Cassette Decks for Dummies 

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.

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

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!!

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

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

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.

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. 👍👍

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.

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.

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

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.

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🎉

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!

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.

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

“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’.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

I recently picked up a Sony TC-W530 at a thrift shop for next to nothing, and it works like a champ. Dual deck, Dolby B and C NR, and can record to metal tape. Definitely a child of the 80’s in its design, but I’ve been more than happy with its performance.

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

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

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”!

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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!

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

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!

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 .

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

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!

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!

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

Very good Kevin. You produce some of the best videos on RU-vid. Very informative and enjoyable.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

i am living for these transitions

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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!!!

As a person who collects decks this how i usually check them

Thanks for sharing this with us, definitely a lot of useful tips in this video, keep up the great work.

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

@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.

Ah, loved those Walkman samplers!

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.

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 :)

Excellent video. Very informative and to the point. Great job!

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.

Thanks for the tutorial! I had the idea to record my band's shows live and distribute them to people at the show with tapes just as a cool little memento/trinket, and this video helps a lot with getting started :)

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

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.

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!

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.

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 :)

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

Amazing video like always, it's very helpful! Now waiting for the "cassette decks for sligthly less dum dums" with azimuth adjustments, lubricating capstan, metal to metal parts and plastics and other things we might encounter. Also I've been trying to use just regular printing paper instead of cotton swab when it comes to spinning capstan so it doesn't grab a fiber. It works pretty well!

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!

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.

love the tape you selected to record over

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.

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).

I am so lucky that my uncles old late 1970's tape deck still works. I don't have to go to the thrift store.

Some very good suggestions when looking for a cassette deck and testing etc i never even thought about this. Now i gotta remember when I do find one myself at a thrift store what to look for.

I enjoy your sense of humor.

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.

19:47 looks beautiful. Nice video with lots of knowledge.

"Low-technology connections", good one!

Grew up with cassettes and loved them back in the day, but to be honest, I changed my game to minidisc and never looked back. Media still available as are the machines. Far superior in reproduction as well.

Very Good Episode. I love all your stuff.

Really enjoyed watching that . Very informative.

this is an amazing video! Super useful for deck 101. Thank you

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.

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.