Hey everyone,

I figure some of you probably have a lot more experience than I do when it comes to vintage recording hardware including cassette recorders.

I'm looking for a budget cassette recorder to transfer my music to, then transfer back to my DAW. My budget would be around the $50 mark (used obviously), but I'm just curious about what models people have used or recommend. I've been looking on eBay but there are like a million different models.

I don't need perfection as I want some of the cassette peculiarities. It needs to have stereo recording and playback capabilities (don't care if it's 3.5mm in and out, just has to be stereo). I would like the option to support higher end tapes (metal), but that is not a must and might be difficult to find in my budget.

Open to any recommendations or discussion!

 

Try to find a dual capstan drive with 3 heads.
Noisereduction is a matter of taste. I like Dolby C, most drives with Dolby S are too expensive and a lot of those Dolby S chips fail today (and there is no replacement).
Back in the days Pioneer had the best (affordable) drives.
But Yamaha and Onkyo made great decks too.
Kenwood had a bad reputation.
Sony was OK, but nothing to write home about.
Dual capstan today is even more important than back then.
The tape quality of today is worse. Having two capstans drag the tape over the head makes a good contact between tape and head. thats even more important when using old tapes or NOS.
Having autocalibration would be a nice thing to have (as there is no real IEC standard tape around any more),
but with a 3 head deck it is not that important. You just monitor back what you are recording and dial the bias wheel until treble of input and output is about identical.
Oh yeah, thats why 3 heads are important: after tape monitoring.
50 Bucks might be a bit low to get something decent.
Don't look in ebay alone (prices higher), rather have your local gumtree/craigslist or however they're called where you live.

//edit// Are you sure you wanna do this? You get the same with Nebula and you are about to dive into a deeeep rabbid hole. Problem with the real thing is: You cant buy 10 tape decks to find that one that sounds the way you want. A lot of those decks you can buy today are completely out of calibration. You would have to set azimuth and other stuff and you might need calibration tapes for that. And you won't come by those. The other thing is the noise. There is a lot of. More than you want in your master. Now as said there is Dolby B/C/S but there are price tags. As any compander system pumping is not uncommon. But possibly maybe that is exactly what you're after.
I don't want to discourage you, it sure is fun.. but just don't expect your first tape deck to be the one you are going to use to master your music.

//edit// oh.. and metal tapes are extremely expensive today. and very old now, they havent been made for a long time. we don't even have newly made chrome tapes. But even if you heavily invest into metal tapes you definitely do not want to use that in a 50 bucks tape deck, that doesn't make sense. I'd say several hundred bucks, professionally calibrated deck, and even then... these tapes are 30 years old...

 

Last edited: May 13, 2025

A guy asked me if he should wear a seatbelt when he drives his car off the cliff.
I told him...don't drive the car off the cliff.
He says "I've already decided on that part."

 

It's better to use the convenient, cheaper software version of a cassette player:

Cassette is an audio plug-in that emulates the sound of vintage cassette tapes and decks.
www.wavesfactory.com/audio-plugins/cassette/

Introduction to Cassette by Dan Worrall

 

If I really had to pick a hardware model to do this with, it would very likely be a Tascam. I'd hope/think about a 414, but you are not going to get very far with $50. Not without some serious searching. You might have better luck finding a VHS, and the results also.

But really, I would go the plugin route also. Making stuff sound "bad" and vintage is not exactly difficult.

 

Don't wear a seat belt so you'll definitely die if thats your will, but if you change your mind at the last second then it would be quicker as well as simpler to get out without being strapped in.

 

I've owned cassette players & recorders, still have a half a dozen.
for your purposes you could use about anything by Akai, but to get to your price level you will need to find it at a thrift store or buy one that needs a belt replacement.



Belt replacement isn't difficult typically, especially if you have a large system like the akai, which means there is lots of empty space in there to work around. Just take photos as you work so you know where everything goes.
You can use an empty plastic ice cube tray to keep your screws sorted, put paper notes in each tray so you know where they should go back to when you reassemble.

Alternatively, you can often find inexpensive JVC micro stereos, will need belts as well most likely - belts only last 10 -20 years max, often less if in hot climate.

There are lots of sony field recorders made for news reporting and other reporters. The cassette version are quite cheap usually, but will need belts. Settle on a comfortable size that will fit in you studio/work area and then start googling sony, akai, marantz cassette recorders. Find a model that looks like the right size and get the model number and download the manual, read the spec sheet and see if it will do what you want. ie do you want stereo or mono, tape speed etc.

here's some links

https://www.tapeheads.net/threads/what-happened-to-cassettedeck-org.114815/

https://web.archive.org/web/20221018093715/http://www.vintagecassette.com/

https://web.archive.org/web/20231219163750/http://www.cassettedeck.org/denon

The hardware is more fun to play with, but there are a buttload of tape/cassette plugins that will do
pretty much the same thing minus the fun.

 

The only good advice you'll get from experienced cassette users (old farts like me) is don't go cheap. You'll be better off with your DAW and computer. You'd need a deck with at least a recording head separate from the playback head, a VU meter, Dolby B and C reduction, an input gain knob or slider, and a separate output control so you can control your tape saturation. It has to be what they call audiophile level now. They used to be commonplace in the 80s. You also need to learn to give it proper maintenance and alignment. You won't get that for 50 bucks. Search for Akai, Technics, TEAC, or Matantz. Some Sony or Pioneer decks can be good, but most of them were not that good.

 

I think he just wants to use the cassette recorder as an effect, not for multitracking. so noise, bias problems and wobble would add to the effect. of Course thats why a plugin is easier as you can undo/redo to your hearts content and you can dial in wow/flutter etc, which you can't do on a real tape deck.

He could probably just use a mono recorder made for dictation if he wants a lofi fx

 

That's a ton of super useful information. Honestly very helpful even though I'm looking at the more budget end of hardware. I'll rule out needing support for metal tapes, as well as lower tier manufacturers like Kenwood. I'm checking out some Sanyo models on eBay, but I have a lit more research to do.

I'll have to learn a bit more about the mechanisms and look up the specs for the models in looking at to ensure they have stereo input and stereo output. I was initially looking at portable recorders, but from what you've explained I believe I need to be looking at larger units (which is fine, but difficult to find in my budget). Noise reduction is not important to me because I don't really need a great signal, I just need "good enough". I have a decent analog setup for music mastering so the tape will be the last stage for messing around and having fun.

I'm an eBay seller and sleuth so I might be able to find some good deals (I'm not scared of minor repairs like belt replacements either). Craigslist is dead in my state but I'll check it out. You're definitely right about probably having to go through a bunch of different units to find something really go, so I'll set my expectations appropriately.

Thank you so much for the thoughtful response and providing so much useful information.

 

I own a bunch of tape emulation plugins for production purposes, but I just want to have a bit of fun with real tapes and try out real tape recording.

Speaking of tape plugins, you might enjoy checking out ChowDSP Chow Tape, which has 50 LoFi presets I created included with the factory library in the official release (I think they're in a folder called Matthew Carter). I still use these all the time for LoFi hip hop or adding texture to instruments. It's a crazy versatile tape plugin.

 

I'll check out some Tascam models, and yeah I might have to save up a bit more for a slightly better unit. I'll look into recording on VHS as well!

 

Thanks for all the info and advice! I'm not scared of repair, but I know that these units can have hundreds of screws and tiny parts to keep track of . Hopefully I can find a budget unit in decent shape on eBay, but it's a crapshoot. Just need to make sure it meets my needs.

 

Only thing I would add to all the excellent advice already given is to track the Obituaries in your paper (or church, temple, or mosque) and find out from the children or the estate executor if there's a cassette recorder they're looking to sell for $50 or less.

I very much doubt you'll find anything decent for that price point on eBay or Reverb (though you are welcome to try).

 

The historical models of the 80s tape decks have already become vintage and the prices are outrageously high. To tell the truth, a good brand tape deck in good condition will not give you the LoFi effect you are looking for, actually you could be surprised by how good a deck in good shape sounds. To have low level recordings on cassette tape you should look for units in the flea market: these days you can find many at affordable prices.
As already published by @Garamondo Furbish, a very interesting website for tape deck lovers is https://www.tapeheads.net/

 

Need to be careful because most will be useless for what you want it for.

Yamaha KX 380 Natuaral Sound Stereo Cassette Deck. I bought mine when thay came out because it played back my pre recorded tapes from other decks very accurately.

I tried more expensive Sony etc but they sounded terrible so I plumped for the Yammy which was a budget machine at the time, this is my second one, £30 Ebay 'bout ten years ago

And it's still plumbed in, only use it to quickly record takes when playing for fun, there's no quicker method, hit rec that's it... plus i got a swift gritty sample if i need one.

Use C60's cos it's thicker tape, can often find cassette tapes in charity shops.

Should consider a 246 Tascam Porta 4 track or similar too, can operate at twice the speed, I used to rec double speed then playback slow or vice versa.


I've got a loada useful decent stuff, drums synths guitars etc recorded thru tape decks gonna be doing another free sample pack soon.

I used a few of my own samples on a recent release that entered Music Week charts, amongst some major names too, so free don't mean naff, in my case anyway.

Oh, and 12bit effect units might bring something useful to da party.

Still use my Boss RDD-10 and Yamaha SPX90, running 909 beats etc thru 'em churns out some sonic delights.

 

The only tape decks I can recommend are well and truly out of the $50 price range (Nakamichi). However, all is not lost. I'm not sure about anyone else, but I've still kept two Nicam Stereo Video Recorders. They can be used for Hi End tape recordings, and even though they are rare now, you can still pick one up for less than $50


Kudos to all those who mentioned the VHS route.. I posted my comments before reading anyone else's

 

Last edited: May 15, 2025

if you search my posts, you'll see a discussion of when I replaced the belts in one of my units.

https://audiosex.pro/threads/maintenance-of-cd-cassette-gear-impossible-or-merely-maddening.78376/

this TASCAM unit might be up your alley and can be found relatively cheaply on ebay.



There is an mkI, MkII, and MKIII version of this unit.Also plays cd's and allows you to copy from either direction (tape to cd/cd to tape)
the 1st listing that popped up is 89$
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Tascam+cc-222&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313

 

I don't want to muddy the waters too much, but an alternative that requires less maintenance, but has a much bigger learning curve is the Roland VS-1680,vs1880,vs1824, 3 models all using the same chassis,but slightly different software to give, 16,18, or 24 tracks.

it has software compression, so you crunch down the audio (and increase recording time), but it also has up to 2 fx boards, which gives you, lots of reverbs, and the Roland RE201 space echo - tape emulation
Jdilla, Kanye West,(among other artists) both owned these back around the turn of the century and made albums on these things.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/roland-vs1880

had this to say about the fx, "Perhaps to balance out this modern digital process, there are also three welcome digital emulations of classic analogue effects: Roland's own RE201 Space Echo and SBF325 flanger, as well as a generic analogue phaser model.

Of these, the tape echo simulation is particularly fine, sliding into a mix much more willingly than any of the normal delay algorithms. The controls follow those of the original, though controls for the amount of tape drive and flutter, and individual pan controls for each of the three playback heads are also provided. Tweaking the Rate control while sound is passing through the effect causes the pitch to swoop in the familiar manner (though not quite as smoothly), and turning up the Intensity knob nicely captures the distorted and evolving feedback which is so evocative of tape‑based delay units.

The flanger and phaser are no less capable and characterful — suffice to say that these three 'vintage' processors will give you a wide range of rough‑edged but extremely useful sounds to play with, as well as letting you closely recreate timbres from classic records of yesteryear."

These sell frequently on ebay between 100 and 300$, I got my 1st from craigs list for 100$ with a bunch of stuff thrown in, the guy was redoing his "studio". My 2nd was a brand new in the box unit that had been stored for 20 years, the guy just wanted to keep it out of the landfill, its was 150$.

They have hard drives, but can be upgraded to record on flash cards or ssd with not much work. Its more difficult to save the files to a computer, they don't have usb, but do have SCSI. I added a scsi flash card made from a converted scsi zip drive housing, and use it to save the files and transfer them to a pc with a usb flash card reader. You can export the audio directly out of the unit, but its 2 tracks at a time and its real time .
The cards let you export entire tracks in native roland format and then use a conversion program to convert to standard .wav files.



lots of reading materials, for evenings without the internet



hands on recording. no motorized faders, but I have motorized hands...

 

ONKYO TA-2440 Stereo Cassette Tape Deck Tapedeck - EUR 55,00
https://www.ebay.de/itm/28637320690...N8snx2TbatsngYaQSUmbaxZQ==|tkp:Bk9SR5L7x8baZQ