There are certain pieces of audio equipment that churches and studios wish for and other pieces they shouldn’t be without. Beyond question, a major workhorse in my studio is my CD recorder. For several years now, I’ve relied on this piece of equipment and to this day, it performs wonderfully. For this and many other reasons, I’m convinced that a quality CD recorder and a quality cassette deck are a must for all churches and studios. In this review, we’re going to take a look at a unit that combines both into one -- the Tascam CC-222mkII CD Recorder/Cassette Deck.
Needless to say, I was excited to review this piece of equipment. For many years, Tascam has offered a host of quality CD/cassette players, and our church, as an example, uses several throughout the building. The CC-222mkII is different than its predecessors however, because it’s the first combined cassette deck with a CD recorder. In fact, according to Tascam, “the CC-222mkII is the world’s only device that combines a professional- quality stereo cassette deck recorder with a CD recorder in a single product.” If a church records its live service for example, independent CD and cassette masters could be recorded simultaneously and duplication could begin immediately after the service. While this is one potential benefit for churches, as we take a look at the CC- 222mkII, there are a whole host of other great features included.
Out of the Box
The CC-222mkII is housed in a sturdy three-rack-space chassis with nonremovable rack ears and is absolutely loaded with features relative to advanced CD/cassette operation. As we look across the back panel of the CC-222mkII, there are three different input/output (I/O) configura- tions: digital SPDIF connectors, two fiber optic TOSLINK connectors and two sets of unbalanced RCA-type line outputs. The first RCA-type stereo set is for the CD recorder and the second set is for the cassette deck. The RCA connectors allow simple connection to virtually all mixing boards and the digital connectors will benefit those churches and studios using digital consoles. The digital connectors also come in handy for making digital copies from a CD player, MP3 player or MiniDisc player. The last set of inputs on the CC-222mkII are stereo RIAA phonograph inputs with an accompanying ground terminal. Yes, finally a machine that allows us to record vinyl records directly to cassette or CD, without the use of a stereo receiver.
Front Panel Features
The left side of the CC-222mkII features a bi-directional cassette tape transport with a three-position reverse mode switch. This switch allows single-side or bi-directional recording/playback and there’s also a third option for continuous playback. Also found is a pitch control knob allowing variable pitch control for cassette playback, a Dolby noise reduction on/off switch, a record mute button, a counter reset button, an input select button, an input volume knob and an RTZ (return-to-zero) button. The cassette deck also features a nice automatic search feature that allows one-button searching (while in play mode) between tracks.
As I reviewed this unit, the cassette portion of this unit performed flawlessly with very fast rewind and fast-forward speeds. Additionally, the search feature worked particularly well in both rewind and fastforward modes.
The right side of the CC-222mkII features a CD player / recorder capable of reading and writing both CD-R and CD-RW discs. The front panel controls on this side include an input select button, an input volume control knob, a phono button for one-button recording from the phono source, and a CD Timer on/off switch allowing automatic play upon startup. Also included is a CD/Tape continuous play button, a display button, a finalize button, an erase button, a sync record button and a menu button. Track selection and menu functions are achieved by the use of a Multi-Dial knob. Once a desired menu item is found, one push of the knob chooses the selection. Lastly, a headphone jack and volume control is present with a three-position monitor selection switch. The headphone monitoring options are tape, mix (tape and disc) or disc. As with the cassette portion of the machine, the CD player/recorder performed flawlessly during the review. I especially like the fast (one minute on average) finalize time to burn the compact discs.
Internal Dubbing
One of the strongest features found on the CC-222mkII is tape-to-CD and CD-totape internal dubbing. On the front panel are two internal dubbing buttons: DUB 1, which allows one-button tape to CDR/ CD-RW recording and DUB 2, which allows CD-R/CD-RW-to-tape recording. I found this to be one of the most appealing features of the CC-222mkII. As a recording studio owner, I’m constantly asked to make dubs. In fact, during the short time of reviewing this unit, I was asked to make several dubs of cassettes and also vinyl records to CD. The process of making a CD copy of a cassette is simply done by putting a blank CD-R or CD-RW into the disc tray and inserting the cassette. Once the DUB 1 button is selected, the tape automatically rewinds, begins to play and the disc begins recording. With the CC-222mkII, it’s possible to start the dub and then go on to other work. This feature is great for making backups where proper track indexing is not critical. If proper indexing of the CD tracks is desired, then the record button must be manually pressed between tracks.
Features Galore
Thomas Edison once said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspi- ration.” While reading an owner’s manual takes some work, it makes all the difference in fully utilizing the multitude of features found in a unit such as the CC-222mkII. As I’ve mentioned in the previous paragraphs, it’s possible to use the CC-222mkII for basic cassette/CD playback and recording, but much more power lies within this unit. After reading the manual, I was amazed at all of the advanced features available. The on-board editing functions, for instance, offer such features as fade-in and fade-out, record muting, synchronized recording and manual track indexing. While utilizing many of these features, I was able to produce professional sounding compact discs all from within this single unit. Several of the advanced editing capabilities however, were only accessible using the multi-function remote control and were not available through the front panel controls.
In Conclusion
The CC-222mkII is simply a great piece of equipment. On the most basic level, it’s an outstanding cassette deck and CD player/ recorder. As you learn more about the unit however, it quickly becomes apparent that a very sophisticated machine lies within. Churches would clearly benefit from its ease of use and its ability to record CD and cassette masters simultaneously. For the studio owner, a machine like this could be a real workhorse by allowing duplications to be made without tying up the main system. The CC-222mkII is also great for the individual or organization wanting an all-in-one CD/cassette recording deck with built-in editing functions. Whatever the need may be, if you’re at all like me and you can’t live without a quality CD recorder/cassette deck, then the Tascam CC-222mkII, with a street price of $799, could very well be the answer.
D. Scott Kramer is the owner /operator of Electric Station Studios in Germantown Hills, IL. He is also the former technical director of Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois. Grace is a 2,300 member church offering a weekly television and radio ministry.
