A cheap USB cassette deck that actually sounds good!

[@LGR]

Dang, that is not bad at all. I recently passed up an ION Audio Tape 2 PC at Goodwill, but now I'm curious how well that one works.

[@LGR]

Wow... well, no regrets passing on that thing, haha.

[@TechnologySpotlight]

Wow.

[@ahadmiah9660]

Use a tape walkman, panasonic, sony or a boombox, much better than using a usb type tape converter.

[@kitchentable1362]

Yeah those ION things are terrible

[@Raguleader]

Although, as VWestlife pointed out in his introduction, a lot of newer computers lack a Line In port. Although in that case, you should be able to substitute a USB audio interface.

[@fiftyclown]

Also, I'm extremely impressed at the quality of the rip.

[@MSB3000]

A high quality rip, you say?

[@vwestlife]

You can't "rip" cassettes. "Ripping" specifically refers to the process of extracting the digital data from a CD or DVD. With analog media, it's called a "dub" / "dubbing".

[@DMessham]

**silvagunner intensifies**

[@fiftyclown]

it's a meme u dip

[@The8BitGuy]

I'm surprised you haven't been hit with copyright issues due to those songs you played. (or did you?) . This device doesn't sound too bad from what I can tell, but it still looks really cheap. I wish there were something out there like this that cost maybe $150 to $200 that was built really well, you know, made to last so to speak.

[@vwestlife]

If you keep the music clips below 28 seconds usually you won't get any Content ID matches.

[@mszymcza]

It's an Alan Parson's project.....project.

[@bulletpointmediadotnet]

28? Wow, I've had stuff match with as little as 6 seconds. May depend on quality but still.

[@kitchentable1362]

David, I do think theese new decks are great, but if yoy really want to listen to cassettes with high quality, you need an older deck. My main cassette deck is from 1976, I got it from goodwill for 10$, compared to some restorations you have done, theese decks will be easy.

[@kitchentable1362]

Why are you watching videos about it? I Can have any hobby I want. Have you ever actually listened to a high quality tape through a high quality deck? Dont start an argument unless you know what youre talking about.

[@JoeJ-8282]

That's cool, I actually have one of these things. I found it in a trash dumpster one time, brand new, unopened, still in the box! (Ridiculous what some people throw away! Maybe they just thought it was a junk player so they tossed it without even trying it... whatever, their loss, my gain!) I still haven't used it to record from a tape to USB, but maybe I'll try it now!... It's also really cool that it still works as an analog LL to USB audio converter, even without having to use it as a tape recorder in the process! It's also nice that it doesn't require any software or driver installs on any computer, it just acts like a normal USB thumb drive and is automatically recognized by whatever computer that you plug it into. Nice review, thanks for re-igniting my interest in its usefulness!

[@electrojones]

Another great video. This channel and Techmoan are life savers at my boring job.

[@buamfrequencies6087]

i just want to say that i really appreciate the detail you go into and how you give a lot of care to what's on the screen and the audio quality.

[@jaykay18]

EXCELLENT choice of music for this demo!

[@spidergloo2708]

jaykay18 ikr

[@doorhanger9317]

_Relax,_ _Listen to one cool cut after another,_ *ＣＤ－１０１．９*

[@bigtimefans100]

major nostalgia

[@baikkuma]

I've seen the 8 bit guy's episode and got disappointed with his cassette recorder, but your solution just blew up my mind! Thanks for your amazing solution for recording cassettes to digital format.

[@verastaki]

That's interesting, I do the opposite. I've got my professional tape deck hooked up to my computer. And I record all of my music from CD's and computer MP3 files unto the compact cassette. People get amazed how good my tapes sound. It's cuz I use studio quality Type II chrome and Type IV metal tapes and studio quality Technics tape deck. I love audio compact cassettes. You can fine tune them, they come in different formats, they last a very long time (I got tapes from 1960's which still sound good today). They come in different styles, brands, colours etc... Tapes are awesome!

[@wolfetteplays8894]

Facts!!! I absolutely love tapes, music streaming is too sterile and limits self-expression

[@axelfiedel3793]

​@@wolfetteplays8894I'm now starting to do the same thing with my tapes which basically copy CDs to Tapes heck I record the radio.

[@megabojan1993]

Happy New year Vwestlife.

[@tostoday]

George Benson...Richard Elliot....Spyro Gyra...Anita Baker...

[@talesfromthelotuspodcast]

Love spyro gyra

[@clydesight]

Sounds really good! Nice to know there is a machine out there that can do this effectively for folks who aren't into the vintage equipment. For use with vintage analog outputs, one could use an audio out to USB adapter. cable.

[@johnmcminn8288]

great tutorial, really well made . I digitized a cassete for a out of print Hal Leonard Book, recently from the Chris Amelar Jammin Series, I found when you go R L out RCA jacks , you get R Mono L mono What i did was go 30$ Beringer UCA 222, to USB then using a generic driver into CUBASE 8 Then did 6 Channels and EQd sets of R and L channels one track at a time to get track separation so I had as follows A1 A2= scooped midrange Ballance 50% R and L A3 A4 = high cut low cut all Midrange Ballance 15% R and L A5 A6 stereo split = lower volume R and L Ballance 100% of higher frequence treble Then it was mixed down int 1 wav file and entered a 1 channel Mastering , where it is funneled into 16bit (Which is the most common bits for phones computers CD players etc) i put a little maximizer on there to make it a little bigger. I found if the recording is not rare and out of print , you may be better getting an m4a file of a Digital remaster I seem to remember Jimmy Page of Led Zep, being one of the first guys doing Digital Remastering , he would goto the vault and get the actual master reels and run the board out into a digital board to get real ambiance and ACTUAL Digital Stereo Also when CDs first appeared in the early 90s , after liner tracking turntables(lol) you saw AAD and ADD also DDD . Analog Digital . the 2 inch tape on the master reels were put through a different board . RUSH power windows, may have been the very first , DDD recording released mainstream Now a days you can subscribe to Spotify and stream Digital at 4K for like 10$ a month , and Download as much as you want , of course people in general, are not actually going to Download that much content as a collector or DJ might. I saw the CHICAGO doc on NetFlix, the one member says ," Back in 84 when technology was just getting good...I mean, becoming inventive, or as to say just more stuff available, the drummer got electronic drums" I just have to laugh at the amount of BACK Peddling in that statement . "Getting good " would be like mis speaking for what was available back then! XD

[@HBC101TVStudios]

Happy New Year VWestlife aka Kevin! Thank you for providing the community with your informative videos since 2006! I enjoyed your videos for 8 years already and your video is not boring but rather entertaining for us general viewers to enjoy.. Sincerely, Fred..

[@vwestlife]

I've had my channel since 2006 but I wasn't making videos until 2008.

[@HBC101TVStudios]

Oh. Didn't know that before. Sorry.

[@Dulayne]

All the songs in your videos are just so good. I've enjoyed watching and seeing all your different types of videos. Very well done and looking forward to more.

[@blocSonic]

After checking your review, I got a hold of one of these cheap on ebay. I'm glad I did! Pretty damn good. Thanks for the review!

[@CoolDudeClem]

Not bad apart from the slight wow and flutter, I could really hear it on the sax in that jazz piece.

[@JohnAudioTech]

I might be more sensitive to it but the flutter was quite a bit more than slight.

[@CoolDudeClem]

I was being a bit lenient (i think that's the right word) on saying how much wow and flutter there is, I could notice it in quite a few other places, if they fixed that, and maybe make the frequency response a little flatter, it would be pretty good. Don't know if this has AC or Dc bias recording though.

[@vwestlife]

It has AC bias recording.

[@5roundsrapid263]

I'm listening to this on my 5.1 system. This deck does sound really good.

[@xfilesfoxisdead7979]

Its extreme low fi equipment it Has to have huge wow and flutter. Despite some morons claiming audiophiles are wasting money on expensive gear, truth is you spend more you have more quality. But feel free to listen and record from this crap deck. Im not wasting money and time on it

[@21minute]

The music samples you included sound so good! 😍

[@superotterboy7937]

I love cassettes still! I'm no hipster either because I actually grew up throughout all of the 90s using tapes and still use them now. Finding decent blank tapes has become a struggle though! Online prices are insane for the quality offered. I've found a dollar store in another town which sell them for a much lower price but I can't imagine their stock lasting! It's a shame as there's a nice, tangible practicality to opening a new tape and loading it up. There's so much nonsense about them sounding terrible about but a well recorded tape loading in an old, properly engineered tape deck is just as enjoyable to my ears as any CD or spotify session. Yes, the quality is slightly lower but not to a degree that most normal music lovers, like myself would notice.

[@mercuryoak2]

I think thats ridiculous that they gonna try get rid of the 3.5 mm jacks. heck I heard the iphone 7 has no headphone jack. bluetooth headphones are what your to use but fact is i have bluetooth headphones. the connection can suck . even the sound can skip. .

[@mercuryoak2]

I had android since the Motorola citrus. My first Android. Then I got a pantech burst. Then went to a s3 mini. To a s6 active till I dropped it and screen split. The s3 mini still have but I currently have a s3 phone I like but straight talk gave small memory on this. But its nice. Miss my s6 active. Heck half stuff I have is old reel to reel from 60s. I even take and make music on phone sound analog because I hate thr tin sound of mp3s

[@mercuryoak2]

The big issue I have with android is the fact every update is memory hungry . Or their is useless apps that are not used

[@slawor4]

Matthew N You can root the phone and delete the useless bloatware

[@wilkes85]

If it was just Apple that was doing that, it's fine because there are other alternatives.... but every other manufacturer tries to copy everything Apple does whether it's a good idea or not. That means in a few years, headphone jacks will not be an option. Apple is also putting non-standard USB plugs on their computers, so you need a string of adaptors to hook up the most basic components, so expect that to become the norm too. Apple does things that almost any other company would go out of business for.... but since it's Apple, everyone copies the stupid crap they do.

[@mercuryoak2]

Thats just it theres a cost or getting told you cant because it will mess up phone. Google is the biggest bloatware

[@DoRC]

a lot of "headphone jacks" on modern laptops are actually software definable jacks that can be selected to be used as a mic or line in as well as headphone and line out.

[@Mystique2u]

That sounds like one of my cassettes! Great video!!! 🎶💖

[@nrdesign1991]

This one doesn't sound too bad at all! I usually detest USB audio hardware, it always causes issues with programs forgetting the settings or mixing up devices.

[@cameronrivascreativedirector]

This sound great! I couldn't believe it! All of those great music samples brought me back to the 80's.

[@vwestlife]

You mean the early '90s. The tape is from 1992.

[@mr.smash698]

But it sounded like it was from the 80's though.

[@cameronrivascreativedirector]

If you're old enough to remember the 80's, you know that the years begin to run together after a period of time.

[@mr.smash698]

Cameron Yup.

[@majestik101]

Hi Kevin, can you revisit this topic again? I would love to know if there is a worthwhile USB to cassette deck/recorder out there, since this product looks to be discontinued. Is there a newer one besides this that you would recommend? Thank you!

[@vwestlife]

See my reviews of the TEAC W-1200 and Marantz PMD-300CP.

[@majestik101]

@@vwestlife Thanks! 🙂

[@azamat19]

this one is still available as a new unit in germany. pearl and amazon sell them.

[@PardonJulianAssangeNow]

You've just got me hooked onto Jazz music. Thanks VWestlife!

[@suprb6970]

I bought one of these. Does what it claims. But still nothing beats a vintage quality recorder.

[@bobroberts135]

The best test of wow and flutter on a tape deck is a pre-recorded piano performance. If the transport isn't steady, it's immediately revealed. I think I'd rather have a vintage tape deck with a better transport. But I enjoyed your video! I subscribed.

[@laranaarana]

I own over 200 cassettes (pre-recorded and the ones I created for my individual listening), and I always used Dolby when recording them. And I always used Chrome or Metal tapes.

[@uxwbill]

Right away I noticed the unusually heavy bass and flutter in portions of the audio. Other than that, and all of that is pretty minor, it really does sound quite good. I'd be curious to know if the lack of Dolby NR decoding in these units has to do with the lack of suitable ICs being available, and no desire on the maker's part to spend the money on a discrete component implementation. Is it possible to play something from the computer over USB to that unit's sound hardware and have it recorded on tape? There are some cheap USB DACs on eBay with line level inputs and a few of them (particularly one that's seen in a blue colored aluminum shell with multi-channel outputs) are really quite good.

[@vwestlife]

I didn't try using it as a USB sound output device. I did notice that the microphone on/off switch is functional during cassette playback as well as recording, I guess so you can sing along with your cassettes while transferring them to the computer!

[@vwestlife]

I just tried it, and you can use the tape deck as a USB sound output device, but it doesn't work -- nothing comes out of the speaker or is recorded to tape, and the level meter doesn't show any activity.

[@FakeTheAntivirus]

uxwbill o

[@doomermusic7810]

If you want to record from computer to tape on this machine, you can just use an RCA to 3.5mm cable like this one tinyurl.com/ybm98u56 Just plug it into your headphone jack and into the record jacks on the back of the machine and you're good to record anything straight out of your computer. Works beautifully.

[@TheFruitMugger]

Those rips sound fantastic, the quality is unreal.

[@chrysanth.5700]

I have thought on and off about starting a cassette collection. There is something more interesting to me about it than vinyl. Nice to know there's a good device to record those with if I ever start my collection.

[@JesseEasley]

great review! and informative audacity tips! thank you

[@wb3ccn]

I've had one of these for several years now and have had no trouble with it. Even better now that I have a better and faster computer than I used to.

[@garohagopian2253]

Hello. This does look marginally better than the new cassette deck fare currently out there. There are two things of note that I feel everyone who undertakes "digitizing" their tapes should be aware of. The first is proper head alignment. I see a little hole just below the cassette door about where the azimuth screw for the record/play head would be, which tells me the user can make this adjustment, which is critical. Tapes are recorded on different machines, each with the head alignment likely slightly off, so the treble/high end may be rolled off, leaving tapes sounding "flat" or "dull" when you play them back here. Adjusting the head azimuth (with a small Philips screwdriver, like what jewelers use) for each tape until you hit that "sweet spot" is essential. The second thing is wow & flutter. The new machines out there now are atrocious in this regard, and that's partly because they only use one motor to drive the capstan (which pulls the tape across the heads at constant speed) and the reels. A two-motor machine (whether belt or direct-drive) means one motor is used just for the capstan, and the other for the reels, which results in much more stable and accurate tape speed. There are other points to consider, but again, I feel these two top the list when prepping for transferring cassettes to digital. By the way, though admittedly irrelevant to the discussion, I disagree with your assertion that not that many people used Dolby noise reduction. It was VERY widely used and was virtually "standard equipment" on tape decks, less-so with arch-rival dbx, tapes made of which only sounded good if you could play them back with it, but relatively few decks used dbx.

[@subbookkeeper]

They used similar font as Oracle Corporation logo.

[@PardonJulianAssangeNow]

ORACLE: One Rich Arsehole Called Larry Ellison

[@WarthogRacer]

Looking at just the video thumbnail, I was like "I never knew Oracle made cassette players." lol

[@vwestlife]

Grace Digital isn't even using this logo anymore, anyway. They changed it to all lowercase, to be trendy with the hipsters...

[@trevnral1]

When I saw the logo my initial thought was why is Oracle making audio electronics.

[@keithjones7810]

Dont know if I'm on my own but I go the other way and record digital on to cassette tape. I think it sounds more pleasing. Love your vids.

[@FifoF]

You *can* set Audacity to monitor the audio input - go to Transport -> Software Playthrough. Wait, I spoke too soon.

[@spongeyperson]

Actually sounds pretty good considering it's going through USB, then an Audio format on your pc, then encoded onto youtube. Hope you've had a great New Year Vwestlife :)

[@lolfreddy]

That actually sounds really good! Something about Analog Audio will always sound so much better in my honest opinion :)

[@Well_hello_there_]

Who else was diggin' the smooth jazz version of I'm not in Love by 10cc?............Anyone?

[@mjh5437]

I went to see 10cc in London about 2 years ago,they were great..hit after hit.

[@ourwonderfulworld8214]

You can use a small USB sound card

[@duprie37]

@@kumarsajal8400 They sound fine. DAC chips are cheap as chips these days. A $5 USB sound card is as good as the rip-off expensive options. It's the source player that determines the quality.

[@stephendobbins9251]

What a great device. Thanks for sharing. It sounds like it has good signal to noise ratio.

[@djflixxstudio5735]

This tape deck has amazing quality

[@MyDiesel101]

Good Morning VWestlife, Wishing You & your Family a Happy & Healthy 2017! Thank You for the excellent & very informative videos.

[@StevenS757]

12:47 There were radio shows that knew you were taping them and reminded you to turn your tape over?

[@vwestlife]

No, it was a pre-recorded promotional tape advertising a radio station.

[@tylerwatt12]

most laptops, even the cheap ones do have audio input, it's just using the headset jack. Get a 3 ring 3.5mm splitter. I have one so I can use my ipad as a guitar amp.

[@pg9193]

10:12 what type of cable did you use to get stereo recording from your ipod to the grace deck? I have a similar-looking cable that splits in the L-R but for some reason only gets mono sound from the left ear and it awful - any ideas? Thanks!

[@vwestlife]

Are you sure you're using a stereo cassette recorder? If it's a mono cassette recorder, you'll only get audio from the left channel. It's a normal stereo 3.5mm plug to 2 RCA cable.

[@Bembeleke]

This was very helpful you just gave my old dell an extra life now i just need to get a deck. Thks

[@stereophonicstuff]

I've been curious just how bad those cassette to USB converters really are, but could never justify paying for something I knew would be a lost cause. The quality of the Tape2USB would be more than adequate for most every cassette tape transfer undertaken. I'd be interested in seeing a review of the "weeny modern" computer that made a brief cameo in this video. :)

[@michaelmartin9022]

My mum has one I used to record some 40's to 60's comedy shows so I could listen on my phone. It did okay for spoken word and the incidental music, I guess.

[@thatkitsune1576]

Can you record things from pc into a cassette??? Plz answer

[@vwestlife]

The answer is in the video. Plz watch it

[@mikeculbertson]

I think I'd rather get a USB audio stock. those are really cheap these days and you can use a high quality tape deck

[@tommyb.6064]

I would be curious to know the wow and flutter of this machine. the tape playing at 7:00 seems to suffer heavy wow, perhaps it was on the recording side or the tape has stretched over time...?? Is there a heavy flywheel inside the player? quite sad there's no dolby B decoding since it is more complicated than just dropping the treble... great video, thanks!

[@CANDEEIRO]

Very precious tips, man! Thanks for sharing.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

What's the track and artist name of the sample you played when you test recorded the mp3 player through the *LINE* *IN* on the tape deck? I have the other 1st, 2nd and 3rd but Shazam didn't recognize the fourth.

[@MusicBoxVinyl]

How is the player going 7 years later? I made a post on Reddit about the deck a couple of hours ago, and people said it was bad..

[@kendawg_mcawesome]

Hey, do you have a clean copy of the sample used to test recording of music? Around 9:10. Sounds wicked muddy in the bass and I'm curious if it's the source or the device. You did reference it having too much bass.

[@vwestlife]

It's not on KZbin, but I uploaded it here: www.amstereo.org/files/Alternate%20Take%20-%20On%20Tha%20House.wma

[@kendawg_mcawesome]

Awesome, thanks. Seems to be a bit of both.

[@LaskyLabs]

"Weenie modern computer." Seems accurate.

[@samserios6428]

Thats a great idea and much nicer than most devices that just create super low bitrate mp3s. Another way would be to use an external usb soundcard and a seperate tape deck.

[@bubbaschwartz]

Does this eat tapes?

[@jeremymiller3800]

I doesn't need two speakers when they would be that close together. You wouldn't experience the sterio effect. Your still hearing all the sounds you would hear if it had another speaker. It is a cool device. Thanks for sharing.

[@DevaPermanaDrums]

You have all best songs collection by the way

[@RightWing1]

Even though I don't use it anymore, that is why I hung on to my Pioneer 3 head deck from the late 80's. I suspect nostalgia may set in 1 day for me to resurrect it back into my system, but I tend to play more vinyl or use minidisc for own recorded stuff.

[@Defensive_Wounds]

I have a feeling that the tape2usb 2 is supposed to be stood upright - that also would have lessened the wow and flutter! Tapes played on their backs tended to do that back in the day vs upright.

[@ChritsianBucic]

Interesting review and suggestion!

[@donaloflynn]

What was the tape you played towards the end where the DJ instructs you to turn over the tape? I've never come across a radio show produced for tape before.

[@patriciovelizcontardo848]

Excellent video!!!

[@fishymeep]

Sad no retailer sells these nowadays. Too expensive on ebay :(

[@azamat19]

there are still available on amazon in germany for 60 euros.

[@supernovagamer929]

i use a cassette player from the 70's as my main one, actually there's a neat story behind it. it's a multi media system that also has a radio, phonograph (record player, i say phonograph because it sounds neat) and 8-track player. i got it as it was being tossed out at my township's fall cleaning thing for free, next year i got a free karaoke machine with microphone, both working.

[@joeblankenship377]

I guess it’s good to know that decent versions of this do exist. No telling how many tape nostalgists have bought garbage.

[@stighenningjohansen]

I have one works very well, surpricingly good sound quality

[@coondogtheman]

When I bought the PC I'm using now, I specifically asked the guy at best buy if it had a line input jack. I also told him I'd be using this machine for games. I have a lot of first person shooter games, most are older (Half Life 2, Doom 3) and this machine plays them with no issues. My new laptop does not have a line input which sucks but I don't use the laptop much anyway. I use GoldWave for audio editing because I know it well and used it for many years. I have a few cassette machines to record tapes to the computer but the belts are breaking down on them. My Sony Casette-Corder is still running strong but it's only mono.

[@a1930ford]

How do you recommend cleaning the tape heads on this machine?

[@vwestlife]

Isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs, the same as with any other tape deck.

[@marekmaslak8040]

Thats some good ,,modern casette recorder that doesnt suck" type machine.I like the design and the sound of it is amazing.

[@HuskyDog88]

I used to have one of those tape decks. I used those to convert some of my Dad's old tapes into digital MP3 files.

[@Minecraftminer3000]

Wow! I have the exact same Acer laptop you showed at around 1:10! How did you get Windows 10 running on it? I have Windows 8.1 on mine and I wanted to upgrade it to 10, but it kept coming up with some strange error message...

[@vwestlife]

I didn't. I just put an image of a Windows 10 desktop on the screen. It's actually running Windows 7.

[@Minecraftminer3000]

Oh, OK. I guess I'll have to stick with 8.1 then.

[@themaritimegirl]

What's the sampling rate of the audio recorded via the USB port?

[@vwestlife]

I used 44.1 kHz. It probably also supports 48 kHz, but there really isn't any point going higher than that, because the frequency response of its cassette deck isn't wide enough to justify higher sampling rates.

[@ericpa06]

Quick question: what's the name of that song playing at 5:47?

[@vwestlife]

Anita Baker - "Sweet Love"

[@ericpa06]

Thank you!

[@dafrenchiestfry3778]

can it be used the other way around? as in play music in your laptop and transfer the songs inside a blank cassette tape?

[@vwestlife]

Yes, but only via an analog audio connection, not via USB.

[@markcovington8159]

Hey VWestlife. Can the line inputs of this cheap USB cassette deck be used for recording music from 8-track tapes? :)

[@vwestlife]

Yes.

[@StainlessSteele]

Can you record into the player with the USB line?

[@vwestlife]

No. The USB is output only.

[@StainlessSteele]

@@vwestlife thanks I just bought one of these I didn’t realize it has external speakers and no headphone Jack

[@rylandc2915]

Hi, my name is Ryland, I have myself a Grace tape2usb and I am in India my Uncle got me the player, however I fear about the power input will it differ from the adapters we use here or should I get something different and I have a heaven load of cassettes. Please advice. Thank you

[@SudosFTW]

the fact they even give you a linear wall-wart is a neat thing in itself.

[@markusTegelane]

Hey, I know The 8-bit Guy!

[@markusTegelane]

***** No, his channel

[@refraggedbean]

I know him more from 8-bit keys

[@maziu27]

Who doesn't

[@jamescollins6085]

I remember when he was The iBook Guy.

[@colefreddy1]

I love this channel, great and informative video's

[@thesherlockhound]

I like that Grace machine. It's a very nice looking machine, and seems to work well.

[@clemsonbloke]

Most people did not use Dolby on their tape recordings? Oh yeah we did, I'm 43 and I used it and all my friends did as well. Those who didn't know much about cassettes may have not used it but we knew how to properly setup our decks and we didn't have cheap ones either. We frequently made mixes from our LP's or CD's and then traded mix tapes, it was important to list the type of Dolby on the tape label although most of us used "B" because "C" never tracked right in our opinion. When "S" came along we all got new decks and switched to that.

[@vwestlife]

The vast majority of cassette recorders ever sold -- portables, boomboxes, and in integrated stereo systems -- did not have Dolby noise reduction at all. Of course, most component tape decks did have Dolby, but those were never the majority of *all* cassette recorders sold.

[@clemsonbloke]

Interesting observation, however, Dolby has been available for most of the cassette formats life, it was introduced on cassette in the very early 70's. Of course you get what you pay for and some people just have no taste in audio gear. That said, there were boomboxes and even walkmans with the Dolby playback option at least on them. My walkman is both dolby capable and metal/chrome capable as well. It depended more on if you bought cheap shit versus quality as to whether or not it had Dolby.

[@vwestlife]

clemsonbloke Only high-end Walkmans had Dolby, and I rarely if ever saw it on any boomboxes.

[@clemsonbloke]

Well now you might not like Dolby and thats fine but for me the damn thing better have Dolby or it's useless to me. Like I said before, the cheap shit is what doesn't have Dolby and I don't buy cheap shit.

[@vwestlife]

I do like Dolby (when it works properly), but I'm just stating the truth that the vast majority of cassette recorders ever sold don't have it.

[@curtchase3730]

Yes...It's a nice sounding unit, but since it has no Dolby NR, even "B", the playback of a Dolby encoded tape will be artificially bright giving that wow that sounds good audio. Another thing, since this machine is designed to be an archival machine, it should have an azimuth correction control knob so the user can tweak the head to line up to the magnetic media for the best high end. Years ago, I had a nice Sansui deck with a little hole by the transport. I always had my little jewelers screwdriver handy to adjust the tape head to match the tape I was playing. Believe me, many factory pre-recorded tapes needed an azimuth adjustment!

[@Mikeywil0003]

The sound quality is shocking. My only worry about this deck is longevity. There is no Dolby noise reduction either. This device would be great for an amateur. For an enthusiast, a high quality cassette deck and a USB audio interface like a Behringer UCA202 would be a better and less expensive (as long as you already own a cassette deck) option.

[@deaddycruel]

with probability 99% this is total fake and lie

[@NESherv]

Just saw your other video about the Pioneer CT-W616DR, the tape deck that reduces tape hiss. Would recording to my computer with that make the MP3 sound better, or does it not really matter?

[@vwestlife]

Yes.

[@KarenNakamura1]

Can audacity process Dolby nr? It’d be a great plugin, I’d imagine.

[@angeloilagan1773]

It is using permanent erase or electeomagnatic erase??? As well AC or DC BIAS RECORDING???

[@SFtheGreat]

Not all older-modern laptops have line input, they have microphone inputs, but not necessarily line-in. Mine has two audio outputs, a mic in, but none is convertible to line-in... This is why I use tower PC. Major drawback, this Grace doesn't have switch for Metal tapes, as if they couldn't have installed automatic detection by notches in shells and the manual doesn't bother to provide any specifications such as SNR, frewuency response, etc...

[@vwestlife]

The CrO2 setting works for playing Metal tapes, but not for recording on them.

[@SFtheGreat]

Might as well be, the EQ for both is 70 μs (I never figured out what that even is and what it does), but metal formulation requires more bias, but that's only on recording stage, it still can be played back even on crappy walkman without any kind of cassette type recognition (though the soudn will be affected compared to playing on deck with manual or automatic selection).

[@cbehr91]

I've had success converting reel-to-reel recordings with a USB sound card and Audacity.

[@Jorge0s]

I came up on one at the Goodwill in Los Alamos,ca in good condition for 9.90 can't wait to try it out

[@africanrevolution3551]

nice video!!!! what is the model of the Panasonic cassette deck you have in this video?

[@vwestlife]

608D: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHuvo36If8xli6c

[@PlaidDin]

I've got my fully functioning JVC TD-X202 from 1987 for $5. :P Nevertheless, I've got a bad news for Windows 10 users. It's generic USB audio drivers are pretty screwed up - they are incredibly silent. So if you connect something like and Audio-Technika LP-60USB or this well sounding deck, you won't hear too much. When amplified, it's a bit hissy. No fixes available, other than downgrading to Windows 7/8.1.

[@teomankardal5043]

Bigbeater Kioshi no problem to me because i use windows 7 on mu main rig and i believe till ots out of supoort

[@uxwbill]

Time and time again, Windows 10 proves to be a piece of software unburdened by any form of quality control. It boggles the mind how they've managed to break stuff that generally Just Worked and consisted entirely of Solved Problems. I guess it's all that NEW! SHINY!

[@AndyMitchellUK26]

I'm still running 7 as well. New doesn't always mean better and I'm more than happy to stick with what works. And holy hell, I've not seen any of your videos for ages uxwbill. Time to go check out your channel and see what s**t people have thrown out lately! It always amazes me why people throw away perfectly good stuff.

[@ciprianwinerElectronicManiac]

I just don't want to imagine what the day when I will be forced to buy a new computer and use windows 10, I had it on my tablet and also 8, the whole process of using them was nothing more than problem solving.

[@mr.smash698]

I'll just stick to Windows XP until my computer blows up.

[@crapcbm]

yes better do it later in software. there you are able to adjust it at best sound 20 years ago I started copy my tapes to PC, save it to hi-mp3 and also brun it to CDs. I lowered the high bands and in next step, when all the tape sound was away, I increased them again and they really sound great

[@joonaknuutinen5540]

i liked the little cassette video on bottom right. did you have to break a deck for that footage?