Marantz SD-60 - Tape Transport and Noise Reduction; Tape Rewind and Auto Mute; Dolby Noise Reduction Systems; Proper Recording Level Setting

Quick rewind
When the 44 button is pressed without pressing the STOP
button during recording, the tape returns to the position
where the recording was started, and the deck enters the
STOP mode.
Auto rec muting
For eliminating commercials or narration during FM broad-
cast recording or for leaving spaces between selections
during tape dubbing, a non-recorded blank of about
4 seconds can be left by one-touch operation, after which
the deck enters the rec pause mode.
NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEMS
DOLBY B AND DOLBY C NOISE
REDUCTION SYSTEM
DOLBY B NR
The Dolby B Noise Reduction system increases the level of
the low volume mid and high frequency signals during
recording and reduces the level of these signals by an iden-
tical amount during playback. As a result the playback signal
is identical to the original source signal but the level of tape
hiss is reduced.
DOLBY C NR
The Dolby C Noise Reduction system is similar to the B
type. In the C system, however, as the range to be the
increased and decreased during recording and playback are
considerably extended, the level of tape hiss reduced.
PROPER RECORDING LEVEL
One
of
the
beauties
of
music
is
its
dynamic
range,
in
other
words,
the
contrast
between
very
soft
and
very
loud
pas-
sages.
To
capture
this
contrast
on
tape
requires
that
the
re-
cording
levels
be
set
so
that
the
loudest
passages
do
not
saturate
the
tape
and
cause
distortion.
Yet
the
recording
levels
should
not
be
set
too
low
or the
soft
passages
would
simply
disappear
in
the
residual
noise.
If for example, you are recording from a record, you should
at the outset find the loudest section of the record. Insert
a cassette in your tape deck and press the REC buttons.
You can thus adjust the recording level without actually
recording on the tape.
Start the record over at the beginning and depress the
PLAYor PAUSE button to commence recording. If after
setting the recording levels as explained above the record
begins with a soft musical passage, set the levels too low.
Do not give into the temptation of changing them. Keep in
mind that the level readings, when placed in proper
perspective with actual relative loudness levels will fall into
the following areas:
Broad cast human voice: from —10 dB to -5 dB
Loud music (fortissimo): | Approximately +1 dB
Soft music (pianissimo): | Approximately —15 dB
Average music level: from —10 dB to -5 dB
TO CLEAN HEADS
The record/play and erase heads are the most important
parts of the cassette deck. As the tape rubs against the
heads during record and playback brown oxide deposits
from the tape accumulate on the heads, guide and pinch rol-
ler. Even the best cassette tapes will shed some particles of
oxide. The accumulation of this oxide will cause loss of high
frequency response, loss of sound volume, intermittent
sound dropout and unsatisfactory result when recording or
erasing the heads. If the oxide is allowed to build up, it may
cause the heads to wear out prematurely, causing perma-
nent damage.
Open the cassette compartment by pressing the EJECT
button. Clean the heads using a cotton stick as shown in
Figure 2.
To clean the tape path, use cotton swabs and methylated
sprit (available at any pharmacy). Please note that common
“rubbing alcohol” should not be used because of its water
content.
Dip the cotton swab in the alcohol and clean the tape
heads, capstan, guides, pinch roller until no more oxide can
be picked up. If you can see a stripe of brown oxide around
the perimeter of the pinch roller, it is time to clean the entire
tape path.
AUTO TAPE SELECTOR
This unit is equipped with auto tape selector which auto-
matically sets the bias and equalizer level using the detec-
tion holes provided in the cassette shell. The bias and
equalizer level is automatically set according to the type of
cassette as follows. (See Figure 3.)
e@ Normal tapes: EQ; 120uS, Bias; Low
@ CrOztapes: EQ; 70S, Bias; High
e Metaltapes: EQ; 70uS, Bias; Metal
In some metal cassette, the metal detection holes are not
provided. With these cassettes, the CrOz tape type indi-
cator lights up and the recorded sound may be distorted.