Auto reverse - saves you having to turn tapes over at the end of a side. Very useful in making long unattended recordings when both sides of the tape are required, or for uninterrupted music playback of sides A & B of a tape.

Twin auto-reverse cassette decks have "Relay" auto-reverse facilities which will play both sides of both tapes and twin auto-reverse recorders will record up to four hours non-stop on two 120 minute cassettes!

Auto tape calibration is a system which enables users to obtain the very best results from their cassette recorders.

When a tape is loaded, the recorder samples it and sets its internal bias and equalization to the specific tape inside so that the results you obtain will be the very best possible with each cassette.

Bias control -  allows you to calibrate the cassette deck's electronics to the specific tape formulation in the cassette you are using.

Dolby Noise Reduction - a system designed to reduce the noise and hiss inherent with the tape format, without impairing overall sound quality. There are currently three systems which have been developed and are progressively more effective: "B", "C" & "S". Dolby "S" cassette recorders tend to be a little more expensive as this is the latest technology.

Another Dolby enhancement is "HX-Pro" - a recording system which enables loud passages to be recorded with less distortion and loss of detail.

Headphone socket - handy if you want to monitor your tapes during recording without adjusting your amplifier's settings, if your amplifier doesn't have its own headphone socket or to listen to a tape privately whilst someone else uses the amplifier.

High speed dubbing - found on twin cassette decks. Perfect if you do a lot of tape copying, the system doubles the record and playback speed of the two cassette decks simultaneously enabling tapes to be copied in half the usual time.

Music search - skips between tracks on a tape. These are detected by the cassette deck searching for the silent gaps between tracks.

Real time counter - used to give an accurate minute and second readout of elapsed tape time.

Record balance - allows you to compensate for a left of right bias in the levels during recording.

Remote sensor - built in to many cassette recorders, this feature enables the use of a system remote handset from the same brand to control tape transport functions. So for example, if you had a Yamaha amplifier which came with a system remote control, you would be able to use the handset to control a Yamaha tape deck if it had a remote sensor built in.

Three heads - are better than two! By separating the record and playback heads (these usually occupy a single mounting) you will achieve better results on playback and recordings. In addition, you will be able to monitor a recording as it is being made to ensure that nothing is amiss. For example you can hear the effects of adjusting the record level or bias control on a tape in real time.

Timer recording/playback - automatically activates the cassette deck's record or playback function when the deck received power. Can be controlled from a plug-in mains timer.

Track search - is used on many cassette decks to help users find specific tracks. The unit searches the tape for the silent gaps in-between tracks and assumes these to be the points where new tracks begin. Although not 100% full-proof (some recording have no gaps between tracks) it is a very useful tape navigation facility.