Favorite Blank Cassette Tape (including the old stuff you can't get now)

Better stuff...Of course...I wouldn't put a valuable bootleg on just any tape...

 

Oops, make that UX Pro.

 

OK...not all ideas work out...

 

And somethings are cool...but don't catch on because of the price.

 

Hey, Doug. Ever think of burning that Clapton onto a CDR and distributing it to your pals here?

On a related note, when most of you burn CDRs from analogue sources like LPs, do you try to feed the signal directly from the turntable into the computer? Due to the immobility of my computer and stereo (in different rooms), I usually make a tape of the LP and then burn the cassette recording. The quality seems about as good as the LP, but I'm sure you lose something in the translation onto cassette, even with the Dolby noise reduction. Still, it beats getting out and cleaning the LP, plus with 2 kids, it's hard to play LPs- the stomping and running around tends to make the record skip. How do the rest of you handle the burning of your LPs onto CDR?

 

Well...I guess nobody ever asked...since nobody knew I had it.

As for copying to CDR from album, I borrow my brother's SONY DAT deck so I can record in the basement with the concrete floor so when I'm dubbing into the computer and the cats run through the house and shake the floor, it doesn't bother anything.

 

Losing streak? Sony Invented DSD and SACD. Audiophiles are unreasonable about bashing Sony.

 

I always was a TDK - SA man mysef, I must have over 2 dozen radio concerts on that tape. I never had a dropout problem. My backup brand was Maxell UD-XLII, which I found to be slightly WORSE for wear than the TDK's.

 

Yup. taping the stuff to analog cassette first is definately distorting the sound and adding noise.

I used to be in somewhat the same boat when I started out, only being able to move my DAT deck around. I used to tape the LP to DAT first via analog at 48k, 16-bit. Then I would transfer it to the soundcard analog. So, that was three conversions and distortion caused by the analog cables. Then, I tried plugging the turntable directly into the card, using software to do the RIAA EQ. That didn't work too well, either. Then, when I moved, I was able to get it all into the same room and hooked my amp to the card. I also use audiophile cable. The results are much better since i'm no longer feeding a 16-bit DAT into the card. Better to get a good analog signal for the card to play with.

 

I think just about every cassette I ever owned eventually wound up (perfect pun) wrapped around my car player's tape heads....

Lest we not forget the warble ø°°Ëº°`°ø,¸¸,ø°Ëº°`°º°Ëø,¸¸,ø°Ëº°`°º°°Ëø, syndrome which was an equally common plight.

My poor cassettes were no match for the California summer heat.


Borrowed that wavey from one of our forum friends!

 

I used to use BASF (remember those?), but I think they stopped making them or I just couldn't find them anymore so I switched to Maxell XL-II's. Used those up until 3 years ago when I got the CD Recorder. I still have a bunch in the closet, full of vinyl compilations. Ah, the good old days. (It wasn't really that long ago, just seems that way now.)

 

As I had mentioned in other posts- I had recently pulled out my old cassette case. I had bought a NAK CR-4a back in '89 specifically to record tapes from my high-end LP's and CD's of the time(never thought I'd ever have CD in car). If the deck has 50 hours of use- i am lucky.

Anyway- I had used mainly TDK, and some DENON tapes. I used TDK SA mainly for "normal" LP dupes, but when it came to any of my MFSL LP's or Japanese pressings, or CD's I used TDK SA-X, TDK HS-X, or DENON HD 7 or HD 8. I had always believed the hype of using better grade tapes in duping CD's. You all have heard the line- "Ya can pay me now- or ya can pay me later".

I am extremely pleased with how these have held up. I even have a DENON 100 minute HD 7 or HD 8 that I had duped a concert from VHS HiFi(Phil Collins Seriously Live), and it still sounds great after 10 years. This is probably the one tape I have listened to more than any others.

Does anyone remember the tapes with the clear housings and the Mini-open reels? I still have a few of these, and there don't seem to be any binding up. I will have to take a good listening for quality. The ones I have were branded by TEAC, although I don't know who actually made them. I bought them strictly for the length of the tape believe it or not, as I had some live lp that was 100 minutes in length(Rennaisance Live @ Carnegie Hall). It is a TEAC - Sound/52. I think they only came in type 1 formulation, they have the clear housing with gold tinted mini "open reels" inside. Quite the gimic.

 

I had one of thoes Teac's. It was a weird length, probably 52. Terrible tape, cool looking though!

 

Hi,

Hey T,

Ya are losing a lot w/ this technique. May wanna rethink that Dolby thing. May wanna get a pro burner so ya can cut out the cassette generation.

Let The Good Times Roll,
Jeffrey

 

Actually, Dolby is not a problem IF the recorder parameters are set correctly for the tape used. Anything can throw off the Dolby circuits in decoding. It's better if one has a deck with adjustable bias, EQ (sensitivity), and has three head monitoring. It goes withous saying the Dolby encoding and decoding should be complientary. Dolby B is the most forgiving of playback errors. Dolby S is very forgiving but demands a more exact tweaking of the deck. Dolby C is just plain awful.

If transferring a tape to digital it is best to use the same deck it was recorded on and ensuring the playback head is aligned to the tape.

 

Yeah, that's my approach. I unplug the tape deck from the stereo and plug in into the sound card on the computer. I realize it's not quite as good as feeding the turntable directly into the soundcard, but makes a good substitute for playing in the car. Plus, I never get rid of any of my LPs so I don't lose the original source material.

 

As I stated before, I don't believe plugging the 'table directly into the card is better or even advisable.

Anyway, as long as you aren't looking for meticulous transfers, whatever floats your boat...

 

Finally someone mentions the BASF tape. They still make all kinds of tape, but the name of the tape manufacturing company is now EMTEC. BASF only refers to the chemical group now.

The Chrome Super II always has been an outstanding cassette tape. They also make very good reel-to-reel tape.

http://www.basf.de/en/corporate/overview/

http://www.emtec-usa.com/aud-prod.htm