New cassette player matches high-res audio

[Guermantes]

Found this via the Steve Hoffman forums. But is it MQA certified?
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004328156

Update: Well, the article has been re/moved but here are a couple of other pics and an Amazon link. Seems it uses an "up-convert function" that creates harmonics (aural exciter?) . . .

Perhaps you can add this to the TODO list, Amir

https://www.amazon.com/TOSHIBA-Cassette-TY-AK1-N-Domestic-products】/dp/B07BF3KX9N

 

[top443]

Does it have Dolby NR? Such a weird product..

 

[Frank Dernie]

Why bother?
Even if they find a way of Cassette recordings being better than they were one is still stuck with a relatively expensive unreliable and complex cassette to deal with. Bonkers.

 

[stunta]

Why bother?

Hipsters with disposable income.

 

[amirm]

That looks like a boombox. Was there a spec showing the tape frequency response and dynamic range?

 

[top443]

How much can you even do with the electronics? At some point it becomes all about the tape formula.

 

[DonH56]

Ooo, must have one of those... I surely miss the hiss, dynamic range compression, dropouts, distortion, wow and flutter, unreliable cassettes and players (eating tapes), and all that jazz every bit as much as I miss vinyl...

 

[Guermantes]

I suspect this is aimed at Japanese "silvers" (65+) who still have large libraries of their favourite enka artists on cassette and CD. As a percentage of the total population this is probably the only demographic which is experiencing growth and is becoming a lucrative target market. This is nostalgia allied with neo-tech, packaged in a product that is frugal with space -- something that the Japanese are masters of.

The paradox is that the benefits of Hi-Res are probably lost on ageing ears but Japanese seniors are surprisingly tech savvy. I can imagine my mother-in-law buying one of these.

Toshiba Japan page: http://tlet.co.jp/pro_radicase/ty_ak1/

 

[amirm]

Going back to this slide:

Looks like they are saying this is better because unlike CD, it doesn't have a brickwall filter (in blue).

 

[RayDunzl]

Looks like...

Japanese elders can hear to 30khz.

 

[Guermantes]

I think it is showing the extra "upconverter" output added to the standard CD spectrum. The flow chart suggests that the CD, radio and cassette signals are (re)digitised and then sent to the harmonic enhancer which is added to the ouput to bump it all up to hi-res.

Edit: thanks for the infographic, Ray!

 

[RayDunzl]

The really magical part:

"but also the music heard in the past will be resurrected with the latest sound quality."

 

[amirm]

Ah, so it is not related to tape function.

By the way, I have heard those high-frequency restoration logics. At first they sound nice but after 30 seconds, they sound quite annoying.

There is a better version of it called Spectral Band Replication (SBR) but even that one can be annoying to listen.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Cool man! I still have a fair stash of TDK and Maxell chrome and metal tapes that are new in the plastic. I think I have some Fuji metal cassettes too. Alright!

Got to have my Dolby C though. B just won't do. That way it'll match my Nakamichi machine.

 

[Guermantes]

I still have a fair stash of TDK and Maxell chrome and metal tapes that are new in the plastic. I think I have some Fuji metal cassettes too.

Is that your retirement fund?

 

[watchnerd]

I don't care how high resolution it is, it's not cool if it doesn't have Nakamichi Dragon style tape flipping:

 

[amirm]

The Japanese were sure masters of mechanical engineering then...

 

[Werner]

I don't care how high resolution it is, it's not cool if it doesn't have Nakamichi Dragon style tape flipping:

Dragon does not flip the cassette. Dragon is a conventional auto-reverse deck with
a stationary 4-track replay head. (Actually 6-track, but that is for the automatic
azimuth tracking.)

You are referring to the three UDAR decks: 202, 303, 505.

 

[bennetng]

Ah, so it is not related to tape function.

By the way, I have heard those high-frequency restoration logics. At first they sound nice but after 30 seconds, they sound quite annoying.

There is a better version of it called Spectral Band Replication (SBR) but even that one can be annoying to listen.

SBR is usually used in low bitrate (e.g. < 64kbps) lossy codecs like mp3PRO and AAC. It would be funny to see a "Hi-Res" logo on products utilizing this (or similar) technology.

 

[FrantzM]

WOW! The Audio world is really fishing for "innovation"What the heck is that? ..