Nakamichi Dragon Performance with Type II tapes

Nakamichi tape was re-branded TDK, supposedly "center cut". It is true that metal tape will perform slightly better at the frequency extremes, but I usually preferred the chrome tapes, which sounded more uniform and "musical" to me, and less expensive. The slight loss you heard is a limitation of cassette tape. It could never quite match a high-end vinyl rig. I wouldn't worry about it. The only way to come really close to vinyl is with a very fine, well adjusted, reel-to-reel; but the fact is, no copy can be as good as the origianl medium. BTW, even a "mint" Dragon almost certainly needs some attention at this point; it is pretty old, and they are very complex. I sent mine to Willy Herman, who did fine work at a very reasonable price.

I had no idea metal tape cost so much now. I have not used my Dragon for recording in several decades. But Inna, with all due respect, back in the day I really did prefer the sound of chrome tape. Metal always sounded a bit harsh to me, better specs notwithstanding. I was not the only one who came to that conclusion. Metal "superiority" was analogous to the way solid state gear sounded in the 70's and 80's during the "spec wars". So, Livin, you might just experiment, with an open mind.

cassettes are so limited in the high frequencies, that when archiving a cassette to digital now, I usually play it back without Dolby decoding, then e.q. They sound pretty dull, otherwise.