Beocord 3500 recording / playback level dfference

[pepps]

I’ve been spending a fair bit of time with my Beocord lately – mainly to get it serviced and working well again and very recently enjoying playing through my old albums and taking advantage of a healthy deck to re-record some old favourites.

I was recording some Transvision Vamp last night and was reminded of something I hadn’t thought about since I was a teenager using my Dad’s Beocord: there is a huge difference in record VU levels and playback VU levels on the Beocord 3500 compared with other Beocords and indeed other cassette decks.

This seems only apparent with Cr02 tapes.

I set the record level to peak in the 2nd red zone (I like the HXPro to work hard) but on playback the VU metre barely gets near to the red zone.
In order to see a nice full recording on the VU metres I have to record with almost a constant red LED illumination – then on playback the recording will occasionally flicker the red LEDs.

This happened on my Dad’s Beocord when he bought it new in the 90s and the same is happening on mine. (My deck has the slower, quieter single belt transport – so I guess it’s a Beocord 3500 thing a across the range of both types od deck?)

Anyone noticed this before? Is there a reason for it?

I’ve recorded to Cr02 on my old Beocord 5500 and 6500 and found the levels to record and playback the same. So I’m just curious as to why the BC3500 is so different.

Julian

(I can create a couple of quick videos if anyone’s interested)

[Dillen]

It’s all down to alignments and which tape types the deck has been calibrated for.
Tapes of different brand or types can be very different indeed.

A couple of hours work, usually, and some instrumentation etc. is needed, but it is
possible to calibrate the Beocord to whatever tape you prefer to use.
(That’s what Beocord 9000 can do at a touch of a button, strictly speaking).

Martin

[pepps]

Aha I see, I didn’t know all that. And for anyone who hasn’t found it yet, there is an excellent write-up of the Beocord 9000 in the Products section of the main website.
I had no idea that deck was so capable!

What I failed to mention was if I use a normal position tape, like a TDK AR, the Beocord 3500 produces some fabulous recordings. Rich in tone and with a clear non-spangly treble. The ferro recordings from this deck can sound very close to the cd I’m recording from when played back through the Beosystem. Very impressive.

[Author]

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