The Taikan MUSE:dual-slot 8-track player
The Taikan MUSE:by David Pearlman dap@vpharm.com
The Taikan MUSE appears to be a unit that was made for either DJ'ing or Kareoke. Here are some of the interesting features:
 |
The Controls |
1) Two slots/players which are daisychained, so that when one stops the second plays
2) Digital LED output of the track that's playing
3) LCD VU meters (!)
4) All solenoid controls
5) Electronic speed control, with a speed control knob on the front that can be used to adjust the speed by several percent in either direction
6) When the splice is reached, the tape just stops. It doesn't switch tracks, it doesn't continue, it doesn't pop out. It just stops. To start the tape, you insert it in the slot and then you push "play" (you can insert it into the slot and nothing happens)!
7) The unit appears to have a music sensor circuit built in, and sometimes when the end of a track is reached, it'll fast forward to the end of the program.
8) It has an option for playing in "4" track or "8" track mode. 4 track mode is standard "8-track" stereo mode. "8" track mode means each of the 8 mono tracks on the tape can be played separately, and the output is piped as mono to the two speakers!
 |
| The "innards" of the MUSE -- click on the circuit board for a close up of the IC's |
When you open the thing up, you find a LOT of integrated circuits. Most of the 8-tracks I've seen have few/no ICs... I've never heard of the company who made this. Perhaps someone can help?
