The TCK8B is a fascinating machine having some excellent facilities and is a front-loader, incorporated into a large metal cabinet with an IEC mains socket. The usual phono and DIN inputs and outputs are provided, and also a remote control accessory socket on the rear panel.

A superb liquid crystal display meter offers a wide range of metering facilities including peak reading and peak hold, all of which could be seen very clearly; transients and peak-hold indications were read quite accurately.

Independent concentric controls (not friction locked) are provided for mic/DIN and line inputs with mixing. Levers switch three positions of bias and equalisation separately, and limiter functions; a rotary switch selects Dolby off, Dolby on and Dolby with mpx filtering, and a separate ganged replay gain control is complemented by an independent headphone control. The metering function is selected by minute push buttons and separate buttons or switches operate the tape counter mechanism and memory counter (switchable to auto-stop/start, etc), and the timer switches between record and play for remote starting.

All the deck functions are microswitch-operated logic types, and work extremely smoothly, even allowing the user to drop into record from replay. The deck employs two motors and cassette loading was superb.

The microphone input sensitivity (1/4" jack sockets) was higher than usual, the clipping margin excellent, and sound quality was extremely good and clean. The DIN input was ridiculously sensitive, but also had an amazing clipping margin; only marginal noise degradation was noted and distortion measured well, but the response dipped around 15 kHz.

The line input (also available on a stereo jack socket on the front) was very sensitive and yet again had an excellent clipping margin. The response was flat and the switchable mpx filter produced just ldB drop at 15kHz. Unfortunately, the input noise with volume controls at minimum was rather below average, restricting the overall noise floor. If there had been 6dB less gain after the record level control, only microphone sensitivity would have been sacrified, and the noise floor would have been 6dB better.

Replay azimuth was reasonably accurately set but replay hiss levels were slightly below average, although Dolby showed the normal improvement; chrome showed more improvement than usual. Replay responses measured very well indeed from 40Hz to 10kHz on both ferric and chromium equalisation. Clipping margins were extremely good, and more than adequate even for iron pre-recorded cassettes, while distortion levels also measured very well. Low impedance headphones worked extremely well but there was inadequate level and a poor clipping margin into high impedance models.

Sony HF tape produced a reasonably flat chart to 13kHz with a slight valley around 7kHz. The Dolby in response emphasised the valley, unfortunately, and it was just noticeable subjectively. The sound quality was, at best, very good indeed but distortion levels were generally on the high side and another tape type, such as one from group 3, would be much better provided the bias was slightly increased. 333Hz distortion measured 1.6% at Dolby level and 6.3% at +4dB and overall noise was average. Sony FeCr showed some HF anomalies and sounded slightly muffled with marked HF compression.

Background noise was average but showed only 9dB improvement with Dolby; distortion was only 1.1% at +4dB and thus the tape was obviously very over-biased. Sony chrome gave a very good pen chart from 70Hz to 15kHz, above which the response fell fairly rapidly; distortion, however, measured 3.2% at Dolby level and 11.5% at +4dB, and subjectively the chrome tape produced roughness throughout the test program, although at lower levels the quality was very good. Since the noise was slightly below average, the dynamic range would be limited if levels were held down, and so Sony chrome cannot be recommended. Obviously for political reasons, the machine was set up throughout for Sony tapes, but it is clear that on other types and with re-alignment the machine could have superb results at best.

Wow and flutter measured reasonably well and speed was very accurate while HF stability was average and spooling took 1.7 minutes. Erasure was excellent and crosstalk satisfactory. The review sample was an early production prototype and perhaps normal production models will be even better.

The ergonomics were amongst the best of any machine reviewed, the liquid crystal metering being fabulous. The machine can be very strongly recommended, but I earnestly advise you to get your dealer to set it up for better tape types. Provided he is prepared to do this at no extra charge, the machine can be regarded as a 'best buy', but if this is not possible then performance can only put it in the normal recommended category. Input circuitry clearly shows an improvement, but Sony frequently seem to employ too much gain after the record level pots on so many of their models.

The cheaper model TCK7 is virtually identical to the TCK8B but the LCD is omitted, being replaced by normal meters and three peak reading lights.
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One of the few machines amongst the new models that can be used as a top-loader, the TCD 320 is housed in a handsome wooden cabinet. Its servo-operated deck functions all worked very neatly, and allowed switching between all functions, although pause has to be engaged for recording.

Fairly long throw faders are provided for record and play back levels, but there is no input switch. The meters are peak reading types, heavily equalised and under-reading transients rather more than some of the other types, though better than normal meters. The cassette is pushed home in a slightly awkward, sideways-mounted trap door on the right of the deck, which lifts open with the eject button. Push button switches operate all functions including Dolby, ferric/chrome, andmpx filter. The transport uses three motors and dual capstans.

The microphone input sensitivity is very much higher than average, being optimised for low output moving coils, and since the clipping margin is not too good high output mikes such as some electrets are not really suitable; the quality of reproduction here was extremely good however. The DIN input had good sensitivity and an excellent clipping margin, and the impedance was well optimised, so very little noise degradation shoudl be noticed from a normal DIN source. Input noise performance here was excellent, and distortion far better than average. The line inputs had very high sensitivity, but clipped at 4.8V, which should not be troublesome on normal domestic installations however. A slight peak at 10kHz was noted on the line input, but noise measured extremely well. The switchable mpx filter cuts 15kHz response by just 1.25dB.

The replay azimuth was only very slightly out; replay amp noise showed an average hiss level with the normal Dolby improvement, but hum measured particularly well, and was completely inaudible. The replay clipping margin was very good, and satisfactory for iron tape replay, and distortion measured very well. Whilst bass responses were good, the HF response averaged around +2dB at 10kHz, showing a tendency to be compatible with the old rather than the new BASF standard. Chrome equalisation did not quite cut sufficient HF, and so was slightly more toppy than it should have been. Very ample volume is available into all normal headphone types, with an excellent clipping margin.

Maxell UDXLI measured +3dB at 10kHz, partly due to the boost on the line input, but this rise was maintained to 15kHz; the bass response was very good. Distortion measured extremely well at 333Hz, only 3% at +6dB, and overall noise was slightly higher than average, but since high recording levels could be achieved, this was not too serious. Although the overall sound quality was on the bright side, the quality of reproduction was above average, only slight HF compression being noted. Quite clearly the jncorrect replay equalisation was mainly responsible for the brightness, and could easily be corrected. Dolby levels, though, were correctly set and the Dolby in responses were very similar to the Dolby out ones. Maxell UDXLI I produced a response valley in the presence region, but peaked slightly at EHF (partly replay equalisation); 333Hz distortion measured .9% at Dolby level, rising to 2.8% at +4dB.

The overall quality sounded good, with only slight HF compression, but a response anomaly was noted. Background hiss was noisier than it should have been (replay equalisation again).

Wow and flutter were average, and speed was only marginally slow. Spooling was incredibly fast (55secs for C90), which made finding a passage rather difficult, and HF stability was average. Chrome erasure was rather inadequate, but ferric was very good and crosstalk measured well throughout.

The machine can be mounted horizontally or vertically, appropriate feet being provided. It is the successor to the the TCD 310, and is far better, but of course competition is stiffer now than it was. The machine can be recommended since the overall quality was good, and no input noise problems were encountered, but Tandberg should note the replay equalisation errors, and also the poor erasure on pseudo-chrome.

Tandberg are attending to these problems, and it is only fair to point out that the review sample was a pre-production one. Provided that the response and erasure are corrected in production, the 320 can be recommended as a best buy, but as it stands it must miss this position for the time being.
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This successor to the older Tandberg 330 has three heads and incorporates a new 'actilinear' record head driving circuit which makes it suitable for driving the new iron tapes when they arrive, as it has very low distortion and excellent headroom.

The model is very similarly styled to the 330 and incorporates L/R faders for input and output levels. Push buttons provide mains, Dolby, Dolby FM, ferric/pseudo-chrome switching, memory, source tape monitoring and record safety functions. An mpx switch is provided on the rear panel together with in/out phonos, a 5-pole DIN and a remote control socket. Mono microphone jacks and a stereo headphone jack are on the front panel and the machine can be operated horizontally or vertically.

Logic-operated deck controls run very smoothly, allowing the usual full function switching. Like the model 320 the cassette is loaded sideways but has a solenoid-operated eject mechanism. Cassettes become rather warm in use. In front of the cassette mechanism a door opens to reveal an azimuth setting oscillator, the record head azimuth control and pre-sets for head alignment. The two peak-reading meters are heavily equalised at HF; they were found to read transients very accurately.

The microphone input sensitivity was very high but the clipping margin was rather limited, low output microphones being recommended; microphone recorded quality was excellent and a pre-set mixing level is provided since there is no input switching. The DIN input had good sensitivity and a reasonable clipping margin, the input impedance being well optimised, producing no noise degradation; distortion and response on this input are both good. The line input was quite sensitive and a good clipping margin was provided, but whilst no noise degradation was present the noise with the record level at minimum was rather below average.

The review sample was a pre-production prototype and azimuth was slightly out. Replay amplifier hiss was marginally noisier than average but the normal Dolby improvement was given; hum was minimal, however. Replay clipping margins were excellent for normal tapes, but perhaps not quite sufficient for iron (surprising). Distortion measured reasonably and frequency responses were very flat up to 10kHz but showed a very slight bass loss. All normal headphones would give excellent quality with good clipping margins.

Maxell UDXLI penned an extremely flat chart across the board up to 18kHz on both channels and distortion measured outstandingly well, reaching only 2.7% at +8dB, which is phenomenal. The subjective quality was excellent but slight HF compression was noted. Background noise was around average and showed the normal Dolby improvement. Maxell UDXLII also showed a very flat response, which is commendable. 333Hz distortion again measured very well, averaging 3% at +6dB, which is far better than normal. Noise was slightly below average but showed the normal Dolby improvement. The sound quality, whilst being very good indeed, did again show some slight HF compression on very sharp transients.

Wow and flutter measured well at the beginning and middle but rose to average at the end of the cassette. Speed was very accurate but spooling was very fast at just over one minute for C90. 10kHz stability was slightly below average, but was not troublesome subjectively. Erasure and crosstalk measurements were-very good.

A different version of this model known as the TCD 340AM will be introduced in early 1979 set up for the new pure iron tapes, which should give phenomenal performance. In all probability the TCD 340A will be capable of easy modification for iron tapes. The machine gave generally excellent overall quality and my only minor reservation is the input amplifier noise floor which Tandberg could improve.

It is clear that this machine is extracting the maximum electromagnetic performance out of the Maxell cassettes, with the fascinating new head driving circuit which converts voltage input to pure current drive for the head. The overall distortion figures are most impressive and by far the best I have ever measured on a cassette deck.

The erase head is a dual gap type which should provide good erasure of all tape types, and the record head is a 5 micron ferrite which clearly contributes to the amazingly low distortion by not showing any traces of head saturation at high signal and bias levels. The machine can be clearly recommended as a 'best buy' notwithstanding the noise performance, since in so many respects the performance seems unbeatable. Economically the machine was well liked but I advise users to withdraw the cassette from the mechanism immediately after use to avoid storage print-through in the deck's rather warm environment.
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This metal-encased front-loader is the cheapest in the latest Teac series and incorporates only basic functions, but includes line/DIN and microphone switching. Two separate record gain controls around 3 inches apart were found inconvenient, but each worked smoothly. Phono line input/output sockets and a 5-pole DIN are on the back panel and mono microphone jacks and a stereo headphone jack are on the front. Push buttons are provided for biasing and equalising ferric or chromium tape types, but ferrichrome is not recommended. Additional buttons operate input switching and Dolby. The deck controls worked well and allowed changing directly from one function to another without depressing stop, if required. The mechanism was easy to load and the machine neatly designed.

The microphone input sensitivity was rather poor, being inadequate for average speech recording, but the clipping margin was excellent; input noise was also rather worse than usual, but the quality was good. The DIN input had good sensitivity and an excellent clipping margin, but some noise degradation was noted from a standard DIN source; response and distortion measured very well. The line inputs provided adequate sensitivity, no clipping problem was encountered and the noise performance was excellent, bettering many more expensive models. The mpx filter is permanently in, giving just 0.75dB loss at 15kHz, but adequate supersonic filtering. The level meters were very average and no peak reading lights are incorporated.

Replay azimuth was just slightly mis-set, and replay hiss was average but hum components measured exceptionally well; chrome equalisation gave a full 4dB improvement, and Dolby an additional 10.25dB. The clipping margin was very satisfactory and replay amplifier distortion measured particularly well. The replay response showed some bass loss and was slightly down at HF on the left channel, but noticeably down on the right; the probe head response check showed that almost certainly the right channel gap was a little wide. Chromium equalisation showed the correct ratio to ferric. The headphone driving circuitiy produced clipping into 8 ohm models but 600 ohm ones were much too quiet (the best compromise appeared to be 25 ohm but the clipping margin was still inadequate).

Maxell UDXLI showed up considerable bass response variations, high frequencies however were reasonably maintained with minor deviations up to 15kHz. 333Hz distortion averaged 0.65% at Dolby level rising to 4% at +4dB (head saturation?). The overall quality was surprisingly good for a budget machine and yet somehow seemed to lack clarity, although HF compression was subjectively better than usual. Overall noise measured particularly well, and showed 10.25dB noise reduction with Dolby. UDXLII also showed bass variations and showed a 1.5dB valley in the presence region, the response falling slowly to -4dB at 15kHz. (TDK SA would show a flatter overall chart and perhaps would have been more suitable.) Distortion measured 2.1% at Dolby level and 8% at +4dB, and recordings at a high level were quite clearly distorting, but at intermediate levels were very good, although marginally muffled. Noise levels measured reasonably well, but the Dolby circuits gave too much noise reduction here. HF compression was very good and quite clearly pseudo-chromes are considerably under-biased, and a higher bias setting and a re-adjustment of equalisation would have clearly improved matters (poor quality control?).

Wow and flutter measured well, particularly for a budget deck, and speed was only slightly fast. Spooling averaged at 2 minutes and HF stability was most creditable; erasure and crosstalk were excellent.

Considering its price, this machine gave a most creditable performance in most of the difficult areas, although the chrome position was inadequately aligned. It can therefore be recommended as a 'best buy', but specifically if you want to use the phono sockets since the DIN input was well below par. Teac have clearly made great improvements in their designs in the last 18 months and this machine will, undoubtedly, be very popular.
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A metal-encased front-loader, this new Teac model offers the usual facilities, including switchable line in/DIN inputs. Dual concentric friction-locked record and replay gain controls are provided. Push buttons operate Dolby, two-position bias and equalisation and record mute, in addition to input switching. The memory counter worked quite normally, and a remote control button allows the machine to be left on record and pause in such a way that when mains is switched through from an external timer the pause control is released and recording starts after a few seconds.

The microphone inputs on mono jack sockets (left only feeds L+R) provided just adequate sensitivity with a good clipping margin; hiss was better than usual, and the response was wide and clean. The 5-pole DIN input had adequate sensitivity and a very good clipping margin, but rather poor noise degradation from a standard DIN source, since the input impedance was much too low. DIN input distortion measured very well, as did that from the line input sockets, which had good sensitivity and no clipping problems. The line input was just a little noisier than average, but still adequate. The mpx filter was permanently in circuit, which is not a bad point, and th ;s frequencies above 15.5kHz were sharply attenuated, so removing many problems which might otherwise be introduced. The meters had an excellent transient peformance which was far better than average, being virtually peak reading types, under-reading an 8ms burst by only 5dB.

The replay azimuth was very well set, and the replay amplifier showed an improvement over many earlier Teac models, measuring about average for hiss, although some 150Hz hum was noticed on the left channel. There was insufficient hiss improvement with chrome (only 2.5dB), although Dolby gave a full 1 OdB. Clipping was only just adequate at full replay gain, but fairly good if the gain was reduced (NB unfortunately meters follow replay gain setting). Some 2nd harmonic distortion was noted on high level signals with replay gain at maximum, although this improved at lower settings. The replay response showed a tendency to a slight boost in the presence region of about ldB, but was flat again at 10kHz on both ferric and chrome positions. Although 8 ohm headphones worked well if the replay gain was considerably reduced, 600 ohm models had inadequate drive and severe clipping resulted.

Maxell UDXLI gave an astounding performance at high levels, averaging only 3.7% distortion of 333Hz at +8dB. Despite the high bias setting HF compression was relatively slight, which is most commendable. However, the frequency response showed a 2dB boost at 80Hz and +3dB at 14kHz, and the response was subjectively slightly bright. The overall noise performance was slightly below average, but showed the full lOdB improvement with Dolby. Sony FeCr produced such a large dip around 5kHz that it was clearly incompatible, but distortion measured well. Subjectively, FeCr sounded rather poor, the suckout being all too evident. Maxell UDXLI I showed a boost at 80Hz, and a gradual loss above 5kHz, eg - 1.5dB at 10kHz. Subjectively EHF seemed well down, and considerable HF compression was noted.

Distortion however seemed higher than average for this tape type, and equalisation was clearly poorly optimised. A/B Dolby calibration was good on ferric and pseudo-chrome but poor on ferrichrome. I suggest that the chrome position requires considerable readjustment of the equalisation circuits in production. We tried TDK SA as an alternative and the response was much better, measuring virtually flat at 10kHz, while the distortion level at +4dB averaged 4.4% instead of UDXUs 5%. Print-through permitting, TDK SA is clearly more compatible, making the pseudo chrome position quite reasonable, although slightly higher in distortion than average. Noise on UDXLII was slightly poorer than average.

Wow and flutter measured quite well, and speed was only very slightly fast. Spooling was just over 2 mins and HF stability better than average. Both erasure and crosstalk measurements were excellent.
Whilst the performance on this recorder on UDXLI was very good and on TDK SA reasonable, both ferrichrome and UDXLII showed alignment problems, and Teac will have to look carefully at their choice of recommended tape types here, since TDK SA was clearly more satisfactory.

The machine is capable of excellent results, but since the price seems somewhat high for the facilities provided it must just forego a firm recommendation; nevertheless, it shows considerable basic improvements over earlier Teac models. Incidentally, the machine had an intermittant fault on the right channel which caused a 7dB level loss.
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The cheapest of the new Technics models reviewed in this book, this deck is a well styled front-loader having a rotary record level control with 40 steps, L/R balance being available with one completely friction-locked to the other. Lever switches select inputs, Dolby and three tape positions, bias and equalisation being switched simultaneously. Line in/out phonos and a 5-pole DIN socket are on the rear panel and mono microphone jacks and a stereo headphone jack are on the front. The deck functions worked satisfactorily but did not allow direct transition from wind to play, etc, although remote starting with a mains time switch is provided for. Cassette loading is manual, the cassette being pushed home at the back of the compartment, a hinged door coming over the front.

The microphone input sensitivity was barely adequate but the clipping margin was excellent, and quality good. The DIN input had good sensitivity and an acceptable clipping margin, and only slight noise degradation was noted; distortion measured worse than usual but was reasonable from a normal DIN source. The phono inputs had average sensitivity and no clipping problem, and noise also measured extremely well and better than most. The mpx filter was permanently in circuit and produced just 1 dB loss at 15kHz. The record-level meters had a typical performance, under-reading transients fairly considerably, but users will probably get used ' to them. We noted some bass loss in their reading, amounting to 5dB down at 50Hz.

Replay azimuth was slightly mis-set and replay amplifier fiiss measured quite well while hum levels were very low indeed, which is most commendable.

Chrome gave some 4dB hiss improvement, which is good, and Dolby gave 9.5dB; we noted that Dolby noise reduction was 0.75dB less than usual at low levels. The replay responses throughout on ferric and chrome were very good at all frequencies. The replay amplifier clipping margin was astoundingly good and distortion, generally, was satisfactory. Low impedance headphones worked well but volume was totally inadequate on high impedance models.

Maxell UDXLI tape produced slight bass 'woodles' but an extremely good HF response up to 14kHz and overall noise measured extremely well, one of the best figures for ferric tape in the survey; Dolby noise reduction gave 9.5dB improvement. Distortion at Dolby level measured 0.4%, rising to 3.7% at +4dB, which was felt to be slightly on the high side (head saturation?). The overall sound quality was good but slight spitching on speech transients was noted subjectively with some HF compression. Sony FeCr showed the same bass variations but the high frequency response was again excellent. Noise measured extremely well with or without Dolby and 333Hz distortion averaged 0.9% at Dolby level'and 2.7% at +4dB. Sound quality here was better than usual for ferri-chrome, although high frequencies were sometimes noted as scratchy, and 'spitch' was occasionally r3noted on speech. TDK SA showed slightly excessive HF (+2dB at 10kHz and +3dB at 14kHz); 333Hz distortion was 1.8% at Dolby level and 7.7% at +4dB. HF compression was almost unnoticeable and the response sounded flatter than it measured; provided the recording level was kept well down, the quality throughout was excellent, but high recording levels just could not be accommodated, which was a pity (head saturation again?).

The wow and flutter performance was rather average but adequate, but speed was quite accurate, spooling taking two minutes. HF stability measured only fair but did not sound too bad, the variations of head/tape contact being at a slow rate. Erasure was excellent and crosstalk measurements were acceptable.

Although the machine is basically very simple, its performance was generally very good provided excessive recording levels were avoided. Since the overall hiss levels were better than average, this is not really a disadvantage. The stepped record level control was much liked and so this machine can get a general recommendation, being one of the 'best buys' at its price. Technics have obviously taken considerable trouble to improve circuitry performance, but I wish they could improve the record head saturation problems which seemed to be general with their machines.
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Another metal-encased front-loader, this model allows mixing of line in and mic/DIN inputs; the line in control being a very large, smooth, friction-locked rotary while the microphone one was considerably smaller, complemented by a similarly sized ganged reply gain. Levers operate three positions of bias and equalisation separately, Dolby in/out (mpx switching with Dolby) and' VU' or peak-reading meter ballistics.

The deck functions include memory counter and auto-start after memory rewind, and also a provision for remote starting with a mains time switch. The deck functions allowed cueing on rewind and forward wind, but all the push buttons were rather stiff. Loading was simple, however, and the functions worked well. Phono line in/out and 5-pole DIN sockets are on the rear and two mono microphone jack sockets and a stereo headphone jack are on the front. The review sample had only a 2-core mains lead but no earth terminal, and slight 'tingles' were noted on touching the chassis.

Microphone inputs were a little insensitive and the clipping margin only just adequate. The 5-pole DIN input was very sensitive with a reasonable clipping margin, but the impedance was rather low, presenting some slight noise degradation (but not as bad as some); distortion and response on microphone and DIN inputs was quite satisfactory. The line input had adequate sensitivity, an excellent clipping margin and no noise or response problems were encountered.

The meters, even in the 'VU' switched position, read more accurately than usual and the peak reading position was superb reading an 8ms toneburst within 0.5dB of the true value! (probably one of the best metering provisions on any deck measured).

Replay azimuth was very well set up, but replay Dolby level calibration was ldB too low. The replay amplifiers were rather average on hiss performance, but chromium gave 3.75dB improvement over ferric, and Dolby an additional 10.5dB (unusually accurate). Replay amplifier clipping measured well and distortion very well. A slight increase of 2nd harmonic distortion was noted at -20dB when Dolby was switched in. The 10kHz probe test measurement showed slightly too much Dolby expansion at low levels. The replay response measured reasonably flat from 63 Hz to 10kHz and showed the correct ratio from ferric to chrome. 8 ohm headphones worked satisfactorily but the volume was slightly on the quiet side into 600 ohm models.

The overall response on Maxell UDXLI was good at the bass end but slightly up at 10kHz, particularly on the right channel, but extending to around 16.5kHz. 333Hz distortion measured well at Dolby level and reached 3.1/4.5% at +4dB L/R respectively. The subjective overall quality was very good and above average, although noise was average, improving by 10.25dB with Dolby. Sony FeCr showed a clear HF boost at 10kHz of around 2.5dB, but distortion measured comparatively well, 333Hz measuring 2.3% at +4dB.

Background noise was slightly inferior to average but sound quality better than most decks on ferri-chrome, and overall Dolby calibration was slightly too low at - ldB. TDK SA on the chrome position produced a very flat response indeed on both channels, but distortion measured unevenly at 2.2% on the left but 4.5% right, rising to 9.7% and 10.9% respectively at 4-4db. We suspect that the record head was saturating with the high bias level, since these distortion figures were much higher than average, although the sound quality up to fairly high levels was reasonable and HF compression was excellent; noise was rather mediocre.

Wow and flutter measured well and speed was reasonably accurate, while spooling was average and HF stability very good. Erasure measured well and crosstalk satisfactorily throughout. Whilst overall response on ferric and pseudo-chrome tapes measured extremely well, the background noise slightly let the machine down.

I am concerned that the distortion levels on TDK SA were not well optimised, but the overall performance of the machine shows it to be clearly better than most previous Technics models. The excellent metering and good ergonomics allows the machine to be recommended, but it is not in the 'best buy' territory.
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Although this machine is a front-loader, it is most unusually styled, having a very low profile but very deep and wide. A superb fluorescent display is provided for metering which can be switched with a lever to normal' VU' type readings, peak-reading or peak-reading with especially bright illumination (slightly variable with a pre-set on the rear).

Additional small and neat levers switch bias and equalisation (ganged), input switching or record mute, memory rewind, remote timing start and Dolby noise reduction with or without mpx filter. A split friction-locked concentric record level control is complemented by a ganged replay one, which also affects headphone monitoring levels. Micro-switched logic-operated deck controls were very much liked, working very smoothly and providing immediate change from one function to another.

This beautifully styled machine incorporates a glass covered door over the cassette compartment which allowed easy loading and was very clearly precision made. The usual phono and DIN sockets are complemented by a large remote control socket at the rear, whilst mono microphone jacks and a stereo headphone jack are on the front panel.

Only just enough microphone sensitivity was provided for electret microphone speech recording, but the clipping margin was good and the sound quality produced was excellent. The available DIN input sensitivity was ludicrously high and yet the clipping margin was good; although the input impedance on the DIN socket was 5.8k ohm, almost no noise degradation was noted, while distortion and response on mic/DIN inputs were both excellent. The phono inputs were reasonably
sensitive, had no clipping problem and a good signal-to-noise performance. Without the mpx filter the line input response was excellent, but with mpx the response cut some 5dB at 15kHz, which is much too much. The fluorescent metering display employs 12 segments for each channel and ranges from - 2dB to +8dB (Dolby level measured at + 1.5dB but was indicated for +3dB). The display was well liked and read short transients very accurately, which is most creditable.

Replay azimuth was very accurately set, and replay hiss levels were significantly inferior to average throughout, although chrome tape and Dolby showed the usual improvements. The replay clipping margin was good but some 2nd harmonic distortion averaging at 0.4% was noted at +6dB, which could contribute to audible distortion on high quality iron pre-recorded tapes made in the future. Very slight bass loss was noted on replay and the 10kHz response showed a tendency to agree more closely with the old BASF standard rather than the new one, thus making the poor hiss performance even more surprising. The ferric/chrome response ratios were very well set. The performance into low impedance headphones was excellent with a good clipping margin, but 600 ohm models will only be just loud enough.

Maxell UDXLI gave a very flat response from 70Hz to 2kHz, but with the bias set centrally, the response rose to +4dB at 15kHz. However, with the bias increased to 4-4, the response was virtually flat from 50Hz to 15kHz, which is very good. Distortion at the nominally correct bias position was very low indeed at Dolby level, rising to 2.2% at 4dB. A Dolby A/B error of -ldB was noted, which is a pity although the pen chart was still very flat with the increased bias; overall noise measured slightly inferior to average but showed 9.5dB improvement. The overall sound quality was very good, showing a very open HF sound but slight bass distortion was noted when the tape was driven fairly hard; speech sounded particularly good with no spitch. Sony FeCr gave a reasonably flat chart with a gentle rise to +2dB at 14kHz; 333Hz distortion measured 4% at Dolby level, rising to only 1.3% at +4dB.

For some reason, the subjective quality was a little disappointing, some spitch being noted on speech and the sound quality was clearly not as good as with UDXLI, noise measuring slightly below average for the tape type, TDK SA penned reasonably flat charts at HF but with the bias set at +2.5 and distortion measured reasonably well, reaching 3.5% at +4dB. Slight HF compression was noted, but in general the sound quality was reasonably good, but not quite 'open' enough, and noise was audibly worse than normal. Wow and flutter and speed accuracy measured exceptionally well, spooling speed was average, and HF stability, unfortunately, slightly below average. Erasure was good and crosstalk adequate.

This machine was well liked by us ergonomically and generally performed very well, but surely the hiss performance should be better and Technics are unwise in attempting to extend the response since this was surely at the expense of hiss. The machine will produce some excellent sound quality, was a delight to use, and can be strongly recommended, but its price is high for a 2-head model. A uniquely styled model which will attract many purchasers.
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The Toshiba 4360 is a front loader with simple facilities, but including input switching; the friction-locked concentric record level control was well liked, but there is no replay gain control. Lever switches operate two positions of bias and equalisation (ferrichrome not recommended), input switching and Dolby function. Phono line input and output sockets and 5-pole DIN are on the rear panel, two mono mike jacks and a stereo headphone jack being on the front.

The cassette mechanism is exposed by lifting a hinged plastic cover, the cassette being loaded manually, while deck operation is completely conventional. The record level meters are allegedly peak reading types, but their transient response, whilst being better than normal ones, was not particularly good, although the response was flat.

The microphone input sensitivity was acceptable, but the clipping margin was rather poor; however, quality was very good, and less hissy than usual. The DIN input was unnecessarily sensitive, and the clipping margin just adequate, but the input noise performance -was much better than usual, despite the input impedance being fairly low which is commendable; response and distortion measured very well here.

The line inputs had adequate sensitivity, and excellent clipping margin signal-to-noise performance. The front end design of this model, apart from the microphone clipping performance, betters most other models despite its fairly low price. Replay azimuth was slightly unsteady, and in any case, mis-set. Replay amplifier hiss levels were average, although chrome equalisation did not reduce hiss quite enough, and
Dolby gave 9.75dB hiss improvement. Slight hum was measurable on replay but was not disturbing subjectively.

The replay amplifier clipping margin was excellent, and distortion generally measured very well. Both ferric arid chrome equalisation positions were extremely well optimised, giving one of the flattest replay responses measured up to 10kHz. Headphone monitoring levels will be found to be slightly loud into 8 ohm models, very loud into 25 ohm ones, and excruciating (ow!) into 600 ohm models, and Toshiba should attend to this.

Fuji FX used on the ferric position penned a very good chart up to 13kHz, although on the left channel the tape/head contact was slightly variable, making pen charting very difficult. 333Hz distortion at Dolby level averaged 0.35% rising to 2.9% at +4dB, and was thus very well optimised. The subjective sound quality was very good, with slight HF compression on high level transients and the head/tape contact problem was not too troublesome subjectively. Overall noise levels measured very well indeed, and much better than average, and showed the normal Dolby improvement. TDK SA, used on the chrome position, also measured very well up to 12kHz, but again the left channel showed slight variations in head/tape contact; 333Hz distortion averaged 0.75% at Dolby level, rising to 3.2% at +4dB. The signal-to-noise ratio was exceptionally good, being the best figure in the survey, Dolby also giving a full lOdB noise improvement. Dolby calibration A/B levels were very accurately set on TDK SA, but Fuji FX showed a +1.75dB error.

The sound quality on SA was described as being very close to the master tape, although slight HF compression was occasionally noticed. The sound quality was thus very much liked by all, and this is most commendable on a fairly inexpensive recorder.

Wow and flutter also measured very well indeed, and speed was set very accurately. HF stability was not too good, and relates to the azimuth variations, but it is fair to assume this to be a sample fault. Chrome erasure was acceptable, but ferric very good, as were crosstalk measurements. The mpx filter is permanently switched in when Dolby processing is used, and gives a 2.25dB loss at 15kHz.

This machine is undoubtedly a great credit to Toshiba, and not only receives a clear recommendation, but is obviously one of the best buys. So many areas of the performance, particularly with respect to noise, are surprisingly good and most creditable, shaming many more expensive recorders. The designers have obviously opted for the wisest frequency response/noise compromise with no attempt to extend the response much above 15kHz. Furthermore, the machine was much liked economically.
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