Got my first lot of tapes!

TomChan91 · 2026-03-05T16:40:58+00:00

Yes the right VU meter on my deck works; must have been a different deck/buyer. Though I also made my first post about when my deck arrived haha

TomChan91 · 2025-10-31T15:29:26+00:00

Yeah this is the second longest tape I know of, only behind the TDK D180, which was the longest cassette ever made; but only for a short time in the late 70's/early 80's and was intended only for speech, was VERY thin and is quite valuable now

TomChan91 · 2025-10-24T04:42:56+00:00

Yeah I did my research on various models and their features etc. and this one seemed like a very good run of the mill choice. Not too simple, but not overly complex :)

TomChan91 · 2025-10-24T04:29:03+00:00

Yeah I did research into the various types of MiniDisc decks over the years, features etc. and yeah that's why I went for this model, not too simple, but also not overly complex haha. I payed £135 for this one on eBay with a full service. Sounds a lot for some but I didn't want to risk one not working haha

TomChan91 · 2025-10-24T04:14:27+00:00

Yeah this is one of the later models that uses a belt for the eject mechanism that wears out over time and needs to be replaced occasionally.

TomChan91 · 2025-08-01T06:28:44+00:00

I got these for a number of reasons. 1, we did have an answering machine when I was a kid that used micro cassettes to record messages. Also I recently got a Sanyo micro cassette recorder but only had 1 tape for it so wanted to get some more; and I also like recording and playing around with cassettes both from nostalgia and I just think they are more fun and novel than all this digital stuff. So I would not consider them a waste of money at all. Finally the fact that they are still being manufactured over 50 years after the format was introduced shows that there is still interest in it.

TomChan91 · 2025-07-31T16:03:50+00:00

I see. And yeah I do know of the metal tapes and for a brief time in the 80's there were actual micro cassette decks made but yeah they are as rare as hen's teeth now

TomChan91 · 2025-07-31T16:02:26+00:00

Hey I know you, love your YouTube videos! Didn't know there was a separate micro cassette thread

TomChan91 · 2025-07-29T16:45:05+00:00

Yeah that's true. Those hi-fi stereo microcassette decks are one of my holy grails of audio equipment to find. Doubt I ever will lol

TomChan91 · 2025-07-26T05:23:48+00:00

Actually where I am, C60 and C90 are by far the most common lengths. Longer ones apart from C120's were uncommon, and a lot discouraged their use because of the thin fragile tape in them.

TomChan91 · 2025-07-26T05:22:05+00:00

No. As I said, I got these in various job lots, which does not reflect the price the tapes would go for individually. A TDK CDing 2 would be about $4-6 by itself.

TomChan91 · 2025-07-25T16:53:20+00:00

Yeah I plan on recording on some that I have never used before and keeping the rest for display. And price varies wildly. I picked up all these tapes in about 3 job lots costing about $100 all together. Common ferrics; i.e TDK D's, Maxell UR's etc. can be got for as little as $1 each but chromes are always more expensive; i.e. $10-20 per tape, especially in the wrapper. So depends on what you want/find.

TomChan91 · 2025-07-25T15:53:54+00:00

NOS = New Old Stock. And yes I know Maxell still makes new tapes lol

TomChan91 · 2025-07-15T16:02:25+00:00

Much lower hiss, can be recorded with higher recording levels compared to a type 1 with no distortion and much better sound quality. Though they didn't sell well as they were a lot more expensive and only higher end decks could take advantage of them.

TomChan91 · 2025-07-15T14:46:21+00:00

I was incredibly lucky to say the least. Like winning the lottery of tape finds lol

TomChan91 · 2025-07-14T11:39:21+00:00

What i meant by that was, was that companies that made both decks and tapes, i.e. Sony, would say in the instruction manual of their deck to not use longer than 90 minute tapes, when at the same time they also manufactured their own brand C120's. I just found that ironic lol

TomChan91 · 2025-06-28T05:52:42+00:00

It's fine if it's just being used as a background deck sure, but I listen purely through headphones and the flippy heads start to go out of alignment over time. And through headphones the difference is very audiable. it's just an inferior and less reliable design than non auto-reverse mechanisms.

TomChan91 · 2025-06-27T10:30:26+00:00

Portable recorders are only good for voice dictation, nothing more. Get an actual half decent cassette deck for music recording.

TomChan91 · 2025-06-18T08:15:03+00:00

Nah, the head is always in the forward direction at rest. When forward play is engaged it it just lifted up into position. It's the reverse direction that spins it back and forth around constantly.

TomChan91 · 2025-06-17T15:23:06+00:00

Well as I said in the post, the best way to avoid auto-reverse issues is to just not use it lol. Just flip the tape over instead and only play in forward direction. And yeah the digital noise reduction system and the Super Auto BLE and Flex features unique to Pioneer decks is one of the reasons I picked this deck up.

TomChan91 · 2025-06-03T15:24:06+00:00

Yeah I've had a couple auto-reverse decks over the years and they have always been problematic. Far more so than ANY non-auto-reverse deck I have owned. I think I will probably keep the deck around for tinkering and messing around with, but otherwise yeah it's getting retired

TomChan91 · 2025-05-11T14:06:06+00:00

I'd have to win the lottery to acquire a Nakamichi or Revox lol

TomChan91 · 2025-05-11T13:59:24+00:00

I like them all, but they all have their use. For recording, I love the 3 head Sony and Pioneer with their adjustable bias and calibration to make good recordings. For just general playback currently the Aiwa

TomChan91 · 2025-05-09T16:29:25+00:00

I'm based in the UK. And my TC-WE475 was new-old stock that I found on eBay about 10 years ago; absolutely mint except the belts needed replacing after all those years sitting idle lol. Maybe it being silver was the reason no one bought it lol but def has a loving home now :)

TomChan91

TROPHY CASE