Philips N2538 Cassette Deck

This Philips N2538 is a stereo cassette deck with Dolby B and DNL noise reduction, it was first sold by Philips in 1978.

The main features of the Philips N2538 are: 2 heads, mechanical 3 digit tape counter and memory stop, manual tape type selection and capable of handling normal, chrome and ferro-chrome tapes, belt driven single-capstan transport.

Typical front loading cassette deck with the cassette compartiment located on the right side of the deck. Tape eject is operated mechanically and the cassette needs to be placed with the side to be played facing forward in the cassette well.

Level meters used on the N2538 are analog needle VU reading meters with peak indicator for easy adjustment of optimum recording level. Mechanical transport controls for reliable N2538 transport function selection. Cue and review can be used to easily and quickly locate the beginning of a passage.

The Dolby-B system reduces tape hiss on tapes recorded on the N2538 by as much as 10 dB at the highest frequencies. Unlike the various Dolby systems, which require encoding and decoding, the Dynamic noise limiter (DNL) used by Philips in the N2538 works on playback only and reduces noise by as much as 10 dB. The 19kHz multiplex pilot slgnal present in FM stereo broadcasts can cause false triggering of the noise reduction system. The switchable MPX filter of the N2538 filters out the pilot signal, and assuring proper Dolby processing of FM stereo programs.

To make live recordings this deck has 2 microphone inputs to connect microphones with a jack connector. For undisturbed listening a jack connector for a pair of stereo headphones is supplied. Connection to other audio components for plaback can be achieved by a RCA cable and recording from a source by a RCA cable.

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