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 - Using XDR test tones & frequency analyzerLike many of you I'm digitizing some cassettes; commercial ones that are out of print and demos from various musical projects I mixed down to cassette in the 80s and 90s. Finding a used Nak or Studer-Revox from days of yore and insuring it is up to spec is a bit much and, being a freelancer, my finances for such indulgences are strictly budgeted. The Sony is in my price range and it will see vary little use after I digitize about 30 commercial and 30 demo cassettes. "Sigh".., then it will be time to look for a reasonably priced (properly speced this time) turntable to start digitizing my discontinued vinyl. Even as useless as the spec sheet is I still chose the Sony because of the price. Honestly, the spec sheet means nothing. The frequency response numbers don't specify which tape well is being referenced, there's no specified weighting. If "IEC" is meant to indicate that the results are weighted then there is no indication as to what type. Although an argument could be made that A is the most common it is after all a spec sheet I'm referring to. By definition a spec sheet should be specific. I'm spoiled. What about that incredible frequency response that is +/-6db? Using the above assumption about what the inclusion of "IEC" may or may not indicate about weighting it could indicate "unweighted". At +/-6db unweighted who cares, its technical jabberwocky, its B.S. marketing. Still, I went into this knowing the specs were the product of "creative accounting". So, my suggestion for choosing a cassette deck, this one included, is to first purchase it from someplace with a good return policy, then once it arrives and is set up find a XDR cassette in your collection, find a frequency analyzer plug-in for your chosen recording software, record the test tones played back from both heads (tape wells) and look at the results in the freq analyzer yourself. The results I got were acceptable for what I want to accomplish. Cassettes were never audiophile quality even when the source was recorded onto a hi-speed single well professional deck (good luck finding said deck), no matter how much anyone wants to convince you otherwise its not true. It is true, however, that if you want to go crazy and squeeze that last bit of fidelity out of your cassette collection then a restored hi-end Nakamichi or Studer-Revox is the way to go. Better yet, use the original deck the material was recorded on after you've cleaned and degaused it. If your cassette collection is mostly commercial pop, rock, and mix tapes of the same then this deck should be fine from a fidelity standpoint (if you consider yourself a classical music or jazz aficionado and have any of such in your cassette collection that was purchased after your college years hang your head in shame). As for long term reliability, I'll probably never know. Once my cassettes are digitized look for this deck on ebay. It will have been professionally maintained and have low hours. Rating:  - A little over priced, but sounds good and plays wellTherer are lots of others you can check out, but this one is good quality Rating:  - nothing but troubleI bought one of the machine in november 2006, and very soon afterward, it began running the tape forward foI bought one of these decks in november 2006, and one week later I had to exchange it for another because the relays misfunctioned, so that instead of rewinding, it ran the tape forward for two sequences. I got another, same problem. When I got the third one and it started doing it, I decided to get it repaired in Loredo tx. they repaired one side, then the other one started doing it. I got that repaired in July 2007, and, now it is starting it again. The relays are unreliable, and your tapes can get snarled because it might wind forward instead of rewinding, and when you use the music search to go backward to a previous song, it could also go forward. The machine makes great recordings and my tapes sound great, but it has a crappy noisy design. Rating:  - sony TCWE475 Dual Cassette Player/RecorderI bought this unit hoping I could somehow salvage my many tapes recorded in DBX format.I am happy to say they all play with no " breathing " I will not be using the record section of the unit. I will import the tape information in to my computer program " Audio Cleaning Lab " and process to make CD 's . I am very pleased with the unit especially since no one still makes tape units with DBX decoding. Rating:  - Works fine, but I don't care for itI own a dance studio and I've gone through many tape decks through the years. This one is not really user friendly for my purposes. I personally don't care for decks that play tapes on the reverse side, since it makes it too hard for me to quickly find the song I am looking for. Also, you can't make good edits from one tape to another with this type of deck. I prefer the older type decks that only play one side of the tape.
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