What a find! Auto tape tuning in 1984. Auto tape select is one thing, but that's a proper high end feature! I am old enough to have used tapes in anger, but back then we didn't know much about them really, we just used them. Having gotten back into the whole tape thing (Covid made us go down many weird rabbit holes, didn't it!) and watching videos on tapes and recording I now understand what I, and probably most of us, missed back then. Having three heads and a monitor function is the most important feature, apart from the tape tuning. I never understood the point of monitoring the recording back in the day. And besides, I couldn't afford one) Now I have realized it is very nice to be able to compare a recording to the source. You will instantly be able to tell the quality of the tape, if you are recording at too high levels making the recording distorted, if the tape has dropouts etc. So much better than noticing this after hours of carefully making a mix tape. I have recently bought a Sony deck from the 90s, my first 3-head deck and first with tape calibration. It is soo satisfying to se the meters change as you adjust the bias and levels to the individual tape! And it really makes a difference to the results. Sadly it is not a dual capstan one. Looking to upgrade to a model with a better mechanism, including dual capstans. Sadly I live in a country (Norway) where there are hardly any thrift stores, and top of the line decks are rare and (over)priced when they show up on online market places. :-(

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Thank you. I'm going pin this comment because you explained the purpose of monitoring better than I did, I think. :)

@andykrikkit

Ай бұрын

@@AudioThrift It was an eye opener to actually use that function. Unpacked a sealed Scotch to make a mix tape for a friend, and noticed that it had dropouts immediately. Saved me redoing the whole thing, I just got another tape. Many old tapes work just fine, but bad storage can sadly deteriorate them sometimes.

@tarstarkusz

Ай бұрын

Being able to monitor the actual recorded signal comes in handy when recording off the radio. If it is distorting, you can just turn down the gain in real time. Bias adjusting is really important too for good recordings. I'm thankful I'm a packrat and never threw my tapes in the trash.

I have a Denon deck from the early 90's. It's built like a tank and holds up three decades later.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Yeah, I'm really impressed with it... especially considering it was free and that rarely results in something that works. lol

Now THAT's classy, so naturally I want one to replace my early 00's Yamaha deck. I ain't going to find a Nakamichi Dragon after all :D

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Truthfully, this Denon deck is quite nice. Worth it if you can find one for a decent price.

@TorontoJon

Ай бұрын

Heck, I remember more than 25 years ago, scoffing at the hefty $350 to $500 prices on eBay for used Nakamichi Dragon cassette decks, but those were bargains by today's standards compared to prices now ranging between $3,000 and $8,000. That's just nutty. :)

Another nice find. Nice to have a 3 head-dual capstan deck. The wood panels look great. I love it when I get a receiver with a wood case or side panels...as long as they're in good shape! Usually they are scratched or the vinyl wrap is peeling. I have a Denon 7.2 multichannel receiver I really love as well Go Maiden!

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Thank you. What year is that Denon of yours from, roughly?

@collinwood60

Ай бұрын

@@AudioThrift it’s about 3-4 years old.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Nice. It's cool that Denon is still making good stuff. 🤘Maiden!

Well built deck, I love the wood panels

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

So glossy. 😁

This is a great tape deck. This one - IMHO - is worth setting right. Denon made some great cassette decks. The one I'm looking for is the DR-F7, which a lot of guys I knew in college had - it made REALLY great tapes. At any rate, I'd make this one a keeper.

Once again - A excellent find from an Estate sale, and a magnificent video presentation 👍 Your explanations are excellent! Not too technical, but just enough to get the point across…. Your Denon Cassette Deck (from 1984) is 40 years old and still going strong = Fantastic! By the way: I am glad you mentioned that you opened and looked inside the Denon, as one can be lucky (just like yourself) and find and fix problems / issues. Take Care.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Thank you. I appreciate that. :)

3:26 I like the backlight feature too and any lights, in fact, when it comes to vintage audio equipment. I used to photograph and often enjoy my stereo setups at night with the house lights turned off just to bask in the glow of the equipment lights with some fine tunes being played. Haha! :)

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only one that did that!

@andykrikkit

Ай бұрын

The backlight is a really handy feature. Being able to tell how much is left of the tape was/is important. If you were lightning quick you could even fade the music out quickly when you saw the leader tape appear. 😁

Your videos are getting better and better as you go. More relaxed and willing to go into detail. I'm liking it!

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Thank you. I spent a long time getting comfortable with the back end stuff like workflow and using the equipment/software... I finally feel like I can actually focus on content now after a year. lol So I very much appreciate your saying so. That means a lot. 😊

Wow - I saw one of these go for about a hundred bucks in Japan about a week ago and thought THAT guy got a good deal (their version is the DR-M9 by the way). This model is as good as it gets from Denon.

You hit the jackpot! You explained the features very well also. I also think that back lighting is very important.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Thanks so much!

@olaniyi570

Ай бұрын

@@AudioThrift No problem. Just subscribed. Keep up the good work

I have one of those, including the rosewood end panels. I repaired decks for many years professionally, I chose the Denon because most of the internal parts are metal, the Nak decks have a lot of nylon parts, which don't age well.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

It definitely felt solid when I opened it up, unlike a lot of decks I’ve seen where they wobble with the shell off. :)

Now, that's one sweet-looking Denon DR-M44 cassette deck and the cherry wood panels give it a higher-end appearance right out of the gate. :)

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

I love how shiny they are. So satisfying. lol

not an audiohead but i love the way you present! your voice is great and you're very pleasant to watch

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Thank you. I appreciate that immensely.

I had the successor of this model, the DR-M44HX. It was a good deck indeed. I replaced it with the Sony TC-K700ES, which sounded way better. The wooden panels were - indeed - extra.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

That one looks nice. Looks like you got a lot more control over the sound when you upgraded. Where did you notice the biggest improvement in the Sony; the playback or the recording?

I always record my tapes as loud as they can be without distorting during loud portions of the music. 0db is too low, at least on my deck. I usually tone it back for CRO2 tapes, like maybe 1db loudest signal. For metal, really high, like 6. But I don't have a metal walkman, so I usually don't use metal. I like using my walkman while cycling. I bike in sweats and I can do everything by feel without stopping, though not flipping the tape. When biking, the cell stays home. I want to enjoy myself without people calling me trying to scam money out of me.

I need to start going to these estate sales....................Nothing wrong with FREE. Back light for cassette tape incredibly important. De magnetizing the head or heads very important on these old cassette decks.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

You totally should. Even if you don't find anything, they're still fun... now demagnetizing the heads, I did not do and probably should have. That's a good idea.

03:05 😂😂😂😂 Nice one! Great deck, would love to have one.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

LOTR is life! :)

Subscribed! Dude, this deck looks awesome! One thing puzzles me though, why does it have dual capstan if it doesn’t have auto-reverse? Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be as lucky as to find one of these ones, but I’m planning on going to some thrift stores and see if I can find a tape deck that looks like it’s in a relatively good shape to then restore it (clean it, change the belts, lubricate it, and hopefully just that). There aren’t many thrift stores close to where I live in DFW but I’ll see what I can find. Thanks for the great content, keep up the good work! 😊

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

That's great to hear! My dad works at a thrift store and he says that a lot of them rotate their stock out after a week or two and they put new things out a couple times a day. So if you don't find anything, it's worth going back a day or two later. I go every couple days. But if you want something a little more high end, I'd go to estatesales. net and look up your area to see if there are any estate sales with what you're looking for. That's where the premium stuff usually is. The nice thing is they post a BUNCH of photos of the contents of the houses. And you don't have to sign up or log in or anything. ... I just looked up the DFW area and there are a lot this week/weekend. In fact, there's one that starts on Thurs. in Corinth that looks like it has a cool little collection that includes a Pioneer cassette deck. 😁

@JoeOrber

Ай бұрын

@@AudioThrift wow, I will definitely check it out; thank you so much for the great tips, you rock! 😊

@andykrikkit

Ай бұрын

Dual capstan is meant to give a more stable tape transport, with less wow & flutter. Most 3 head decks will have this kind of mechanism. Sadly not on my Sony... Mostly it says "closed loop dual capstan" on higher end decks.

@JoeOrber

Ай бұрын

@@AudioThrift man, thank you so much for the estate sale tip and website! The Pioneer deck got sold right away, but I found another estate sale where they had a Sony TC-FX505R from 1983, and it is in fantastic shape! I only need to change one of the belts, now the pain is to wait until I receive them on Monday 😂… thanks again, I scored the deck for 12 dollars hahaha, happy day indeed 😁

i have a black and a silver one, i use the silver for spare parts.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Nice. Do either of yours have the wood sides? Just curious how often people got them.

Hey there. Nice shirt. Just subscribed. I have a channel as well. Found you on reddit

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Awesome! Thank you!

Cool deck. Wonder how easy it would be to add panels to a stereo.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Shoot, I never though about that but I imagine it can't be that hard as long as the screws don't hit anything.

Dolby no longer issues licenses to manufacturers. So basically Dolby NRSs are commercially dead. You can only find Dolby on old tape decks so is pretty nice for "personal" recordings, but deprecated if your recordings are intended to be sold or shared with others, because recently manufactured decks simply doesn't incorporate that feature.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

That's a fact. I know the little bluetooth cassette boombox I use at work doesn't have it... but it does make up for it by adding plenty of wow and flutter.

Thank u for advertising my M44HX

Great quality deck. Direct drive should be mentioned.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Agreed!

@pearlvision7156

Ай бұрын

Onkyo decks of the same level class sound better

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

The only Onkyo deck I've tried did sound really nice. I don't think it was on the same level as this one though so it wouldn't be a fair comparison. Hopefully I'll run across an Onkyo at some point but that's up to the Thrifting Gods. lol

@pearlvision7156

Ай бұрын

@@AudioThrift Try to explore Onkyos integra TA-2570/2800, 2360/2058, 2500/2056, they are very good sounding machines and as for the sound are better than this Denon DR-M44, but DR-M 44 is better as for transport cassette mechanism.

Here I though what was missing was a bias test and adjustment. Tape type is so basic I didn't even think of it. 2:38 Adjusting the bias really makes a big difference, especially for tapes of a different age than the player. You really shouldn't use Dolby C, like, ever. The problem with Dolby C is it is incredibly inconsistent from deck to deck. It may sound great on the machine you taped it on, but sound like crap on a different deck. Dolby S is great, but few machines have it.

the "auto tuning system" automates the manual bias fine calibration process avalilable on other decks, so the "monitor" key on this particular machine looks pretty useless to me.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Yeah, it does seem a little redundant. lol

Aaarrrrr, it be too late to find one online, like most decks these days they're well past the $500 mark! Aaarrrrrrr! This enough to make a man walk the plank himself.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Aye Matey... but ye can always look for booty in the thrift stores. The internet, she'l sink a man's ship if ye let her.

@jameslaidler2152

Ай бұрын

​@@AudioThriftAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!! This be the same with other hi-fi gear. My friend's Pioneer SA-7500 and matching tuner TX-7500 from 1975 or 77 both go for a tiny sum nowadays. It bebquite disheartening because I rather like their sound. Makes me want to load me musket pistol with that single shot. At least the older B&W speakers be surprisingly easy to come by here in these Australian waters.

@jameslaidler2152

Ай бұрын

Me mutinous phone keeps mistyping or mispelling what I type, and it really shivers me timbres! Me thinks Polly had the right idea, sinking into complete madness. Right Polly? "AAARRRKKKKKK! I'LL KILL YOU! KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU YOU BASTARD.! AAARRRKKKK! KILL YOU YOU BASTARD! AAARRRKKKKKK!!!!!" Flamin' bird!

There's nothing silly about that cassette backlight. I have a TEAC deck from 1995 that has it and a TEAC deck currently produced that doesn't and it's annoying when you have to use a flashlight to see the tape.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Right? It's like... It's such a simple thing but it make so much difference.

@chrislj2890

Ай бұрын

@@AudioThrift Exactly. 🙂

Dual concentric, not coaxial

Nothing special about automatic tape selection, is not rare. Mid to late 80’s, it’s rare to not have.. why don’t you explain how to bias calibrate instead. You should if caring about doing a good recording

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Didn't say it was rare lol. It's very common. Can you elaborate on how you would calibrate the bias on this deck?

@ingenfestbrems

Ай бұрын

We were really lucky to find this one, stick around because this one is pretty cool.. Sounds to me those words tougher easily could be the same as special and rare. Yes, you didn’t specifically say them, neither did i say you did. A 3 head tape deck with no fine bias adjustment on the front is unusual to me. Maybe not to you I guess not being an adult in these machines prime days. Then again maybe you should, when expressing yourself on KZread, always with low to mid range products tho. In early 90s I bought for the first time a brand new tape deck, a denon drm710, it’s a proper 3 head with fine bias adjustment on the front. As any 3head decks should have, the whole point of 3 heads is to do proper recordings, So i naturally assumed it to had being a good brand. If it you download the service manual from hifiengine you may find some potts inside it to fine adjust bias. If you have a lot of old stock denon tapes you probably don’t need to, But when buying tapes factory new in 2024 you may want to do, because the tapes calibrated to this machine isn’t being made anymore.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

No, I was lucky to find it with the wood panels because usually this model doesn't have them. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough about that. I can't get on to Hifi Engine because account registration is closed. Been trying for a while... they have a TON of manuals that I want. I can usually just Google it but it sure would help to have an account.

@ingenfestbrems

Ай бұрын

Why did you delete my previous comment?

@ingenfestbrems

Ай бұрын

It’s a brand and model sold worldwide. Finding a user and service manual online isn’t harder than finding these things in estate sales. I’m still wondering why you don’t ever find an Dragon, TCK7ESJ, high end technics & JVC

its a lovely cassette deck. i do have 44 and 44hx with HX Pro, to be honest i do have 5 of them :). one is already fully restored and recapped putted back like in brand new condition with some upgrades to the components. yeah, is a beast and i can say its one of the best deck ever and maybe the best deck made by denon. ps, when it comes to remote control you can do it yourself. just find which one is ground and by shorting other pins you start the option. you cand design your own style and maybe control centre to your system :) i did that myself when i was 10 years old with my other deck when i was a boy :) i used game pad got the controller, just use socket, solder cables and job done :) but that was over 35 y ago.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Oh man... the remote control idea is great. I'm gonna try that with just a couple wires and see if I can get it to work. I'm curious, what were the upgrades you did?

@MANdrewMusic

Ай бұрын

@@AudioThrift I like that DIY remote control idea. From the look of the jack on the back, you can do some initial tests if you have a standard 5-pin midi cable laying around. If it functions correctly by shorting pins to ground (likely pin 1) like the other commenter suggests, you could use a 7-pin midi cable to craft the remote. Great job on the video! I like the detail you put into it. It’s comfortably technical while still being a review from firsthand experience and passion.

@AudioThrift

Ай бұрын

Thank you Andrew. :)