Tascam Releases a… Dual Cassette Deck?

24 May 2018

Tascam hasn’t forgotten those who still have a fond affection for the cassette tape, releasing the new 202mkVII Dual Cassette Deck. Notably, the 3U rack-mountable cassette deck has a USB output on the rear allowing you to record and archive cassettes to digital media. A front-panel quarter-inch, high-impedance microphone input with dedicated level control enables a live input to be mixed with Tape 1 audio and recorded in real-time.

In addition to the USB output, the rear panel provides stereo analogue line-level input and output on unbalanced RCA connectors. A quarter-inch stereo headphone output with dedicated level knob is located on the front of the unit.

The dual twin-head cassette decks can record and play back independently, including recording simultaneously to create two tapes with the same source. Among other applications, this enables simultaneous creation of a master tape and a copy for distribution, skipping the need to duplicate the master tape. The two decks also provide real-time dubbing at the touch of one button. Tape 1 offers pitch control (±12%) and Tape 2 has a Return to Zero function.

The Tascam 202mkVII offers a Special playback mode where you can monitor the sound from one tape using headphones, while the other tape plays through the line outputs, making it easy to cue another tape. A noise-reduction feature (the equivalent of Dolby B) reduces hiss during playback.