TAPEDECK REVIEWED ~COLORCK2.FIL~ 'Virtue doesn't stay lonely for long she will soon gain neighbours' Confucius --------------- TAPEDECK REVIEW --------------- by Slimer The thermometer reads over 30 degrees celcius, a big fan is trying to cool the almost overheated monitor. Grey clouds slowly glide through the sky and soft rumble of thunder can be heard in the far distance. A light depression seems to take possession of me. Lenny Kravitz tries a feeble attempt to cheer me up, but even on my new tapedeck he is annoying. It's stuffy weather, inside its to hot and outside to wet. Now Lenny gets really on my nerves *EJECT* maybe Marillion will do the trick...*PLAY* Ever heard a fish sing? Well I'm listening to one at the moment... I have decided to phone my mate and see what he's up to. He's coming by in half a hour and then we go to the local shopping promenade. I also asked him if he would like to go to the swimmingpool this weekend, his answer as usual was: 'I rather jump in the pond nearby and catch a nasty disease !'.... Maybe I can conclude from this answer that doens't want to go .....!? Lucky for me the sun has won the hide and seek game with the clouds and they are now on their way to a next target. Peeking through the blinds I see their inheritance, wet streets and big pools of water... Hey this strange state of mind seems to be having a positive effect on my poor writing abilities, not bad for a guy who learned most English from scrollines and T.V. series ! *EJECT, Flip the cassette* Nice piece of technique this new Denon Tape Deck, especially with Van Halen playing 'Running with the Devil' at the moment. Hell, lets turn this article into a Tape Deck review (which was the general idea anyway), A MAN WITHOUT A TAPEDECK ... Some months ago my old 'Aiwa' tapedeck started to do things that were not described in the manual. It decided to play my tapes in the fastforward mode. The Carpenters sounded like a speed metal band and sometimes it seemed that the 'Smurfs' had taken over my tapedeck. Not being able to play my fave tapes anymore drove me almost nuts. A music pirate can't live without a tapedeck, so a new one had to be bought ... As usual I visited my number one Hi-Fi store to check out their new equipment. I talked to one of the guys there, who showed me a few decks that he thought would satisfy my demands. He showed me a 'TEAC' and a 'Denon', further examination revealed that the Denon had a dual capstan which the 'TEAC' lacked. A price reduction made the 'Denon' even more attractive as it was the last model. So, I took it home for some extensive testing and decided to buy it ... THE REVIEW Device : Tapedeck Brand : Denon Type : DRM-710 Configuration : 3 heads + twin capstans Price approx. : 435 dollar, 750 Dmark, 800 Dutch guilders DUAL CAPSTANS EXPLAINED, The old 'Aiwa' had only one capstan and two heads which made it a simple device. People don't always seem to understand what a big difference a dual capstan configuration can make to the recording/playing of music. Two capstans keep the tape taut and guide it without slipping over the heads. The result is a far more steady music image than that of a single capstan deck. You don't have to be an audiophile to hear it. 3 HEADS EXPLAINED, In order to record and monitor the recording at the same time, the 3 headsystem was created. The principal is simple; just place the play head beside the recording head (combination head). While recording you can press the monitor button and real-time listen in on the recording. If you have a 2 head system, you probably play back the whole tape after the recording for a final check. There is another advantage with 3 heads; you can switch between the source and the tape to check out the difference. Handy, if you're looking for the right tape to match with the quality of the CD player. FEATURES, The 'Denon DRM-710' is equipped with a digital display that shows all the important functions. The tapecounter is indicated in minutes and seconds which is a useful to see how far the tape has travelled(yesterday I found one of my tapes in cellar). You have to set the right tapesize first before you start to record/play something. Standard features can be found in the shape of Dolby HX PRO and for noise reduction you can use DOLBY B/C. The HX PRO feature provides the most suitable value of bias by calculating the recording signal and the recording bias as a whole. HX PRO is not a noise reducer and can not be turned off. There is also a bias manual control present on this deck for the most optimal sound recording. Other standard features include a MPX filter, to filter out the 'pilot' tone in FM broadcasts and a headphone jack. There are also a couple of non standard features on this deck. One of these features is a 'music search system'. This system looks from 4 second intervals(or longer) of silence between songs and activates play ! Quite a handy feature. I know that this system already exists a couple of years but its not always regarded as a standard feature ! You can also find a REC RETURN button on the deck. This baby rewinds the tape to the starting point and switches to record standby mode ! Last but least is the fact that the deckmechanism operates extremely silent which couldn't be said of my incomparison noisy 'Aiwa' ! RECORDING/PLAY PERFORMANCE, Gadgets can be quite exiting but the sound quality is much more important. The real audiophile won't be out buying cheap equipment with unneccasary knobs and lights. He knows that most of the top audio manufacturers won't bother with the extra 'garbage'. Extra displays, lights and knobs often DON'T have a positive influence on the SOUND QUALITY ! It's the sound quality that counts and that is what the biggest part of this review will go about.... All tapedecks are adjusted to a certain brand of tape which will give the best possible performance. The 'Denon DRM-710' has to use 'Denon DX' or 'HD' cassette tapes for the most optimal recording result. However you can let your Hi-Fi store or the manufacturer re-adjust the tapedeck to the cassette tape you prefer. I was out of luck because the 'Denon' tapes were sold out at the time. So I used a 'Sony XR' metal for the first test recording which was a song from the CD 'Soul Cages' of Sting. When I played it back there was clear difference between my old deck and this new one, a more stable music image could be heard ! The dual capstans are a sound for sour ears (or was it sight for sour eyes ?)! A slight sound difference can still be heard between the tape recording and the original CD. 'Normal' people won't notice any but a veteran (ahum) like myself will. My mate couldn't hear it no-matter how hard he tried but I could, with my eyes closed and by switching randomly between both sources ... There was just that tiny less treble on tape recording that my sensitive (according to my mate) ears picked up. I must also state that the bias will fix it but I didn't get round to that yet ! My final conclusion can only be made after I obtain a 'Denon HD tape' and perform several tests with it. Now some words about the overall sound quality of the 'Denon' the stereo image is very good and stable. Noise is low, so you won't be bothered with loud hissing between songs (also depends on the tape used). CONCLUSION, Putting all the facts and features together gives me a great overall impression of the tapedeck. A good and steady recording quality combined with excellent (neccesary) features make this a top tapedeck. According to the local Hi-Fi shop the 'Denon DRM-710' will be replaced soon by another type. This new type will have all the same features but will cost 45 dollar more... Also recommended are the TEAC tapedeck and CD player series as they seem to be rather good ! SPECIFICATIONS, TYPE .............. Vertical tape loading 4-track 2-channel stereo cassette player (what else did you expect ?). HEADS ............. Record & playback (combination head) x 1 Erase (Double gap ferrite head) x 1 CAPSTAN ........... Capstan (DC servo motor) x 1 Reel (DC motor) x 1 Actuator (DC motor) x 1 TAPE SPEED ........ 4.8 cm/sec FAST FORWARD, REWIND TIME ....... Approx. 100 sec. with a C-60 cassette RECORDING BIAS .... Approx. 105 Khz. OVERALL S/N RATIO (AT 3% THD LEVEL) . Dolby C NR on ... more than 75 dB OVERALL FREQUENCY RESPONSE .......... 20 - 20,000 Hz +/-3 dB (at -20 dB METAL tape) CHANNEL SEPARATION more than 40 dB (at 1 Khz) CROSSTALK ......... more than 65 dB (at 1 Khz) WOW & FLUTTER ..... 0.038% wrms(JIS methode) +/-0.1% w.peak INPUTS, LINE .............. 80 mV ( -20 dBm) input level at maximum input impedance: 50 kohm unbalanced OUTPUTS LINE .............. 620 mV (0 dB) output level at maximum (with 47 kohm load, recorded level of 200 pwb/mm) POWER CONSUMPTION . 16 W DIMENSIONS ........ 434 (W) x 124 (H) x 275 (D) mm WEIGHT ............ 4.2 kg