It all depends on your player. Me personally, I enjoy Sony HF type 1s and TDK CDIt or Maxell XL-II type 2s.
that's what I'm saying, it's valid, as there are more time-consuming ways to have fun fiddling around with things that make even less sense. But technically, we evolved a lot from then, even considering that many have a religious anti-digital perspective (let them be, all good). I love to fiddle with old stuff, too and have a cassette recorder, tens old cameras, motorcycles, stuff stuff stuffer stuffest fiddeldididom, for fiddle-fun I'd use one of the many used tapes, but for serious backup (with an stuck in old analog brain) I will never do this. I rather get me a second vinyl system for a 2nd home location or digital copies for car, flight, tram, ... commute.
Of course cassette tape is "old" technology, but since I have a nice deck, and many tapes, which I took the time and care to record from analog recorded albums (most were original pre-1980 pressings,) I keep that deck and those tapes in my home system. It does not require any "fussing" or "wasted time" for me to enjoy this. If my deck stops working, and it's not worth the time or money to fix it, I will move on. Maybe give my tapes to someone who still has a working deck and will also enjoy them. Hey, I still have vhs tapes, laserdiscs, cds, and my preferred way of listening to music, records. It's all good - if you still have it...
Its reverse.... The cassette tapes has a bigger chance to last. With the right tapes, that will sound exactly like the way how it was first recorded 40 years ago. Get the genuine TDK or Maxell to make it easy and enjoy. The cassette aficionados benefitted in this theory for a long time.
A nice TDK AR-90 would make most people happy - then (when first produced) and now. Plenty of NOS examples around at decent prices.
NOS chrome, minimum, TDK or whatever, Sony, Maxell, BASF, ... really doesn't matter, go for 60 bands. but by todays's expectations, METAL band is the only good band and it rips your wallet. Find a source for many same type cassettes, so you can BIAS your tape deck to it for better sound. Get a top grade cassette deck, nothing mobile, don't go cheap and with age and lack of maintenance it'll ruin your tapes. Clean the rollers and heads, demagnetize them. Have the belts replaced and system greased/oiled where it should be...
Sorry I don’t agree about your claims that only NOS METAL tapes are good enough to make nice sounding recordings. There are very good Type I as well as Type II NOS tapes out there that, if the cassette deck is correctly calibrated, are capable to give Type IV tapes a good run for the money. I’ve experienced that multiple times especially when making recordings on my Nakamichi 582. Even TDK D’s, Maxell UD I’s as well as Sony HF’s can sound astoundingly good when the Nak 582 is correctly calibrated and fine adjusted. With Super Ferric Type I cassette tapes like the Sony HF-ES or TDK AR-X it’s possible to put almost as much signal on to the tape as if recording to a Type IV tape. So there really are other types of cassette tapes out there that are very good, METAL is not the only way to go in this IMO. Type IV are for sure the best type of cassette tapes but to me the fun and challenging thing is to make good sounding recordings with Type I and II tapes. I agree about the maintenance part though- it’s for sure essential to keep the cassette deck mechanism clean and demagnitized.
Maxell XL-II for general play, XLII-S and XL-MX for archiving. I've used many brands over the last few decades, and the rest don't even come close. You can over-saturate them and they still sound brilliant...not so for any other brand. I have also worked in the archives for famous bands where live shows were recorded on more than one format at the same time, and the Maxell cassettes sounded nearly identical to the DAT tapes and can easily be used to patch tape changes without being noticed at all.
I disagree with you, totally. For one reason, only. You basically fully agree to what I wrote, while brute-forcing disagreement. Ok, there you have it, I disagree on your disagreement. Better read again before go all over someone's post you don't understand. You end up saying the same!
No you missunderstood me I guess; I told you that it isn’t necessary to invest in now super expensive Type IV cassette tapes to get great performance. The cassette deck and its ability to handle the cassette you put in it is of a greater importance. I use all types of tapes except Type III for my cassette decks and I’ve proved many times that it’s possible to get great performance out of Type I and II tapes of good quality. Since you’re in to cassette tapes then you probably know about the problem that NOS Type IV tapes degrade over time in a bad way, the TDK MA series is an example in this. Buying still sealed TDK Type IV tapes is more or less a lottery. I avoid these.
Its an unpopular opinion but your 100% right, they have a limited lifespan. Professional studio masters have to be digitized for the same reason, a lot of them had already succumbed to Tape rot. Professional archivist have to digitize them, even stored sealed in the correct environment they may last anywhere from 10-30 years. Even so, I support the format because I remember it as being fun and interactive, though it’s not something I’ll revisit. Sadly theres little to no chance it’ll be supported in the future, big tech giants have already set their financial goals for the end of the decade, focusing on more immersive home audio. Setting up manufacturing for tape recorders is nowhere on the horizon. The great thing for now is affordable tape decks are easy to find on eBay, and there plenty of dead stock cassette tapes available - be prepared to spend about $30 on a metal tape though. Cassette Comeback - TDK Maxell Sony BASF Denon That's Fuji Memorex For anyone interested.
What's the difference between a half full bottle and a half empty? none! So I disagree to disagreement still.
I just grab any old tape collections that others are throwing out. There maybe some good formula of tape in among the dross. You can always tape over previously used tape (even pre-recorded) and just relabel them. Blank TDK MA XG, SA X etc might be more hifi, although my favourites on Nakamichi for recording my LPs to play back in my car were AR and SF, but these are hard to find now even used. Top tip: don’t bin them- sell them or pass them on to tape fans.
I get where your coming from. Sure a high end properly biased deck and good quality tape will sound great. Metal takes it up a notch, it’s metal bonded which increases longevity, the bias is higher with a frequency range that puts it as close to digital as possible - they were initially aimed at the professional industry - recording studios could run off rough mixes to listen too at home or in the car. I think your point is that your getting high quality recordings and that’s superfluous to your needs.
Then you can keep on buying those TDK MA series tapes and leave the Type I and II tapes to the rest of us. Sounds perfect! Correct. The Type IV's are for sure great but not worth the money as there's competition that gives them a good run for the money. I can achieve very good sounding recordings with TDK AR, TDK AR-X, Sony HF-ES and Sony UX-Pro tapes- I've plenty NOS still sealed of each type of those so I'm good.
I'm not buying them. You can buy them. I have a bunch, more than enough for the next 50yrs. You're still not getting it, but I can't help he who does not read.
