HB> I am probably a purist which is why I just bought a new tape deck.  :)
 HB> its capable of calibrating itself to the new tape as you described.
CH> Is it a 3 head unit?  The calibration procedure works best with those.
Nope.   That 3-head unit is WAY more expensive! (and it is only
a *single* cassette deck)  I may be a purist but I'm a purist on a budget.:)
The price for a 3-head Sony unit is $400-500 (complete with Dolby B/C/S
HX PRO and MPX filter (or whatever filter it was I saw) ).  It's
ridiculous to invest that much simply for noise reduction. For that price,
I'd rather buy a DAT or MiniDisc deck (which is $600-700)-- at least I
won't have to worry about hiss on digital equipment.
Btw, what is the difference between 3-head and other units?  How many heads
are there usually on a tape deck?  I thought there was only 1 head, 1
tape eraser, 2 capstans for auto-reverse decks, and 2 pinch rollers.
  > Can't help ya with the Dolby S.  My deck is an AIWA ADF-990.  Still
  > records a mean signal on any brand of tape too, well... except for
  > Ferri-chrome..., but that stuff didn't last long. :-)
Mine is a Sony TCWE605S.   It also got this auto record level function
that tests the maximum record level automatically according to
the type of tape you insert (Type I, Type II or Type IV -  what
happenned to type III ?)
CH> Then something isn't working right.  If you record at a moderate level,
  > with say metal tape, there should be almost NO difference between tape
Playing back on the new tape deck (and the old one) works just fine.
It's playing back on my walkman (and an expensive one too!) that the
sound seems flatter than normal.  It's always been like that from
the 1st day I got it.
Note that this doesn't happen with Type I tapes.  Only with metal tapes.
(I haven't tried Type II).   Can the Dolby NR function on my walkman be
malfunctioning?   Alas, how can one tests whether the Dolby NR on a
walkman has a buggy circuit?   It sounds as though the walkman is
processing sound through the Dolby process twice.
  > will be a better buy.  Keep in mind where the tapes are stored though.
  > Tyoe I erases more easily.  Metal are the most resistant to print
  > through and magnetic field erasure.
That is why I use metal tapes.  My old tape deck actually CAN'T erase
metal tapes.  I had to use a high-power bulk eraser (which takes two
passes to completely erase it).
Another reason I buy metal tapes is because some of them have very
sleek cassette designs-- especially those import ones which says,
"Anti-resonance," "Br 2000 gauss" (whatever that means)
They just look very stealthy looking and attractive.   So I'm in it for
the sound and for the collector's value (if anyone else happens to
collect tape strictly for the design).  :)
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