Hi Abhimonyu' Richard Hess uses the Nakamichi Dragon exclusively and swears by them. I would probably swear at them because I've had two Naks fail because of logic problems and the main logic chip has been unobtainium for some time. The two Naks that I had fail weren't cheap and the Dragon is on a whole other level as far as cost (and specs). The Nak models of that flip the cassette are the 202, 303 & 505. Maybe more. Cheers! Corey Corey Bailey Audio Engineering www.baileyzone.net On 5/5/2019 11:52 PM, Abhimonyu Deb wrote: > Does anyone have first hand experience with the Nakamichi Dragon? I was young at the time, but I remember that it had auto azimuth control in realtime by splitting the right track into 2 signals and comparing the phase between them. > I think this was the model that also had a robotic arm to flip the cassette for auto reverse instead of rotating the record / playback head. > Abhimonyu DebKolkata, India > On Monday, 6 May, 2019, 11:36:10 am IST, Lou Judson <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Agreed on these points. NAKs are the bestfor me. But how can you tell when it was made? Is there a handy chart of models and years? > > I thought the DR-1 was excellent (still do), until I came across a “CassetteDeck1” which performs even better in my transfer projects. I find the DR-1shows more “spill” on a SpectraFoo lissajous than the CassetteDeck1, when I am watching the azimuth display… > > <L> > Lou Judson > Intuitive Audio > 415-883-2689 > >> On May 5, 2019, at 8:06 PM, Corey Bailey <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> Hi John, >> >> I prefer cassette decks with a dual capstan mechanism for playback. The reason is that cassettes, particularly old ones, tend to skew and a dual capstan deck will hold azimuth better throughout the length to the tape. Some Nakamichi's also have the added feature of a pressure pad lifter. If you are going to consider a NAK, be sure and buy one that was built post 1982. Dual capstan decks are expensive, even used which, I think, is the only way you will find one. The Tascam that you mention is current but a good used dual capstan machine will out perform it, hands down. >> >> My $0.02 >> >> Corey