Nakamichi DR-1 Cassette Deck Review

From its invention of the three-head cassette deck and the closed-loop, dual-capstan tape transport to its unique head construction and user-adjustable azimuth, Nakamichi has long been known for finding imaginative ways to get the highest possible performance from the cassette medium. With the midprice DR-1 cassette deck, Nakamichi has added to the list of its innovations by mounting the playback circuitry right at the head assembly, eliminating the usual noise-prone wire connection to the main circuit board. Other DR-1 features include Dolby B and C noise reduction, user-adjustable bias, a switchable FM-multiplex filter, and an output-level control.

Having separate recording and playback heads enables users to compare the incoming signal directly with the recorded result. It also allows for the relatively wide record-head gap needed to maximize signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) during recording and the very narrow playback-head gap essential to resolve the highest treble frequencies during playback.

Like other three-head Nakamichi cassette decks, the DR-1 steers clear of the usual arrangement in which recording and playback head elements are “sandwiched” within a single casing. The DR-1’s heads are completely separate from each other, which is more difficult to implement but prevents the strong recording currents from leaking into the playback circuitry, where they could interfere with the proper operation of the Dolby noise-reduction circuits.

Another difference from standard practice is in tape handling. In most decks, the felt pad visible in a cassette’s center opening is needed to press the tape against the head, and the “scrape flutter” it causes actually adds to the playback noise level. In a well-designed tape drive, however, that pressure pad is unnecessary. A pair of projecting bosses on the DR-1’s playback-head casing keeps the pressure pad away from the tape, eliminating it as a noise source. The recording and playback heads themselves are made of Nakamichi’s proprietary Crystalloy core material, which is said to have better low-level linearity than the more common ferrite materials.

A user-adjustable playback-head azimuth control is included to eliminate treble loss when tapes recorded on a slightly misaligned deck are played back on the DR-1. A green LED signals that the playback head is at its factory-adjusted position. The LED goes out when the control is rotated to make any azimuth readjustment during playback, and it flashes red if the control is left off-center during record/playback on the DR-1 itself.

Closed-loop, dual-capstan drive systems have become the rule in high-quality cassette decks, because isolating the length of tape that is actually passing across the heads can reduce wow and flutter. The benefit can be lost, however, if the two capstans and their flywheels are the same sizes and rotate at the same speed, for the tiniest imperfections in them can reinforce each other with each rotation, inducing wow. Nakamichi’s Asymmetrical Dual-Capstan Diffused-Resonance system, therefore, uses capstans and flywheels of different sizes, and all of the transport parts are designed so that they have no common frequency of vibration.

A DC servomotor drives the capstans, and a separate DC motor drives the reels. A third DC motor operates the head and pinch-roller assembly through a cam system that eliminates the mechanical noise and shock of solenoid operations. Any initial tape slack is automatically taken up when the cassette-well door is closed. The door itself is easily removable for routine head cleaning and demagnetizing. A transparent window in the door makes it possible to view the amount of tape remaining on a side, though it is not wide enough to read the label.

Signal levels are shown on a twelve-segment-per-channel peak-indicating LED display, which is calibrated from —40 to +10 dB. Though unstated, its 0-dB point corresponds to the official Dolby calibration level.

The display also indicates the deck’s operating mode, the setting of the tape-monitor switch, which noise-reduction system is active, the setting of the FM-multiplex (MPX) filter, and the tape type in use. This last is of particular importance because the user has to manually select the appropriate bias and equalization for a cassette according to its tape type (Type I, II, or IV). Since almost all other cassette decks today make that selection automatically, it’s easy to overlook it. The four-digit LED counter registers reel-hub revolutions only, not elapsed or remaining time on the side.

The DR-1’s front panel has the usual transport pushbuttons, recording-level and balance controls, and Dolby B and C switches. The bias control can be used to optimize the recording bias current for different tape formulations within the same type, but the adjustment must be made by ear, as no calibration facilities are included.

In play, stop, or pause mode, pressing the counter-search button causes the deck to fast-forward or rewind the tape to the zero setting on the counter and then stop or begin playback from there. Pressing fast-forward or rewind twice causes the tape to advance rapidly for 5 seconds, then play for 5 seconds, and so on until you press stop. Fully automatic rewind and replay can be selected at one position of the otherwise conventional extemal-timer switch.

A switchable multiplex filter is provided to prevent residual stereo-FM subcarrier signals from interfering with the Dolby circuits. The filter should be switched out when not needed, however, as it limits high-frequency response to approximately 16 kHz. Critical recordists will appreciate that the out-put-level control affects the signal not only at the front-panel headphone jack but at the regular line-output jacks on the rear as well, enabling the user to match the playback level against a CD or other source for accurate A/B comparisons. Rear-panel connections consist of the normal line-in and line-out jacks, plus jacks for an optional remote control.

The DR-1’s playback frequency response was very flat from 63 Hz to 10 kHz, rising to between +2 and +3 dB at the 31.5-Hz and 18-kHz limits of our IEC (BASF) test tapes. As we have frequently observed, the rising treble response is probably a characteristic of our test tapes, which were recorded slightly “hot” to compensate for anticipated playback-head losses. The bass rise, too, is the predictable “fringing” response that comes from using full-track test tapes with quarter-track stereo heads.

Tested with our representative “center-line” tapes (TDK AD, SA, and MA), the DR-1’s overall record/playback frequency response was within ±1.5 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz at the customary -20-dB recording level. At 0 dB, where treble saturation is inevitable, response from the ferric tape very nearly equaled that of the metal, the two tapes being down by 3 dB at 12 and 12.5 kHz, respectively. Because Dolby C somewhat reduces the treble pre-emphasis that is partly responsible for the saturation, response from TDK MA extended all the way to 20 kHz (-2.8 dB).

With Dolby C noise reduction, signal-to-noise ratios for the three tapes were very high. Wow and flutter were commendably low, as were Dolby tracking errors and speed errors. Both line-input sensitivity and line-output level were entirely normal. Fast-winding time in either direction was about average for the DR-1’s price class.

The DR-1 is well laid out and extremely quiet electrically and mechanically. Users unfamiliar with the Nakamichi tradition will undoubtedly find it hard to become accustomed to selecting tape types manually, but this feature does permit proper playback of the occasional ferric (Type I) tape recorded with the quieter chrome (Type II) equalization.

Playback of prerecorded tapes was excellent, if seemingly slightly bright on the high end. And record/playback response was superb. At the most elevated volume levels, with exceedingly quiet musical passages, we could detect the lack of the newest Dolby noise-reduction system, Dolby S; there was some faintly audible low-frequency “grunge” that Dolby S would have removed. Frequency response and dynamic range were so wide and distortion so low with Dolby C, however, that it was almost impossible to distinguish between source and tape. We detected no loss or shift whatever in stereo image.

Such performance does not come cheap, and the DR-1 is at the upper end of the midprice spectrum. But it is a triumph of engineering at the service of music, and well worth the money.

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