Guys, where could someone buy a brand new cassette deck these days ?
Are there still some that are built ?
Hey @LyingDalai,
Bit pricey I suppose, but I got one of these a couple of years ago and have been happy with it.
It’s even got a variable pitch control, so in theory you could do some manual BoC style warble bouncing from tape to tape 
Tascam portastudios where made until 2010. You could also search NIB or NOS on eBay. This guy looks pretty nice.
Look at this on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/291888423533
NEW SEALED BOX! Vintage Tascam 112MKII 112 MKII Professional Cassette Recorder
Not sure about France but in UK Carboot sales/jumble sales are primetime for tape decks. Some nice ones and some nice ‘bad’ ones I always grab em… Don’t think I ever paid more than £5. Sometimes they don’t work but it’s only a few £ lost.
I recently got rid of them all except one, otherwise I could have shipped you one over!
P. S. Haven’t seen ‘new’ cassette decks advertised/talked about in a long time. I saw there are still reel to reel decks being manufactured, I think by revox, but super high quality and biiiiiiiig bucks!
Tascam portastudios where made until 2010. You could also search NIB or NOS on eBay. This guy looks pretty nice.Look at this on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/291888423533
NEW SEALED BOX! Vintage Tascam 112MKII 112 MKII Professional Cassette Recorder
Ah man, I’d love to grab that 112!
I have one here that is cheaper but the description is in German…
Herren, wollen Sie gern mir erklären ?
got a denon dn790r for £25 from ebay. can’t complain, maybe needs a clean, but runs great. nice decks last a lifetime. the problem is finding tapes that last long and don’t cost as much. type IV = pricey. why do you need a tape deck - to listen or as an effect? cassette reminded me how finicky tape was - nice reminder how spoiled we are by digital music.
why do you need a tape deck - to listen or as an effect?
Primarily to listen to cassettes, but now that I think of it it would be pretty cool to be able to use it as an FX !!
Damn, how can I use a basic cassette recorder as an FX ? Should be doable, like recording while playing…
Ohhhh, it should exist already I guess !
Some good tape tricks here.
https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=139084&highlight=cassette+tape
why do you need a tape deck - to listen or as an effect?Primarily to listen to cassettes, but now that I think of it it would be pretty cool to be able to use it as an FX !!
Damn, how can I use a basic cassette recorder as an FX ? Should be doable, like recording while playing…Ohhhh, it should exist already I guess !
you can most definitely use a 3-head tape deck as a master/bus saturation effect. it has latency when monitoring the recorded material of course, but once you adjust to your liking, you can switch back to monitoring source for playing live. in both cases when you play it back later it will have all goodness of tape on it - dropouts, distortion, etc included ;
Guys, where could someone buy a brand new cassette deck these days ?Are there still some that are built ?
JAPAN!!! They’re still in production here… I got a consumer Sony portable cd/cassette/radio for my last birthday from my father-in-law. Top bloke.
There are still others you can buy out here too but I haven’t really looked into because the second hand market is just too good to pass up. I love the Tascam that Legowelt uses in his summer studio (https://youtu.be/TGCxBVu1-sE).
There is certain beauty of tape. A friend said to me recently that "But it will wear away and may not be audible in 10 years… I interjected with “but that’s the very beauty of it!” I continued with “Just like the meaning of the Cherry Blossoms: they are a metaphor for how beautiful and short life is. Besides, most people put the digital download for free to accompany the cassette.”
When I was shopping for tape stuff I found out a lot of things and saw some surprises. A Sony Walkman WM-20 was being sold second hand for a staggering ¥20,000. I also found a Nakamichi Dragon for ¥140,400. Nak’s are apparently the best for playback ever!
Another YouTube that found fascinating was by a young guy called Happa. Here’s the link for that one https://youtu.be/SEHySFyN4Jc
How are you getting on with your search anyway?
Hey thank you Drax for these infos…
I got lost : at first I needed a cassette player.
I would have liked something with good quality, but not too expansive as I don’t have many cassette to listen anyway…
Then someone @eesn made me think that would be much more useful to be able to use the device as an FX !
I really like the idea… Two things though as a mastering final FX or on the fly FX ?
For the later a Strymon Deco would do it… Simple, transportable, tank solid…
I failed to meet a guy in Paris that had one for 250€, but I know I’ll end getting one.
I don’t think I would really need a 4 tracks Tascam, as cool as it can be. Just recording the final track on the cassette should be good enough.
So I’m back on my cassette player hunt
In France it seems not that easy to find, in fact…
Have you checked out thrift stores, car boot sales etc? Cassettes are junk tech now so anywhere selling similar junk should have them! I’m personally downgrading from a 4 track to just a standard recorder, not willing to use it for demos, too lazy 
I’ve got a sweet 3-head Nak that I use to soften up stuff like the TR-8…plus I still rock a Walkman on the way to work, much to the confusion of other commuters. You can still pick up decent dead stock cassettes, prices vary so worth keeping an eye out for bargains.
plus I still rock a Walkman on the way to work, much to the confusion of other commuters.:-) they probably just want to get in on the action
I've got a sweet 3-head Nak that I use to soften up stuff like the TR-8...plus I still rock a Walkman on the way to work, much to the confusion of other commuters. You can still pick up decent dead stock cassettes, prices vary so worth keeping an eye out for bargains.
Oh wow! Niiiiiice!!!
I’ve been eyeing up various cassette players too. What one do you have?
Dead stock cassettes… what does that mean exactly?
I bought a Sony Stamina which was pretty pricey. In the same shop they are selling some lush looking cassettes. They have metal tape reel holders and look kind of like a reel-to-reel feel. Im trying to upload the photo but it’s not working, again. Anyway, the tapes are Hitachi Sound Break 52’s. one silver and one is gold. They are drool worthy.
I have a 2-track Sony tape deck and a Tascam Portastudio 424 MKII and, honestly, the 4-track is the only machine that really adds any notable character to my tracks.
Unless you’re using a really old cassette, it pretty much sounds like the original signal minus one or two tiny frequency bands I can shape myself with any basic EQ.
I would never do a final mix on one as my mastering engineer has a great 2-inch machine I can have him use to get “tape warmth”.
The Strymon Deco or, say, UAD Ampex/Studer plugins are a better choice for that “tape warmth” aesthetic.
A lot of people have been using cassettes for a general effect for a few years now and it’s kind of starting to wear pretty thin.
If you just want it to sound “lo-fi”, I’d suggest getting a cassette 4-track above a 2-track deck.
http://www.ondemagnetique.com/
I pre-ordered one of these a few months ago.
It may be better for cassette GAS if it works as described.
I’ve been recording drums and other things onto an old sony walkman. Looove the extra grit and distortion it imprints!