Best cassettes for recording?

The FOX C60 would seem to fill the need for a decent Type I given most actual 'new' tape rather than Nos is what we used to call 'Cooking Ferrics', pretty basic stuff like Maxell UL.

 

yep I still have 20 or so year old Maxell`s that run good

 

Tips from someone who transfers tapes for others, let people know what format used, the track arrangement, the speed used, Which recording curve you used. In analog, level and azimuth alignment tones are useful, make the mastering engineer or transfer engineer's job much easier. Cassette tip. For most of cassette's life. C 60 and shorter used thicker tape, C 90 and up used progressively thinner tape stock. After the early 1980's and most pre-recorded cassettes. C 90 stock became the standard. If NR is used, stick to Dolby B when and where possible, or dbx II NR. Those NR formats are much more supported (Dolby B NR is ubiquitous and almost universally used, the DBX Type II outboard decoders somewhat easily found). Also, be conservative on operating levels, especially when using dbx NR. As pushing your levels beyond 0 db on your record meters can cause pumping and breathing artifacts. Just some things to know for tape users. Standard tape formats in open reel, full track mono, half track mono or Stereo, 1/4 track Stereo, rarely 1/4 track mono. 3 3/4 IPS, 7 1/2 IPS, and on professional formats, 15 and 30 IPS are common. In open reel either NAB (IEC II) or CCIR/DIN (IEC I) record/reproduce curves are used. On cassettes, standard speed is 1 7/8 IPS mono and stereo being compatible on standard machines. PortaStudio and other cassette based multi-track equipment usually 3 3/4 IPS, 4 channels on the cassette one direction is most common. PortaStudios used Type II Chrome Equivalent cassette tape formulas. Some Stereo cassette machines (rare) used 3 3/4 IPS and standard 4 track format. Teac had a 2 channel and cue cassette based A/V machine.

 

It's an excellent new formula. And a very nice Type 1, consistent and reliable in cassette media. Something close to TDK AD or Maxell UD quality. However, a caveat. The Teac PortaStudio recorders use Type II tape formulations, usually Japanese Chrome equivalents like the Maxell UDXL, XL II, XL II-S, or TDK SA, SA-X, or their equivalents. The BASF/AGFA/ECP true Chromes require higher bias current, and higher bias voltages on a machine for best results. Just something for you and our original poster to know.

 

Although I don't have a tape to recommend for recording (although I used to use BASF Type II tapes for a time and got good results with them), there is something to mention concerning used tapes (tapes that have already had something recorded on them) that I think should be mentioned: The need for a bulk eraser to completely erase the tape.

The following YouTube video (from Ana[dia]log) explains why you need to bulk erase tapes [especially Type IV] before reuse.

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I found this important when I was using DCC tapes because if you didn't bulk erase them, some of the electronic marks on the tape might still remain and cause problems. As an example, I was playing a DCC tape and suddenly it started fast forwarding on its own to the next track. This is because when I recorded over the tape a Next Mark hadn't been erased (a Next Mark causes the DCC deck to automatically fast forward to the beginning of the next track, handy for bypassing items (like commercials) that you don't want to hear).