How About Creating a Modern Cassette Player?

[Billy Budapest]

Really? I still remember the painful process of recording tapes from vinyl, fussing with level matching and hyper-vigilance trying to stop the tape at the exact end of track moment, then cueing the tone arm and hitting record at the precisely correct moment to avoid pops and crackles when the needle hits the disk. Now I just copy my flac library to usb. Not going back.

I seriously doubt I will record anything to tape ever again, but I need something to play back tapes that have no digital equivalent. That’s what I use my Nakamichi BX-150 for.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

I wonder if I could get my 1985 CR7 serviced?
Presumably you could do it John, if I can get it to Oz?

 

[Robin L]

I still remember the old days of playing around with Dolby B, C

I remember playing around with Dolby B, C and DBX and preferring Metal tape without any noise reduction. Had one three head, dual capstan Yamaha deck that could really push levels when recording. The meters would be fully in the red, but the recording wasn't distorting at all when I was using metal tape. A lot of the musicians I made cassettes for preferred TDK SA without noise reduction as they could easily hear the way Dolby messed with dynamics. I took a Walkman Pro to concerts I was recording, could give the artists a cassette at the end of the concert. Remember, tapes recorded with Dolby on one machine won't properly play back on another machine. I made hundreds of cassettes because I was a freelance audio engineer. Cassettes never were all that good anyway, noisy with wow and flutter. I got caught on the bleeding edge of recordable music CDs around 1996, but around ten years later recordable music CDs got a lot easier, thanks in part to ITunes. Made a lot of those for people who had LPs they couldn't play. But now, thanks to streaming, nobody really wants CDs anymore.

 

[Billy Budapest]

I wonder if I could get my 1985 CR7 serviced?
Presumably you could do it John, if I can get it to Oz?

The CR-7 is one of the best performing tape decks ever made. I would certainly get it serviced if I were you. There have got to be Nak techs in Australia that could do it.

 

[mjgraves]

Everything I had on cassette was copied to MD or files long ago. MD was a rational replacement for cassette. Digital. Durable. Random access. Vastly better sounding than any cassette deck I ever encountered.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

The CR-7 is one of the best performing tape decks ever made. I would certainly get it serviced if I were you. There have got to be Nak techs in Australia that could do it.

No doubt Billy!
However, I am in the UK. My comment on restorer John acknowledged that he is in Oz.
I agree that it was one of the best.

 

[Billy Budapest]

No doubt Billy!
However, I am in the UK. My comment on restorer John acknowledged that he is in Oz.
I agree that it was one of the best.

Being in the UK, B&W will service/restore your Nak.

 

[Billy Budapest]

@Fosi Audio Because you would have to use one of the Tanashin clone cassette mechanisms that is still being manufactured, perhaps you could specify certain improvements to it to reduce wow and flutter while keeping the basic mechanism the same: larger, heavier flywheel, better quality motors, direct drive of the capstan rather than belt drive if possible, etc.

The second area of improvement would be to source better playback heads with flatter and more extended frequency response. I am not sure if these are available anymore. If not, you might be stuck with what is on the market.

 

[MGJ]

Sorry if this was already stated but if someone wanted to bring back cassettes/players why not start a new cassette format? Would digital recordings solve some of the sound quality issues that analog had? Or a player that could play either? I'm happy with the digital media sources we enjoy today though.

 

[restorer-john]

I certainly wouldn’t be shipping a Nak CR-7 to Australia. Keep it local and find the best service centre you can.

It’s one of finest cassette decks ever produced.

 

[Doodski]

I certainly wouldn’t be shipping a Nak CR-7 to Australia. Keep it local and find the best service centre you can.

It’s one of finest cassette decks ever produced.

Gooood LucK! Experts at Naks are dead and buried.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Gooood LucK! Experts at Naks are dead and buried.

B&W says they still service them in the UK.

There are still some great Nak technicians in the U.S. For example:

Welcome

 

[Billy Budapest]

Sorry if this was already stated but if someone wanted to bring back cassettes/players why not start a new cassette format? Would digital recordings solve some of the sound quality issues that analog had? Or a player that could play either? I'm happy with the digital media sources we enjoy today though.

I think the main interest today in cassette players is to play media, not to record it.

Backwards-compatible digital cassettes were tried and failed in the mid-90’s. I don’t think that’s a road anybody wants to go back to.

Forgotten audio formats: Digital compact cassette

A story of digitalization, Britpop, naughty ads, and, ultimately, better beer.

arstechnica.com

 

[Doodski]

B&W says they still service them.

There are still some great Nak technicians in the U.S. For example:

Welcome

If they receive units of repair regularly and are fluent in the mechanisms then they can service any of it. Otherwise they will each of the repairs will be a nightmare for the service tech as the tech gets familiar with the operations and systems of the mechanism. Mechatronics is commonly inclusive of multiple faults when servicing mechatronics devices. The answers required are, Yes, we supply new parts for servicing this model and Yes, we have a technician that can warranty your repair and unit.

 

[G|force]

 

[EJ3]

Hello audiophiles!

We're contemplating venturing into cassette players and would love your input. With many vintage Walkmans becoming hard to repair, niche bands releasing music on tapes, and a steady demand for cassette players, we see an opportunity. However, current models often don't live up to expectations, so we're eager to offer you an alternative.

As you know, cassette player technology from 20 years ago has largely been lost, making production challenging due to scarce core components. We're in the initial stages of defining this product and would greatly value your insights to co-create something special.

After some research, we've developed three concepts and we're curious to know which resonates with you:

1. A focus on playback and sound quality, minimizing other features. We'd concentrate on the mechanical structure and high-quality magnetic heads. Our aim is affordability and a sleek design, creating a dedicated music player without an overload of features.

2. Besides playback and sound quality, we're considering additional features like AIWA-style EQ custom tuning, various sound enhancements (bass, treble), Bluetooth connectivity, and recording capabilities. It might be slightly bulkier and pricier, but the added functionality would enhance its longevity and playability.

3. Alternatively, we could move away from the traditional Walkman model and create a modern, compact cassette deck. This would incorporate Bluetooth transmission, analog-to-digital conversion, and recording functions. If you have more ideas, we're all ears!

Which direction appeals to you most? What price point would you consider reasonable?

Or, just let us know your ideal vision of a cassette player. We're excited to hear from you!
View attachment 345113

I'll take option 3 (It seems that getting sound on tape digitally would be great if it could end up as good or better than the few Dolby S units)
I for one & believe that there are many that are certainly NOT on this site, who would.

 

[pogo]

Philips DCC17x : Link

 

[TLEDDY]

While I appreciate your company and own some of your products, I am afraid that investing in a cassette machine would be counterproductive.
It would be sad to put your tremendous expertise and monetary assets into a product that would not sell.

When OPPO left the market, I hoped another company would step into the breach; that said, I think they recognized that the upcoming “streaming”
technology would replace stand-alone players.

 

[kelesh]

Schadenfreude​

"the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, pain, or humiliation of another"? Not at all, I just want to deal with my own cassette troubles

 

[kelesh]

While I appreciate your company and own some of your products, I am afraid that investing in a cassette machine would be counterproductive.
It would be sad to put your tremendous expertise and monetary assets into a product that would not sell.

When OPPO left the market, I hoped another company would step into the breach; that said, I think they recognized that the upcoming “streaming”
technology would replace stand-alone players.

Streaming for music is one of the most annoying processes ever. It may be convenient for films or YouTube clips, but not for serious music listening, at least not for us stubborn old-fashioned media buffs. I want to have physical objects in my hand, I want the ability to choose the type of media as well as the year of release, version, mastering etc. I want to index, compile, transfer, copy and edit as I see fit, not just be presented with an "industry standard" general version created by a business person. And don't even get me started on internet outages and what they cause to streaming. If Fosi can create a modern cassette player, good. Choice will not hurt. Something along the lines of a Nakamichi ZX series will do nicely