How do you guys find the best way to get the best quality of sound for these? What kind of cassettes? Do you record especially on one certain type of device from one certain type of device? Give me all of your secrets, mwuhahahahahaha!!..cough..hrmmm..

One bit of advise I could give is to make sure your tape heads are cleaned b4 recording. That is a must for me. Also I like to use high bias cassettes like crO2 or metal. All I can think of right now... Come to think about it I havent made a mix tape in like 8 or 9 years maybe I should give it a try again!! LOL

Use a three head tape deck like Tascam 122 or Nakamichi dragon rest assured you'll get good quality recording and use good quality tapes such as TDK MA-XG or Sony metal master. Equalizer's are always good to improve on sound and it gives that extra pep but be careful not to distort the recording by adding too much Hi's, Mid's, and Low's.

First: Use a high quality tapedeck like Akai GX75 or Kenwood KX 1100 ( three heads and dual capstan )
Second: use CrO2 or Metal tapes ( I've got the best results with Maxell XLIIs or MX )

i master onto reel-to-reel (revox b77), than copy my ready tapes onto a good 3-head deck (nak. rx-505). never use any dolby etc., use for myself only type IV (metal)-tapes, for copies mainly vintage CrO2-tapes, preferred Maxell, TDK, Fuji or That's (...or equivalent), never BASF or Agfa (they got the tendency to wear off). vintage tapes are much better quality housing-wise (...and nicer anyway)

I saw some vintage blank CrO2-tapes in an old second hand record shop yesterday. I should grab them

Where a good place to buy blank cassettes off the net? Surely the still make decent new ones?

Connect line out to line in and press record.

The Maxell (Type 2) available now should be a good quality tape.
The Cro2 from record shop sounds good.
Office supply stores also have cassette tapes.
What kind of recorder you have?

quote:

Originally posted by The Bunyip:
I saw some vintage blank CrO2-tapes in an old second hand record shop yesterday. I should grab them

Where a good place to buy blank cassettes off the net? Surely the still make decent new ones?

Try ebay they always have.

quote:

Originally posted by transwave5000:
Connect line out to line in and press record.

The Maxell (Type 2) available now should be a good quality tape.
The Cro2 from record shop sounds good.
Office supply stores also have cassette tapes.
What kind of recorder you have?

I got a big fat nothing. Boomers in Australia seem pretty damn hard to find. I'm almost gonna give in and get one of those god awful Lasonic MP3 things

Actually the new Lasonic is a nice boombox.
Probably the nicest MP3 boombox around.
Many here are getting them.

As for using tapes you can find boomboxs used.
Used ones would need some fixing usually.
And there are new models that still use tapes too but there usually large ones.

Ford93

I have a Tascam 122 and can attest to its excellent audio quality. I run a Denon DJ CD player into a Rane mixer with Ashly eq into the Tascam. Using Sony Metal SR tape this becomes the "software" for my boomboxes. Sometimes I'll even record off the Technics 1200. Analog lives!!

Your tape will really only be as good as the weakest link in your soundsystem.

Pretty much any run of the mill Onkyo, Teac, Nakamichi, Denon, Pioneer, Aiwa, Yamaha, Harmon Kardon, Kenwood, Sony (etc..) component deck will make a better recording for you than a boombox.

3-head decks are generally the best recorders... but they are not absolutely necessary for good recordings. I have some 25 year old mixtapes that I made on a Nak BX-125 two head deck back in the day and they still sound great. The general consensus is that Nakamichi makes the best 2-head decks, many of which perform as good as other mfr's 3-head units.

In my honest opinion, the most important things are that your heads are clean, that you use a good CrO2 tape (minimum Maxell XL-II or TDK SA) and pay good attention that your recording level does not go too high. If it goes too high your tape recording will distort. If the level is too low, you will hear too much hiss/noise. There is definitely a sweet spot for the levels when recording onto tapes of any kind. You will likely need to experiment a bit.

I never use automatic recording level features unless it is with my Sony Minidisk, which is not a tape deck.

Also, your signal to the tape deck is important. If you're using one, make sure your turntable is properly grounded and that you have a good strong line out signal from your control amplifier.

Good luck!

....and finally:

the best recorded high-quality mixtape is for the bin if the music on it is rubbish...

quote:

Originally posted by The Bunyip:

I got a big fat nothing. Boomers in Australia seem pretty damn hard to find. I'm almost gonna give in and get one of those god awful Lasonic MP3 things

I guess you cannot record with a Lasonic.???
Must get a tape boombox.

Transwave5k,
when in doubt, ebay...!

Doing recordings on a box with built in microphones is not mentioned much.
I have a box that I did some live music recordings on and
was impressed by the sound quality of the recording.