Do They Still Make New Cassette Decks?

[@markcovington8159]

Is it possible to still find any new cassette recorder/players with separate left & right level controls or a record level & record balance controls today? Thank you!😀

[@Daniel-79]

To each their own but the price of the Tascam is a bit steep for what you get. I’d rather buy a vintage piece for a few hundred dollars and have a competent service technician go through it.

[@yanks1fan09]

There is also the Teac AD-850 but it's got a hefty price of $550.00 USD and FIIO made a new portable Walkman this year the CP13 which I have it just does not have Bluetooth and recording like the We Are Rewind but is smaller.

[@martineyles]

Tascam doesn't support recording to Metal tape or recording with Dolby noise reduction and only has sone unofficial equivalent to Type B Noise reduction for playback - no Type C or Type S. If you can get a second hand deck in good condition that will be better, but I expect there's a whole minefield around that, because rubber belts gum up after a while.

[@fredbissnette3104]

Been looking for a deck for while literally just found a sharp dual deck last night at value village that still works and records well, virtually any deck you'll find used the belts are gone .

[@laurentiualexandrubastures1739]

There is also Radio CD JVC RC-E451B

[@Terry.W]

The FiiO CP 13 is worth looking at from Ali Express but I still think a good refurbished classic Cassette deck is the best for features and sound quality....and remember Cassettes' are still made..

[@ZenMountain]

Great, thanks!

[@michaelelsy2209]

But aren't they using the bad tanashen (probably not spelt correctly) mechanisms or knock offs instead of the good tape mechanisms of the past.

[@martineyles]

They probably are. I think some brands tweaked the mechanism to make it better, but still not to the level they were at Compact Cassette's peak.

[@GULZARAHMAD-gc1qk]

Good i want buy

[@Badassvidsz]

pls don't

[@AbeStephan]

If audiocassette decks are being made today , im guessing the quality is as lousy as the last batch of VCRs are . The last batch of VCRa made ARE ALL GARBAGE . It'd be better to buy some old audio cassette deck in a garage sale .

[@jerryweber1768]

Especially Tascam. Everything I bought from them didn't last and there is no customer support like they are distancing themselves from the older stuff.

[@kevinh96]

If you are after something new but capable of playing back cassettes to a reasonable quality then yes, the Tascam deck or one of the small Sony portables available in Japan or via Ebay and Amazon are an OK choice. The downsides are that the tape mechanisms used are basically all identical no matter which of the major brands you choose and they are mediocre at best. Look inside and you'll likely find the tape mechanism is made by a company called CSG which itself is based on the original budget Tanashin mechanism from the 1980s. It's OK for what it is and is fine for general playback of modern new cassettes without Dolby and on standard Type 1 tape. In fact these machines will also happily play Chrome tapes too although you'll need to adjust the tone controls if you can, same with older cassettes recorded with Dolby. However these CSG mechanisms cannot play Metal tapes, well they will probably play them but the head will suffer if played regularly and they certainly cannot record on high bias tapes anyway. Move away from Teac/Tascam and Sony and things get worse, the mechanisms used in the very budget machines might look the same but they are usually made to a much lower standard than those from CSG and suffer from excessive wow and flutter and erratic speed on playback. I would say to anyone looking for a good quality cassette deck and willing to pay the high Tascam/Teac prices to seriously consider buying an older, fully refurbished deck on Ebay from a respected seller with good feedback and who has been around for a number of years. For half the price of the Teac models you could buy a mid range Sony deck from the 1990s, fully refurbished and equiped with full normal, chrome and metal recording and playback, Dolby B, C and Even Dolby S and many other features missing from modern decks.

[@DavidMander-rs4uk]

Cassette decks in the modern age is laughable!! Analogue trash sucks 🗑️👎

[@chrislj2890]

Everything that is amplified and comes out of a speaker is analog. Try to find a subject you know something about.

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

Se ti fanno schifo perche guardi i video..

[@sergei-6316]

On the contrary, analog, especially vinyl, can sound better than digital...analog has a certain warmth while digital has a clinical sound. It all boils down to the audio gear being used. I grew up listening to records in the 70s and moved on to Cds, enroute to streaming for a while but while I love Cds, my Pro-Ject turntable can sound even better...there are just too many variables in the equation. (Streaming, for me, has always been a big joke as my audio setup is just too revealing of it's limitations, nevertheless internet radio can be good fun, at the cost of sound quality.) Vintage cassette decks are hard to maintain in this day and age but the modern day machines can't hold a candle to them. Try listening to the same song on a Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck and then playing it back on a good cd player. You might be amazed at how good a tape played on a good tape deck can sound. But yes, digital is so much easier to use. To each, his own.

[@Badassvidsz]

@giuseppelavecchia775 Instead we watch to see and judge that's why we watch dude and yes David is 1000% right they are all garbage INDEED