Teac have been in operating the electronics industry for over 50 years, and whilst they don't often feature in most people's list top five manufacturers, their reputation for building no-nonsense tape drives is well established.
Compact Cassette was first launched in the UK 1964 by electronics ... Read review
(+) high sound quality, diverse functions, record to tape mode, record from tape mode (-) usless instruction manual, useless recording programme, not all cables supplied
Advantages: Straightforward no frills tape deck Disadvantages: Few
Teac have been in operating the electronics industry for over 50 years, and whilst they don't often feature in most people's list top five manufacturers, their reputation for building no-nonsense tape drives is well established.
Compact Cassette was first launched in the UK 1964 by electronics giant Philips. The first Walkman was introduced by Sony in 1979
By 1982 sales of pre-recorded tapes overtook standard vinyl albums, ... ...x 144 x 286mm, the Teac V-615 was a perfect fit.
I didn't want superfluous features, so a single deck mechanism was adequate, and very high in my list was that it had to be black, to fit in with my other kit, nor did I want something which rivalled the bridge of the Star ship Enterprise.
I wasn't disappointed, the unit comes with a black plastic front panel, textured like brushed aluminium. Controls are kept to an absolute ... more
Teac have been in operating the electronics industry for over 50 years, and whilst they don't often feature in most people's list top five manufacturers, their reputation for building no-nonsense tape drives is well established.
Compact Cassette was first launched in the UK 1964 by electronics giant Philips. The first Walkman was introduced by Sony in 1979
By 1982 sales of pre-recorded tapes overtook standard vinyl albums, however by 1993 this was eclipsed by sales of Compact Disks.
Ten years on, and we have DVD, Minidisk, MP3 and the likes, so how come people still hang on to their cassette decks, and how come it still serves as the most popular audio format for people on the move?
The simple answer is cost.
Cassette based Walkmans and car audio systems are still significantly cheaper than the CD based rivals.
Sound quality isn't usually that important, and the cost of blank media is negligible.
Add to that the fact you can record many times onto a simile tape, and just as long as the tape doesn't get snagged on anything, is remarkably forgiving of rough treatment.
Compact Cassette is therefore the format that refuses to die.
So much for the history lesson.
I wanted a cassette drive to take copies of my CDs, record the occasional radio broadcast, and possibly even take the audio from TV programmes and DVDs to listen to in the car.
Whilst this is technically illegal, the fact that companies such as Sony sell blank tapes is indication to me that the music industry in general is happy enough to see a certain amount of duplication going on.
As a matter of principle, however, I don't give other people copies of my CDs, nor do I copy other people's disks.
I resolved to go to my local branch of Richer Sounds to get a reasonably priced tape deck.
I had slightly arbitrary criteria.
The sort of unit I was looking for would have to fit the vacant bay - at 435 x 144 x 286mm, the Teac V-615 was a perfect fit.
I didn't want superfluous features, so a single deck mechanism was adequate, and very high in my list was that it had to be black, to fit in with my other kit, nor did I want something which rivalled the bridge of the Star ship Enterprise.
I wasn't disappointed, the unit comes with a black plastic front panel, textured like brushed aluminium. Controls are kept to an absolute minimum.
It was only when I got home, after parting with a hundred notes that I discovered what a perfectly formed unit it was!
The tape mechanism itself is servo controlled, this means there is a bit of clicking and clunking when the tape starts up, but is means it only needs a light press on the control buttons.
It's a 'single direction' mechanism only, and doesn't feature auto reverse.
This allows TEAC to install a higher quality pair of ceramic tape heads.
The tape is mounted vertically, and is in my favourite 'opening down' configuration.
When I eventually have to clean the tape heads, or unsnag a cassette, I can get right at the transport mechanism without having to dismantle the deck.
At the back, there are only four audio connections - RCA phono sockets, tape in and out (left and right).
There's a fifth socket for 'CD Sync' - which allows an automatic recording start when wired to an appropriate CD drive (mine isn't so it's an irrelevance) and a mains lead.
On the front, at the left hand side are the usual tape movement controls; rewind, play, pause, wind forward and record.
There is a gas-plasma display which reports tape position (four digit) and a couple of two-colour bar graph VU metres which show immediate and 'average peak' values.
At the right of the panel are a large 'recording-gain' knob, and a smaller balance control.
There is also a quarter inch stereo headphone jack (the old-fashioned 'big' size, so in theory you can play tapes back without having to switch the amplifier on.)
A small slide switch allows you to select Dolby 'B' 'C' and 'Off' noise reduction, last of all there are buttons for CD Sync and 'Rec Mute'. The deck also boasts 'Dolby HX pro' - but I have no idea what this is used for!
I believe the unit is also able to extract encoded text from within the audio track and show it on the display, and wind back/ forward to track breaks, but I've never used this.
Using the unit is simplicity itself.
The very first time you use the unit, it's as well to adjust the recording volume and balance, after that, there shouldn't be any fiddling about.
A single press of the 'record' button puts the unit into REC/PAUSE mode.
Just before your CD is due to start, press 'Pause' and the mechanism clicks into life - it's that Easy.
I believe this unit may have a remte control facility, however there wasn't one supplied with my machine.
Results? - well to my ear, pretty well perfect for a tape drive.
There are limitations to the Compact Cassette format, however this unit is no worse than most, and a good deal better than many.
The unit is no longer in production - but that's only to be expected, Mr Richer often specialises in buying end-of-line stock, and passes the savings on to the customer.
Second hand units should be available at considerably less than the one hundred pounds asking price.
Would I have any hesitation in endorsing a TEAC tape drive? well on the basis of this one, no problem whatsoever.
