Cassette Decks for Dummies

[@TheJaHa5]

A simple, but really great well thought up and put together video as always. Here's a little tweak you can try whenever you have the time tho, When using a 'Piano keys style' cassette deck that has Full Auto Stop, the easiest way to do the finger test with the rewind function, is simply to activate the 'Pause' function on the deck first before you press the Rewind button to temporarily disable the Auto Stop feature. It may not work for all decks, depending on what type of mechanism is used, but from the looks of that TEAC, I'm almost sure it'll definitely work.

[@vwestlife]

Thanks for the tip!

[@TheJaHa5]

@@vwestlife You're most welcome...

[@EgoShredder]

That brings back memories! I remember doing that pause/rewind trick back in the 1980s and 90s.

[@chrome_exposed]

You got me. This is indeed exactly what I need

[@HostiaRecords]

Yes, i always push pause to avoid auto stop in rewind mode, i have a lot of manual decís and always works

[@themaritimegirl]

This video is exactly what the Gen-Z crowd who never touched cassettes as kids need to help them get started. Well done.

[@PurpleNinja-vn4hv]

Can confirm!

[@andalaossa06]

I am Gen Z and got my first deck recently! It has some things that need fixing but so far loving the sound of tape 📼

[@rosepetal-ov7vl]

Yes that’s me!

[@GayDingo]

I'm Gen Z and grew up with cassettes since I was poor. I would record songs off the radio with them. I even still have a sealed blank cassette tape in my drawer.

[@anonymousapple3840]

I’m Genzie and I’ve got some cassettes

[@chrisa2735-h3z]

What I usually do is buy them, Clean them up including cleaning the tape heads , etc.Change the belt if needed, And then Pass them on to another thrift store ❤️ I love giving these beautiful tape decks another life!!

[@integribeez4114]

I work at a thrift store. We usually throw more of those away working in good shape or not. The manager usually prices them too high and no one buys them. They go right into the portable compactor and make a nice crunching sound. I once thew out one that was a gold colored disco style huge NAKMICHO 1000 and it jammed the compactor. It was in pretty good shape and working before it was pulled from the shelf.

[@chrisa2735-h3z]

@@integribeez4114 🥺

[@Dwall44]

@@integribeez4114 that’s awful! If you don’t mind me asking, where is the thrift store located? I live in the US in Pennsylvania and I’ve literally seen bags in my local thrift store full of leaking batteries Lol.. I think that’s pretty wasteful that they would throw out perfectly working equipment, at least mark the price down or some thing instead of just destroying it.

[@ShazeemKhan]

Smh, true, or sell in the bay, use for parts, leave out for someone to take up. Reminds me of thst scene in The Brave Little Toaster

[@emmareporter4324]

​@@integribeez4114THEY CRUSHED A NAKAMICHI 1000 ZXL?! DO THEY NOT KNOW HOW MUCH THOSE ARE WORTH?

[@twocvbloke]

I like how that instruction manual depicted the "Do not drop!" instruction with a cat pushing it off the edge, cos that's what cats do, for everything, anywhere, no matter what it is... :P

[@rwparker1968]

They say that's the ultimate proof that the Earth is round. If it were flat, cats would have already pushed everything off the edge.

[@plan7a]

I guess the cat in the picture didn't like the music it was hearing. ('Who Let The Dogs Out?', perhaps?). LOL.

[@MrSerendipity01]

@@rwparker1968 Very good, I like that!😁😅

[@vhfgamer]

Actually, there is one thing I've never seen a cat push off the edge of a table or counter. I've never seen a cat push another cat off.

[@JonGallon]

I know it's already redundant but again, thank you VERY MUCH for providing subtitles, it helps a lot non English native speakers like me. (but, to be honest, your dictation/speech and voice are very good and I can understand you most of the time without reading the subtitles. 👍👍

[@duskonanyavarld1786]

It is also good for the hard of hearing.

[@kfl611]

Sub titles are great, I sometimes see a really good video in Hindi or German, French, Italian and I only speak English. So I am able to follow what they are telling me.

[@DoubleMonoLR]

It also allows people to use the auto-translate subtitle option, which sometimes works pretty well :)

[@igorszamaszow171]

A deck with Dolby C for 7 bucks is a pretty good find.

[@MetalTrabant]

Basically any working deck is great find for that price...

[@BilisNegra]

@@MetalTrabant Mostly agree, but... If it's wow and flutter city by sheer bad design, not wear, to begin with, it's not any good for any price.

[@vinniemorciglio4632]

And bias adjust.

[@ChrisLee1353-c6e]

@@vinniemorciglio4632 This is a criminally underrated point. Internally bias the deck to the tapes you most commonly use and adjust the slider with a test tone. Rewind and play until it's right. Did that for years until I got a 3 head deck with an auto bias.

[@UnderEu]

Even considering myself a cassette enthusiast, read about all the advanced tweaking and serviced my gear with my own (dis)abilities, this was a very excellent guide and there's always something to learn - the window cleaner tip, for example. Excellent one, as always, Mr.

[@bf0189]

Great advice for new people getting into the hobby! Like you said don't worry about finding a Nakamichi. Teac, Kenwood, Pioneer...etc are all fine choices especially for a beginner! Basically any Japanese brand is going to treat you well IMO

[@papertoyss]

Teac, Kenwood and Pioneer made high end cassette decks though

[@bigtimefans100]

Yes!! And Technics have been pretty consistent and are great too if you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars!:)

[@Edgeedman]

Can someone tell me how to record audio from my laptop into cassete

[@illiyakorniyenko]

@@Edgeedman get an audio interface, connect interface outputs (likely TRS/balanced) to the deck's input (RCA) a simple dual TRS to RCA cable will do just fine.

[@Edgeedman]

@@illiyakorniyenko thanks

[@2ndPyleOfVinyl]

As a tapehead since 2002, I appreciate this video very much. I also use a Technics RS-B11W that I bought for a buck from Goodwill back in 2010 and thought that it was the best deck that I have bought. I have fancier decks but I am more satisfied with the Technics' sound quality and ease of use. I recorded over 600 cassettes on it and it still sounds great despite it being heavily used before I bought it.

[@rupertthomson]

I'm so glad that we know which brand of tape player Terry Venables endorsed. It's this kind of esoteric knowledge that the world needs right now.

[@frazzleface753]

Finally, we know. 🙂

[@BilisNegra]

Amstrad is a legendary name... For the bad, of course, in all non-computery stuff.

[@MrDuncl]

Between 1987 and 1993 Alan Sugar was effectively Terry Venable's boss at Tottenham, so promoting Amstrad products would have been part of the job.

I am a very old man and I adore your channel. It is amazing how cheap are these machines in USA. Even a similar used in Argentina means a full day wage of a normal worker. Cheers from frozen Patagonia.

[@TheMrMarkW]

“All the high end decks are strictly single deck designs” whilst panning down in front of a 6 cassette pioneer changer unit (albeit still only with a single deck inside the changer of course)😂 Great video, though. Especially for people who didn’t grow up with cassettes and learned the hard way! I should add - I still have my Technics RS-BX606 cassette deck I bought from new back in 1991 and it still works perfectly. Sadly we don’t have Goodwill in the U.K. - stuff either goes on EBay or it gets recycled at the ‘tip’.

[@christopherchadwick480]

The closest to Goodwill in the UK is charity shops and they either don't take LX kit or over charge for it. I've bought some cassette deck bargains on eBay UK but the risk is always underpacking so delicate chassis parts get smashed in transit.

[@NOWThatsRichy]

This is a great information video for anyone thinking of buying a used deck, but doesn't have any prior knowledge of what to be aware of.

[@Rouxenator]

Or a tape whose contents you don't mind recording over : "The truth about sex - A seminar for parent & teens"

[@timleelim9930]

Well and good that it is on a cassette tape. Otherwise, had it been on a podcast, you "can't handle the truth".

[@dintyshideaway9505]

I have so many thoughts on this video, I will try to keep the length "comment appropriate". First, I love the fact that you discourage the use of a high alcohol content ISO for all things. Even after working in a radio station, I still used 91%+ ISO on everything, and with this rubber getting so old, taking better care is good advice. Also I would love to see a companion video on choosing a receiver. I think that a lot of people do not realize that these surround sound receivers in thrift stores, which are literally a dime a dozen, are in many cases a much better choice than one of those beautiful woodgrain and chrome models from the late seventies. I am always shocked to see Yamaha, Onkyo, and even Denon receivers just sitting there collecting dust, knowing if they were silver with an analog tuner people would be fighting over them. Cleaning a dirty pot with contact cleaner is not always easy, and these surround units should not usually need that attention. Anyway great video, having been spoiled on 1/4" tape for so long, I was never really a fan of cassettes, but I love the enthusiasm and information.

[@manFromPeterborough]

A lot of AVRs have vol knob problems worse than traditional pots, ie the vol goes up when turning CCW (down) Marantz, Pioneer are prime examples of this fault

[@bugsyjonesband]

@@manFromPeterborough my HK volume knob only works intermittently but the remote works it fine

[@losdayz2894]

Man, you’re a lifesaver I was the whole weekend trying to figure out how to fix my VU needles pinging to the right on my Sony TC-K2A. I hit record by accident on Friday night and then the problem began but seeing this video and you talking about cleaning the Record Play back switch by pressing down on the record switch to fix the problem did the trick I have left it on for like 10 minutes while I finish watching your video it’s working fine now🎉

[@kcsreenath]

thank you! my Kenwood KX620 meters were peaking as soon as the unit powered on. Your tip on the record button fiddling fixed it. Thank you!

[@snugglebunnyhaven7258]

I remember how much of an intricate part of my audio pleasure the cassette deck was for me in the 80s and 90s. And the Teac brand was actually an exceptionally good machine for those of us on a budget and their Tascam brand. My usage of recording from my receiver/tuner was my favored use. With decent cassettes such as a chrome there was virtually no loss from quality of the original source. I had always used alcohol cleaning everything including the roller. I never had one degrade on me from using alcohol. I usually had things like the heads wear or some other mechanical issue long before that. I wore out my share of machines through the 80s. And I still use them today specifically to record my radio shows for later listening.

[@miata1492]

Congratulations on a brilliantly done and well-received topic. You covered many areas that I had previously wondered about!

[@emancaindec9731]

Finally. A 2021 guide for those who want to buy a new tape deck... Loved this episode!

[@northhankspin]

i love that Realistic Amplifer, I remember it in all the radio shack catalog when i was a kid.. this is a great video for the next generation of people who want to get into this stuff. great work.

[@Seiskid]

I'm a big fan of cheap and cheerful hifi (although I have nice gear as well). You can have a surprising amount of fun resurrecting something that doesn't cost very much, and its a great way for a beginner to learn because cheap and cheerful is easier to understand and a whole world less stressful if it ultimately doesn't work.

[@moottori_paa]

I love old quality decks too, this video is plain and simple all you need to know at first. Very well job!

[@davidsandoval4691]

Thank you for taking the time to create this video. Super concise, friendly to new tape cassettes adventurers and also encouraging. I’ve spent the last 10 years submerging into the vinyl rabbit hole and it seems cassette tapes are next. When I look at cassette decks it’s like looking at ancient technology or even alien technology. My local goodwill has one in stock I am excited to apply what I’ve learned to check the condition of that piece. Again, thank you and cheers!

[@synchro505]

@VWestlife is an absolute treasure on KZbin. Many thanks for the wonderful videos you work so hard on for us.

[@Rocco2500]

I didn’t know about the Tape Monitor button. I knew it was there, but didn’t know what it did. Now I can tape my records directly to a cassette, and play in my Walkman. Thanks for the tip!

[@Dan-mq8in]

Tape monitor was originally intended for use with high end reel to reel tape decks. They had an extra playback head, allowing you to play what was recorded a fraction of a second earlier, making it easy to fine tune the recording levels / bias / etc while the recording was being made (especially while recording live music). The Tape Monitor button on a stereo receiver is usually an easy to toggle button so that you can compare the source material with the recording with a quick toggle of the switch. For those of us without the fancy reel to reel tape decks, Tape Monitor serves as an extra line level input for the stereo receiver. This is especially useful on vintage stereos may not otherwise have enough inputs to have a tape player and cd player connected at the same time.

[@alafosca5724]

This is literally the best tutorial I have ever seen in my life

[@dexta32084]

This is a great video for someone looking for a thrift store deck. Some things I’d add- 1. When sound testing a deck, make sure Dolby is not enabled on the initial test. I had a deck I thought was broken, but then realized Dolby C was enabled. 2. If the spindle does not have the tension to pass the finger test due to stretched belts, a belt replacement is not the end of the world and usually doable if you’re even remotely handy. Belts are readily available online. 3. This is arguable, but I would make sure to use 91% alcohol and not 70% rubbing alcohol, the latter which can often leave a residue on the heads after you clean them. I agree with everything in this video. For most folks, the deck in the video is just fine for playing tapes. $7.99 sure beats spending $400 on a new Teac and frankly, an old deck in working order is likely work at least as well if not better.

[@vwestlife]

Yes -- I should have pointed out that as long as you get some sign of movement from the mechanism, the belts aren't too far gone and should be easy to replace. But if you get no movement at all, the belts have likely melted into black goo, and you'll have a nasty mess to clean up.

[@taketimeout2share]

Hello VW. Just to add one advantage of the double cassette decks. Most of them have only had the left side deck used and the right hand deck, which is there mainly to record to, hardly gets used. So, it has almost always hardly been used and the heads are hardly worn so gives a better performance than the heavily used left side deck, and better than a single heavily used single deck model of equal vintage. . Its a real advantage even if, in my opinion, I prefer (the look of ) single decks. It really is something for nothing. Good upload, as always.

[@rodneykingston6420]

We were probably incorrect in doing so, but just about everyone I know used the recording deck, on the left, as the primary playing deck as well. The play-only deck (which was on the right as you faced the machine) was typically only used when you were duplicating off a cassette.

[@Quacks0]

13:25 If the capstan doesn't turn when the power is switched on, activate the rewind or fast-forward mode to make the capstan turn. That way, you can clean the capstan without having the pinch-roller pressed against it (as would be the case if you used the "play" function to make the capstan turn) to jam your swab and/or re-contaminate the wetted capstan as it turns. To clean the pinch-roller properly, you'll need to repeatedly stop and re-clean the capstan as you remove the debris from the pinch-roller by holding the swab against it, since the roller will often have a lot more oxide/dirt buildup on it than the capstan will (that's largely because the roller rests against the "front" --- i.e., oxide-coated side --- of the tape, whereas the capstan contacts the "back" of the tape, which is the side away from the oxide coating), and this debris will come off and coat the capstan as it is wiped loose by your wet swab. Often you may need to change your swab several times before you get the pinch-roller clean, whereas the capstan usually comes clean with just one application of the swab.

[@monaural2.988]

Well done. I am a diehard cassette man, have been since the late 70s. I’ve made literally hundreds of great sounding tapes of rare material from the internet. How? You just use the headphone Jack on your computer! Can’t download? I never let that stop me! Love doing it “old school”!

[@orangecountyjackson7898]

got my first deck at the thrift store as well... 8 bucks. The drive belts finally gave out after about three years of use so I retired it and bought myself a TASCAM CD-A580 for all of my audio uses.. this video is an awesome reference! thanks

[@gerardodalena1874]

Dude, the trick on the recording button just fixed my old deck! Thanks!

[@gabrieltravassos9065]

super proud of the video you made. thank you for your help mrs.

[@JasonHalversonjaydog]

i remember having a walkman with full logic controls. only small walkman i've ever seen like that, just electronic push buttons for play, ff, rewind, etc. and it had a digital tuner. it was really nice at the time

[@MrDuncl]

In about 1999 you could buy Sonys like that for half the price of a Discman.

[@paulgriffiths8488]

Great upload and agree we all don't need a Dragon to enjoy great tunes and I probably wouldn't notice the difference anyway

[@kirkmooneyham]

Why what do you mean? I've read and heard elsewhere that if it's not a multi-thousand dollar Nakamichi serviced by one of a handful of aged technical wizards, no one should even think about buying one, right? And, of course, only Type IV cassettes should be used, never any "dirty ferrics". Never re-record onto a cassette, either, one pass and done. Oh, and only record from first-opened vinyl, because after the first play, those are ruined, too. Seriously, though, glad see someone out there just wants to enjoy this hobby, and isn't such an audiophile snob about it.

[@kfl611]

But we all want a dragon.

[@bdwatkins2001]

the dragon sounds so good that with the right speakers Helen Keller would notice the difference

[@troyconnolly9053]

Brilliant description of the basics I particularly like when you said if your into cassette decks you are smart . I lot of people think I’m crazy being into this . Mix tapes are so much fun to make .

[@waldevv]

Thumbnail looks familiar, looks identical to my Technics M5 :) Picked it up for free at the local recycling store and it worked perfectly, probably wouldn't have paid much attention if it didn't have the VU meters. I just love feel of old AV equipment, they feel so much more robust and all the knobs are so smooth and switches are solid. Completely different from the modern shiny plastic garbage

[@HammondDirk]

Actually, I think it's the M-205, I owned both of them, the M-205 I still have. The decks are indeed very similar, same functionality and share also many parts, I managed to make the M-205 working again by using some salvaged parts from the M-5. The M-5 has direct mechanical piano-style keys and a plastic housing, the M-205 is a bit more elaborate with a metal housing (that is much easier to take apart) and a fully mechanical soft-touch control mechanism. I like the way you feel the mechanism take over when you press the play-key slowly ;-).

[@foreverseethe]

Why does anything modern have to be garbage though?

[@creeper_porridge9392]

i am living for these transitions

[@Kevinsrack]

That thumbnail is 1000% a Technics RS-M205. I've been around one my entire life, and would recognize it anywhere, even if I ended up in a coma for 30 years!

[@JohnHopkin]

Thanks so much for this. Your advice about the noise during playback, and jiggling the write-protect detector while pressing record, meant I could fix my faulty NAD 6220 in seconds, after months of worrying about how I was going to transfer some valuable (to me, anyway) old home recordings to digital. Totally amazing, and totally delightful!

[@foxdavani4091]

I had a dual Sony cassette deck, where, when one cassette play both sides it would automatically go to the second deck and start playing. So you essentially got to hear to albums before you had to stand up if you wanted to switch cassettes. I loved it. I could even set one album to play in Dolby but another album to play in another Dobie form or not plan to be at all. Or II had a dual Sony cassette deck, where, when one cassette play both sides it would automatically go to the second deck and start playing. So you essentially got to hear two albums before you had to stand up if you wanted to switch cassettes. I love that. I could even set one album to play in Dolby but another album to play in another Adobe form or not playing Dolby at all. Or I could use cassette deck be to record off of vinyl or off of radio while using cassette deck, a to play a song. My favorite part was both cassette decks, once a song was over you would see a little LED light up so it knew there was empty space. So if you pressed fast forward, it would fast forward past a song and then stop on the next empty space , so you could use that to skip whatever songs you wanted. Or you could turn that feature off and just have it fast forward until you press stop. And there were a whole lot of other features too and the damn thing was heavy. Built like a tank. But that’s why I love that. It was a good quality. Sony machine with amazing amazing sound. I even loved the little digital something or other on the screen. It had a screen built on top of it and you would watch the little LEDs move along with the music. Kind of like an iTunes visual, so it was far better than the normal little bars that were raised up and down with cassette decks. Even the buttons were unique. Instead of being hard buttons that made a lot of noise, they were very soft and just the slightest touch could get them to do things. Best damn Sony anything I ever had hooked into my A/V system. I was so sad to see it go.

[@lunamonkey]

That segue sound/title is awesome. Also, thanks for the longer play video today.

[@johanflierman]

Ah, recording level in, that was a great treat on the deck we had at home. I fashioned an "electric guitar" out of an acoustic one and one earpeace of a cheap walkman style headphone. By varying the recording level in, I was able to get it to overdrive. Sounded crap off course, but started a hobby which I still enjoy.

[@podnaponom]

I just bought a Philips D6350 for my IBM 5150 to load programs from Cassettes and nostalgia struck me like Zeus with lightning. I had like 2-5 cassettes and a Walkman when I was a kid in 2000s, but now I really understand the value and importance of cassettes. I really hate the digital era, it's boring to have 100 songs on a 15mm micro SD card that can be played by a push of a digital button on our phone screens. Sure I use my phone when I'm on the road, but cassettes, it's like a ritual you must do to get them playin'. AND I ENJOY IT EVERY TIME! I laughed at one of my school mates for not knowing how to open a cassette case when my teacher gave it to him. Guess he never saw one. Thank GOD I'm here to keep the old tradition alive.

[@richmorrison8194]

FYI - That Betty Wright "Mother Wit" tape used to demonstrate Dolby C is available on Spotify. Great video Kevin!

[@jayuno3009]

Thank you for this video. And I also wanted to thank you for inspiring me to reconnect w/ my stereo system. I cleaned my Optimus deck using your instructions. I also bought a vintage Fisher receiver and another Realistic tape deck serviced w/ new belts. I’m building a nice cabinet for the system too. So thank you so much Kevin, I appreciate your videos.

[@stoojinator]

This was a great video. I've been into hifi since the late 70s and have had my fair share of decks over the years. I love your last point about elitism in the hobby. For 90% of people, a cheap deck will be just as useful as an expensive one, and really won't be noticeable with sound reproduction. It's a bit pointless having a $1000 cassette deck to record on, then play it back on a $100 Boom Box or knock-off Walkman. My rule of thumb is to purchase what you can reasonably afford, keeping in mind you may have to do some work on it (if it hasn't come from someone who looks after them). Replacing belts and a service can add to the price. Also, I look for decks that are made before 1995 as a rule of thumb as that's when cassettes really disappeared of the shelves and cheap mechanisms started flooding the market. I also tend to avoid the decks which are all electronic as when things go wrong, they are VERY expensive to fix. Look for good late 70s early 80s deck made by a good brand (Pioneer, Sony, Teac, Denon etc) and you really won't go wrong. My problem now is trying to find places to buy blank tapes from. Second hand tapes are generally useless now. And new here are SO expensive.

[@manFromPeterborough]

Sanyo and Realistic also made good decks

[@jamespoole76]

Thanks for the helpful info on cleaning the heads. I never Would’ve thought about using window cleaner.

[@kfl611]

You can also buy 'rubber conditioner' to keep your pinch roller / capstans nice and soft and flexible. It is kind of expensive, but I think worth it. It lasts forever.

[@sebastiansekinger5070]

Great beginners video! That Teac looks to be in very good shape! I think you got a real bargain!

[@70mmgomp]

Oh the joys of analogue magnetic tape audio! Thanks for posting! :-) Cheers Keith

[@tonydeniro284]

Great video! I love tape decks, I will never get rid of the 3 I own. So much fun!

[@5tryk]

As someone whose slowly building my own cassette HiFi deck piece by piece, I find invaluable videos like this edifying to my endeavour. Also the tip about using a window cleaning agent to clean the pinch roller can also be applied to VCRs as well, as I see it as a safer alternative since the last VCR I attempted to clean the pinch roller with using isopropyl alcohol resulted in the rubber comming off.

[@vizprave6721]

Damn man how is it coming along?

[@mustacheboyo]

Isopropyl alcohol dries out the rubber so next time you should not clean it with that

[@AndyX]

Be carefull ,,windex contains ammonia ,,definatly not friendly to rubber

[@2muchrubik]

Such a great video idea, I always love your videos on tape decks! Would love to see a part 2 where you cover those more advanced calibrations along with replacing belts.

[@PurpleNinja-vn4hv]

Appreciate this in depth guide greatly! I recently found some 3.5 inch reels of my family in the 60s, so I bought a reel to reel to play them. I was very confused that the deck operated properly without a tape playing but wouldn’t pull tape, took me awhile to realize I needed new belts!

[@JonnyInfinite]

Terry Venables endorsment of the Amstrad cassette deck at 1:27 is actually hilarious for several reasons

[@rich_edwards79]

'We want T not Sugar'... God, was it really almost 30 years ago that he told Venables 'you're fired'? I won't touch Amstrad stuff, it's the 80s equivalent of Crosley and it must be only through sheer luck that any has survived into the modern era.

[@markmiwurdz202]

@VWestlife. Thank you for this information about cassette decks. Just a couple of additional things that may help your viewers who may venture into the world of ferric oxide tape. Before playing a cassette, fast forward the tape side A and then side B. This "aligns" the tape to your deck. Do the same for a brand new tape out of wrapper/box, especially if you want to make a recording. Plus it only takes a few seconds with a pencil to wind the leader up to the start of the tape before you load it into the deck. You can then cue your recording source and release tape pause simultaneously and not risk losing any information. You and yours stay safe and well.

[@patricknedz]

I have this JVC dual deck with auto reverse, Dolby B and C as well as manual recording level controls. I am very pleased with the recording quality and playback quality. I bought a few metal tapes and they sound really good. I used to make a lot of mix tapes for when I had my old car with a cassette deck and they sounded great as well. JVC seemed to have made good quality units back in the day.

[@G.B...]

Very nice introductory video, and a nice thrift store finding. Definitely needs a Part 2 video covering the stuff you mention in the end.

[@ACBMemphis]

If it's an old deck and you can't test it in the store or have doubts about condition, IMHO a fully mechanical deck OR a full logic/electronic deck is more likely to work than a "mechanical soft touch" model as those tend to have more belts, gears, pulleys that can break.. If you read the Technics text at 1:50 it's very telling... Anyway, thanks for a great video that's sure to inspire many future cassette enthusiasts!

[@DoubleMonoLR]

Indeed, the mechanics behind an older soft touch deck I have is pretty bonkers, and involves a bunch of protrusions on a rotating rod triggering other mechanical parts. Impressively it still works fine though, but you have to hold the buttons slightly longer or sometimes it misses the press.

[@DejanTesic]

It's like a trip back in time with a nice guide. Enjoyable! Now, back to my digital audio...

[@victorvangrimgamming6784]

One suggestion for IF your testing a cassette mechanism at a thrift shop. Carry a cheap set of earbuds and a 3.5 to larger plug (can't remember right name) we all carry earbuds or headphones already. Find a cassette (preferably one that was already on the store), then the tape deck, then test the cassette deck in the shop, and plug your headset in. If their are oither features, test thoes too. I picked up a Sony hst-211 all in one (duel cassette, radio, 3 input and a phono amp built in, but it was missing the removable record player.) With it I found the cabinet with its glass door, cabinate speakers. I later traded the speakers for a STR-K7000 A/V AMP. I found this a good trade, and a great way to merge vintage and modern technology in my living room. Best $40 at goodwill I've spent yet.

[@defaultuserid1559]

Interesting video as usual. I had a Tandberg TCD-300 and wore the tape heads out. I couldn't afford to have it repaired back then and I let it go to a friend for parts. I wish I still had it because I'd put the money into getting it restored. That deck was amazing, especially when compared to the junk available now.

[@kfl611]

Oh, to be young and foolish !

[@cdl0]

This video is an excellent introduction to cassette decks for 'dummies'. One thing touched on, but no details given, is tape head demagnetization. Clearly, it is best to use a proper demagnetization tool; however, if you do not have one, then a simple solution is to make the tape head demagnetize itself. This is achieved by selecting the highest bias setting available (metal > chrome > normal) and switching record on and off a few times in succession. The AC bias signal that is applied when recording also demagnetizes the head.

[@amitbrahme3635]

Honestly speaking very nice and well explained for beginners !!! Great job!!

[@Maxxeine]

Great tips and guide overall. I like how you're still using the blue background transitions, I always love seeing those in your videos. I didn't know about the window cleaner trick for pinch rollers, and I've been collecting decks and tapes for years now, lol. I always just used alcohol. I'll definitely be using that method from now on.

[@5argetech56]

When I saw the thumbnail, I actually thought this was part of the dummy series of books. This was another great video.👍👍

[@ConsumerDV]

It is the Panasonic RS635 a.k.a. Technics RS-M205 a.k.a. MCS 683-3543.

[@theaylesburycyclist8756]

A VWestlife video gets an automatic thumbs up... 👍 No matter what the subject is, but gets an extra special super dope thumbs up when it's a cassette deck video.! 👍👍👍

[@MetalTrabant]

Great tips and tricks, very well-structured video! When I've bought my '80s JVC deck, I just brought my large headphone with me, and some cassettes to test it out. When my Vanessa Mae tape played beautifully, without noticeable wow and flutter, I was convinced. It was also around $8 in my local currency, and was advertised as faulty/not tested. Luckily it was the latter. BTW, cool Panasonic walkman, I had the same model, but in blue :)

[@kfl611]

That was a smart idea to bring your own music and headphones to test your deck.

[@HamtaroEL]

Yours is National RQ-J9.

[@MetalTrabant]

@@HamtaroEL Mine is a Panasonic RQ-SW20.

[@filmic1]

Nice survey! Thank you. I just bought 'new' a PYLE PT659DU. I'm piping it through a Sony STR DH190 receiver. I just wanted a deck that I could play my Peterson't learning "Birding By Ear" cassette kit on and a couple of music cassettes I have left over from the 1980's. The frequency range is very nice, but the dubbing deck (B w/counter) has a hum on the left channel. no hum on the playback deck A.) Amazon wouldn't take it back without an awful lot of fuss./Pyle blew me off. So I reversed the LR output channel RCA plugs which reduced the hum considerably, but didn't eliminate it. I tried grounding the chassis to the Sony ground screw. Didn't help. I cancelled my Amazon Prime account over that. So I'm all ears on your great survey!

[@JacGoudsmit]

Excellent video as usual! However, a few minor points: About the finger test: Worth mentioning that in PLAY mode, the mechanism is ALWAYS designed to deal with some friction and it's okay to hold the takeup spindle to judge the torque. However, in Wind or Rewind mode, most mechanisms have a much more direct way to mechanically connect the motor to the spindles, and you should probably NOT try too hard to hold the spindles to judge torque, or you might damage the motor with overcurrent. On most auto-stop decks, the deck will stop if it senses that the takeup spindle isn't turning. So in rewind you can usually wiggle the other spindle and check if that keeps the auto-stop from engaging. However there are also decks that use a different auto-stop mechanism, for example the tape may go around a small lever near the heads, and when the deck reaches the end or beginning of the tape, the tape is pulled taut and engages the lever which stops the mechanism (or changes direction on an auto-reverse deck). Obviously if you operate one of those without a cassette, it will not auto-stop, so that's no reason to panic. I've also seen decks that have an optical sensor to detect the end of a tape (usually those are on auto-reverse decks). If you push PLAY on those, it might switch sides back and forth without stopping. Looking forward to separate videos on the subjects you suggested. Maybe you can also do one on older decks with DIN connectors? Or is that subject too European? ;-) Oh, and kids, if you get a DCC deck, much of this is not applicable. Don't demagnetize those, ever, or you'll destroy the head.

[@vwestlife]

U.S. market cassette decks never had DIN jacks. This TEAC deck has a pinout on the board for where a DIN jack would go, but they didn't install it.

[@fhwolthuis]

Lovely, Kevin. Great video. I bought myself a Marantz SD-63 a couple of years ago, works perfectly 👍

[@OnlyEdandTheAlmost]

Those mechanical tape counters are awesome, especially when you discover that a carefully annotated tape with the "counter" numbers corresponding to individual tracks are useless on a different deck.

[@adrianlyord5300]

Great job and I liked that you played Betty Wright's " After The Pain"! Me and my friend used to make a TON of mixed tapes back in the day and we had a lot of fun making/ recoding them! Kudos to you for making this video, very informative and entertaining! Take care.

[@coondogtheman]

I enjoyed watching this even though I already know this because I've used and done just about everything with tapes including using a pencil to rewind a tape. I still have my tapes but don't use them much for recording.

[@texasbassranger]

I scrimped and saved for seven years to afford my dream stereo system. It was a full rack Phase Linear amp, preamp and tuner with a Pioneer P3A fully auto turntable and a Teac A-150 tape deck. I bought all of it while stationed in Germany in the seventies for less than a third of what it would have cost in the US. Still, I had about eight grand tied up after buying speakers. I sold it to a vintage collector in 1994 for an obscene amount of money, and I'm glad I did. It was way overdue for a full capacitor upgrade and I just didn't want to mess with it. That Teac tape deck was considered an A grade/tier component at the time but even with the much over-hyped Dolby filter, the deck produced an unacceptable amount of tape hiss. So much that I ended up paying six hundred dollars for a DBX noise reduction unit to all but eliminate that hiss, and it did it's job well.

[@stefantaubert]

I have absolutely no idea why YT suggested this video to me - but I enjoyed the video! Oh man - it brought back memories that were decades ago but felt like "yesterday". What did I sit there between the ages of 16 and 25 and make my own cassettes with music compilations. For example, I used the recording level manually to record music using fade in and fade out. Some decks even had buttons with which you could still set jump marks for the beginning and end of a track, despite fading. I have often even used really expensive chrome and metal tapes, the casing of the cassettes made of ceramic. I used devices from Technics or Sony, a lot of money from pocket money and later wages went into devices, cassettes and records: D

[@bigtimefans100]

Finally! Someone who doesn't mention the Nakamichi Dragon every 5 seconds (listen, I can respect it for its quality and performance because there is a reason why it's so renowned but most of us don't have that kind of money and/or experience to fix up a high-end deck)

[@POLO9999]

I have a JVC-Deck that i bought for a 10€ + shipping a few years ago with Dolby-B/C NR, a pretty modern one with a lot of features with the logic circuit. I keep maintaining it and it still runs like as their first days.

[@paultaylor904]

I have a JVC deck that is from the 80's with the big analog meters. I have found the JVC decks, although likely not in the realm of the more expensive decks, tend to be very reliable.

[@Musicradio77Network]

Interesting info about cassette decks. I only have my Technics RS-B11W cassette deck from 1985 and it still works, but sometimes it has issues with the speed on deck 1, but deck 2 plays good in playback. It can record anything like music or old time radio shows whether if it’s either Dolby off or on. Pre-recorded cassettes also has a Dolby encoded feature. Other cassettes that were pre-Dolby encoded were made by Ampex from about 1967 to 1972 are not sounded as good when using on shoebox cassette recorders. I also have my Superscope C-101A, the Superscope Storyteller TP-101 cassette player which is playback only and it was designed for children, and my Audiotronics 148B “Classette” school cassette recorder which was used in classrooms at schools and in libraries, and they’re still great looking cassette recorders.

[@geraldjohnson3015]

Excellent video. I'm a know-it-all that learned a couple of things. Thanks!

[@sleeptuno-hg4bo]

Thank you for teaching me... 90s kid here who never really got the chance to properly explore the joys of cassette technology

[@MarkPMus]

A cassette whose contents you don’t mind recording over…. Pause at 21:31! 😂😂😂😂 Brilliant bit of shade there, VWestlife! ✋

[@peterw1213]

Good to see Bias adjustment slider switch on a basic deck. Good choice of deck.

[@HamtaroEL]

It's akin to a slightly better though somewhat similar Denon DRW-760.

[@douglasallen9428]

I actually have had the first two items in the intro to this video (of which I still have my Sony boom box, but I no longer have my Panasonic Shock Wave cassette player). Excellent video!!!

[@DartzIRL]

That is a well written guide. I'm actually surprised how much better a late 70's Hi-Fi deck sounds compared to anything I ever played a tape on when they were 'normal'. That said, I've managed to accumulate the service manual (Which was not on HiFi Engine - but is now) and a whole second deck as a spare parts donor because a whole deck was cheaper than a replacement door.

[@martyjewell5683]

Very nicely done. A not so brief but lucid "walk thru" on cassette decks. Won't bore you with the decks I've owned/used over the years. My first component cassette deck, after military service (and broke) in 1975 was a Pioneer CT-F2121. I recently got a Denon DRM-800A deck and both these decks cost $125. So there's good value out there. You mention some good features to seek out. Additionally, an MPX filter is great for FM recording and a good meter is essential. LED's are great but five or seven segments stink. Might as well use VU meters. My DRM-800A has sixteen segments per channel and -40 to +8 range. Look for at least ten segments and two color meters are a sweet touch. Record Mute, Rec Return (or Cancel), fade in/out are boss to have on your deck. Also have a Teac X-3 open reel deck I bought in 1982. A good companion component to use with any deck is an expander, for obvious reasons. I have a Pioneer RG-2 (1981). A TDK HD-01 (head demagnetizer) for cassette decks makes degaussing a snap though not as effective as the wand type.

[@dpgreene]

Thank you for this. I just picked up a Teac R-435x from goodwill for $12. I do have some black goo to clean up but I’m excited to actually have something beyond just a portable or shoebox recorder.

[@rogerking7258]

Nice clear guide, and I appreciate your not going on about exotica which makes the subject seem like an exclusive club. However, I do have a high end deck (not Nakamichi) with Dolby S, auto bias adjustment, etc, that I bought fully refurbished for £200 and I can confirm that with the right tapes it makes recordings that are indistinguishable from the source material - even CDs. I pity the current generation who think that godawful compressed MP3 files are good quality.

[@Mrhellacat]

Id always look around local too! My local thrifts usually have a fleet of full logic, dolby b/c, auto reverse mid/high end decks for under 20 bucks usually working or needing belts. Putting up ads looking for decks is a cool idea too. Also great video! Didnt know about some of these tricks

[@noidle22]

Ayo send some of those my way, our thrift shops aren't allowed to sell electronics and all of the broken decks on ebay cost way, way too much then shipping adds $30-50 each time.

[@Mrhellacat]

@@noidle22 ebay feels like an echo chamber of ripoff artists who think 20 year old dumpster picked tech is worth 300$ + shipping, ebay fees and import charges. Also that's insane! How are they not allowed to sell electronics? Good way to clutter the landfill

[@noidle22]

@@Mrhellacat I'm in Australia, police state with absurd rules and everything is expensive. We're also not allowed to pick from the landfill, it's monitored by cameras and you're fined if you take anything. I have managed to sneak a few things away though over the years.

[@Mrhellacat]

@@noidle22 @astralplane thats crazy! I always thought australia had alot of nonsense rules but i cant think of a point for that. Good way to help mess up the worlds garbage problem lol

[@watershed44]

@@noidle22 Things sure have changed there over the past 40 years, I believe back in the 1980s Australia was pretty similar in attitudes to the USA..

[@rillloudmother]

dummies are the ENTIRE world now. how does this not have more views??!!?!1

[@efficiencygaming3494]

My dad's been looking for a good cassette deck lately, and I think I just might show him this video. It's full of some nice tips and tricks he might find useful. Also, that tape at 10:06 is "Pray for the Wicked" by Panic! At The Disco, an album that came out in 2018! I had no idea it was released on cassette!

[@marcelmischeaux7256]

Love cassette decks. My old 1997 Ford F-150 truck had a cassette deck in it. Had that for 24 years. Gone now sold it. I am a cassette geek nut for recording music. I do have a cassette to cd recorder by TECH because my 2015 1500 Silverado has a cd deck in it. When playing a cd recording from cassette it does have that hissing sound but only when the volume is turn up almost all the way for volume. So I'm satisfied with my buy of what I got (from 976-CREOLEMAN).

[@manFromPeterborough]

You should've ripped that CD player out of your Silverado and put in a car cassette stereo, then you wouldn't have to listen to CD rips

[@MustachioedBear]

ah this vid disappeared from my watch later playlist for a while, glad its back. gonna watch it later though.

[@JnL_SSBM]

This video resolves everyone's doubts. Btw, happy belated birthday!!

[@vwestlife]

Thanks!

[@sunny16portraits]

Just watched this as going out in a bit to buy a hopefully nice cassette deck, has been ages sinces I've operated one so this was exactly what I needed, thank you :)

[@alextirrellRI]

I enjoy your sense of humor.

[@cjmarsh504]

I missed the party 😱😱😱 I like how you demonstrate the difference between the manufacturers of cassette decks. 20:15 Betty Wright's cassette sounds pretty good.

[@okbridges]

Great video! This kind of beginner's advice has been very absent from youtube. Also another great demonstration from you on how well even these entry-level component decks sound. I honestly have never understood the hype about the high-end cassette decks that really don't sound much different than a good reel-to-reel tape recorded at 3-3/4ips...

[@DoubleMonoLR]

To be fair, that's running significantly faster, and with wider tape, so a standard cassette deck is doing pretty well to sound as good. Though if you want great audio from a tape, you could use..a VCR - seriously, hifi audio on a VCR is excellent. But yeah, even lower end decks can sound more than good enough.

[@fsfs555]

Did you know they used to use Freon in tape deck cleaning solutions? Obviously it's not available anymore, so instead try to get 90% iso alcohol for cleaning the heads and other metal bits because it cleans better and evaporates faster than 70%. However, don't use higher than 70% iso on rubber bits or it can be too aggressive and start to degrade them. Also try not to use too much cleaner fluid (you don't want it to get into the bearings or hinges if you can avoid it). On really old decks (pre-1985 or so), try to press gently into the pinch roller with a fingernail or other blunt item. If it leaves an indentation, don't use it; the rubber's going bad and it'll eventually gum up your tapes. Really nasty capstans (persistent build-up and/or rust) can be polished up with very fine sandpaper (1500 grit is ideal, wrapped around the capstan as it's spinning) and then cleaned as normal.