Old vs. new cassette deck: Which is better?

The fact that cassette decks are still being produced at all today is in itself a pleasant surprise. The cassette medium has been as good as dead for a long time. But of course there are always a few isolated individuals who enjoy it, whether to revive old memories or to escape the ubiquity of the digital world.

The choice of devices, however, is minimal. There are two decks: the Teac W-1200 and the Tascam 202MkVII, and the two are almost identical. That's because Tascam is Teac's pro brand.

Hi-fi components

EUR499,–

TEAC W-1200

Cassette

31

Hi-fi components

EUR499,–

TEAC W-1200

Cassette

31

In tech, newer is almost always better. Here, though, I doubt it. It hasn't been worthwhile to further develop cassette technology for over 20 years. And nowadays mass production of the components is no longer possible. So it might be difficult for the manufacturer to get a reasonable price-performance ratio.

I buy a cassette player from 1995

Therefore, a used cassette deck from the 90s or noughties that is still in good condition could be an alternative. A look at ricardo.ch and similar platforms shows: The second-hand market for cassette decks is very diverse. Among the still functioning devices I have seen everything from 10 to 3000 francs. Extremely expensive are certain sought-after models or even entire brands, for example the legendary Nakamichi Dragon. Generally expensive are also real oldtimers, which have been extensively overhauled.

But you can also find devices with solid quality for less than 100 francs. I bought the Pioneer deck CT-W604RS with year 1995 for 50 francs. Since I am inexperienced in the matter, I make my first steps with a cheap purchase. Despite the low price, this unit has Dolby S. Not many have that, and it was important to me. I'll get to that later.

Comparison of features

The two units have different features. The Teac W-1200 can record with both decks, while the Pioneer model can only record with one. In addition, the new model has a microphone input. However, there is an almost identical model from Pioneer called Pioneer CT-W704RS, where exactly these two features are also available. I also tried to bid for one of these, but I didn't want to offer more than 100 francs.

The Teac W-1200 has a pitch control. This means that the tape speed can be fine tuned. This also changes the pitch; which is handy for matching a piece to the current pitch of an instrument or vocals.

And as a modern device, the Teac W-1200 has a USB port. The sound is output digitally and can be recorded on a computer without an audio interface and in good quality.

The new model, however, lacks features that were standard in the 1990s and that the Pioneer deck offers. These include Auto Reverse. This eliminates the need to flip the cassette after a played side. For the B-side, the audio head is simply rotated 180 degrees.

Furthermore, the Teac device has no automatic search, with which you can fast forward to the next track or rewind to the beginning of the current track.

Most importantly, the unit has no Dolby noise reduction. There is noise reduction, but it's not very effective and can only be used for playback, not recording. It is a makeshift replacement.

Dolby in comparison

Cassette tape noise. You'll often only hear it in the quieter passages or in the pauses between tracks - but it's there. Dolby noise reduction can greatly reduce the noise, even making it inaudible in some cases.

My comparison plays you the noise of a cassette tape in silence. First without noise reduction, then in sequence with Dolby B, C and S. Then the same again with the beginning of a piece of music. I used a cassette with a particularly high noise level. Namely this one.

I recommend to listen to the video with headphones. But not with noise cancelling, because that also hisses.

Dolby C already suppresses noise very efficiently. A very slight noise can be heard even in the original recording and is definitely not a problem.

Why does the old Pioneer deck offer three different Dolby processes? Quite simply, Dolby must always be played back using the same process it was recorded with. Otherwise it sounds distorted. Dolby B is the most widespread, Dolby C at least more widespread than Dolby S. That's why all three are needed.

And why does the Teac not have Dolby at all? According to this video, it's because Dolby no longer licenses the technology for new cassette players. For whatever reason. The pseudo-Dolby on the Teac deck is a replacement for Dolby B.

Not everyone loves Dolby

Dolby S and especially Dolby C can cause the sound to change under certain circumstances. For example, the volume may suddenly change briefly, a so-called pumping. This is then much more disturbing than the noise. Possible causes could be: a too high recording volume or minimal deviations between recording and playback. If the cassette is played back on a different device than it was recorded on, these problems occur particularly frequently.

That's why many music cassette enthusiasts don't use Dolby at all, even though they could. Those who still use cassettes today probably like the charm of this analog medium, and some noise is part of that.

Better cassettes do not solve the problem

Some cassettes are much less noisy than the one used for the test above. That's why I compare the noise of different cassettes with each other. I want to know if I can compensate for the lack of Dolby in the Teac W-1200 with a particularly low-noise cassette.

But the answer is quickly clear: No.

First of all: Without noise reduction, all cassettes produce so much noise that you can hear it clearly in the quiet music passages. So you can only reduce the noise on the Teac with good cassettes, not make it disappear.

The comparison shows you

1. the cheap Soundmaster MC90 from our shop, which comes in a 5-pack;
2. the more expensive Fox C60 from RTM, which I ordered from thomann.de;
3. a Sony Metal-XR type IV.

Really low-noise Type IV (Metal) cartridges haven't been made at all for a long time. I bought mine on tutti.ch and suspect it's about 30 years old. It doesn't look much better with the type II. They often charge totally outrageous prices for the old cartridges.

Anyway, the Teac deck can only play metal cassettes, but not record them correctly. Recording is possible, but the recording must be adapted to the tape type. The Pioneer deck can even calibrate itself to a very specific tape, so that the recording is optimally matched to it. The Teac deck can't do that either.

The biggest advantage of the Type IV cassette in my test was, of all things, its interaction with Dolby. With the Type I cassettes, the volume decreases significantly with Dolby C and especially with Dolby S. This is not the case with the Metal cassette. Not with the Metal cassette. The volume remains the same. Also, there were no sound changes on Dolby C and Dolby S. In fact, the recording on Type IV and Dolby S is almost perfect, barely distinguishable from the original.

The metal cassette leaves some dirt on the sound head and other parts of the tape drive. This is probably because it is many years old. But so far it's not too bad.

The pitfalls of an old device

The Pioneer CT-W604RS was sold to me as being in working order, and that was true. But after a short time, shortcomings became noticeable:

• The tape doesn't always wind. A quick look inside shows: The rubber drive belts are worn out. This is almost always the case with devices that are several decades old. I ordered replacement belts for about 20 hammers from thakker.eu.
• When deck 1 is played backwards (auto reverse), it sounds extremely muffled. When changing the playing direction, the tone head would have to be rotated 180 degrees. Here it gets stuck at an estimated 150 degrees and then lies at an angle to the tape. Something is stuck. To fix this, I would probably have to completely disassemble the unit.
• The sound heads may not be aligned quite right. It sounds okay, but the anomalies with Dolby C and Dolby S might have something to do with it. Aligning them exactly without special tools is tricky.

Conclusion

In purely theoretical terms, a good deck from the 1990s is superior to Teac's new one. Dolby, especially Dolby S, already brings a lot in terms of noise reduction. Low noise cartridges are also hard to come by at the moment. In addition, the Teac W-1200 has no Auto Reverse and no automatic track search, which was standard on units from the 1990s.

Practically, however, the Teac W-1200 should be at an advantage many times over. Here you buy a new device without signs of wear and with warranty. With old second hand units, the actual performance is uncertain. If you buy a cheap unit like I did, you will most likely have to do some tweaking. If you don't feel like repairing it yourself, I recommend the Teac W-1200 or, if it's available at a similar price, a well-repaired vintage unit with warranty.