Type 0 Cassettes - PART 2 - Enter The Dragon 

Drakarys

@@TheStarclipse Valar Morghulis

They earned their reputation for a reason.

Doing something for the hell of it is sometimes the best reason 😁

It will be a Chinese Nakamichi with all the implications. :)

@ 83 to 93. I think. You're absolutely righ:-) It would probably be silver because making it black would be considered offensive.

@@olaniyi570 Lmao fuck people they suck thats why i like cassettes

Buy yourself a good ReVox B215(s) it's the same or even better recorder...

@@artderix803 The Revox was very good, but better than Nakamichi, not sure of that, equal in many aspects but the auto azimuth adjustment of the Dragon, does wonder with pre recorded tapes as well as with blanks. When I bought my Dragon in 1985-86, I did extensive A/B comparisons with many of the top decks of the time and I ended up buying the Nakamichi Dragon and not long after, a TEAC X-1000RBL 10" reel to reel deck. I paid a lot then but they are still functionning like new.

Great story. No one will get nostalgic about downloading off steam.

Here's a classic early 80s Commodore Pet computer being restored and the videographer turns his focus towards the cassette storage and hits a snag. Your post reminded me of this. That there's a Commodore gadget for checking cassette azimuth is fascinating, though I'm sure these cheese-based cassettes wouldn't work under even ideal circumstances. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jaytj2uZOcI.html

That's quite funny because Mallory Duratape, unlike Muratape, should've been a pretty decent brand afaik (clever wordplay from our Eastern comrades, here 😄), while Certrons used to be made in Mexico from U.S. components before succumbing to the Chinese/HK horror... makes you wonder how the Murican ones fare against the Far East junk 🙃 (Also everyone hates on Concertapes... were they *that* lo-fi? They appear to be 100% American)

😁

It's been exorcised by recording a nice Type 4 afterwards.

Cassette Comeback 😂😂😂

+Cassette Comeback, Did you use -holy water- 99% IPA too?

That's what I use to clean the heads and metal bits, but I use Servisol Foam Cleaner on the pinch rollers

Maybe some buy up pancakes of reject tape. I have looked at the BKB, which is partially transparent, has poor calendaring and rail lines along the tape. Why intentionally have poor coating issues.?

@@GladeSwope That has never happened to me, I'm surprised to hear that.

It didn't.

I remember them, but could tell what they'd be like before I even used them...

Yeah, it all depends. Am two recordings off a boombox...they would be acceptable for that.

@@CassetteComeback I think Pyral knew their market. Its just an old-style 1970s LN tape and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. It probably sounded no different to a D on the typical music centre or shoebox of the time. Lots of tapes about like that at the time. The Leda was much the same - voice grade but OK for what it was. I remember things like Ever Ready, Pinnacle and Cambra which were the same sort of thing, and mid-1970s AGFA were no better IME.

It's survived. It's good for a good while yet.

You pays your money...I didn't get mine cheap, but I've no regrets.

At least these things keep their value. If you wanna sell it 5 years later you'll always get your money back if you take care of it. Maybe even more. Try that with your 1500 iphone.

Never buy a second hand Nakamichi Dragon except for parts and cheap or fully inspected and working like new. I bought a Nakamichi Dragon in 1985-86. After a month, it started acting strange, I sent it back to my dealer that sent it back to the distributor for repair. After a month, I got a call telling me that they had to send back the unit to Japan as they could not resolve the problem with it. Another month passed by and I received a new Nakamichi Dragon straight from Japan. They could not fix it either.

It's like a German car. When it performs to spec, it's amazing but complex, prone to failure, and expensive to repair. If I had one of these, it would be a shelf queen as I wait to find someone fanatic enough to spend over a grand on a cassette player.

Because they didn't care, the people who sold them didn't care and they were so cheap when you used them, you didn't care.

i remember the bits ones - was they also the same in the white label ones too, but they did look almost the same as poundworld branded ones and Flyer

Because this is not tape, this is peace of cardboard paper.

@@chevycaprice87 yep just utter crap

BBC wouldn't use someone with a broad accent like mine 😁

Indeed. This was just answering public demand.

I love unknown brands and in Germany you mostly get very good (!) tape inside because most dept. store brands here bought the tape at BASF and AGFA or the GDR ORWO: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-P53Yiz_HOHs.html

@@Schlipperschlopper But Orwo wasn't good tape.

+Cassette... Now that's what I call good service! :)

@@xsc1000 Depends on type their IEC I Ferro Extra and II Chrome Extra were similar to AGFA and BASF Basic type formla ORWO and DESSAUER tapes GDR delivered magnetic tape to MAGNA and Permaton West Germany too as well as Agfa. But that was export quality.

They earned their reputation for a reason.

Still those sandpaper tapes would eventually destroy the heads.. why use crap tapes when you can other decent ones like late Tdk D

Oh yeah, but it was surprisingly clean.

a head replacement will be needed

I haven't and, by your description, am glad of that.

True, that window is usually a good sign. I think back in the day, the Pyral / Leda would have been as good as most other cassettes, time has probably taken its toll.

Indeed

That's both disturbing and comforting to hear 😃

Yeah, the sine waves of data were fine for these, I used some to dupe games for friends.

A good deck can make the most a bad cassette, but a bad deck can't make the most of a good cassette. I tested the ONN in a different video and didn't rate it.

There's no pots for the bias and level it's all automatic. I only used it as it was stuck in a cupboard... Which is where it had returned to.

Cassette Comeback Even when it’s automatic, there will be trimmer pots inside the deck, and these do go bad.

I also got a couple more possible Type 0 "chrome" cassettes, that I'll do a separate video on.

First test is a smell test :) My Mark II tape have very strong "sweet wax" smell 😀

I tried it on my Revox as a Type 1, and type 2 at 70 and 120. No dice.

I'd still have to pay for postage...

They're quite different in the flesh

Must be something to do with RU-vid and compression. The Revox is a wonderful deck, don't dismiss it without actually hearing one in person.

@@CassetteComeback I didn't mean to refer to Revox in a derogatory manner, it's a very serious deck. I have listened to comparisons on RU-vid and to my ears, Nakamichi sounds better than the Revox. I listened through my integrated amplifier and good speakers, and to my ears, Nakamichi sounded more British. By British I mean a high end smooth, extended, "silky" yet lively and dynamic sound. Some electronics give the impression of good treble extension, but sometimes it is accentuated treble between 7 and 12 kHz. That's obviously different than treble that actually extends to 20 kHz or higher. I have a three head Nakamichi but don't have a Revox of similar capabilities to compare side by side.

This is probably one reason why many people say how bad tapes is.

Certrons are not easy to get in the UK and the reputation they have is why I've never bothered. I never "bought" any of these, they either came in job lots or were gifted to me.

Cassette Comeback They are garbage. Tony when I plug my iPhone X into my tape deck to record,when I set the levels on my tape deck,it also changes the volume on my receiver.My question is since my Pioneer isn’t a 3 head deck is the volume coming from my Pioneer deck or my Sony receiver?? Thanks,JOHN😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

If they sound like crap, yeah.

Cassette Comeback they actually sound decent, its just that you have to turn the volume louder due to the lower playback level, so you get more hiss. Looking at it now its an MTV C-60 tape, and it says normal position, type 1 on the cassette.

Who in their right mind hates the Dragon? They might not be pretty (far from it) but they're the best decks ever made bar none in terms of sound quality, and that's what matters surely?

@@rich_edwards79 I have had 2 haters so far . Ugly ??? no not with that contral panel

I surrender :D And it managed to pull all this without EQ calibration... were there really any decks out there with an *absolute full* set of features, like, 3 heads (obviously), auto cal and manual bias-level-EQ cal with a wide range, minimal increments and independent channel regulation, as well as all Dolbies available on the market, together with DBX... while having a neutral sound and a high (wink wink Sony) saturation ceiling? I don't think so 😄

@David Simmons There is a lot of Dragons all different

I guess they are over the long term, but since I don't use them, I can't confirm.

That's it. Really makes you appreciate the main brands who never made stuff like this...

A funny bit I've observed recently... there was a Super Ferro XD tape available for some period of time probably in the early 80s that went under the brands: Magna, Zonal, BANF (!) and maybe something else. (Goes to prove those times could've been almost as crazy in Europe back then as they are to this day in China 😄) Some of it was "Made in Western Germany", some in England, some "in the U.K." I think. There was also an RKL DX with a similar shell that some chaps tested and compared to BASF ferrics of the cooking grade. Any thoughts Tony?

I'm pretty sure Acme made kits, and the assembly was done by small back-street factories, by hand and using prison/child labour rather like batteries and toys. Later tapes (1990s) were much more consistent, but no better really. Kaytapes were a case in point; the tape itself maintained quite consistent quality but the shells got worse and worse over time; they clearly were using some of the kit components. The plastics used got steadily worse with imperfections in both the plastic colour and the moulding, with the write protect tabs becoming less and less square. They also started to omit components like the metal plate behind the pad, the guide rollers, leaving out the middle screw and even the slip sheet. But the tape itself remained rather better than some other type zeroes. It was clearly a race to the bottom once the Koreans started producing good, professional tapes at not much higher prices than the back-street HK shops... the type zeroes around 1988 were being pushed down to 20p per tape or less and became unviable. I remember some tapes branded "Economy" coming on the market in around 1989. One stall near me started selling them 10 for £1.39... C90 as well... Needless to say the quality was bad even by type zero standards, with two of the tapes in the pack I bought didn't even have the tape leader connected to the hub, and another one only around 25 minutes per side. There was at least three different types of tape stock within the single pack as well. I should have bought more and kept them for posterity...

Agreed. If you compare the Maxim LN with a Acme MS 400 you can see they are smular. (Except the paper label)

If it works well, yeah, it's a good deck.

@@CassetteComeback Thanks for your reply. Good to hear you like that cassettedeck. Now hoping that I get that deck. I will let you know if I got any luck.

@@CassetteComeback I did not get that deck. But the good news: he is also maintenance an Sony TC-K808ES and that one is for me after he finished with maintenance that deck...

Aesthetics are 99% of their appeal.

A strong FM signal on a good Type I or Type II sounds better than this.

Indeed...but people seem to like to see decks like this being punished.

I think it's heading for a new owner instead...

@@CassetteComeback That's allso a posibity. Think you have a good variaty off Decks. Btw Did you downloaded the manual for your Revox, or have you bought one?

Some people are never happy... 😀

um high tech well that tape is not gonna pass though it will drop out. I see you crushed and destroy maxim xd cassette thank god but it depends if its 46 74 50 60 90 100 or 120 minutes for example

It does, but I don't think that affects the dropouts, that's due to tape quality, but it does help when cassettes have poor pads in them.

@@CassetteComeback That and closed loop dual capstans for more even tension.

Usually yeah. Early ones need to be stored well or can deteriorate.

Yeah, agreed. AGFA is pretty much equal with BASF.

But then the video wouldn't be as appealing as, before watching, secretly, a lot want to see the dragon suffer and break...

@@CassetteComeback As long as it is not mine that breaks, not everybody fix them. My initial Dragon failed when it was about a month old and Nakamichi Japan replaced it with a new unit.

Yes

Not unless someone sends me some.

There's no auto bias on the Dragon, it's manual, 400hz for level 15khz for bias. You want to hear these on the Revox now...are some of your ever happy?

You're not the first person to say this, but with this channel, my Facebook pages and groups and business emails I'm pretty swamped to add a discord server on top of it... I'd never get any family time 😁

@Utkarsh Amitabh Srivastava yea sorry lol

@@CassetteComeback well if you ever do consider making a discord I would manage it and make it look pretty. Also do you own any walkmans?