Parasound P6 and tape deck[s]

[nimbus109]

Has anyone had experience cvonnecting a tape deck to a P6? I have a Tandberg cassette deck and TD20A reel to reel along with a Niles passive switching box. Sadly my old PS Audio preamp with a tape loop function has failed and being replaced by the Parasound P6. Thanks for any help.

 

[TLS Guy]

Has anyone had experience cvonnecting a tape deck to a P6? I have a Tandberg cassette deck and TD20A reel to reel along with a Niles passive switching box. Sadly my old PS Audio preamp with a tape loop function has failed and being replaced by the Parasound P6. Thanks for any help.

If you need a tape loop, then you are still using the cassette deck and reel to reel for recording. In that case: - why?

 

[Trebdp83]

 

[TLS Guy]

View attachment 72092

So, he is correct. There is no tape loop. There is limited use for making recordings with magnetic tape. I do very occasionally for specialized jobs. However I get less and less call for tape work, except for archiving to digital. That does not require a tape loop. What does require a tape loop on off board processors, like dbx and Dolby units.

So I do have tape loops. My analog end has three Quad preamps. The Quad 22 (tube) and the Quad 34 has a tape loop and the Quad 44 has two tape loops.

You can see at the analog end the tree preamps, one for each of the turntables, plus reel to reel machines a couple of cassette decks and ofboard dbx, 1 and 2 code encode, and processors and for Dolby A and B off board. The dbx 2 unit can also decode both tape and disc. Playing a dbx LP also requires a tape loop.

The bottom line is that good vintage analog gear still has essential uses, and the good stuff not only maintains its market value, but it continues to increase it, and in recent years quite fast.

So, if the OP wants a tape loop he is going to need a quality vintage preamp between his tape units and the P6.

 

[infoisthub]

If you need a tape loop, then you are still using the cassette deck and reel to reel for recording. In that case: - why?

The Parasound P6 preamplifier does not have a traditional tape loop function, which is typically used for integrating recording devices like your Tandberg cassette deck and TD20A reel-to-reel. However, you can still connect your tape decks by using the available input and output connections. For playback, connect the output (playback) RCA jacks of your tape deck to one of the P6's analog input pairs, such as AUX or CD. For recording, connect the input (record) RCA jacks of your tape deck to the P6's Record Out jacks. This setup allows you to play tapes through the P6 and record audio from the P6 to your tape deck. However, without a dedicated tape loop, you won’t have real-time monitoring of the recording process through the same tape deck. To monitor recordings, you might need a Niles passive switching box or a similar device to manage input and output signals between the P6 and your tape decks. Make sure to select the correct input on the P6 corresponding to the tape deck you want to listen to and adjust recording and playback levels appropriately to avoid distortion or signal loss.