r/ShowaAudio

In the March 1988 SD565 both transports record and play, each with its own auto-reverse. One source, two tapes recorded at once. Or one after the other: with two C90s, three hours without a break. ¥69,800 - about $540 then, roughly $1,360 today.

On the SD385 below it, the left transport is playback only. The SD285 has two wells and no auto-reverse at all.

The SD565 page opens with "Toward the accelerating digital age."

HX stood for High-Position Extra. The powder was metal, but bias and the rest were set for Type II, so decks and boomboxes without a Metal position could use it.

TDK made the powder just for HX: crystals twice as long as in its metal tapes, coercivity kept inside the Type II range. Dark blue shell, the same SP mechanism as MA, and the same price as MA: ¥750 for a C46, about $3 then, roughly $9 today.

In TDK Cassette Tape Maniacs, TDK veteran Yoshino says the market didn't take it, probably because it wasn't the mainstream. "I still think the idea was good (lol)."

The tray slides out like a CD drawer, the cassette lies flat, and the transport is mounted horizontally too. Denon's reason: less axial vibration of the flywheel and less modulation noise. The tray and the cassette stabilizer are a ceramic composite.

The DRS-810G is the three-head one: closed-loop dual capstan, off-tape monitoring, manual bias fine-tuning, and a transport that parks the pinch roller in STOP if the power goes. Grace Gold with wood sides, to match Denon's CD players and DAT decks. ¥69,800 - about $520 then, roughly $1,120 today.

The black DRR-780 does auto-reverse its own way: when recording, an infrared sensor catches the clear leader near the end and the tape flips at speed. ¥49,800 - about $370 then, roughly $800 today. The DRS-610 is the plain two-head one.