These videos are fantastic because they are so informative.
22:55 thank you for continuing to show us the weird shit you find when buying used cassette tapes, it never gets old
2:35 or....they cleverly made the push buttons at 45 degree angle so the finger pushes down instead of forward, so less sliding.Any 80s cassette deck/amp would have such a weight (because of internal heavy components, transformer, metal flywheels, etc) that they didn't need rubber feet to avoid sliding.
noticed that to! Simple fix for said issue and it was most likely a simple re-design.
Excellent & thorough review as always.
While it's nice to see a new deck being made, it's not a patch on even the lowest end deck Marantz made in the 90s. I think calling it "professional" is a bit of a stretch.
Anything with rack mount ears is "professional", just like back in the 1980s when any computer with a handle on it was "portable", regardless of how big or heavy it was.
It's not a professional grade unit. The official brand identity is Marantz Professional, a division of inMusic Brands.
It's NOT produced by the home audio brand Marantz, a Sound United LLC brand.
The "Pro" division was separated from Marantz home audio decades ago as part of a corporate reorganization.
BTW, I like the "found" footage you played. Real cool!
Any RUclips vid on cassettes and decks deserves a 👍
As for not being able to close the door: Mine had that problem, too, and what I did to fix it is to take a file and taper the sprockets because on every higher end deck I have they are tapered. Just on these decks the teeth on the sprockets just start with a square corner.
Is that Shango066's crisp lisp no dolby @ 17:56!?
24:27 "Tommy hit me" LOL I have similar recordings somewhere.
Good morning and God Bless and Deliver you and your Family.
The purpose of this Comment is to adamantly THANK YOU for this completely excellent Video 📹.
After watching, I located a used Marantz Professional PMD-300CP Dual Cassette Deck via Ebay Seller.
After I received it, I immediately checked the Serial Number and discovered that mine is a 2022 Year Model 🙏🏼😀🙏🏼.
I haven't opened it up yet to check out the Motors, but I will.
I'm VERY happy with it ... been over 2 weeks since I received it, and I used it every day to see any issues up front.
It came in the Factory Box and everything was included as your Video stated.
Thank you again. God Bless you Richly.
Sincerely,
Christopher D. Swinson
That does scream 90s! The level meter looks so familiar. Great video!
Personally have 2 Denon DN770R dual recording studio decks which I got both for $40 australian, it is a late 90s model and TBH the sound quality is amazing. Lacks the USB functions and not aimed for the consumer market but would be great for bands who want to do small run cassette releases at the highest possible quality without resorting to inferior duplicators or paying for a run from a commercial manufacturer who will run the tape at stupidly high speed.
Think the main advantages of the dual recording studio units is that they practically can do double speed dubbing at 1x, still have double speed tape to tape and the playback is pro quality. Still nice to see that decent decks are being manufactured, but dual recording has it's niche for compact small cassette runs.
It should say “PROFESSIONAL” on the deck in parentheses. Thanks for this review!!!❤️
That segment with the keyboard sounds just like my childhood. Both tape recorders and keyboards were so much fun, until you got in argument with your brother and the parents had to intervene
Another oddly entertaining video. These examinations of devolving incarnations of legacy hardware are like probationary reviews of zombie employees
@Pixie Pete Well, there's always that, too
If they could only work out the quirks like the VU meters, noise reduction (make a standard close to Dolby B that all new decks could use) and delayed start, they could have a really viable tape deck that would be worth having. The older tape decks from the 90's and earlier are so much better and ideal for just playback and record (if that is your main intent) but they are over 20+ years old now. Unless you can find a reputable seller who knows how to properly store, refurbish and/or service them (keep in mind there are some replacement parts that are no longer made, available or obtainable unless with an another known good tape deck) you may have issues in a short period of time. It might take a chunk out of your wallet at first but if you do get an older one (like from the 90s and earlier) make sure it has been serviced and has a guarantee with it. I have bought a few decks that the person selling it wanted it to be the last sale they made and their reputation shot all to hell. Don't get burnt folks. Do your homework. Tape On!
Dolby NR isn't patented and doesn't even require proprietary parts. It can be implemented using standard op-amps or even discreet transistors, as Technics did, some of their earlier Dolby decks had no ICs in them at all.
You just can't call it Dolby then, just call it DNR, B-NR or whatever and who knows, knows.
Also it shouldn't be a big problem to beef up the mechanism with things like a larger flywheel. And then you would already have something sounding as good as a budget deck from the 80s. Which is already pretty good. But maybe there just isn't a large enough market for new decks.
Oh good to know the mechanisms have improved!
this deck reminds me of late 80s, early 90s harman decks. looks pretty cool
I bought this model from the US Amazon (I live in the UK and had to buy a step-up-step-down brick transformer) about 5 years ago when it was one of the few new decks available. I still have it and it sounds OK but the cassette doors stick out at the side which face the middle of the deck which gives them a cheap look and means sometimes when you put a cassette in you have to push the tape down and keep trying to close it a few times before it works. It also has a really plasticky smell, especially when you open the doors, which hasn't faded in those 5 years. It looks like they may have changed the door design since then. I took it apart once after seeing your video about the components and the mechanism did have a stamp on with numbers and letters so I assumed it was a Tanashin but I couldn't find any writing or labels on the motor. It has a plastic flywheel too but I don't think that makes lots of difference. Overall it's an OK budget machine but the model I have (whichever one they were making in 2016/2017) does feel quite cheap and the sound is only decent, not great.
EDIT - I just finished watching the video and it seems the door design is still the same so that hasn't improved in those 5 or 6 years, it just looked like it had when it was out of the box and also the metal flywheel may be more important than I thought. Also by the looks of it the model I have from 2016 seems to have slower-opening doors. I also have that Panasonic RX-D55 and I can confirm it's the best bet for a modern boombox in itself and also for the cassette feature. Very good sound overall.
Thanks for the information. Some of these decks made in the mid-2010s did use the CSG mechanisms, but later they switched to the no-name mechanisms, and now as of 2021 they switched back to CSG.
I had an old 80s Teac single deck that also had the L+R meters, it was a cheap low-end model
bought it first, watched this second, probably gonna do it the other way around next time, thanks for the vid
I personally enjoyed your music selections. I kinda want them all.
Seeing the "Marantz Professional" logo on this device is definitely very sad.
Marantz has licensed the "Marantz Professional" name to InMusic Brands (who also owns brand names like ION, Alesis, Numark, and Stanton). So it's not actually the "real" Marantz.
Interesting to see. So glad to have stuck with older components; even if they need refurbishment they still end up a lot cheaper than buying new components and yield far better results. My tape deck, for instance, isn't too different from something like this: it's a Technics with one playback deck, one playback/recording deck, and piano-key controls. The difference is, the Technics deck is much better built, can record onto chrome and metal tape, supports Dolby B and C, and only cost me $35 off of Marketplace.
Excellent review Kevin. I think I will stay with my Teac W-1200 and Nakamichi decks.
Nice video Kevin.
Looks like the audio spec limitations is due to the transport mechanism and heads used.
Specs from Marantz official website:
Track System
4-track, 2-channel, stereo dual cassette deck
Audio Specification
Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 58 dB
Wow and Flutter:
The high frequency response sounds significantly worse than the the spec they've written. It sounds like its at least 10db down at 15k.
Interesting video. I learned many things.