The Akai GX912 is perhaps one of the least recognized cassette decks in the professional audio field today. Akai's advertising department and dealers must be to blame, because the unit is not lacking in sound quality, ruggedness, or features. The GX912 is a three head cassette deck, capable of confidence monitoring during recording. Upon insertion of a cassette for recording, the unit automatically adjusts to tape characteristics by recording a short burst to tape. Manual bias control is provided for those not satisfied with automatic alignment. The GX912 has the standard complement of full-logic controls, including forward and reverse program search. The florescent meters are peak hold, but can also monitor the low and high bias response at the touch of a button. The tape counter can display actual time, time remaining, as well as the standard arbitrary counter. Noise reduction is selectable Dolby B or C. Other well thought out features include duplicate front panel RCA jacks for both input and output, and a headphone jack with volume control. The actual enclosure of the unit extends slightly below its two rack space front panel. While the extra space required by the GX912 can be accomodated in the bottom of rack, Akai has thoughtfully provided a blank one rack space panel. I have used many professional cassette decks, including Tascam's best, and have yet to find anything as rock solid as the GX912. Wow and flutter is practically nill and the noise floor is extremely low. When DAT or one-off CD is not convenient, the GX912 fits the bill perfectly. Akai Professional Akai GX912 User Manual