ferriteman
05-31-2008, 05:40 AM
I must first confess, I have always looked down on "double" cassette decks. These are always the decks that were at the bottom of every manufacturers product range and were usually way-down the list when reviewing performance and features. Besides, I don't dub from tape to tape; I only dub from FM and LPs. But when I saw this baby up for sale, about a year and half ago, I couldn't resist. It was selling as an "end of the line" clearance sale, the last one left, so I picked it up for about half the original selling price.
The deck in question and pictured is the Marantz PMD520. But this isn't just any deck; it is from Marantz's pro line of decks, and as such, it's built like a tank. Unlike regular double decks, it is basically 2 independent 3-head decks that can operate together or separately (doing completely different functions at the same time). In othe words, you can play a tape on one deck and record from a different source on another at the same time. You can use both decks to dub from the same source at the same time.
But...the best thing about this deck is that you can do "continuous" recording...record with deck A until the end of the tape is reached...then the machine will flip to recording from deck B. There is even an adjustable "overlap" function available...i.e. the overlap between the 2 tapes when you use continuous recording. This function is great when I'm recording jazz programs off the air for listening to later...I can employ the timer function if I'm not at home.
Although I haven't done any direct comparisons to my other decks...the quality of records on this deck is excellent. I just wish it had Dolby S as well...but most decks don't anyway.
The deck in question and pictured is the Marantz PMD520. But this isn't just any deck; it is from Marantz's pro line of decks, and as such, it's built like a tank. Unlike regular double decks, it is basically 2 independent 3-head decks that can operate together or separately (doing completely different functions at the same time). In othe words, you can play a tape on one deck and record from a different source on another at the same time. You can use both decks to dub from the same source at the same time.
But...the best thing about this deck is that you can do "continuous" recording...record with deck A until the end of the tape is reached...then the machine will flip to recording from deck B. There is even an adjustable "overlap" function available...i.e. the overlap between the 2 tapes when you use continuous recording. This function is great when I'm recording jazz programs off the air for listening to later...I can employ the timer function if I'm not at home.
Although I haven't done any direct comparisons to my other decks...the quality of records on this deck is excellent. I just wish it had Dolby S as well...but most decks don't anyway.