FOSTEX

The MC102 combines a rackmount 12-channel mixer with a Dolby C-equipped cassette deck. Though essentially a line mixer, it also has two channels with variable gain which can thus accept mic, line or instrument level signals, making it practical to add a live vocal to a sequenced backing track. Only these two channels are provided with EQ, a shelving hi-/lo system operating at 100Hz and 10kHz. All channels have solo buttons, level and pan controls and an Aux control; there are two aux send busses but each channel can only access one at a time. There’s also a stereo aux return on the rear panel.
The MC102’s cassette deck is designed to work with Type II tape only and claims a frequency response of 40 Hz-14 kHz. It is a standard two-head, single-motor transport with a variable speed range of +/-10%.
This is a simple, practical product. The mixer is fine for basic keyboard mixing or for adding vocals to electronic instruments, while the cassette deck provides a convenient way to record the mix, though it has been built to a price and so is not suitable for really heavy professional work. Also note that there is no Dolby B option. This unit should appeal to the home MIDI studio owner, the cassette multitrack user who wants more mixer channels, or the live performer who uses backing tapes and requires something portable.