Avocado Memories: Photos of long-forgotten blank cassettes

That's because the Nak is a dual-capstan deck and isn't depending upon the cheap synthetic felt pressure pad Memorex slapped into these shells in order to keep the head in contact with the tape. The leading pinch roller is slightly larger than the trailing pinch roller, so it always keeps the tape taut and rubbing firmly against the head, even if the pressure pad has compressed or fallen out.

All cassette decks should be dual-capstan.

 

Not only that., but the top o' the line Nakamichi moved the tape away from the tape's pressure pad.

 

Them's fighting words.! Yes, Sankyo transports (better Nakamichis, and others) used dissimilar sized capstans to sidestep capstan-induced wow and flutter problems, but the mech needs to be finely tuned to ensure a smooth tape path that doesn't foul the tape.

Good single capstan decks are often preferable if servicing is rare and longevity between rebuilds is needed - so long as the deck's transport is decent to begin with.

 

Mine too, especially Maxell XLIIS.

 

I love the XLIIS, specifically this version. I think it’s 1987.



It feels like the shell is made of some kind of ceramic, it feels really solid compared to any other cassette. Fantastic sound too, I’ve always been a TDK fan but I think this is one of the best chromes available.

I love the BASF Chromes too, though they’re completely different to record on. I wouldn’t want to do it without a 3 head deck.

 

I'd avoid single-capstan decks honestly, since the cassettes themselves have doubtless degraded over the past 30+ years, and even with higher-quality tapes than Memorex I'd be worried about the glue holding pressure pads weakening and allowing the pad to slip or fall off, damaging the tape and possibly the head (or at least resulting in crummy playback).

 

This was true of all dual capstan Naks which came after the 700, not just the TOTL Naks.

 

I have both early and mid 80's epitaxials. They sound great more good in the like the analog-digital transition recordings of high fidelity. One good example of music is the like the de barge recordings and a lot more...
I guess it really depends and a personal preference. I'm already set with the early to later 80's tdk sa. its more analog and warm. Nothing better or best its just a personal preference and depending on the machine and how it was recorded.
The early scotch tapes are excellent too. Anything that was made by 3m in the 80's were really good.
These are some of my recorded tapes since the early 80's in TDK timeline.
TDK high position from left to right its 1977, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991 and so on.....
The early ones are good but the real magic is the longevity. Like what I mention in the previous post its been 30+ years ago since I recorded it and it sounds just like from day 1.
The worst tape I probably use is the low-grade Memorex. I only tried it ones and never again. But I'm pretty sure they have a better higher version. Never really gotten into it.

 

I have quite a lot of these and they are nearly all 100 minute length. I've never had any trouble with them, so I guess Maxwell found adding the extra 10 minutes was okay. It allows more LPs to be recorded in full, though most of mine contain radio stuff. Yes, they sure are solid, if you happen to drop one it's unlikely to shatter.

 

That's a good output on the extra 10 minutes. the more time you get with speed consistency, the better. Ill remember that one. Ive never seen that maxell outer covering before but I recognize the inside jacket.

 

The one thing I always loved about Maxell is that they were built well. But, for me, the sound wasn't always that great no matter what deck I used. TDK was my mainstay, but towards the late 80s, their mechanisms became more flimsy. The pressure pads would bend or break, and the tape skewed more and more. But, they sounded great, otherwise.

The best tapes of either brand were in the early 80s when cassette tape recording hit its stride. My favorites of the TDK like were AD, AD-X, OD, SA, and SA-X. The metal tapes were good, but too expensive. The D tapes were good all-around tapes. Surprisingly, I got great results with them using Dolby S.

My favorite Maxell tapes were the Epitaxial I and II.

 

I always found that the 100 minute cassettes didn't record as well or hold up in the long run in general. 90 min ones were the sweet spot.

 

I have like maybe 5 to 10 (maybe) brand new 100 minute tapes that I never touched for over 30 years. for I remember when I did a recording one time I was getting a chipmunk to Frankenstein speed mode. But that was a "lame" recorder I used and I was thinking maybe it was my unit. I kept the cassettes all these years. Now I'm thinking about trying it on my high speed tape duplicator and see If I can try using it on a Walkman plugged into my car. Been using 90 mins. since...
By the way, I was gonna ask you guys and pretty sure you've experienced a tape speed from cassette running slow. From time to time I play some of these pre recorded cassettes and they run slow like dragging. But when I "tap it to flat" on both sides, spin the reel by pen, its just right one. Put it back on the deck it runs goo and all of a sudden start dragging again. For so many years I never paid attention to it but recently it happened to me on a brand new blank cassette I was recording on in an excellent recorder. What could this be or its just a random phenomena?

 

Absolutely. I had a few Memorex, but 95% of my cassettes were TDK/Maxell.

 

I never had a problem with Maxell XL11S 100 minutes, but 120 minute tapes generally seemed very risky.

 

Anyone had problems with 'railroading' of TDK cassette tapes?

I never experienced the issue but apparently it was a criticism of TDK tapes.

 

I'm not sure about a quality tape like TDK. But I've seen a lot of those on old cheapie cassette tape especially exposed under the sun or excessive heat. Another contribution is a bad mis-aligned player, fast forward and rewind 100 mph..

 

My retirement plan...

 

Tonight will be a perfect time to lay down some track recordings....

 

Just something I read, for example the link in the tapeheads forum below.

Why do TDK tapes railroad so bad? - Tapeheads Tape, Audio and Music Forums

 

Going back a bit... What is the biggest capacity for these playback-master, master tapes?

 

Good question. I only saw them once -- at Tower Records in Chicago. So I grabbed a few 10 minute tapes. I seem to recall they also had 20-minute tapes and, I think 60-minute tapes. But it was the unique, shorter ones I was focused on.

 

Wow. Must sound pretty in mixing. I might wanna try getting that brand. Anyways majority of my c90 recorded tapes are TDK. Used a sony pre-master tapes, its just good to better category. I have a few more ferric-chrome tapes, I wanna use this on the original Ultravox pressing. There's one c90 tape that I recorded all the way from the 80's. Since I played it so much, and its just about to start clouding lately.
Below is a Memorex for fun... young kids mixing tapes back then uses those.

 

Scored some nice Maxell tapes (and some TDK SAs that I've never used before) for $2 each at Goodwill not long ago...

 

Wow! Nice score!