Tape Is Not Dead
Written: Jun 01 '01
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Pros: Crisp clear recordings, loads of features, easy to use.
Cons: It’s Tape
The Bottom Line: The 393 has a wonderful balance of performance and features.
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| MichaelHatton's Full Review: Yamaha KX-393 Cassette Deck Dual Cassette Deck |
Introduction to the Yamaha KZ-393
Let me begin by saying, this Yamaha cassette recorder is the best I have ever seen at this price level. It has loads of features and plenty of tweaks to sound output, and – most important – ability to record and play at high standards.
I can imagine some will be criticising tape. It is very old, but can we live without it? I believe not. Tape is something with has grown, and its not dead yet. Some will say MiniDisc is better. But I tend not to fully agree.
MiniDisc is an extremely good product, but for many in this world, a tape cassette player will be in their car. So a recorder is certainly a must buy if you don’t already own one.
The Format
Tape cassettes are very cheap. Yes they may be inferior to CD but they are quite durable. You can record and re-record on them. With this machine you’ll here no hiss which is associated with tape, nor any fading. Recording from CD there is barley here any significant differences in sound quality.
Sound Quality
There’s an almost unbelievable clear treble sound. Take some light rock music, you can sort of image the band. All the instruments are hear-able, take a cymbal or hi hat, these sorts of instrument are clearer listen-able, they have a clear and rich presence. Its quite impressive if you have upgraded from a micro hifi to this, like me. I have heard a tape on my old micro hifi, and on the 393, and in this a drum - for example snare attack- are more open and snappier they are upfront instead of behind a mash of fuzzy guitars.
Its more than clear treble and midrange though. Bass is quite exciting. It has a purity and deep rumble. It backs up the music pleasingly.
Stereo imaging is quite impressive, they is a quite broad sound stage, it reach quite deep into the music, so you hear sound from behind your speakers. It extremely enjoyable. But it all depend on your current hi fi.
The only negative I can find is a slight softening to the really high treble, compared to CD. But its still quite good, for tape anyway.
I guarantee, there is no better tape recorder than the 393.
Features
- Dolby Noise Reduction stages; B, C, HXPro
- MPX noise reduction
- Intro Scan Search
- Auto Tape Tuning
- Counter
- Headphone socket & Volume level
- One Way Play
- Record Level/Balance
- Mute
- Search
As you can see it has quite a lot of features. For older tapes the Dolby NR settings really help cut out the hissy noise. The Auto Tape Tuning button simply uses the best NR setting for best sound quality. Its pretty fast for rewind or fast forward, and it only plays one way though.
The display is pretty nice, in usual Yamaha yellow. It has an output level for each channel (left/right) which ranges from –30dB to +8dB. The Tape counter is fine for pit stopping particular points on the tape by pressing reset.
It also has two heads, one for record and one for playback.
Build/looks
It comes glad in basic black with a slight recess in Yamaha’s style. The buttons are laid out very well, and can be read easily, and are placed at the right places. All the knobs feel pretty sturdy, and the door is solid in build, like the rest of the unit. Its not really a looker, and might offend some modern interiors, and it has to be on display to get at it for playing.
The Backside
At the back you’ll find the correct inputs and outputs, in usual phono connection types.
The Missing Pieces
I would have liked a microphone input on the front it would be quite fun with that feature.
A remote would be extremely useful.
I’m sure that Yamaha left those things out to keep price down.
Conclusion
What more can I say. This is my favourite ever recorder, its easy to use, and a joy to listen to.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 140
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MichaelHatton
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