A cassette tape machine has a cassette receiver in form of a drawer which pulls out from the front panel of the machine, so that the cassetts may be placed into it from above in flat condition even if the top surface of the machine itself is inaccessible. The capstan drive, preferably a direct drive, is mounted in the cassette receiver, immediately below the cassette nest, so that no variations in the tape speed--resulting in wow and flutter--are introduced by the need to transmit motion to the capstan from a remote location of the drive.