We often hear claims about the TDK MA XG being the "reference standard" in commercial cassettes but what about the Sony Super Metal Master. I am about to put both through the test, recording on a D6C and playback through a DD100 Boodo Khan. Happy to share feedback before and after. Cheers.
Myguess you should have Nak deck to hear the difference: in the olden days of using Sony ES 3head deck I used Metal Master to impress my buddies (ceramic shell was a blast!) but could not heat the difference!! But, again, in those days I truly believed (and could hear it!) that CD is a "perfect sound forever"
And I mean not my lowly LX-3 Nak but professionally serviced 'n calibrated ZX-7 or 9 deck! Just a heads-up in case you do not see/hear the difference!!! The Difference is there, but as with all the good stuff in life, you must have a "background check"!! On a different note, I do applause your effort of bringing "hi-end" spin onto S2G!!!!!!! Our beloved moderator posted a link to his site of making decent recordings, just wish it was made "sticky": the art of making a good copy of your vinyl is still an Art!! D6C is a solid piece, but, come on, it is not Nak ZX-7 or 9
Of course it's horses for courses and I know less about full size decks but I do know the Nak decks have a legendary name. I was really interested in why the Sony Super Metal Master cassette seems to fetch more than the TDK MA-XG. Not keen on opening the Sony in its aluminium box unless there is a world of difference awaiting. I suspect not for Walkman collectors anyway. Cheers
Frankly, I feel the same: if I want the "true" sound I go for LP, my cassette deck is just for making copies for my boombox... thanks for the tip though!!, once I upgrade to ZX-9 i will check TDK MA-XG vs. Sony. Do not see you finding serious differences using D6C, its recording will dumb-down the differences, at least that was the story of my life of not "hearing/seeing" the difference because I used BestBuy-style playback system Yours is an interesting Q, hopefully someone with more experience will chip in, (one of the moderators has more decks than i have seen in my entire life!)
I have both TDK MA-XG and Sony Super Metal Master. I use both on my Nakamichi CR-7. They are both good and different, what I can say about the Sony Super Metal Master is it’s silky smooth and very very pleasant to listen to. The TDK MA-XG is equally as good but no way near as smooth as the Metal Master. One thing I would say is they are both wasted being recorded on a D6C. I never record with my D6C, just play back only.
Me too thinks those tapes are above what an D6C can mamage. Even the Super D6C isn't capable of record properly on them, as Dr Walkman explained me. Regarding portables, I think the SONY D5M is the only one that maybe can do it well, but for such beasts, a very good 3-head deck is needed. I haven't tested the MA-XG but the Metal Master is almost perfect. I use it for doing extreme quality masters for mixtapes.
Hi walkman archive do you not have any TDK MA-XG then? If you don't and want to try one i have a stockpile of them (MA-XG 90), i can do you a trade if you have other brand new metals that i am interested in. Let me know.
Thanks for your offer, Toocool, I do have only one used transparent MA-XG and another sealed, but no more. I have 5 sealed of the last generation (grey and black). I don't have many other metals other than Metal master, but I don't want to leave them. I have a box of Special Edition TDK AR though. I'd love to trade a pair of transparent ones but I think I have an old Pioneer M1 and a MAxell MX-S or so. I'll send you a PM, ok?
Hi walkman archive i only have a stockpile of the last generation of the MA-XG's the Black and Grey ones.
With Hugo's 3 D6Cs, it's been more convenient to get a super D6C that's right for normal tapes and chrome tapes. Whether to save on labor costs, but also because Hugo's choice of chrome tapes, because of their ease of availability and lower cost. But with many first-generation D6Cs, not everyone, it's can get excellent quality with metal tapes, as can do I with my super D6C. I use mainly Sony metalmaster, TDK MA, MA-X and MA-XG, That's SUONO, MRX-PRO, ecc. Except for low sensitivity metal tapes that are not suitable for dolby C. For example, the TDK MA and the That's SUONO are good, but I like less than the MA-X and the MRX-PRO due to their lower sensitivity. I did compare the D6C with my Dragon and have got the same result, ( in fact, slightly better with my D6C, according to my taste ) so, I continued to use the D6C. Obviously most of the D6Cs of all generations are best suited to normal tapes and chromo tapes, but if we want to get at any cost a super D6C suitable for metal tapes is possible.
Thanks for your clarification, Dottore. It's true that I decided to let the Dr to tune my D6C for high bias chrome tapes but I didn't knew/remember that it could be tuned to the best metal tapes though. Anyway, I'm very happy with it and I use it when I want the best out of a cassette outside home. Which ones are the best suited for metal tapes? The first generation with hyperbolic head?
Yes, though many of them need some modifications to fit them perfectly to selected metal tapes, trying to avoid low-sensitivity metal tapes. Even some D6Cs of other generations can be adapted to metal tapes, but often, in these cases, chrome and normal tapes can be not used optimally, otherwise the high frequencies will be excessive, especially if the dolby C is used and with an unpleasant pumping effect.
