1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Anyone is in for some rock exchange?

Discussion in 'Cassettes & Mixtape exchange' started by walkman archive, May 15, 2017.

  1. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

    Messages:
    1,883
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Barcelona
    After listening to it twice with my DC2, I can say it sounds great. That confirms my theory that when you have an good deck (although not necessarily a top-end one), with a good source and good recording skills the result can be excellent.
    I guess many tracks come from digital but there are a few from vinyl, right?
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2017
  2. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

    Messages:
    1,883
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Barcelona
    I have just received a mixtape from @Command8 and I'm so happy.
    I still haven't had time to listen to it but I bet before weekend I will do it.

    At first sight it promises veeery good moments!

    IMG_8945.JPG IMG_8948.JPG

    Thanks!
     
  3. lxndio

    lxndio New Member

    Messages:
    25
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Germany
    Hello,

    are you still doing this? I have a quite large record collection and would be interested to make a fully analogue mixtape for someone...
    Just let me know, @walkman archive

    Thank you ;)
     
  4. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

    Messages:
    1,883
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Barcelona
    Hi lxndio,
    Of course you're welcome to join in. I'd be glad to receive a mixtape and send another. I'll send you a PM, ok?
     
  5. lxndio

    lxndio New Member

    Messages:
    25
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Germany
    Sure. I acutally already sent you a PM ;)
     
  6. Chris

    Chris Active Member

    Messages:
    268
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Portsmouth, UK
    Only just noticed this now, don't know why it didn't show up in my alerts....

    Anyway, I'm glad you think it sounds good, it took a few attempts before I was happy with it. I have to confess, all of the songs on there were recorded from a digital source (Spotify Premium). I'm not really into vinyl, my mum and dad can just about tolerate my Walkman obsession but they might think I'm going crazy if I start buying turntables and records.
     
  7. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

    Messages:
    1,883
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Barcelona
    To me it sounds pretty well. I haven't done comparisong with the original Spotify source but if I do I'll send you my comments. all in all, a highly enjoyable mixtape indeed!! :applause

    These days in vacation I have both your mixtape and @Command8 one and I'm listening to both several times.

    Today I've listened to Melodies from the Battlefield and I love it. 85% of the songs are new to me and I am surprised the one can fill 90 minutes of songs that match 'that' sound I associate to Creedence Clearwater (and also to Forrest gump movie). Call me ignorant but I really didn't know all those songs/bands, but I can assure you that listening to it is like remembering some scenes from Forrest Gump in the battlefield.
    Awesome.
     
    Command8 and Chris like this.
  8. Command8

    Command8 Active Member

    Messages:
    375
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    London
    Glad to hear you enjoy it, I 'd love to do a comparison in quality once I receive yours.
     
    walkman archive likes this.
  9. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

    Messages:
    1,883
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Barcelona
    I've received yesterday a mixtape from @lxndio and, boy, I must admit I'm loving it.
    It came in a soft bag that has those metallic clips to close it. I've never seen one of these since... not sure... 30 years? I love it.

    IMG_9451.JPG

    The cassette is a new CrO2 one from the NAC. It looks very good. Shame that I had no one to make some testing and compare it to some old good chromes; I think I have to buy a few.
    BTW, he suggests me to do a group buy of these tapes to Europe, as the shipping is expensive. I just want to share lxndio's thoughts here. We can open a new thread for that.

    But what really impressed is his letter. It is written in an old Olivetty typewritter :swoon. THAT IS 100% ANALOG. Period. :applause Lovely

    IMG_9452.JPG

    I've listened to the tape both at home in my SONY K909ES and while buying in the supermarket with my WM-D33 and it sounds great. No distortion, great separation, high definition...

    It has some tunes from the 70s, some progressive rock and classic rock. I didn't knew many of the songs, but some I did. I don't want to disclose the track listing to avoid spoiling any other exchange to other fellow.
    Not sure what was the source but with some songs I could hear the needle over the vinyl, so some are true analog, but not sure all them.

    Lxndio, thank you for such a lovely tape!

    The only thing that worries me are the low levels, which I'm not sure is because of a low sensitivity of the very tape or if you really recorded it that way (I think it's the former).
    It can be because the tape is really a pure chrome BASF tape that is known for having such low sensitivity that the levels are 3-6 dB below where they should be. It's not a problem because the noise floor is too 6dB below, so the dynamic range is preserved. It's just a matter of pushing the volume a bit more, so not a real problem at all (those of you that know me, I like to go deep in this technical stuff).

    All in all an excellent stuff that I'll keep saved in soft cloth, as well as all the wonderful mixtapes I've received from you fellows.
    Keep the mixtape sharing up!
     
  10. lxndio

    lxndio New Member

    Messages:
    25
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Germany
    @walkman archive, I'm glad that you like the tape.

    The songs are all recorded from vinyl records. Since all my records get cleaned from time to time and I pay close attention to prevent dust from being on the record or stylus, I'm sometimes surprised myself how little you can tell that the music is played from a vinyl record.
    I have not yet had any problems with the low levels on the NAC tapes but probably your tape equipment is better than mine. Thanks for letting me know, I'll test it myself at some point. Sadly, the shipping is very expensive, as I wrote in the letter. For a pack of 10 tapes, I paid round about 10 US$ for the tapes + 50 US$ for shipping + 10 € taxes at the local customs.

    Don't worry about spoiling the tracks. The tape is a unique copy. If anybody else wants to have such a tape, I'll come up with a different selection of songs.
     
  11. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

    Messages:
    1,883
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Barcelona
    Thanks for clarifying. I kind of guessed it but not sure. I really apreciate the effort you put in making the recording and all the stuff around it.

    I've did a quick test on my SONY K909Es which has assisted calibration and the sensitivity looks almost perfect, so I bet it's just low level recording. But it's fine for me :)

    Yeah, it indeed is. The problem with group shipping is that then we have to pay a second shipping, but I bet it will be yet cheaper.
     

Share This Page