Best Audio Cassette From 80/90’s

Hi guys, unfortunately I’m all digital now and love TIDAL HiFi streaming service especially MQA albums. I used to use cassettes all the time though, my stock go-to was TDK SA 90. Pushing the boat out I loved the Maxell XL II S and later on the That’s MR-X Pro. What were your 3 top cassettes?

 

Never had metal cassettes, have two now. I have some TDK SA and some Maxell XL II. Not as many as @kent, just a handful.

 

BASF Metal Maxima is one of the metal tapes I like a lot, unfortunately expesive and very rare. It's mostly the design I like about it, in terms of tape it's similar to other high-end metals, which means very good.

The SONY FeCr will come second, especially because of its rarity and the technology itself. It has very strong bass, clear treble and good dynamic range. The noise floor is closer to a TYPE II than a TYPE I.
It's a pitty that this technology never reached mainstream market, it had a lot of potential in my opinion. The downside is you either need a recorder with TYPE III setting (it has a bias level between TYPE I and TYPE II)
or one with adjustable bias and rec leveles to record it correctly.

On the third place is the Maxell UD I (1991 version): it's cobalt doped, very low hiss and good dynamic range. It performs better than many TYPE IIs and can be comfortably used without any NR.
http://pureanalogue.su/index.php/en/catalogue/audio-cassettes/maxell/maxell-by-models/maxell-udi/527

 

I will offer my personal choices given my very limited funds ( as a teenager) in the 80s


1978-1988

TDK SA60
Maxell UDII
Memorex Chrome II

Maxell UDI
Sony HF
Memorex MRX1


1989-1994

TDK SA
Fuji FR
Fuji GT


1995- 2016

My CDing era


2017-2021

TDK SA
Sony UX
Sony HF-S

 

tdk sa-x

 

Well, since you asked ...... brouhaha, LOL
I was very fortunate as a teenager that the record store that I shopped at had a great owner, and he was always ready to help you be as
informed as possible about the music and the media he sold you. In my early days at 14yrs old back in the late 70's early 80's this was
a big bonus for me.
So, with a nudge in the right direction my first cassettes I used were the Orange Wrapped BASF LH SM 60 & 90min Cassettes in 1978.
I still have some of my original 43 year old 1978 BASF LH SM Cassette tapes, and they play perfectly. 43 YEARS OLD.
I hit up some PHILIPS Standard C60's ( Yes the Red and White ones with dots on them ) Not as good as the BASF though.
Every once in a while I would go astray in 1980 and pick up a REALISTIC Supertape Gold ( LOL )
Next up is the 1982 - 83 version of MAXELL XLII, & XLII S yes, the gold ones. 90 min reels were my choice of length.
These tapes were so well made that I can still play them today and they still sound amazing !! these too are 39 year old tapes played 100's of times and still sound great.
That is proven quality right there. I use to get a deal on the box of 10.
This continued Throughout the 80's into the 90's with the MAXELL XLII S, Just a superbly made, great sounding, reliable Cassette.
Another small sample of Cassettes I used and still have are ( 1982 was a good year for choice and quality in my opinion. ) :

1982 - BASF ferrochrom III , These just had a REALLY nice accurate sound, I can't explain it, but really like these cassettes. ( Rare Find these days )
1982 - SONY FeCr 90 mins.
1982 - TDK SA-X 90mins , A great quality Cassette !
1984 - TEAC Sound52 - Reel to Reel in the cassette ( For Showing off !! LOL )
1988 - MAXELL XLII S - Excellent Quality and Reproduction.
1993 - 97 SONY Super Metal Master - Cost a Arm & Leg to buy but great for Master Saves. Need the right Equipment to really take full advantage of them.

I Only used Metal Tapes for Master Saves, for all other purposes
which were mainly cruising in my car, or walking around with a 50lb Panasonic RX-C100 and Parties !
I would use Chrome Tapes, just because they sounded good in almost anything you put them in, especially if you recorded it correctly.

 

@Xenon4U2C Those BASF LH SM cassettes do sound very good for a TYPE I. I bought about 15 of them used some time ago (90min and 120min), but most of the 120min ones squeeled like crazy, especially near the end of one side. They also shedded a lot of oxide on the head and pinch roller.
The only telltale sign of a potential problem were some periodic dark vertical lines on the tape. Read online that there was a problem with the formulation on that tape and I wonder if that's the case or my tapes were just old or not stored properly. The 90 minutes ones were better, most of them usable.

I'm on the same page about TYPE IIIs (BASF Ferrochom and SONY FeCr): to me they're one of the best cassettes if we are to consider all the aspects. It has good bass, good treble, low noise (comparable to a TYPE II), good MOL. Type IVs are much better in terms of MOL, but also hissier.

 

I still don't know what are my best tape sonically, and everyone else wrote about more that 3 tapes anyway so here some my favorites if it comes to looks:

Tape IV tapes:
TDK MA-X (blue a bit transparent shell version from 1988 I suppose)
TDK MA-R/XG - their shells look like a device, not 'load' And they are different, that's why I have both.
Sony Metal ES from 1985(or 6, they look the same), classy, glossy and glassy look.

Type II tapes:
TDK SA-XS (version with oval window and red hubs, gold screws, 1997) - I've heard it's one of the best type II tapes, it looks like one for sure
TDK SA-X (1991) - grey tape with quite nice font

Type I tapes:
TDK AR (1987 i think), big window, this type of shell was used a lot in TDK line up

 

In the early 90s I used a lot of Sony UX Turbos. They had rigid yet smooth shells with UX-S chrome tape.

 

Ever since my dad let me record some of my favourite albums on a '85 era Sony Metal ES using his Dragon I was smitten. They became and remain one of my favourite tapes.
However, for outstanding sonics I always refer to the Sony Metal ES from 1989. It actually sounds/performs better than the Metal Master from the same era!
I'm fortunate to have a clutch of ES's and XR's from all eras as well as UX-Pro and UX-ES type II's which I covet dearly.
I love the Sony Metal XR for everyday recording and I also have a nice little group of That's MR-X Pro's which I rate very highly.

 

Great collection ... I only have a few registered

 

I still record on my Maxell MX-S cassettes from 1994 and they are great!

 

i‘ve allways been a big fan of those TDK‘s - in those days i only bought two or three new, as they were far to expensive (…as they are today if you don‘t find a real bargain).

 

This cassette was and still is a milestone ... I have seen it on several brochures such as Aiwa and others ..... You can feel the weight of the cassette compared to the other plastic ones

 

MA-XG is a great tape but seriously if you didn't need a tape-perfect CD copy you could make very good record on very good Nakamichi/Aiwa etc deck (especially those with manua/automatic bias/rec/eq) on late TDK D. When I got back to tapes I thought that hiss is a problem*, but then I realized in RL there is no place without 'hiss'.
As I like sound from open headphones more than closed, problem of interfering sound from outside is normal and I have to accept that.

* I listen to classical music rarely, for those who do probably type II tape would be better choice

 

Unfortunately, metal tapes are very expensive as of 2021. Most start at 20 euros/pcs, but can go to 70 or even 100 for the high end ones (I'm referring to NOS tapes). So some of them cost as much as a cheap walkman. Indeed they're good, but in my opinion, not that good to justify the price.
The noise floor is higher than good TYPE IIs, it's just the very high MOL and low distorsions. Very high MOL alone is not useful for the quiet passages in music, some types of music requiring Dolby with metal tapes. Not to mention most are not available in bulk, so one must buy at a higher per piece price.
Some may say that those were always expensive and that's true, but today's prices are 2-5 times higher than the original retail price. Which to me, doesn't make sense, as there are still plenty that will appear for sale, it's not like there are 1000 left in the entire world.
For example, DAT cassettes (which happen to also use metal tape) are significantly cheaper than TYPE IV, despite they're a lot rarer.

My favourite ones remain TYPE IIs, in particular cobalt doped ferrics, as true chromes suffer from degradation and have a very low MOL, usually 0dB or even -3dB if you want really low distorsions. Most sound ok even recorded at peak levels of -3dB, because the noise floor is very very low.
Of course, the levels will be off (low) if deck/recorder is not calibrated to a true chrome (which means Dolby cannot be used), unless a deck with manual/automatic calibration features is used. But cobalt doped ones have the best of both worlds.

@Raul I do like the sound of open back headphones as well, those usually have lower sensitivity (100dB/mW or lower), so hiss will not be heard as much (but it's still there). On IEMs it will be the worst, as most of these have sensitivity of 108dB/mW or even higher.
What I don't like about TYPE Is is their limited frequency response compared to TYPE II, III and IV. On headphones with good frequency response, the difference is night and day to my ears. Not to say that TYPE Is are bad, just nowhere near as good as TYPE II.
There were some cobalt doped TYPE Is (like the one I mentioned earlier in the thread), which perform similar to a TYPE II, but those are pretty rare. I do remember the TDK D, although don't have a single one. Think will add it to the purchase list, as I'm curious how it sounds compared to other TYPE Is.

 

Raul you can make a copy close the original without having to use MA-XG, you just need a deck that can utilise whatever tape you put into it to its full potential.
Also having MA-XG does not guarantee you good copy if your deck is not capable of utilising it, metals are demanding of the equipment’s used.


Valentin metals are worth the original asking price, just not worth today’s collector’s prices. If people are buying them to record on, I don’t think many people would pay that kind of money. I mean why would anyone pay for a blank cassettes the price that is higher the original they are recording, which will also sound better than any copy? I think the people paying the high price are just having the odd one for display.

I am luck, I don’t have problem with metal prices since I have always used MA-XG’s so i have a stockpile of brand new unopened MA-XG’s I bought when you can still get them in the shops.

 

@TooCooL4 Unfortunately, those who buy just for display are the ones increasing the market prices.
The most I have paid on a cassette was on a metal tape, the BASF Metal Maxima (60 or 70euros). I really liked the looks, wanted to have one or more to record on them. The seller had 4 for sale and did not want to drop the price if I bought all 4.
I ended up buying only one. I do like it, but it's not worth that price.

Those that have stockpiled, like you, have made a very good decision in doing so.

Shops, unlike online speculators will want to get rid of their stocks, so they're interested in having decent prices, so people will buy.
Last year, I bought a pack of 10 Maxell UR (regret didn't buy more), at one of the last shops which had them in stock at about 1euro/pcs. Now they're sold at 5-7euros/pcs online (also not worth it for a very basic tape).