Nakamichi Dragon tape deck demo

The Nakamichi Dragon tape deck demo and extra bits of information.

[@FluxCondenser]

Cassettes came out in the early 60s. The first stereo decks around ‘67. Dolby B came around in the early 70s. I’m guessing the, “cassettes came out in ‘82” was a slip. Nice demo, great machine.

[@diemman70]

Thanks for correcting this video as I was about to since we were playing cassettes in the 1970s.

[@ivanmarkovicxxx]

He probably just meant to say the Dragon came out in '82...

[@ThriftyAV]

I always wanted one of these in the 80s... Over the years, I have found 3 Naks, but none are the Dragon! Nice vid.

[@halitmarmaris]

Thank you from Turkey 🙋‍♂️🎵 I am watching my dream now . Use with good days 👋👋

[@sunsan997]

笑顔がいいですね。大切に使用してください。私もNakamichi は好きです。

[@sunsan997]

素晴らしいですね。うらやましい。

[@Retronomy]

Nice set! Very nice set.

[@sidvicious3129]

The dragon is an outstanding deck, I owned one four years ago for two years and I loved it. It started to need some service work, which as you know can be extremely expensive and it was hard to find a great tech that would touch it. I always hated selling it and years went by and one year ago I came across my second childhood deck, the dragon was my first, a Nakamichi Rx-505, the auto reversing deck that I as a kid loved to see pop out of the deck and reverse. The 505 sounds amazing and I got it in its original box with the Nakamichi remote control. The dragon matched better with a wider range of tape compatibility. My third deck to have is the the highend Revox that supposedly matched the dragon, but my real question is about the Tasman Da-3000 that you have. I have been thinking about getting one for Tidal recording and playback. How good is this as an option and can it be hooked into my dac. Do you have any videos or are you going to make any videos on the Tascam? Great video talking about the virtues of the mighty dragon. My second deck is a 3 head Sony TC-K690.

[@smokingstone1141]

I always wanted a Dragon, but could never afford one. I heard a demo tape on a Nakamichi 581 sometime back in the Dark Ages (it was heavenly), and I scraped together all my pennies and bought one. (I was really poor and it was really expensive.) It was one of the best music purchases I ever made. I played it until I wore it out. I then got an LX-3 and later an LX-5. I still have a Nakamichi deck in a box, but it is Not a Dragon. It is also Not a 581. If wish I could buy a brand new 581.

[@mtyzsw6549]

Is this the best deck in the world ? I have 2 decks of Technics , but this one seems to be better 😀

[@troynthomas1]

...I know it's now 2021, but I just stumbled across your vid, but having a broadcast background and hence, an extensive AUDIO background as well - not to mention loads of 'hands-on' experience with MANY home and broadcast machines...I wanted to save you the embarrassment where you mention two capstans/pinch rollers - only ONE side containing both a capstan and it's designated pinch roller the capstan uses - actuall 'drive' or move the tape! The reason there are TWO capstans and Pinch Rollers - is because...IT'S AN A U T O R E V E R S E DECK !!! When the transport changes tape sides, the opposite 'pair' of capstan and roller take over the job - jeeze. Oh well, hope you're not blushing ?? It's all good

[@davisneil]

The dragon is the only auto reverse deck I know of with a closed loop double capstan. When it plays the reverse side the capstans reverse direction and the other pair of stereo pickups switched in. This differs from an auto reverse deck in that the capstans turn in opposite directions and are selected by only one pinch roller at a time. The playback heads rotate through 180 degrees on a housing that flips them round Nearly all other dual capstan deck have basically the one on the right doing the donkey work pulling the tape, whereas the down stream capstan and pinch roller (left side) is moving in the same direction as the right one but ever so slightly slower (either by a smaller diameter capstan , larger flywheel or electronics in the case of direct drive flywheels.) The tension is able this to be perfectly regulated to the point that the felt guide isn’t even needed, and is even pushed aside in some decks including naks because the friction can make the guide judder about causing a flutter.

[@JacobFrey]

Mark, I have to comment, not to save you any embarrassment, because you've done that - but to inform you that despite your EXTENSIVE HANDS-ON AUDIO EXPERIENCE, there are MANY dual capstan cassette decks that only play in one direction - they use 2 capstans + 2 pinch rollers to move the tape across the heads. Hope you're not blushing . . .

[@kotokoto9472]

Hi, how do you correct the peaks at vumeters without the dedicated left and right potentiometers. Thanks.

[@Roopak-Mohan]

it has a dedicated left and right potentiometers, also a master level control

[@miss.wright3035]

strange how the Dragon was and is considered one of the best, yet it doesn't take Ferro nor does it got balanced I/O's.

[@downhillman1000]

1:00 Cassette tapes came out in the early 60’s?

[@jameskoralewski1006]

The cheapest CD player sounds better than that Nakamichi. I should know, I bought one new in the early eighties and it is still in NEW condition!

[@baron8103]

NO HIZO EL DETALLE DE LOS EQUIPOS...HABLO....HABLO Y HABLO....

[@jameskoralewski1006]

What other antique old crap do you like? Do you collect Edsels, too?

[@bananajoe8010]

Your Nakamichi is completely overdriven +7 db is too much level. The whole sound picture is broken. Sorry, the machine eclipses everything that can be done with a cassette. That's the Holy Grail, that's all

[@halitmarmaris]

Devices is the best thing in the world , more than women 😄 because voices the best . You can not calibration to woman 😄🎉 Cheers 🍺🎵

[@jameskoralewski1006]

Are you backward or what? Cassette decks have gone the way of the dinosaur. Where do you even buy blank cassette tapes and at what price? Aren't you aware that a reproduction onto a CD will always be better than any cassette deck reproduction? I love the Dragon, too. I bought one new in 1982 and still have it, but I record onto the better medium of CDs, not cassettes. You're better off turning the Dragon into a museum piece.

[@cinqo7]

James Koralewski stop being an asshole. CDs are dinosaurs too. Streaming with reference quality DACs MQA files or listening to downloaded hi res songs is the way to go now if you don’t want to be arguably a dinosaur like yourself. You’re stuck in the 90s LOL

[@diemman70]

There is some magic about all the technology that went into these beautiful cassette decks.

[@jameskoralewski1006]

@@diemman70 I know. I still own one.

[@micheltremblay4774]

@@diemman70 I still have a Nakamichi Dragon, bought it new in 1985. I use mainly TDK MA-XG90 and source or tape is identical, the source being a studio recorded tape on my TEAC X-1000RBL. It can make a TDK D90 sounds like a chrome or metal tape recorded on my Harman Kardon CD191. The NAAC system is complex but works wonders. One particularity of the Dragon's transport hardly ever mentioned is the lifting of the felt pad of the cassette and using a slight speed differential to keep the tape tight on the heads.

[@diemman70]

@@micheltremblay4774 Reminds me of that scene in STNG where Data adjusts Jordi’s shaver to make it perfect and Jordi doesn’t use it then and Data asks him why. I just like the original, imperfect way it shaved.