I got this Pioneer CT-W616DR from J&R (jandr.com) for $200 since I saw it for $200 at other places (I trust JandR). The sound is pretty clear. I tried it with Chromium tape only but it sounds really good (have not tried metal tape yet). The only problem is "tape eject is not soft at all, compared to Technics". For quaility that is not so far from CD (tape is tape, it's analog, can't be compared to Digital sound) and price, I gave 4 stars.

I check into this site once in a long while. In an earlier review I had mentioned that the bays ran a little slow. I don't have the article in front of me but I believe it was referring to the fast-forward and rewind speeds. The last reviewer is right when he said you hear things you never heard before playing tapes on this deck. The 20-bit digital conversion doesn't hurt. The first thing peole think about when you mention cassette tape is hiss, inferior sound quality compared to cds, etc. Not with this tape deck. If they only knew what this Pioneer cassette deck can do. Especially at this price (I paid $240 Canadian at Future Shop when they price-matched another store). It's not perfect but man, what a deck.

I recently purchased this tape deck and I am discovering sounds on my cassettes that I had never heard before.When copying other tapes or records on TDK SA90 tapes it is hard to tell the difference from the originals except maybe they are better thanks to the digital controls available . Simple to use or refined advanced fonctions for the more discerning listener, this is one good investment.

I got mine for my birthday this year and the most amazing thing beside it works so well, my friends are always asking where I get my tapes? I ask them why? They say the music so clean and just awesome, when told I make them myself they find it hard to believe and that speaks for itself! Plus I find this very easy tape deck to use. Pioneer keep up the great work, love my sounds!

I have had mind for about 6 months and to tell the truth I really think it is fantastic, before this I had two top of the line Sony's and all I had was problems and I paid allot of money for them. You can find the Sony's in the trash and thank you Pioneer, now I can enjoy life and do my recording.

I have had my Pioneer CT-W616DR for a few months now. I love this deck. The sound is great. Following are some views expressed by reviewers in 2 stereo magazines.
One magazine has this to say: The reviewer mentioned that the feature he liked best was the Auto BLE XD which automatically optimizes any tape for recording level, bias, and EQ, adding an auto-bias control feature that minimizes self-erasure and extends dynamic range, as well as maintaining wide frequency response even at high recording levels. They made some measurements and "show in general that this is an inexpensive double deck that can make recordings or copies with extraordinarily extended frequency response, previously typical of more expensive single 3-head recorders....and profile a recorder that should make tapes that sound very much like their source." The flutter, which ranged between .1 and .15%, depending on where the tape they were, and in which direction it was going (auto-reverse). Both bays exhibited similar performance, which means their cumulative flutter when copying will be somewhat higher. This flutter is audible, and underlines the main weakness of inexpensive decks, their transport mechanisms. Both bays ran a little slow, between .3 and .4%. But the bottom line is that the deck made tapes and copies that were otherwise virtually identical to the source except for a little increased flutter, with no increase in noise, but a slight increase in brightness when using the Digital NR...also did so at double speed, making the best copies I've heard this way, without the restrictions in top end response of most dubbers. If I were making a lot of high speed copies, I'd own at least one of these excellent Pioneer decks.

Another (Stereo Review) has this to say about the CT-07D (big brother of the CT-W616DR but same d/a converter). You can restore missing high frequencies to older tapes by pressing FLEX button. Old Dolby B prerecorded cassettes sounded fifteen years younger, and the clearly audible master-tape hiss in the one quiet intro disappeared entirely in a tape copy. Though physics declares it impossible, I even made a dub of an old tape that seemed quieter than the original. In this close inspection (a/b test with 2 head deck) some wow-and-flutter was detectable in a steel-guitar passage, and generally I detected a slightly "edgier" or "harsher" tonal quality on the dubbed versions. I hasten to add that the effect was very subtle and audible under CRITICAL LISTENING CONDITIONS. The Pioneer cuts out whole bands of frequencies where it does not detect any musical tones, and these are reproduced entirely without hiss. But where music and substantial background hiss occur at the same ibstant, the hiss is detectable. This is not to belittle Pioneer's really STUNNING accomplishment. If you're in the market for a cassette deck, the CT-07D is a "MUST HEAR" product. AFTER HEARING IT, YOU MAY NOT WANT TO BUY ANYTHING ELSE.

A third magazine, Consumer Guide, highly recommends the CT-W616DR.

Here's my opinion. I have used the deck for taping from cds, turntable and cassettes. I cannot tell the difference between the tape copy and cd. The quality is that close. Recordings from the turntable aren't that great. It's ok. Tape to tape dubbing (only tried regular speed) is also excellent. Can't tell any difference between original tape and dubbed copy. I've been told by some people that there usually is some difference, though very minute, when copying from tape to tape. Damn if I can tell. Original tape is Maxell Metal IV and dubbed tape is Maxell Type XL II. Pre-recorded tapes sound clean and more expressive with this deck. Brings new life to older tapes although if the original recording was bad nothing can really help but at least you won't hear the hiss. I highly recommend this deck. If you're recording from cd or play a lot of pre-recorded tapes this deck will sound great. On one high-end Sony tape deck I could clearly hear the loud hiss from one tape which was absent (yes) on the Pioneer CT-W616DR. That really brought it home for me.

I bought this deck for one month. I made several copies from CDs using maxell XL-II tape and find the sound is great. My friend can not tell the differences between copies and originals. I found the brightness of the copies is sometimes a little bit different from original ones. But the sound quality is not inferior to the originals at all.
I opened the cover a couple of times. Did not find the D/A and A/D converter chip that pioneer showed on their catalog. Maybe it is on the board for front display. I don't think transmission system is robust, one motor for all the movement and there are lots of belts in the transmission. Right now the transmission works fine, no watery sound at all. I just worried whether it is going to keep this way for the coming years.

I give it a 4 star for the performance.

Forgot to add that I cannot hear any flutter at all. 95% of users will not notice any flutter. However, if you know what you're looking for and listen real hard you may hear it in some slow classical guitar passage. But for the average person, I doubt it. I may be wrong of course.