User manual NAKAMICHI BX1 REVIEW

[. . . ] Manufacturer: Nakamichi Corp. , Japan; U. S. Corp. , 1101 Colorado Ave. , Santa Monica, Calif. [. . . ] The omission we most regret is Dolby C, which would banish the slight residual hiss left by Dolby B. That would yield the most audible improvement we can think of over what the BX-I actually provides. If you want Dolby C, along with a number of features that are nice to have (but are not, in our opinion, of equal importance), Nakamichi gives you the option of spending about $150 more on the BX-2. however-especially those who don't do live recording, who listen primarily to prerecorded tapes, or who want to play their tapes on other dccks (especially portable o r car units)-the "stripped-down" Ilolhy B model will provide all thc neccssitic\ and then some. Other tcatures that must be passed up are finetuning adjustments for matching the deck to a variety of tapes (included on most Nakamichi decks and important to thc serious recordiht. all random-access indexing functions, a separate playback (monitoring) head, microphone inputs, and two features that are included in the BX-2: recording mute and an output level control. The list of features Nakamichi has been able to retain is impressive. The drive logic is essentially the same as those in the company's midpriced front-loaders of recent years. The timer options (automatic playback or recording with an appropriate switching device, including Nakamichi's own) are a somewhat unexpected luxury. The metering is typically Nakamichi: easilyread quick-rise, slow-decay peak indicat o r s , t h o u g h the calibration range (-35 to + 5 dB) and minimum element spacing (2 dB just above the 0-dB mark) aren't quite as generous as on the more expensive models. Perhaps nicest of all the front-panel features is the use of a single master-level slider in conjunction with a separate balance slider to control recording AUDIO New Equipment Reports TRANSPORTCONTROLS RECORDING ADJUST. BALANCE) EJECT AC POWER TIMER MODE (PLA. YI0FF IRECORD) EQ (120170 @EC) DOLBY B (ONIOFF) HEADPHONES MEMORY STOP (ON OFF) TAPE SELECT. (11214) SIN RATIO (re DIN 0 dB; RIP; CCIRIARM-weighted) Type 2 tape Type 4 tape Type 1 tape without noise reduction 54 dB 52% dB 51%. dB with Dolby B 64V4 dB 63 dB 61Y4 dB INDICATOR READINGS FOR DIN 0 DB (315 Hz) + 3 dB (with 1. 4% THD) Type 2 tape t 3 dB (with 1. O% THD) Type 4 tape +3 dB (w~th 1. 1% THD) Type 1 tape INDICATOR READINGS FOR 3% DISTORTION (315 Hz) Type 2 tape + 5 dB (for + 2 dB DIN) Type 4 tape + 5 dB (for +31h dB DIN) + 5 dB (for +21/4 dB DIN) Type 1 tape DISTORTION (third harmonic; at -10 dB DIN) Type 2 tape 5 0. 80%, 50 Hz to 5 kHz Type 4 tape 5 0. 48%, 50 Hz to 5 kHz Type 1 tape 5 0. 62%. [. . . ] Like all Nakamichi products, it is somewhat nonconformist-particularly in its use of just three rocker panels to control all six transport functions: pause1 recording-interlock, playlstop, and fastforwardlrewind. Which of the paired functions you activate depends on which side of the panel you press. [. . . ]