Nice Remote control, for a tape deck. High-quality, no-nonsense Denon design throughout. Possibly the best consumer tape deck built for the money. To use a car analogy, a true Buick Park Avenue in a world of Ford Festivas and Jaguar X-types.

Poor back panel layout and markings. Capstan motors run even when no tape is inserted. No pause function for playback (only for record use).

I actually have a Denon DR-M34HR (presumably just a newer model numbering of the DR-M30HR). I purchased this deck as an impulse buy at a local pawn shop for the princely sum of $35.00. Now that I have used it, I would have been glad to pay 10 times that amount. This deck has everything I need, and no unessecary frills. Recordings are dead on from their source (be it DCC, DAT, CD, or even vinyl), and playback of pre-recorded tapes is excellent. I would like to have seen dBx noise reduction or Dolby S, but I suppose the deck is to old for the latter. Obviously designed for the long haul, the transport easily disassembles for easy tape head cleaning / alignment / demagnetizing. Transport noise is non-existent, and thanks to the dual power supplies (there are two, although they do share the same transformer), noise from the mechanical circuits being introduced into the audio circuits is not an issue. The only real drwbacks of the deck (mostly a matter of personal preference) is the fact that the capstan drive motors run as long as the deck is powered up, even when no tape is loaded, and the back connector panel is poorly marked (raised black lettering on black background), and the jacks are placed too closely together to use the cables I want to use with it.

Similar Products Used:

A Toshiba 3 head deck built in the late 70's, a Phillips 900 series DCC deck, and a Yamaha Natural Sound 3 head deck.

I've had this deck for almost ten years now and will probably have it for ten more. I remember the salesman recorded a cd track, then played the recording and the cd back simultaneously. I literally couldn't tell which was which, and this was all on a relatively high-end system. I've enjoyed the same performance ever since. About the only thing that I can audibly discern with recordings is that the imaging isn't as tight. This deck doesn't have adjustable sensitivity, but I strictly use Denon tapes which (obviously) match perfectly. I've had Alpine and Soundstream decks in my car, and the tapes made on this deck consistently played at full range--no alignment problems whatsoever. I've kept the heads and rollers clean with Intraclean, I recommend that product too. I don't use this deck as much now as my tapes have been replaced with CD-R's. But if I ever want to play my old recorded cassettes, the fidelity is still there. Denon has always had a reputation for making great cassette decks, and this is one of them.

This is the best deck you can have without buying a Dragon! It's so good that when guys find out I have it, they offer to buy it.

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I bought this receiver back in 1987 so I could record cd's to listen to in my car. The fedelity from tapes recorded on it is increadible. The closest thing to cd quality sound I have found. Even my kids are amazed at how well tapes sound on this thing.

If you can find a used one buy it! If you can't don't ask me, mines not for sale.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Onkyo, Yamaha, Technecis

Spot-on frequency response,
reliability, ease of use

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Like the reviewer below, I've had this deck a long time, since '87. When new. I had an independent technician fine-tune the azimuth to perfect specs, allowing pre-recorded tapes to sound their best.
Back to back comparison with a CD recorded and the source show very little degredation of response, really amazing!
This is a very fine, reliable deck and will remain in my main set-up for the foreseable future, even with the limited use it gets these days