My two Nakamichi cassette decks recently serviced by Bowers & Wilkins service labs in UK . Restored to their original specifications they sound great !!
The bottom Nakamichi cassette deck have a definite edge when it comes to clarity considering that the top deck looks like more to have all the bells and whistles. Love the way all Nakamichi equipment was made. Solid engineering. Beautiful to look at and listening too.
did you ever looked at other good decks?nakamichi zx-9 from late 80´s is the best from nakamichi but there´s other brands with better quality in sound and much better built using better materials, it seems 1990 again in this coment section
I have a friend with a Nak Dragon. Back in the day we compared our two decks against each other both were 3 head design so we could record and hear on the fly. I had a sony at the time and we could hear no difference, and we tried. A unique deck of the day and also a fantastic underrated recorder was from BIC it could record in 2x speed not very practical but the results were fantastic.
I had a ZX-9 in the 80's when I sold Nak and a lot of other high end gear. It was a true achievement in top performance. Dare I say one would not actually hear a difference between a CD and a properly recorded Metal tape with Dolby C.
that happens with lower quality decks in a simple system,and no need for a metal tape just a good chrome tape and normally no dolby, i made that test to a lot of friends and always the tape was choosen as being the cd ,it´s only a matter of dynamic, i think ,and about the nakamichi decks ,never understood why some even say at some point in the 90´s that it was the best deck in the world(the dragon) wich was an opinion divided by it´s auto-reverse , that lead to the deck that turns the cassette outside instead of the tradicional way ,but i always considered the zx-9 or 7 much better built than the dragon,regards
not needed a nakamichi to do so, even a much cheaper deck sound and is by measuring much better in sound than a cd,this without dolby, i did never liked the doby´s they cut the songs so no dolby and a good deck
Thanks. I was just curious because I had been following a few decks on ebay and I saw a couple of Dragons go for $700-900 and a TCD go for $2,300. It looked like a mean mother but I had know idea about performance and so forth.
I haven't heard Tandberg but I suppose that is a good deck. But Dragon is the top reproduce cassette deck ever made thanks to NAAC .And it is a great recorder too.
yes but to record cassettes is far from the best this related to the auto-reverse system ,the zx-9 is better in recording and keeping the head alignement, but theres other brands decks that have a better sound quality in recording cassettes to play it´s secondary all play them perfect ,all the best ones, this was widelly discussed in the 90´s even the auto reverse from nakamichi who pulls out the cassette and then retrieve it, it was a way of nakamichi answer to those who talked bad about the dragon simple auto-reverse
Do either of the devices have Nakamichi's unique, kickass carriage-style auto-reverse? I bought a lesser Nakamichi for that reason alone. So dramatic. So sweet. But then again, with the Dragon, just a glimpse is enough to see it's flagship status
I had the opportunity of working with a Dragon and later a Tascam 122 MKII and the latter is much much better - Basically we can play with these beasts all day long for years with no problems. The Tascam also has Dolby C and HX-Pro (that can be turned off), all tapes sound great, even pre-recorded. The azimuth adjust was a problem that came from the 60s and 70s, after that all professional decks had the tapes pretty much aligned... Naks are overrated if you want my opinion...
Είναι γεγονός αυτό. Ωστόσο στην Αγγλία υπάρχουν εξειδικευμένοι τεχνίτες, που είναι σε θέση να συντηρήσουν σωστά τα εν λόγω αριστουργηματικά μηχανήματα!
yeah the whole CDS "sound better" was a Lie many believed, this sounds Good. its one hell of a system you got there. I always just had Boom Boxes usually Dual cassette because I did a lot of dubbing back in the day 1985 - 1991
correct but why spend a lot of money in two decks one and cheaper does the work and better tested in laboratories , i do not refer other brands to do not start a war, 90´s again ,more like 91
@Duribethin I personally would go for ZX-9 and CR-7; both don't have autoreverse which lengthen reliability plus controls are better and more interesting than in DRAGON. 660-682 also have more interesting controls than DRAGON.
Thank you very much for your answer Rey, according with the comparison video I believe that Nakamichi ZX-9 play and record cassettes better than Nakamichi Dragon, it's right or only is my believing?
Rey Sangalang lol, excellent Ray, I have a component system since 1992. I have a pair of Sansui SX9000 speakers, Onkyo AVR (I don't remember the model, but sounds a little better that a HK 3650 AVR), Tascam 102 stereo cassette deck HXPro (don't like me so much), Behringer EQ FBQ for 15 bands, I left it in my parents' home in Peru. Now I live in Mexico and I starting to get my new component system, I started to by a Nakamichi Dragon ($800) and get Nakamichi 2-RCA stereo audio cable. I want to by a Marantz pre amplifier and a Marantz amplifier, a pair of Infinity SM150 with a marantz or technics professional turntable. Please, feel free to suggest me improvements, I love professional audio and I spending my saved money in buy a very good system components, because is my passion. For my wife it doesn't like so much ha ha ha ha.
Владимир Соколов It Utube video. It depends on the recording, where he was standing, etc. Judging a cassette decks audio performance from a Utube video is asinine.
Thanks for your comment .I have purchased many Nakamichi decks through the years, just to found the perfect one .Also the service costs a lot of money but I think that you have to pay to keep the legend alive.
you should try better decks and not spend so much money ,one of the reasons others are better,don´t refer to brands or a war would start ,this was the theme of discution in early 90´s without youtube or internet questions and answers were given by posting in especiality magazines, there was comunication among computers but not for unknown persons, publishing was the way
+mahadragon It's doing it by itself, you see the green light flashing for a few seconds when he pressed play? That's the automatic azimuth calibration. Only the Dragon has this.
Can anyone help me with a nak deck ? what makes the Orange caps go bad that naks are plague with going bad . is it to much run time, getting to hot, leaving them running to long, what makes these Orange caps go bad SAD ONE OF IF NOT THE BEST RECORDING MACHINE EVER MADE AND THEY FK UP WITH THE FUCKING ORANGE CAP FALL WHAT MAKES THIS HAPPEN ??
***** Hello everybody knows Revox and Nakamichi. More interesting are not known classics like NEAL - 302,Hitachi D 4500 , LoD D 4500,Toshiba (Aurex) PC-6030, Mitsubischi DT-40S, B.I.C. T-4M ,Akai GXC-65D..... Regards
Πολύ σωστό αυτό από τήν στιγμή πού τό κασετόφωνο έχει τήν δυνατότητα νά κουνά τήν κεφαλή ώστε νά βρίσκει τό κατάληλο αζιμούθιο { φτάνει βέβαια ή κασέτα νά είναι καλά ηχογραφημένη } ώστε ν'αποδίδει τά μεγιστα μέ οπιαδήποτε κασέτα σά νά ήταν ηχογραφημένη στό ίδιο τότε ένα τέτοιο κασετόφωνο θά παίζει όλες τίσ κασέτες 99% τέλεια Μεγάλη μαγκιά από τήν Nacamichi κρίμα πού δέν τήν ιυοθέτησαν οί άλλες εταιρείες προφανώς λόγω πνευματικών δικαιομάτων τής Nakamichi .
Is there any person around who can claim to tell the difference in the sound between these decks especially on RU-vid ?? Whoever owns these two NAKS is surely an avid Nakamichi aficionado and with deep pockets. Look after them well friend, for never will another cassette deck be made that could hope to come even remotely close to these two.
those measures are wrong and yes the zx-9 much better, idid measures from 2hrtz to 35 khrtz in good decks but those are not heardable the deck construction is the most important thing, and naka´s fail very bad on it
Those decks were so expensive when they were available !... they were designed for cassette enthusiasts for sure ... and they look so complicated !! I don't know why they have so many buttons and knobs ... I have a Sony TC-K611S, and I can achieve such a good sound quality with it: in fact when I use Metal type tapes and Dolby S NR (with good calibration), I can't hear the difference with the CD, so I don't know what those decks can offer more .. For me those Nakamichis were overrated .. and overpriced !
Nice piece of hardware though ... My advice: never sell it ! This is a very good vintage machine ... A piece of history .. Its value will rise with time ..
cd´s are very bad to compare ,even a hx-1 from akai sounds better than the cd you recorded from, but all isn´t only the cd player or the deck ,theres the amplifier and speakers so why a top end deck and a bad sound to hear it, there are amplifiers and amplifiers and speakers and speakers, learn about electronics then by a system, nakamichi was never the way,since the 70´s , i had all top decks from nakamichi at home being a family business since the 60´s early ones ,it was very cheap for me to compare several high-end decks but nakamichi wasn´t one of them and i found the zx-9 the better in nakamichi ,only there´s other brands with highest quality in recording and playing and metal(except the ma-xg from tdk that surprised me in the 80´s) are not the best tapes good chrome ones are or were ,not cobalt
LoveAviation Most of the buttons are for recording. Bias and Dolby level have to be set and for each channel. The reason professional reel to reel sounds so good is because of the tape width and speed. But also because you adjust the bias level for every track. Those 2 inch analog 24 tracks - The bias has to be set for all 24 tracks.
Thank goodness for MP3, to put an end to overpricing cassette players regardless of their output capabilities. Depending were you look these can go from under £100 to over a grand second hand?!
Μάλλον έφτασε η ώρα να αποχωριστώ 5κ ευρώ για ένα Dragon, που θα κάνει παρέα στις υπόλοιπες μονάδες τής Meridian στο δικάναλό μου σύστημα... Τόσο αποτιμώνται τώρα, καλοσυντηρημένα Dragon αλλά θα είναι και ένα καλό δώρο στις 1000+ κασέτες μου...
Με 1000-1500 ευρώ παίρνεις ένα καλό . Υπολόγισε και 500 € για service στο Β&W στην Αγγλία και θα έχεις ένα τέλειο μηχάνημα για τουλάχιστον 5 χρόνια.Το δικό μου στοίχισε γύρω στα 1800 με το service αλλά είναι από τα τελευταία κομμάτια παραγωγής .s/n 32857 περίπου 4ος 1993.
Hello my friend.Unfortunately I don"t have any technical experience on Dragon. I believe that you must contact nak talk forum.There are many experts on Nakamichi equipment to help you. Just go to this web address and be a member www.naks.com/mailman/listinfo/naktalk . Best regards !
Great tools but they do not deserve thousands of euros. I have a Nakamichi CR1 bought for around 100 euros. There is no so much difference in sound quality. Ok, ok the Dragon means much more than simple sound. But these tools stay on ebay and amazon and no one buy them. So, the price is not right for them.
Is the purpose of the video to show off the sound quality of a tape recording? Can't really tell as the sound comes from a copy of a LP to a tape then out the speakers into a microphone then downgraded further on you tube. End result probably much worse than sitting in the room where you made the video. Can't really see the tape moving on either deck so not sure the point of the video.
TheNewGranada You are not crazy tapes are shit vs CD. And there were mostly used to have decent sound in a car. But I think some took it to an extreme. They are sort of a fad now, cool gadgets for people wanting to remember day gone past. 8 tracks went the way of the Doo Doo bird too.
+TheNewGranada Which is funny, since my piano never produces noise that even the best tape-recorders ALWAYS add to the recording. So those self-proclaimed audiophiles have not the faintest idea of what they're talking about.
TheNewGranada Yea, a lot of people thought that. People would buy the cheapest cassette deck they could find, record at a low level on Normal Type 1 tape and then complain about the sound. Or worse - a lot of people had those horrible dubbing decks. They would take a tape that was bad already and then make a high speed copy (twice speed) without any noise reduction. Couldn't use the Dolby Noise Reduction system at twice speed. They were professional dubbing decks that sounded great. But they usually started at $1000 and went up. Back in the mid 80's a $300 mid price deck (using Metal tape) would sound very good. It's wierd isn't it sir....Today someone will pay $1200 for an IPhone but back in 1986 wouldn't dish out $300 for decent cassette machine. I used to plug in an equalizer to boost up the very top end on my cheapo $170 Hitachi deck. Even with this low end machine I was able to get 30 - 17 000hz +-3db (Type 4 Metal tape). And wow and flutter (speed variation) I think was 0.06% (A Weighted). And I would record at very hot levels. Anyway I had all kinds off tricks for getting better sound off my cassette deck. The machine had no bias control or Dolby HX Pro (alters the bias with high frequency content). Unfortunately My recording at hot levels with lots of high frequency eq would cause the occasional self eraser of the top end. All my copies were 1:1 (real time). The bottom line is the cassette is only going to be as good as the machine you record it on. And the tape you use.
Ewout Honig I am not sure what you are trying to say. A tape machine (as you put it) includes even a professional 1 imch analog 2 track running at 30 ips, not just cassette. Are you referring to scrape flutter?. The AFM (amplitude frequency modulation) recording system used in: VHS, S-VHS, Beta and Professional 3/4 inch HI-FI Sound has no scrape flutter. No recording system (digital or analog) can capture the full sound of a live performance. No argument there. They can get close and sound fantastic but they will always be something missing. Is this your point?....That has nothing to do with tape. As for adding things that aren't there.....Some say analog is better, some say digital. Am I guessing right that you feel that tape (even professional 2 inch 16 track) will always add something, while digital (done well) at 24/96 doesn't add anything. Keep in mind that digital can be recorded on tape as well. (Digital Dash multi-track.) Or is it just cassette?
About zx 9 . I believe is more complete cassette deck. Great Recorder and a very good player. Dragon is equal to zx9 with the advantage of NAAK.Not so good recorder compared to zx9 .
bigboi51707 Because this is analog sound. If you have an extensive vinyl collection and you want to listen to it on the go, any of these units will capture the full qualtiy of analog sound. Assuming you have a Sony Pro Walkman to play it back on. Sure, you can make a 24/192 rip out of it and play it back on your Pono player but it won't sound the same. Some audiophiles have albums on reel to reel tape. These were sold through out the '50's, '60's and '70's. If you want make a good 1:1 analog copy of your albums on reel to reel and want the convenience of playback and storage then cassette is your way to go. A top high end 3 head Dolby C / S deck will get you 20 - 20 000hz +-3db with Chrome tape. And wow and flutter as low as 0.04%. Again you could make a CD copy, but it wouldn't have that "analog" sound. Or you've finished recording your song on Pro Tools and you're ready to hit record and make your 24/96 master file. But instead you do an D/A conversion and mix down to a NaK Dragon or perhaps a vintage Nak 581 from 1979. I used to own one. Now your master has that analog feel. But I see your point. Look, I am running out of excuses to buy these things.
The best hardware possible playing the worst music media ever invented. Cassette audio quality is at the bottom of the heap.......although as a broke teenager they were an awesome cheap alternative.
pioneer ct a9 ,akai gx f 95 or aiwa ad 6900 , just 3 decks who destroy any naka anytime........this brand is so overratted , simply because they made few good models ......i had the dragon last year , an astonishing machine but wayyyy under really big boys ....
Technology comes up with new ways everyday, and makes peoples life better, some of us like to collect garbage, I really can't understand that. one simple cd player can do million times better and conveniently than all this bulky monsters. I like to get me pinhole camera and do a selfy, make sense?
