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Cassette deck
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=== Early cassette decks === [[Image:TeacTopCassetteDeck.jpg|thumb|right|Typical top loading stereo cassette deck from mid-1970s]] Early recorders were intended for [[Dictation (exercise)|dictation]] and journalists and were typically hand-held battery-powered devices with built-in microphones and [[automatic gain control]] on recording. Tape recorder audio-quality had improved by the mid-1970s, and a cassette deck with manual level controls and [[VU meter]]s became a standard component of home high-fidelity systems.<ref name=BILLREP1 /> Eventually the reel-to-reel recorder was completely displaced. There were usage constraints due to their large size, along with expense, and the inconvenience of threading and rewinding the tape reels. Cassettes are more portable and can be stopped and immediately removed in the middle of playback without rewinding. Cassettes became extremely popular for automotive and other portable music applications. Although pre-recorded cassettes were widely available, many users would combine ([[Dubbing (music)|dub]]) songs from their [[vinyl record]]s or other cassettes to make a new custom [[mixtape]] cassette. In 1970, the [[Advent Corporation]] combined [[Dolby B noise reduction]] system with [[chromium dioxide]] (CrO<sub>2</sub>) tape to create the [[Advent Model 200]], the first high-fidelity cassette deck.<ref>[http://www.davidreaton.com/Cassette_Decks.htm Advent cassette decks] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625174438/http://www.davidreaton.com/Cassette_Decks.htm |date=June 25, 2009 }}</ref> Dolby B uses volume [[companding]] of high frequencies to boost low-level treble information by up to 9 dB, reducing them (and the hiss) on playback. CrO<sub>2</sub> used different bias and equalization settings to reduce the overall noise level and extend the high-frequency response. Together these allowed a usefully flat frequency response beyond 15 kHz for the first time. This deck was based on a top-loading mechanism by Nakamichi. The follow-on Model 201 was based on a more reliable transport made by [[Wollensak]]. Both models featured an unusual single VU meter that could be switched between or for both channels. The Model 200 featured [[piano key]] style transport controls, with the Model 201 using the distinctive combination of a separate lever for rewind and fast forward and the large play and stop button as found on Wollensak commercial reel-to-reel machines of the era. [[File:BASF TapeDeck D 6135.jpg|thumb|Typical front-loading deck from the late 1970s onward (BASF D-6135 introduced 1979)]] Most manufacturers adopted a standard top-loading format with [[piano key]] controls, dual VU meters, and slider level controls. There were then a variety of configurations leading to the next standard format in the late 1970s, which settled on front-loading with cassette well on one side, dual VU meters on the other, and later dual-cassette decks with meters in the middle. Mechanical controls were replaced with electronic push buttons controlling [[solenoid]] mechanical actuators, though low-cost models would retain mechanical controls. Some models could search for and count gaps between songs.<!--[[User:Kvng/RTH]]-->
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