Maxell UD-XL II's were my favorite, the two pack was a bargain compared to anything else in the record shop. I never did Metal Tapes, way too much money and I didn't have an audio player worth the upgrade. 3M Scotch was our discount store tape, I got a box from my secret Santa one year, the recordings were unlistenable. One of these days when I get my stuff completely set up I'll get more involved with the recording process and doing some comparisions, hopefully over the winter-time.
Type 1s to record on. From 1982 to 2002 the cars I had all had cassette players. I wanted good quality cassettes that wouldn't jam but didn't feel any need to go beyond Type 1. If there was an album I particularly wanted I would buy it on vinyl then record a copy to play in the car. Before setting out on a long journey (it was three hours to my parents) I would choose three or four cassettes to take with me. Thinking back to Radford HiFi the only significant thing I bought there was some car speakers. The previous owner of my Ford Capri had cut a large circular hole in the door panel and then must have found that the speakers he had intended fitting jammed the window mechanism. Somehow I worked out that Panasonic made some extra slim speakers that would fit in that position and I bought them in Radford HiFi.
With a good-working cassette deck - as good as it left the factory - utilizing less expensive Type I cassettes can yield surprising results. Good recording practises by not overdriving the peak recording input levels helps, too. Also, a deck that can calibrate - either manually or automatically - for different tapes is a big advantage. Spend the money on a good deck that's been gone over by a tech, and you can save a lot of money on blank tapes. I do a lot of mix tape exchanges with friends throughout the world and when I listen to a good recording on a simple ferric tape, such as a Maxell UR, I have a huge appreciation of what can be done, when it's done right. Nando.
I don't have a lot of experience recording (mostly ripping friends vinyl and then moving to CD's in the early 90's) but the Maxells always sound great and we used to beat the crap out of them. The recording tape deck was always key and luckily somebody always had an older brother with the high-end deck we'd borrow, unfortunately nobody had Nakamichi but it probably wouldn't have mattered since our players were all low end. Scotch Tapes were so dismal and not highly thought of, they might have had some nicer ones but they were in the same boat as Memorex. I hated Memorex so much that I rarely post any of their ads even though most of us remember them. They might have had some decent tapes but their low end was garbage and money wasn't cheap back then and you'd curse when your tape sounded bad. It is fun now to see what you've recorded, back when I was ripping early MP3's I loved checking the the waveforms, I wish I had more time, there's a website out there that ranks the albums releases (looking at the sonics), they must be looking at all of the different media waveforms.
I just picked up a couple of BASF chrome extra II cassettes on the recommendation of a tech on YouTube. Not expensive at $10 a blank for the 90 minute version, so I'm hoping they record well. I usually take what many of the guys on YouTube say with a grain of salt, but this guy seems especially knowledgeable.
i agree you don't need an expensive cassette a good cassette deck and the copies would be way better than originals ,,,,what more can you ask for howeaver there is nothing new worth recording hence i haven't recorded cassettes in donkeys
BASF Chrome Extra II tapes are good - they provide the solid bass punch a good ferric tape is notable for with the best attributes of a Type II tape. You will find, no NR will be required as they are quiet ( less hiss). But, only record to 0 to +1 dB peak input recording levels for best sonic results. Nando.
Now that I think about it, I think I found a handful of those in my NOS box, I remember looking up the specs last year.
I'm blaming you lot for these. When looking for That's tapes on eBay.co.uk I spotted a lot of used tapes that I bid on which included these, some other interesting tapes, and a load of TDK SAs. As the only bidder I ended up getting them for far less than they would have cost new. Looking at the tape on the left I recall the annoying thing about the trendy That's tape designs was the labels. Definitely less convenient than the long strip you got on a TDK The CD IIF looks to be new. One of the VX90s has a 1983 Jean Michell Jarre album on it.
Is that the trick to these not to record over +1? I don't have a lot of experience with them but I picked up a handful, they are a little more money than the TDK or Maxell versions.
With all true chrome type tapes, +1dB for peak recording input level is best to prevent going into distortion. Nando.
It seems I have to learn a little bit more about the chrome tapes. What makes them a true chrome tape?
Now I need a list of all true chrome tapes, I'm sure someone knows what's on the list. I think that's what happened the last time I recorded on one of the BASF tapes... I recorded it too hot. today I recorded peak snow more than + 2DB and it came out good.
One of the distinguishing features of a true chromium dioxide tape is the crayon-like smell they emit. You can look up the various magnetic particle types used for tape formulations. Nando.
You're right the BASF chrome extra II's have a different smell than the Maxells, and yes a light crayon smell.
I just picked up a few of the supers on eBay, I know I paid too much but I don't know where else to get them.
In the BASF Type II cassette line-up, the hiearchy had the Chrome Maxima at the top. One of the premiere Maximas was the Reference Maxima TP II from the early 90's. Here is a good resource on cassette manufacturers' offerings: Vintage Cassettes Nando.
