Sunday, September 30, 2018

Olympus Microcassette Dictaphone

Olympus T500 Microcassette Transcriber
Typecast051
Olympus T500 Microcassette Transcriber
Typecast052

Post-Script: Though this is a ruggedly-built machine, its Achilles heel might prove to be that small triangular cross-section belt, which I understand is well nigh impossible to acquire. Hopefully it'll continue to function for a while longer. Perhaps I should look into one of those Sony M-2000 units - for research purposes only, of course!

I was surprised by the frequency response of the tapes played in this device, even though they were recorded in a handheld microcassette recorder. Perhaps it's more than just the bigger speaker of the Olympus, maybe the playback amplifier has better response? Sounds like (pun alert) I should record some music into a microcassette, then play it through this machine and compare the results.

Those Sound Tech MC-45 tapes look and sound pretty good, especially considering the price I paid on Amazon, just over $2 per tape. Good to know new tapes are still available, especially if one wants to do some tape-based journals and letters.

Here's the video about this dictaphone.



Typecast via Webster XL-747 (aka Webro), sporting a silk ribbon from Ribbons Unlimited.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Bill M said...

I never knew Olympus made dictating machines. Nice find. Sounds like it's time to get out the old AF generator and oscilloscope and compare cassette deck frequency response.

2:34 AM  
Blogger Ted said...

Oh heads up, I just picked up the Service manual for the Marantz PMD-201 and 221. Should arrive sometime the coming week and then onto the scanner. I'll shoot you a copy for your 221. Prolly need to replace belts in my secondary 201 after last weeks session.

9:57 AM  

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