So I recently dug up my old Aiwa ADF880 cassette deck, just to demonstrate to my 14 y/old son. He was interested as he saw Guardians of the Galaxy and wanted to make a mix-tape :). A trip down memory lane, allthough looked like a dead-end as the deck was in almost complete no-motion. It wiggled a little but didn't start playback. Sure enough, the belt set was toast, completely liquified. Yes, a project! Found the belts, ordered and got to work with son. Great exercise, trying to scrub liquid rubber off the flywheel. It worked out well, he made a mix-tape on a brand-new cassette I still had (yes, taking off the wrapper, hmm). If you have been playing around burning your own CDs in the late nineties, then moving to MP3 players and finally into the todays streaming age, it's kinda neat doing this again. Great history lesson! But practical? Not really

This is probably one of the best modern cassette decks that uses the Tanashin mechanism in terms of features.

Two years later, I still found this review very useful. One aspect of the 202 MkVII which you overlooked was the tape-to-PC digital conversion. There seems to be an industry agreement designed to deter illegal duplication of digital audio CDs, limiting their digital output to 128kbps MP3 (i.e. the TASCAM CD-A580). Because this unit and the TEAC W-1200 only use analog cassette sources, the USB digital output can support higher-resolution file types such as WAV and FLAC. As for sound quality, I think this unit is comparable to most entry-level cassette decks of the 1980s including dual-well unit, which is to say it's a pretty good stereo deck if not TOTL. The well-used vintage TOTL decks from the "good old days" are going to be very hard and expensive to repair due to lack of parts and shrinking number of qualified repair techs, but this TASCAM and TEAC will probably be easily maintained and supported for many years to come. If I wanted a brand-new deck, I'd buy the W-1200.

Unboxing videos are not stupid. They are very enjoyable to watch and are useful to potential buyers. It's very therapeutic and relaxing to watch somebody unbox a product. It's useful to see what accessories come with the product as well as how the product is packaged, especially if someone is considering having the item shipped. Also to see what kind of setup is required if you are planning to buy it as a gift.

Good ol' cassette tapes, I hope this format never dies for good.

The spec may not be the best we have seen. But i believe the points are; as of 2018, we can actually buy a brand new double cassette deck that is reliable on this planet, and for us to know some company still care and have balls and passions to produce cassette deck. love your unboxing video by the way.

I love the irony of an alignment cassette with a misaligned label.

One of my favorite things about listening to tapes when I was young was when I loaded the tape in, it felt like i was loading a gun lol

I wish Technics will start producing cassette decks.....

*UPDATE:* The TEAC W-1200 cassette deck (the same thing as the TASCAM 202mkVII minus the Special Playback feature and rack mounting ears) is now available in the U.S. for $399 or less.

I’ve been enjoying cassette tapes since I was a teenager in the late 70’s and still enjoy using them ❤️🌈☮️

Very well made review. Cassette playback sound is surprisingly impressive.

I love the smell of a freshly opened new cassette

Just wanted to say, I've been watching your videos for some time now. I have no idea about audio equipment, but I really appreciate the time you take in being very thorough in your reviews. It's more education than people get nowadays when it comes to even basic electronics.

This was great. I'm the only person I know that still has a cassette deck in the rack. I was curious about this Tascam and was delighted to see your review. Many thanks for the guided tour!

Thanks for the really detailed review. The audio quality was apparent; even though it uses the Tanashin mechanism, the heads and audio circuitry must be higher quality than in the boomboxes you see for sale nowadays. Plus, like you mentioned, the availability of parts and maintainability of the deck should be good. Edit: The only thing missing for the review that I could see would have been a mention of the specifications, like the frequency response and signal/noise ratio.

You know… i just recently made a mixtape for a girl. And even if she has no tapedeck it was still kindly & happily appreciated as a gift. 90 Minutes of well selected music arranged in a particular order with the goal to give one heck of a FANTASTIC listening experience. Making the playlist is great. But nothing beats the moment of actually recording it :)

I was impressed with the sound quality of the recording you made on that Fuij tape. Even without noise reduction, there was hardly any noise in the sound at all. The highs also seem to sound pretty decent.

I suppose a major advantage with this deck over old decks is that it has a built-in A-to-D converter. The pitch control is certainly great too especially for playback of older cassettes recorded on myriad of decks and recorders. If these were sold in volume, I'm sure the prices would drop too.

OMG they’re still making cassette decks? I still have mine. It’s maybe10-15 years. Glad I never got rid of it.

Less than 30 seconds in and I already hear the voices of 2 of my favorite youtubers

Wow, Vwestlide went in deep on this cassette deck. Good job in going into details & even taking it apart to show the internal. 👍

What I love about cassettes is when they stay stopped and start at the exact same place in the recording. I also have hundreds of cassette tapes, both commercial and home recorded.

This is a great video...it's good to see a review from a non-biased person: so many so-called audiophiles condemn these decks without ever seeing or using one. I had seen this, and the Teac AD-850 available for a while and was curious about them, and after first seeing this review several months ago, I decided to go for the AD-850 - I wanted a decent cassette deck with CD player to simplify recording albums to tape, rather than using using one of my turntables and getting static/clicks/pops/groove damage noises from my LP's (I have a range of turntables from and AT-LP3, AT-LP120USB, Rega RP1, Project Primary w/acrylic platter...but so many new LP's come with groove damage from new - 'no-fill' in the grooves being the worst!) Also to eliminate having a second CD player connected... save on plugs and wiring!! So yeah... I got the AD-850 and my word, it plays good quality pre-recorded tapes beautifully....sounds fantastic! CD playback is flawless of course: it's a good CD player. CD recording works well, but you have to be careful now with so many CDs being overly compressed and 'brick walled'... but when you get the record levels just right, the tape recording sounds fantastic! I guess ultimately, all I'm trying to say here is that these 'cheap' Tanishin (sp?) cassette mechanisms are robust, perform well, and long may they last making them.. it's good to know that there's someone out there still who has decades of history with making them...and cheap as they are, they still work bloody well...!! :-)

WOW! You can tell this is actually made for the more serious Tape user. Having the ability to record on BOTH decks at the same time, having a recording and a 1st generation quality duplicate tape that either serves as a archival backup or copy for a friend, is absolutely fantastic! Dude, i think you just sold me to this deck :D

I may not have lived in the generation, but I appreciate and listen to cassettes on the daily

What a great review! Very informative. I've always had a love affair with audio electronics but I never used them for anything other than simple recording and playback, meaning most of the specialized features went unused. This is def a pretty solid looking unit, and considering the market for new cassette decks, dual or not, is so small, I'd say the higher price is well worth it even just for nostalgia!

Five hundred dollars or a hundred dollars is still too costly for such a cheesy basic cassette player I would definitely go with a vintage high end.

Well at least it's not bad. If my old jvc cassette deck decides to give up, i would definetly buy this or the upcoming budget version. Just because it's new with factory warranty and probably will last for at least 5-10 years. Thanks for the great review West.

Your videos keep the format alive! Thanks for being you, VWestlife!

Have always been a fan of cassette machines. I still use my 1974 model Sony CF 420L. It might be 46 years old but is in mint condition and still going strong!! They were really well made in those days (full metal chassis). The belts have been changed once.

Why do I watch a 20 minutes review of a cassette deck I'll never intend to buy ? Just for the sake of good old times .. :-) Thank you for the video !

Hi Kevin congratulations on one million views. It’s a testament of how excellent your videos are!!

I cannot believe how good this Tape deck sounds. I wanted a good quality machine that required no repairs. Worth every penny

Wow, one of the very best reviews I've seen in youtube. Thank you for the information.

And that smell of newly-opened audio equipment. God I love that.

I bought those Fuji DR II Chrome slim cassettes by the gross. They sounded awesome, the slim design meant you could put two of them in the space of a standard cassette in a cassette holder. I never had a problem. Fuji Made good tapes then. Nice touch with Shango, and Techmoan In the beginning. I love those guys.

Good one! 0:18: Techmoan! 0:21: Shango066! The only big downside of this cheap cassette mechanism, is that the don't use a sleeve bearing at the back of the flywheel. Besides that, they work pretty well, as seen in many cheap stereosystems. Philips even used two plates of iron as a flywheel in their 80's stereosets, which is nice and good for the wow and flutter.

That is a very good review. You covered a lot of stuff, and explained it well. Thanks for the inside view of the circuit board (it looked like a lot of full sized ICs) and it's adjustment pots, and tape drive mechanism.

Thanks for the review of this tape deck. I have the Tascam MD-CD1 for listening to minidiscs and cds and it’s my favorite music playback device. I bought the Record Store Day release of Prince’s The Versace Experiment last weekend on cassette. The last cassette I bought was Smashing Punpkins’ Melon Collie and Infinite Sadness double album back in the 90s. I’m really excited that Tascam is still making tape decks. As soon as I’m done watching your review I’m gonna buy the deck online.

I wasn't TOO shocked with the sticker price...I was guessing $699.99...but it actually turned out to be LESS! Great looking deck and the quality looks to be great too! It should serve you MANY MANY years of great quality playback/recording

Awesome video. The only complaint I have is that you didn't smell that brand new cassette when you opened it! Dammit! :D

I love the smell of Hi Bias in the morning!

I was a broadcast bench tech for 20 years, built my own home recording studio and had dozens of Nakamichi among others that I'd get for free and fix up. It's hard to believe I'm looking at buying this way as they are long gone and have some old stuff on cassette

The return of the cassette deck. Who would've thunk it. I still have my old jvc. Maybe I won't get rid of it after all. Thanks for the review.

Cassette decks, are still available in market. I wish I had one. A huge thanks to you and your channel for acquaint this to me.

The simpler transport mechanism,the less stuff that can go wrong,plus for the first bird of casette deck comeback it is not bad at all.

I love the flavour that cassettes contribute to the music. Every tape gives the recording another flavour and makes it unique. I think it's great tha cassettes are not dying completely off

Expensive deck but you did a great review on this. Product. I was impressed a 2018 deck sounded amazing.

Tremendously thorough review, highly enjoyable to watch.

I know it's an older vid, but still thanks for this more than excellent review. I am considering buying either the TEAC W-1200 or AD-850 (single cassettte deck with CD player. I guess/assume the cassette deck itself would be comparable to the one of the W-1200?), as I didn't have any luck with second hand purchases of vintage gear in the past and I - unlike many seriious tapeheads , it seems - applaud TEAC's effort to at least work with the components that are available nowadays and understand that prices need to be high for this niche hobby. I miss the nostalgia of cassette decks and have lots of pre-recorded tapes that I would love to listen to. Maybe I'll record some tapes myself as well eventually.

Beautiful gear. Remember the Nakamichi RX-202 and RX-505 auto-reverse units that would open the door, flip the tape 180 degrees, and close the door? It was like magic.

I do not think I wil ever buy a cassette deck but I enjoyed watching your review

It's great that they seem to at least be trying as best they can with the limits of the mechanisms available, I'd say they ended up making something rather nice there, leaps above the "boombox" style new decks you can buy new today. Oof, pricey though.

Yes bring back more cassette decks! Also I'm glad it's not autoreverse.

I Would've liked to have this Deck back in the Mid 70's when the Disco Music Mixes were in Full Swing Saturday Nights on WBLS and in WKTU

It´s amazing how many through-hole components can be in a 2018 device! Those PCBs look like an Atari 2600 board :-D Love it!

Nice video! I agree, compared to what you can get on ebay (high end tape decks from the 90s, many even fully serviced), this is ridiculously expensive for what it offers. And no Dolby for recording is just sad, even though I can understand they do not want to license it for how many decks they probably sell. Just get something like a used Pioneer deck with Dolby S (CT-900S, CT-S 820S or whatever), make sure it has been serviced (new belts etc.) and you will have yourself a nice tape deck which will smoke these "new" decks in every regard, and it will most likely be cheaper. The situation is pretty much the same as when you want to start with analog photography - instead of buying some plastic camera which is produced/sold right now, it will be far better to go on ebay and buy a used high end Canon/Nikon from the 90s (EOS-1v, EOS-3, Nikon F4/F5/F100) which can be had for $200-300 (and cost $2000-3000 back then).

Oh man, that tape! It came with my friend's 1990 "Eddie Bauer" edition Ford Explorer way back when. I guess it's good to see cassette hifi components are still on the market, but that play head and assembly haven't been updated in decades. Also I never knew Tascam was the pro branch of TEAC. Great video, thanks!

I really miss the live analog sound of the cassette tapes!

Man, that play engagement sound is so satisfying...

Oh when you peeled open that new cassette, it took me back to old times of tape faith and dependence :)

It is a time machine. Forget the good old days of cassette, just enjoy the feeling and the simplicity of analogue format.

It's been 16 years since I bought a cassette 📼 tape for the last time. Gotta say this one sound superb ! I would say this receiver sound almost like my Sony hi fi receiver!

As happy as I am to see a cassette deck still on the market, I thought it stumbled on the Pat Coil test recording with noticeable flutter on the piano parts. I do find it interesting that they enabled both decks to record. Surely by now all the patents have expired on Dolby noise reduction for cassettes, so it probably comes down to trademarks and the lack of available ICs at this point. I wonder if perhaps some competitor's system, like JVC's ANRS, would be available for licensing.

Nothing is a better companion to vinyl than tape! Record a great sounding LP on a chrome type 2 cassette, wow! Record a great sounding lp on a type 4 metal cassette, and it's pure magic! Keep it analog baby!

Almost impossible to get hold of now and not clear if they are still pumping them out. Great video!

I attempted to Fast-Forward this video (no pun intended) but, there were so many interesting things at the end of the video that I ended up going right back where I left off and watching the whole thing!

In the 80's and 90's this deck would have been a very middle ground cassette deck and probably would have sold for around or under $250. I'd like to hear how the DNS can handle a cassette with lots of hiss or DC bias rumble. UPDATE: Now in December 2019 Amazon's price has dropped to $349.99.

Wow! When this came up in the recommended list, I thought it was going to be from 20 years ago. So glad to see they are still making quality cassette decks of this caliber. Excellent review. Covered the things we need to know and included a lot of "like to know" material as well. Sticker shock? Not really. Costs about $200 less than the dual cassette deck (Yamaha KX-W602) I purchased some 25 yrs ago replacing a TEAC 360S - both great decks. The question that came to mind is: You said that it didn't record metal tape, yet the Loran reference cassette was metal. Does that mean it has the capability to play, but not the equipment to record metal tapes? I guess what I mean is: Is the quality there on playback if it can't record this kind of tape? Great feature set. USB support would be nice. Again, an excellent unboxing and review video. Hope you get years of enjoyment from your Tascam 202 Mk VII.

Thanks for the detailed review of this unit. The information you supplied regarding the azimuth adjustment screw was solid gold. I inquired to several well-known, reputable sellers whether the 202MkVII actually had an azimuth adjustment screw and was assured by more than one that it did NOT!! In fairness, I think this is because younger salespeople have no real experience with tape, looked at the specs or owners manual, and saw no reference to azimuth. Eventually, I found a more experienced person at a vendor who checked the service manual and confirmed. A sign of the times, I guess. Thanks again!

I'll stick with my Nakamichi DR-10 . Thank you for the vid. I bought up all the metal tapes from Tower records back in 2002 .

Excellent presentation. Well done!

I still use cassettes for my radio recordings and Tascam still sell cassette decks in 2018 for making cassettes and MP3 converter with USB. And they still sell cassette tapes at walmart.

Great review. I purchased the Tascam 202 MkV back in 2010. To this day I'm not really sure why I purchased this deck since I already owned a very good Marantz SACD player bought around the same time. I guess one of the reasons why, was that I received a very generous Pension from my previous job after a a job lay-off. I had a little money to blow, so I decided to upgrade my stereo system with this deck. Since cassette decks were a dying breed, I wanted to get my hands on one of the last cassette decks being made which was the Tascam 202. The only poblem, was that my SACD blew every piece of equipment I owned out of the water, so I didn't see any point into making, or listening to recordings that didn't measure up. So my Tascam cassette deck sat there for years, looking pretty on the shelf while garnering all sorts of ooh's and ah's from friends, and not being used. It wasn't even connected to my Yamaha Amp(for 10 years !). It was only recently after retiring , that I decided to play with it. I bought myslef some empty Metal tapes and Chrome tapes, but unfortunately after thougroughly reading the manual only to realize that this machine does not record on Metal tape, my only hope was to record on Chrome tape and maybe listen to prerecorded metal tapes. This review at least gave me some hope that I did not totally waste my money ($499.99) back then. I also own a Luxman 406 casssette deck that does record on metal tapes and has dbx noise reduction system. The Luxman is really a jewel, but unfortunately it makes a loud hissing sound once in a while out of nowehere and for no reason. So serious recording work with this machine is out of the question unless/until I can get it fixed if possibe. Right now it sits like a collectors item on my shelf.

The Ford/JBL premium sound system in my ‘93 Lincoln Mark VIII sounds terrific. The factory amplifier took a crap, so I replaced the factory head unit with a limited production Pioneer MVH-S501BS and wired all the internal speakers to it. I used a crossover filter so the tweeters only got the frequencies they’re supposed to, and I added 2 JBL 12” subs powered by a Fosgate 600 watt amp. It sounds GREAT. The 26 year old Ford/JBL speakers still sound excellent, no buzzing or rattles etc. Doesn’t surprise me they offered a quality recorded tape to show off the systems of the era. Nice!

The pitch control is a very compelling feature for me. I've never understood why so many cassette decks, even the higher-end ones, lack this feature even though it was a common feature on turntables at almost every price point.

I like the reference audio tape. A selection of fine examples of early 90s digital synthesizers, some of which used 8 bit samples, the others 16 but cramming all their waveforms into 4MB of ROM. :-D

My mom loves your vids ( so do I ) but she likes your videos because she can fall asleep to your voice!

The reason for Metal tapes was due to residual magnetism of the playback head erasing the high frequencies of regular tapes. Metal tapes required a much higher recording force to record or delete signal to/from tape. This made residual magnetism unable to delete the delicate high frequencies. My last cassette deck was the fabulous Onkyo TA-2090 which I purchased around 1986 for $500. I accidentally fed it 220 volts which killed it. Wish I could purchase another NIB.

The problem with these new cheaply made decks is people will assume this is the limit to cassette as for sound quality and wow and flutter. Until they've heard a top of the line deck (3 head dual capstan with proper bias and level calibrations) they don't know how good cassette can really perform.

I use to use metal tapes back in 1980s, in my stereo house and in my car too...metal was the best sound back then.

Love looking at audio equipment made of substance. Lately, I've seen downsized, recyclable plastic, resembles a toy equipment on the retail shelves.

watched it right through. At first I was dissappointed with the lack of features and dolby modes, however I was impressed with the amount of nominally high standard tapes you used and the thoroughness of your review. I've been purchasing and reconditioning/repairing a few cassette decks with higher functionality like multi cassette changer and another with Dolby S. It was really nice to see the gleaming facia of a brand new unit, its motivated me to see just how clean and dust free I can make my second hand units look like. I would have liked so see you flick the noise reduction switch within camera shot so we can hear the difference of the dynamic noise reduction. I do wonder if your reference tape was accurate to within half a percent as its subject to tape stretch like any other tape... in short the speed of the unit was probably correct and the pitch knob adjusted slightly left. Thanks for a look at a new unit. I do recall the TEAC A250 that we had and the full size headphones that we used as Dad did not buy an amplifier for a while afterwards.. Teac lost its integrity a little after the 70s as it made some cheap portable players, however they've certainly remained a mainstay of cassette technology.

Great review. This deck is nicer than I was expecting. Hopefully the price will come down a bit.

Cassettes are back from the dead but MUSIC is six feet under

Along with dbx-2231 eq, i am a Proud owner of a SONY tc-wr350z full logic dual cassette player(no rack mount) w/ dolby A/B, remote and added pitch control that amazingly recreates the mood/atmosphere & pitch of whatever cassette i record or play, been a Fan - still a Fan since childhood.

Thanks for this review with retro outlook! I’m into cassette and MD walkmans... so I enjoyed your video ver much. Keep this this thing up!

That music on the Pontiac VIP Trans Sport Casette Tape is awesome. Wish I could find some digital versions of the songs.

Why would Dolby not want to make money from licensing their B noise reduction? It makes no sense.

Watching this while listening to a Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers cassette on my TASCAM CD-A500 in the background. Manufactured in Jan 2001. Amazing CD player and Cassette deck combo.

Haha! I just watched a half an hour video on a cassette deck. Loved it. I miss all those mechanical sounds and feather touch controls. By the way, the sample audiophile tape you played was a Loran cassette. Back in the day, Loran was my favorite cassette to record onto. It could handle very high input levels with no distortion. They weren't always easy to find though, so most of my cassettes were TDK SA-90 as they were available by the brick load.

Haven't seen a rack mountable tape deck for a long time! Looks good!

My sister's foster dad worked for the Ford dealership here in town, so I do know about the reference cassette for their JBL audio systems. It may be obscure to others, though, as my experience is only anecdotal.

I have this Tascam unit for 3 years, and I do hear a low grade hum sometimes on deck #1 but most of the time I don't hear any hum at all on deck #1 Maybe I got a better shield or something, but anyway It seems to be intermittent for hum on my machine, for whatever reason ,and I listen for it too A great tape machine and I love when there is no hum, just quiet tape hiss and that's most of the time on my unit Thank You for this video I love cassettes and 4 track cassette recording

I own a fairly high end HiFi with mainly digital technologies from knowledge gained from my years in audio engineering and my passion for audiophile recordings and playback technology. Regardless, I still have room for vinyl and own a pretty decent turntable. I love cassette for a multitude of reasons, and back in the day would make quality compilations for home and car use. About 6 months ago I was cleaning out the loft and found a box with Awia AD-F800 on the side. I remembered I bought this as a backup in a sale in the early 90's but never used it. I opened the box and found a mint deck and couldn't wait to try it. I had to wait longer unfortunately. The rubber belts had disolved leaving a black mess on the drive wheels. I was mega pleased to find quality replacements on eBay. Cleaning wasn't as bad as expected and replacing the belts was easy but fiddly. Testing day came ... The deck worked perfectly. Now the sound test. Whilst waiting for the belts, I managed to find some TDK SA90 blanks still in original rap. I used some of my best digital recordings for the test. I did a couple of vinyl recordings too. The deck is now a permanent part of my system, I was blown away with what this old technology was capable of. And to think this deck wasn't even high end at the time, though it did get a few good reviews. I hope cassette makes a comeback. Though it looks incredibly dated in my system, it's sound certainly isn't 👍

0:19 Techmoan?

Thank you for making this. I really appreciate all the hard work you put into your videos. Long live cassettes and cassette culture!!

from Italy, excellent explanation and beautiful apparatus, I did not believe that someone still did them! thank you.

Absolute gold!! Oh how I miss those days where I would align the head fr every cassette that I would play!