| Brand Name: | Harman Kardon |
| Color Name: | Black |
Product Specifications
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com Review
A cassette deck may not top your current list of hot components to try out, but this HK dual-well deck is a sizzler. We loved the DC520's design, operation, sound, and looks--nothing gets in the way of recording and enjoying good music here.
Setup and the realization of the deck's many functions were both instantaneous--a quick review of the DC520's attractive front panel is all you need (there's no remote, after all). The two-color display shows deck status, record mode, tape direction, and tape counters. A small balance knob governs a large input-level adjuster, a two-position switch manages the auto-reverse feature, and a Dolby NR (noise reduction) setting lets you select Dolby B, C, or "off."
Other functions include high-speed dubbing, record mute (which inserts a four-second pause during recording), and a sexy feature called Sync Reverse, which uses auto-reverse to intelligently manage tape copying with tapes of unequal length. If the playback tape is longer, the tape being recorded will end up missing the ends of each side. If the record tape is longer, the DC520 will wait until the record tape winds to the end of its first side before starting in on the second side of the playback cassette.
The DC520's most salient feature has to be its sound, and at a time when CD and minidisc are coupling to inch the poor old cassette off the playing field, that's saying a lot! The fact is, though, we all have boxes of old tapes lying around that we just can't bear to part with, and the DC520 made it fun to dig them out and give 'em another pull across the tape heads. Tapes that were 15 years old--rife with dropouts and fading signals--came to life again in the wells of this deck. The DC520 brings a stability and warble-free confidence to the playback that other cassette decks (to say nothing of boomboxes) can't seem to muster.
The recordings we made sounded clean and punchy, much like their digital sources. Dolby HX Pro reportedly allows the deck to accurately record distortion-free treble frequencies at high input levels. Owing it to HX Pro or not, the DC520 performed very well under duress; distortion was not apparent even when levels were pushing the +6 dB maximum on the meter.
In recording, the pause button works great, letting you pause and resume on a dime for quick transitions on mixed tapes. But while the pause button makes perfectly silent transitions, stopping a recording leaves a sizeable click on the tape. So if it's between hitting Stop and letting the tape run to its end, choose the latter. (There is no click when pressing Record.)
Noise reduction was hit and miss. Dolby C effectively reduces tape hiss, but the sound quality is not as pleasing as it is with Dolby B or, best of all, Dolby off. If you're taping busy music like pop, rock, or much jazz, don't bother with the Dolby--you'll never notice the tape hiss. Dolby C comes in handy, however, with classical music or other dynamic material, keeping quiet notes from being buried under tape hiss.
Scant few component cassette decks include volume controls for their headphone jacks, and the DC520 follows the herd here--as if tapes were inherently recorded at the level at which you want to listen to them!
Quibbles aside, the DC520 is a remarkable cassette deck, offering optimal recording and playback of a convenient little format that refuses to die. --Michael Mikesell
Pros:
- Simple setup and operation
- Great sound
- Responsive, full-logic controls
- Forgiving record levels
- Durable construction
Cons:
- No remote control
- Records a click when you hit Stop
- No volume control for headphone jack
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
88 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
H/K Cassette Deck sub-par,
By A Customer
This review is from: Harman Kardon DC520 Dual Cassette Deck (Electronics)
My first cassette deck was a JVC TDW-354. It broke about once every three months for three years, so I took it back to Best Buy and got this deck. Being a Harmon Kardon I expected great things from it. Wrong. No mic input, no song search, no headphone volume control, no Dolby S, clunky mechanisms and buttons, and a cheesy display. The deck has decent sound when used with dolby B, but using C noise reductions brings about excessively recessed mid to treble response. Seriously, I preferred the sound of my JVC, which was $150 less, and it had more features. CD to tape recording on metal tape was ok, but the deck picked up a hum from somewhere, which was extremely annoying. That may not be the deck's fault though. On the bright side, it is nicely styled, and impresses some of my friends. Thank God I only paid $50 for it (because of in-store credit and a scratch on the top). Any more and I would've felt ripped off. Still, it has been very reliable, but I hope H/K learns something from this.
85 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
HK DC520 Dual Cassette not up to Harmon Kardon reputation,
By A Customer
This review is from: Harman Kardon DC520 Dual Cassette Deck (Electronics)
I had the HK DC520 in my home for about a week. I am predisposed to like Harmon Kardon products, having owned them for many years. I was disappointed with the performance of this tape deck. Playback varied greatly from tape well to tape well, and with the direction the tape was rolling. The unit was very sensitive to slight problems with my older tapes (made on a Harmon Kardon unit). Sound quality on tapes made on this unit was poor, especially when using Dolby C. I had expected more because of the name plate, but these shortcomings are typical of auto-reverse units. I have since picked up a Sony single-well non-auto-reversing deck (for less money) and am thrilled with the sound and the way it handles my old tapes. It features Dolby S in addition to B and C and sounds great no matter what you choose. It even has an automatic bias calibration that lets you optimize performance from individual tapes.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't waste your money...,
By Ferrara Brain Pan (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Harman Kardon DC520 Dual Cassette Deck (Electronics)
Like the two preceding reviewers, I had much higher expectations for this product. My previous home stereo was a Harman/Kardon, so when I decided to upgrade I sold my old system & got the HK 3370 stereo receiver (*****), FL 8380 CD changer (***), CDR 20 CD record/play deck (haven't yet thoroughly tested it out), and this cassette deck. What a disappointment. My previous HK dual cassette deck, the DC 5300, was a solid, high-quality component. (Now I'm kicking myself for selling it). But when I pulled this lightweight article out of the box and started pushing the clunky front-panel controls, I knew I'd been had. Then I put in one of my home compilation tapes (recorded on high-bias tape with Dolby C on my old DC 5300), looked at the 'cheesy' numeric display (the DC 5300 gave tape times in minutes and seconds whereas this unit gives only numerically useless 'tape counters') and heard the low muffled fidelity, and my heart sank. I tried switching the Dolby to B and 'Off' for playback, to no avail. Harman/Kardon's receivers are topnotch, and their products in general have a deservedly high reputation. But if they're not going to market a better cassette deck than this one (it's their only model tape deck), they ought not bother even addressing the dwindling demand for cassette machines among audiophiles, and leave the manufacturing of cassette decks to mass-market companies like Sony or high-end specialists such as Marantz. Cassettes are going the way of the 8-track tape, anyways, so returning this unit to amazon.com for a refund was not a difficult decision. I think if I want to continue to listen to my cassettes I'll just buy a good Walkman. (...)
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