Pyle Home Dual Cassette Deck | Music Recording Device with RCA Cables | Removable Rack Mounting Hardware | CrO2 Tape Selector | Built-in 3 Digit Tape Counter - 110V/220V

This review is about the Pyle Home Dual Cassette Deck PT-649D (a.k.a. model number 8541737998). This tape deck works well, its minimum of controls do what they say, there’s no coloration of sound, the moving parts are smooth & consistent and this unit gets the job done. I've owned many tape decks through the years, and I had no expectations of receiving a super high-quality, professional-level tape deck at this price point, the PT-649D performs its few functions just about perfectly. I primarily use this tape deck to digitize old cassette recordings of original music, family recordings and the like, and it has performed flawlessly in this regard so far. My only complaint is that it’s listed as being compatible with a standard, 19” wide audio/video component rack, but the unit is too narrow, even when the provided metal “ears” are attached to the tape deck’s case. That's only a minor drawback in the grand scheme. In every other way, this tape deck provides excellent value for the money, especially all these years after cassettes lost favor with the music buying public and only audio geeks like me continued using them.

Aug 2023 Update: After using this deck more, and doing a number of direct A/B fidelity sound checks, I concluded it has the same listening limitations I found in a the Marantz deck (which has been discontinued). This is not surprising as the two decks appear to be manufactured by the same company, and the limitations I can hear are "baked in" the specifications. I had trusted the Pyle one-year warranty and they were willing to pay me to ship the item to their warranty repair vendor, and also pay shipping to return it to me. Verdict: It functions within their expected performance parameters. I accept their results and appreciated their willingness to test the tape deck under warranty. In the end, I think this product doesn't meet my personal standards for wow and flutter, and the audio quality of the record and play heads is too far below what I'm used to. I could say it's a case of you get what you pay for, but Pyle has sold hundreds of these decks so I think they perform well enough for most people. At only $160 (current price on Amazon), they are probably a good value for the casual listener. After watching the market for months, I eventually gave in and purchased a new Tascam model on sale ($450) which I trust will meet my audio needs. Also an update on Marantz's warranty service (below). At first they said they couldn't repair or replace it because they no longer sell them, but they eventually gave me a $300 voucher to use at an affiliated audio products supply website, so that was a satisfactory resolution.Jan 2023: Reviewing this product early to get the free extended warranty, and will do a more extensive review after I've had more experience with the tape deck. This is the same basic machine used by "Marantz Professional," and I had to quit using one of those due to several defects. When I tried to get warranty service, was told they no long produce them and have no parts so, tough luck. Already this Pyle deck works better, as it should, when loading tapes. But I want to check its sound quality further so will update soon on Amazon. Also Pyle's warranty service seems to be solidly behind the product. They're not afraid of reviews, good or bad.

Nothing fancyJust the added device I needed to convert cassettes to digital format.

I have been looking for a replacement for my Radio Shack model bought in the 90s. Works great. Used often

Piece of junk. I would like to give it a zero. Door jams when loading the tape. It ate a couple of tapes. The reverse on the second deck did not work. This is made to look like a quality deck but it's anything but. Not worth my time to send back. I've taken it upon myself to warn other people to not buy it. Amazon shouldn't be selling this

Returned a defective unit and received a different model than reordered. I will keep it because it mostly works and don't want to chance to more mishandling by Amazon and Pyle. Recommendation: don't click on the reorder function in Amazon and don't buy from Pyle

I agree with most of the other reviews. My AV experience is over 50 + years, built my own amplifiers and components. Tape drive "A" door difficult to load, noisy to a distraction when running. Tape drive "B" better loading, a little less noisy running. Recording on Maxell tape yielded ok audio but wow and flutter noticeable. Direct comparison with my old Sony dual tape drive system (25 years old) in same AV amplifier shows PYLE unit exhibiting lower recording sound quality and has remarkably noisier drives. Drive switch levers are hard to activate and often do not engage.Paper documentation is rudimentary and pictures do not match the purchased Pyle unit. 110/220 V switch in documentation is missing from the Pyle hardware as well as "remote" input reference in the diagrams.Overall, an experienced audiophile can get past the sophomoric documentation and noisy drives, but the play/record sound quality could be better. Poor mechanic performance usually leads to low reliability and reduced product life. For the $, the Pyle unit is okay if it lasts, hence the 3 star rating.

I've found myself accumulating a surprising amount of cassette tapes of late and decided to break down and invest in a decent deck. This one fits the bill. Easy enough to operate, sound is probably as good as one can get from cassette tape. I haven't tried recording anything with it, and doubt I ever will, but it fills a void in my sound reproduction universe.