This Cassette Deck is a superb product. It has all the features you'd want for this year. It includes a built in mic level mixer, 3 bias levels and most important the 3 head design allowing you to monitor the actual recording WHILE you are making it. The Record/Play heads are made of a highly polished "glass like" ferrite, which is one of the hardest head substances there is. The bottom line is, they last a long time and do not easily develop a groove. It has been said, this substance creates a different "flavor" to the recording which some find "harsh". This might manifest itself as a slight "brassy" crispness . Personally, I think,for the decks that use this type of head, there are other factors at play besides the head. Since the high end frequency response degrades rapidlly with head wear it seems the durable nature of this type of head outweighs any variences in "flavor". See for yourself; hearing is believeing.(Dave is an audio repair specialists with 20 years experience in his field).