Philips FC-60 Cassette Deck Review

Although Philips of the Netherlands invented the compact tape cassette, very few of its own recorders have been marketed in this country. The FC-60 is thus the first Philips cassette deck we have had the opportunity to test. A three-head unit with Dolby B and Dolby C noise reduction and switchable Dolby HX Pro headroom extension, the FC-60 heads the company’s new line.

The FC-60’s recording and playback heads are physically separate but bonded together in a single case. Such a design does more than just enable the user to switch between source and tape for instant comparisons between the input signal and its recorded result. It also enables each head element to be optimized for its function. In the FC-60, for example, the recording head has a relatively large 4-micrometer gap width (the distance between the head’s two pole pieces), which enables the recording signal to penetrate the full depth of the oxide layer on the tape. By contrast, the gap width of the playback element is a properly narrow 0.6 micrometer, enabling the deck to reproduce the highest audible frequencies. The same attention to detail carries through to the electronics as well. The playback head, for example, is connected to a low-noise FET differential amplifier by oxygen-free, continuously cast pure copper wire.

The FC-60’s dual-capstan, closed-loop transport isolates the section of tape that is actually passing across the heads to minimize flutter. Both capstans are equipped with balanced flywheels and driven by a single DC motor. A second DC motor is used for high-speed tape winding.

The cassette-well door is removable to facilitate head cleaning and demagnetizing and, as in most decks, contains a clear panel intended to let the user see how much tape remains on a side. Unfortunately, the cassette well is unilluminated and has no rear reflector. Moreover, the optical distortion caused by the curvature of the panel was so great that we found it impossible even to see whether the reels were moving.

Although many decks today incorporate the Dolby HX Pro head-room-extension circuit, very few besides the Philips FC-60 enable the user to switch it in or out. Dolby HX Pro operates by varying the recording bias according to the high-frequency signal level, reducing bias slightly during just those moments when strong treble signals might otherwise cause the tape to saturate. The lower bias level enables the tape to hold more treble energy. We have never encountered any instance in which the varying bias levels produced by Dolby HX Pro caused any audible ill effects; indeed, our experience with the system has been entirely positive.

The FC-60’s dual recording-level indicator system is in some respects unique. Peak signal levels from — 35 to +12 dB are shown conventionally on a sixteen-segment-per-channel display, with the 0-dB point calibrated to the standard Dolby recording level (200 nanowebers per meter). Supplementing this bar-graph indicator, however, is a second display that reads out recording levels of 0 dB and higher in alphanumeric characters. This display also stores the highest level previously reached in a recording and will flash that value for a period of 5 seconds when the M call button is pressed.

Bias-trim and tape-sensitivity (Dolby-calibration) controls are provided to flatten frequency response and assure accurate operation of the noise-reduction systems. These adjustments must be made by ear, however, using low-level fm hiss or some similar source as a test signal since no calibrating oscillators are provided. The FM-multiplex filter is pushbutton-defeatable; leaving it on when unneeded will roll off the deck’s response at extremely high frequencies.

Additional pushbuttons control the memory-rewind/replay circuitry and the fifteen-selection program memory, which will skim through the tape at high speed and find recorded selections separated by 4 seconds or more of silence. Thereafter, you can choose the selection you want to hear by keying in its program number. Recording levels are set by a single master control, supplemented by a smaller channel-balance control. The front-panel headphone jack has its own volume control, but there’s no playback-level control for the line outputs.

In addition to the usual rear-panel input and output connectors, the FC-60 has a pair of jacks for a wired remote control (not supplied). Overall, the deck measures 16-1/2 inches wide, 13-1/4 inches deep, and 6 inches high, and it weighs a little more than 14 pounds. Price: $549.

Lab Tests

The FC-60’s playback frequency response, measured with our BASF calibrated IEC-standard test tapes, was very flat with both 120-micro-second (ferric) and 70-microsecond (chrome and metal) equalization. There was a very slight bass rise (1.2 dB at 31.5 Hz) and a comparable falloff in the extreme treble (—1.4 dB at 18,000 Hz), with the range from 100 to 10,000 Hz varying by only ±0.5 dB.

The overall record/playback frequency-response curves with samples of TDK AD (ferric), TDK SA (chrome), and TDK MA (metal) tapes are shown in the accompanying graph. Measurements were made with Dolby HX Pro switched on as this produced the best treble response at high levels and enabled comparison with decks where the HX Pro circuit cannot be defeated. (The inevitable rolloff at the highest frequencies began approximately 2,000 Hz lower when Dolby HX Pro was disengaged.) The upper curve, for TDK MA, shows that high-level treble response can be improved even more with Dolby C. At the usual — 20-dB measuring level, TDK AD produced the best frequency response, down only 1 dB at 20,000 Hz and 1.5 dB at 24 Hz.

The signal-to-noise ratios were extremely good, particularly with the chrome-equivalent TDK SA. Flutter figures were less impressive, however, and the absolute speed error (1.8 percent fast) was poor. On the other hand, the Dolby noise-reduction systems exhibited almost no frequency-response error; this excellent result is partially attributable to the FC-60’s inclusion of a sensitivity adjustment, which makes possible exact source/tape level matching during recording. Fast-winding speeds were average, and input sensitivity and output levels were entirely normal.

Comments

Given so large a front panel, Philips could have done a better job of sizing and arranging the FC-60’s many pushbutton switches. We found them rather awkward to locate and use. We also found it annoying that we couldn’t get into the recording mode simply by pressing the record and play buttons simultaneously. You have to press one and then the other, as we learned when we missed the beginning of several recordings thinking the machine had started while it remained in record-pause mode.

Ergonomic matters aside, we were pleased with the FC-60’s overall sound quality. We cannot rank it among the very top decks (which tend to cost two or three times as much), however, for a slight but detectable graininess was audible on high, hard piano notes, and the stereo image was not quite as tightly focused as that produced by our reference deck.

Nonetheless, considered by itself or in comparison with other decks in the same price class, the Philips FC-60 held its own and then some. Its imaging was good, its sound was solid and musical, and we often caught ourselves having to check whether the monitor was set to source or tape. That’s quite enough to satisfy all but the most super-critical ear.

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