What was your favorite cassette brand?

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Reading about the weird world of vintage cassette collectors got me thinking about the many types of audio cassettes I used to use many years ago. I really liked the Fuji C-90's a lot. I don't think they sounded noticeably different than other brands, but I liked the feel of the transport, and the look. I never really cared for the old TDK's with the white labels. Maxells were only ok, in my opinion.

― Davlo (Davlo), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:49 (twenty years ago)

I remember liking Sony tapes, but I've not bought or made a tape in over a decade or so.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:51 (twenty years ago)

SKC then and now

― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:00 (twenty years ago)

TDK. SKCs always broke down for me, they were reeeeal cheap though.

― chris andrews (fraew), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:02 (twenty years ago)

I still listen to Maxells that I dubbed fifteen years ago.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:04 (twenty years ago)

BASF. Seriously.

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

Maxell and TDK were both good enough for me most of the time. I still have lots of very old but playable cassettes I recorded on both brands.

dos xposts

― RS (Catalino) LaRue (RSLaRue), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

Those gold Maxell XLIIs had points on the spine stickers, and you could save them up and get more free Maxells.

― On a Strict El Cholo Diet (Bent Over at the Arclight), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:06 (twenty years ago)

But I also liked the brand from the early 80s that had the DeLorean-style case that slid open.

― On a Strict El Cholo Diet (Bent Over at the Arclight), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:06 (twenty years ago)

MAXELL XLII 4EVA

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:07 (twenty years ago)

Maxell 90 min XL II

xpost WTF ... free XL II's? I never knew that! Maybe that was a US-only deal.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:07 (twenty years ago)

TDK UR-90's (off the top of my head) were my favs. They just seemed not to degrade much after multiple recordings & the sound was somehow more balanced, seemed to suit acoustic and electronic music alike well. Good all purpose tapes.

D-90's were just garbage. SF (& higher, I forget the names) could sound better, but seemed to turn to shrill, trebly crap if you used them many times over. Probably still better than some 128kbps mp3's though!

TDK's I guess were my choice, for ubiquity, and the 'transports'? I guess they just felt solid & didn't fall apart or have physical problems ever. I hated the way they started messing about with the designs later though... Ugh. Those ugly slim-cases. Yes, I actually was/am that anally retentive about things like that.

I always hated Maxell's and I have no idea why! Perhaps they just looked cheap.

― fandango (fandango), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:16 (twenty years ago)

SLIMCASES BLOW (Chris I only ever use them once, a friend I've done a billion tapes for reports a few're dying after 20plus plays in his car tho)

― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:20 (twenty years ago)

i used G-Tapes: very cheap and with good response. not hi-fi quality but they've stood up well over the years.

― phil turnbull (philT), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:27 (twenty years ago)

9 times out of 10, I'd buy Maxell XL II's unless the TDK cassettes were at a good sale price.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:29 (twenty years ago)

I always hated Maxell's and I have no idea why! Perhaps they just looked cheap.

Sure you're not thinking of Memorex? Those clear tapes with the yellow spindles and little pink and blue color block on the inside?

tangentially related: I still buy Maxell cdrs out of some perverted sense of brand loyalty, I think.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:35 (twenty years ago)

I know which ones were my least favorite- Lebotone!

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:37 (twenty years ago)

I always hated Maxell's and I have no idea why! Perhaps they just looked cheap.

Sure you're not thinking of Memorex? Those clear tapes with the yellow spindles and little pink and blue color block on the inside?

Ahem.... yes, I think I was ^_^ I can remember what Maxell's were like now. They were alright but I did avoid using them if possible.

― fandango (fandango), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:49 (twenty years ago)

TDK SA-90 - you could put one album on each side.

― o. nate (onate), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:56 (twenty years ago)

BASFs were great. i remember my dad had a bunch that he treated like valueable resources. some of those (like the high end chrome models) got reeeeal expensive.
TDK's were a nice price/quality compromise with the UR90s (or even the 120s), and i think i remember getting a swag of the mid-range maxell's too. ive still got some pretty fucked up mix-tapes in my collection, mixing chris knox with the carl stalling project (i.e. classic cartoon theme tunes)... or the other day i was listening to an old tape that segued tricky's maxinquaye album with some of the better tracks from head like a hole's 'double yr strength..' album... bizarre

― chris andrews (fraew), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 00:04 (twenty years ago)

I have a feeling I meant TDK AR-90's upthread...

― fandango (fandango), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 00:13 (twenty years ago)

I was usually all about the TDK SA-90s but sometimes I would splurge on those Sony all-black METAL ones cause they were cool looking.

― leonard (tk), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 00:15 (twenty years ago)

THE WARHORSE!

http://www.danvarentertainment.com/images/maxell/xlII90_cass.gif

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 00:16 (twenty years ago)

BASF CRII-Live 353 (red & blue) cassettes were the last type I remember buying. Vinyl sounded GREAT on them. Super warm and clear.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 00:20 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, Maxell XL IIs

I remember buying a Radio Shack cassette once and it didn't hold up at all. Similar problems with Scotch.

― jim wentworth (wench), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 01:32 (twenty years ago)

http://www.vintagetechnology.com/ad_scans/media_memorex_cass_1974.jpg

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 01:43 (twenty years ago)

TDK, whatever their basic chrome model was before the SA-90. i'm blanking on the name. (or was it the same model name with different packaging maybe?) i always assumed maxells sounded better -- i have no idea why i assumed this, i just did -- but TDKs looked better. nicer labels on the cassette, nicer tray cards, nicer everything. they looked sleeker stacked up on a shelf. i used to buy denons once in a while, pretending i was an audiophile or something, but i was always kidding myself.

90s were better than 100s because 45 minutes is a much better length for an album than 50 minutes. you can look that up in any dictionary.

i use TDK D60s today to record my vocal lessons -- which my vocal coach insists on recording on an old-school portable marantz deck -- 'cause they're the easiest to find in nyc. they don't have nearly the style of the old TDKs though.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 01:57 (twenty years ago)

(but maxell metal tapes were the only tape i ever used in my yamaha 4-track, 'cause that machine hated TDKs, much to my chargin. TDKs would leave residue on the tape heads that was pretty damn hard to clean off.)

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 02:00 (twenty years ago)

NOT Memorex. made the unfortunate mistake of using some for home recording masters, which now sound like they were recorded in the 20's (with 20's technology).

― Paul (scifisoul), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 02:01 (twenty years ago)

TDK

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 02:03 (twenty years ago)

TDK

― john'n'chicago, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 02:29 (twenty years ago)

TDK, Fuji, Sony, Maxell...I was fond of the Fuji slimcases for a while, where the cassette actually went in skinny end first. Kewl.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 02:33 (twenty years ago)

The handful of times I bought something besides Maxell XL II (usually because some other brand was on sale), I always regretted it. I've got boxes of those Maxell tapes that are going on 20 years old and still sound good.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 02:39 (twenty years ago)

All of my mid-1990s Pumpkins bootlegs are on Maxell XL II's. I liked the sleek black look and feel of them.

― PB, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 03:18 (twenty years ago)

Maxell XL II's were the bootleg tape traders' product of choice, I seem to remember.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 03:20 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://img20.echo.cx/my.php?image=maxellxlii0xw.jpg

TIME TAKES ITS CRAZY TOLL...

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 03:52 (twenty years ago)

http://img20.echo.cx/img20/3143/maxellxlii0xw.jpg

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 03:52 (twenty years ago)

That's my cassette version of Washing Machine. I remember having to partially rearrange the playing order to get it all to fit, but also fading out "Diamond Sea" halfway through, adding "Compilation Blues" into the middle, and then fading "Diamond Sea" back up again.

Now people just check off what songs they want to burn and go use the bathroom.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 03:54 (twenty years ago)

tdk sa-x 90

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 03:55 (twenty years ago)

Project C-90 has a huge collection. I love the graphics on some of these! Mosy of them way before my time, I was strictly Sony or TDK.

― Mika, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 04:00 (twenty years ago)

holy shit that is a fantastic site.

this old-school tdk design is exactly why they ruled:

http://c-90.nm.ru/cassettes/tdk_sa-x_90_d.jpg

but not this later, lame attempt at sleek black cool:
ihttp://c-90.nm.ru/cassettes/tdk_sa-x_90.jpg

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 04:28 (twenty years ago)

later, lame attempt, take 2:

http://c-90.nm.ru/cassettes/tdk_sa-x_90.jpg

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 04:31 (twenty years ago)

TDK's were remarkably durable. I've got some that even after plastic bits had broken off and the label disintegrated, it still plays just fine.

Gradually, though I was forced to get strictly Maxell's because they were the only ones making 120's and I simply had to have 120's. I wanted as much music on that baby as I could get. People said 120's were more likely to break, but I never found that to be true.

Slimcases SUCKED ARSE.

― The Silent Disco of Glastonbury (Bimble...), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 04:55 (twenty years ago)

Yay for type II 120's! I was always really really happy to find those. It was much easier to fit 2 albums on them when dubbing off CD's. I even have a few with 3 albums on there. They never broke or had any problems. I think I only found them from Fuji or Sony though, and they were scarce and only in 2-packs. Otherwise, it was the 10-packs of Maxell type II Gold's for me. Nuts to type I's.

I think the last time I bought blank tapes was 2 years ago. I got a free box of dubbed classical tapes that I'm hanging on to for copying over, though. That's the only way I can listen to things off vinyl away from home. I still listen to and buy tons of tapes especially since my van has a tape player.

― -rainbow bum- (-rainbow bum-), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 05:16 (twenty years ago)

Maxell or TDK high bias

― Orbit (Orbit), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 05:30 (twenty years ago)

TDK SA-X 90s (oe 100s I liked prog back then and there were lots of 50 minute LPs). Denon made 76s and 80s, I think but I only found them once. I have a live Steve Miller show (taped off KMET in the early 70s) on an Ampex tape that came with my first portable player/recorder, also an Ampex. I think it'll still play.

― nickn (nickn), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 05:42 (twenty years ago)

ooooo I remember the Might Met. Disco Sucks! Hoo-Ya!

― Orbit (Orbit), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 05:45 (twenty years ago)

I liked Maxells best (hated Memorex, don't think I ever bought Sony) but switched to TDK when they became consistently less expensive for the 5-packs.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 06:24 (twenty years ago)

I usually buy / have ususally bought TDK.... but I still want to reminisce about Pete Murphy in the Maxell advert.

http://www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism/2004/11/graphics/maxell-1-tm.jpg

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 07:17 (twenty years ago)

Which company ran a series of TV ad's where they provided humorously incorrect subtitles for several songs with notoriously difficult-to-decipher lyrics?

I particularly remember "Into The Valley" by The Skids and "The Israelites" by Desmond Dekker receiving this treatment.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 07:21 (twenty years ago)

XLIIs...totally. Couldn't flip any other brand quickly enough b/t Trey and Paige's solos.

That, and they had that "what is on this blank tape?" mystery to them, much like a found unlabelled VHS tape.

And yes, you could get more free Maxells. That was a great deal.

― Big Loud Mountain Ape (Big Loud Mountain Ape), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 13:46 (twenty years ago)

TDK AD90's. Cheap, and slightly better than the D90's.
And the song I'd always use to fill up that last bit of space was "Doggie Do" by The Dickies, which clocked in at a reasonable minute and a half.

― bg (creamolafoam), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 13:51 (twenty years ago)

the TDK SA60 and 90 were always my fave for the 4track and recording records and CDs and whatnot. they never ever fucked up or stretched. but i can't find them around here much lately. so it's Maxell XLIIs mostly. which are everywhere and which are fine but not quite as good to my ears. i just found i could push the TDKs harder without frying them. almost every sony and fuji cassette i ever used has stretched or otherwise fucked up over the years. gave up buying them long ago.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 14:45 (twenty years ago)

I must confess I still use a cassette Portastudio from time to time, because I am a throwback and dig the low-tech stylee of it.

And, yeah, I generally use 60 minute XLIIs, or whatever I can find at CVS failing that. 90- and 120-minute tapes are less relatible.

― The Mad Puffin, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 14:57 (twenty years ago)

..."reliable" is what I meant there. Y'know, thin and break-prone.

― The Mad Puffin, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 15:14 (twenty years ago)

i went from memorex to tdks to maxells. I settled on maxells because they seemed kind of sturdy (they sounded solid when they rewound, or something), also, they smelled good

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 15:17 (twenty years ago)

Maxell's were my favorite

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

im gonna make same tape mixes soon. this thread rules. fuck cd-r's.

a friend and i used to make these bizarre compilation tapes staying up late, mixing in 'mouldy old dough', 'also sprach zarathustra' and giant funk oddyseys... i should hit him up for the taps one day...

― chris andrews (fraew), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 20:17 (twenty years ago)

NOT Memorex. made the unfortunate mistake of using some for home recording masters, which now sound like they were recorded in the 20's (with 20's technology).

that's hot! (white stripes' next album joke here)

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

Surprising so many have the same favourites - for me: Maxell XLII and occasionally TDK SA90. I made the mistake of buying a $500 Yamaha tape deck in 1994 about three months before I got a CDR drive and never played cassettes anymore.

― Siegbran (eofor), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 20:35 (twenty years ago)

TDK D 90s rock my world.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 22:34 (twenty years ago)

Maxell XLII-S. They have this great graphite texture, were slightly heavier and feet more stable. And work well in a Tascam 424.

― Bob Crain (bobcrain), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 23:49 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

http://www.b-sound.com/

Does anyone remember the WHITE plastic TDK's though? Those were the kind I was talking about that lasted forever. Were they from the 70's? I can't remember.

― Hydrochloric Shaved Weirds (Bimble...), Sunday, 10 July 2005 22:33 (twenty years ago)

http://www.echigo.ne.jp/~shokaku/AV/media/CC-TDK-01.jpg

― Hydrochloric Shaved Weirds (Bimble...), Sunday, 10 July 2005 22:39 (twenty years ago)

My dad recorded a buttload of classical music onto those things and then somehow I ended up inheriting them and recording over them off the radio etc. He said I could have 'em.

― Hydrochloric Shaved Weirds (Bimble...), Sunday, 10 July 2005 22:42 (twenty years ago)

i went from memorex to tdks to maxells. I settled on maxells because they seemed kind of sturdy (they sounded solid when they rewound, or something), also, they smelled good

i never thought i'd would get nostalgic about cassette tapes, but remembering how a new blank tape smelled makes me feel like i'm 13.

― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 10 July 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Well in a world of CD writers, i'm still using tape. I have a second car running on a classic insurance policy from the 90's. I have one of the old high-end Pioneer units from 90's with metal tape option. I considered putting a modern Pioneer CD player but somehow would not be right. In my house I have a high end Memorex tape deck, and high end CD player (both 15+ years old) With a good tape, (i'm using TDK metal) there is next to nothing in sound quality between this and CD. I'm trying to find more Metal tapes but there impossible to source, even so TDK/Maxell chrome tapes are also good.

I can't explain why but there is just somthing so rewarding about putting stuff onto tape, then again maybe it's just me!

BTW The best normal position tape I ever found was the Maxell UR tapes, they were far far above any other normal position tape. If you ran out of high position tape they were still good enough to use.

― Jason Massey, Wednesday, 10 August 2005 22:37 (twenty years ago)

remembering how a new blank tape smelled makes me feel like i'm 13.

HELL YEAH! I was strangely loyal to TDK D90's myself. They did amazing things to my system. I can still see a mound of them from here.

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Wednesday, 10 August 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)

I was partial to TDK too, I just liked the look and the sound was good. I hit the motherlode when my mom decided to ditch Amw@y and was about to throw away like 50 of her "prospecting" tapes(usually two hour speeches by chipper very white very Christian couples endlessly extolling "free enterprise" and offering tips on how to best infect ones' neighbors), I spent the day throwing away the inserts, putting tape where appropriate and salivating at my radio recording options. The quality was terrible but I probably got every early-mid 90's hip hop single released on those tapes somewhere.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Wednesday, 10 August 2005 23:22 (twenty years ago)

interspersed with random amway quotes?

― chris andrews (fraew), Thursday, 11 August 2005 00:08 (twenty years ago)

It was all a dream, I used to read word up magazine~cutting out middlemen with my vertical marketing scheme...
alas no, I was blinded to the possibilities

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Thursday, 11 August 2005 00:55 (twenty years ago)

Maxell and Fuji (slim cases!)

― -vest, Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:05 (twenty years ago)

Was usually TDK SA-90s for me -- they felt more solid than Maxells for some reason. The reels weren't jiggling around. Almost always bought high bias.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:13 (twenty years ago)

TDK SA-90s and SA-C90s.

― Truckdrivin' Buddha (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:16 (twenty years ago)

Slim cases suck because they rattle too much in the tape case when you're driving your car.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 11 August 2005 03:17 (twenty years ago)

did anyone ever own one of those bulk tape erasers to re-use tapes?

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 11 August 2005 03:22 (twenty years ago)

The big electro-magnetic blocks? For awhile, I considered those a perk of my radio profession.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 11 August 2005 03:41 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

My hundreds of SA-90s have been stored away in the attic for about a decade, enduring the coldest winters and hottest summers, but I trust these tapes will play it again, sam.

― blunt (blunt), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 00:52 (twenty years ago)

Wow. Cassette Jam '05!

― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Monday, 24 October 2005 17:18 (twenty years ago)

TDK SA-X 100's or Maxell XL II S. Both seemed ridiculously expensive to me in 1991 or whatever.

― benito, Monday, 24 October 2005 17:53 (twenty years ago)

What a great thread.

I still have some white TDK AD-90s from the early 1980s (Tommy Vance introduces Altered Images, Monsoon and Roxy Music on the Top 40 rundown; Clive Tyldesley breathlessly commentates as Eamonn O'Keefe rounds Ray Clemence but takes it too wide...hang about, there's Imre Varadi at the far post unmarked...).

Never got on with the venerable Maxell XLII, preferring TDK SA and SA-X. Just before my missus introduced me to MiniDisc and made it all seem rather silly, I upped the tape ante by exclusively buying Maxell Vertex, Sony SMMST and TDK MA-G for a while. They're gorgeous.

Now I'm back into tapes again cos that's all we've got in the car. Back to worrying about record-levels and will-this-song-fit?

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 24 October 2005 18:45 (twenty years ago)

I've got a Tommy Vance cassette somewhere too. It's had the label torn off though, so I can't remember the brand. It's a bit tatty, though, so lot like a fancy memorex or anything. Still it's lasted 22 years I suppose.

Personally, I thought cassettes were rubbish.

― KeefW (kmw), Monday, 24 October 2005 19:13 (twenty years ago)

TDK T1 90min
earlier: BASF

― zeus (zeus), Monday, 24 October 2005 19:18 (twenty years ago)

seven months pass...

Maybe it's my age, maybe some cassettes really *do* allow you to enjoy music more than digital media, whatever, I recently bought a Nakamichi deck and it's made me reinvestigate my tapes. I hear sighs...

I've listened to lots of Maxell UR's and TDK D's and Memorex tapes (yeah the horrible brightly coloured ones) and Fuji *slim case* DR1's. Last night I found the perfect type 1 tape for the Nakamichi BX-300E (and my ears) - the Maxell UDI CD C90. I've had this tape since 1997 (approx) and recording Steve Wonder's remastered "Original Musiquarium" CD onto it last night was a revelation. For the first time, I heard a recording which I genuinely could not distinguish from the source. Problem is - where can I find more of these lovely tapes?

― Chris J Mann (planetbass), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 14:28 (nineteen years ago)

My brand for years and years...

http://flux.noisepunk.com/images/tdk_sa-x.jpg

― LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 16:34 (nineteen years ago)

Maxell XLIIs. I had that poster (from the ad above) up in my room. And I wondered why I never got laid until after high school.

― js (honestengine), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 16:37 (nineteen years ago)

nine months pass...

I remember playing around with Sony 'metal' tapes, but always found that everything sound 'bright' on them and the quality wasn't that flash in the longer term, with some of them literally falling to bits.

Others included a brief dabble with a box of BASF 'chrome' that did nothing for me, seemingly dulling down the top end. Though my best friend loved them. Different tastes.

But the SA-X C-90's were the staple for a long while.

And then went to MA-X's when I started to get better paid.

My god, the memories are flooding back. LOL

Recently I was cleaning up in the shed and found my old case of car tapes. 30 tapes of hidden gems from the 80's and 90's.

Got all excited because my current car (2001 Holden Berlina) was the last of its line to have both cd and tape deck and hadn't seen a tape near it since it rolled of the production line!.

Popped in a funky mix from 1987 and marvelled at how good they still sounded. The decision to invest in quality tape, even with the associated financial pain, revealed its long term value that day!

I am in awe of how good they still sound.

Cheers

Scooby

― scoobyscooterboy, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:39 (nineteen years ago)

XL-IIs -- I was told by more than one Deadhead tape trader that they were "the gold standard"

― Hurting 2, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:43 (nineteen years ago)

XL-IIs here, too. i really dug the XL-II-S, i think they were? they were heavy duty but then they reformulated and kind of sucked.

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:59 (nineteen years ago)

XL-II. Agree with Gott about teh greatness of XL-II-S, but not cuz they were heavy duty. I loved em cuz they were matte black. Looked so fuggin cool if you scrubbed off the gold-printed text with alcohol. Looked like Mad Max tapes. You could write on em in silver ink, or pencil, or just gouge letters into the plastic.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

TDK

― Dominique, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:25 (nineteen years ago)

while i went through many an sa-90, i was a maxell xl-II-s person (as much as i could afford to be anyway). though yeah i thought they were better when they looked like this:
http://ief.typepad.com/chow/images/maxell_xl_2_s_90_a1.jpg

rather than later when they looked dlike this:
http://www.mercadolivre.com.br/jm/img?s=MLB&f=38464248_50.jpg&v=P

and then this:
http://www.mercadolivre.com.br/jm/img?s=MLB&f=38464248_1402.jpg&v=P

― Mike McGooney-gal, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:32 (nineteen years ago)

i hope i got that progression right! (my memory's not so great...)

― Mike McGooney-gal, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:34 (nineteen years ago)

i can't even remember anymore. was this the last iteration?

http://explore.kwangwoon.ac.kr/~saltlite/xliis902.jpg

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:40 (nineteen years ago)

for tape trading, though, it seemed like everyone used TDK D, maxell UR or sony HF. which probably accounts for 90% of metal demos i find on slsk sounding like they were recorded through a telephone. in an aquarium.

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:43 (nineteen years ago)

also is it just me or have the xl-2-s tapes aged far, far better than any others in my several boxes that i still need to transfer to cd-r one day (which is half the reason i bought one of these machines 6-7 years ago)?

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0000300GE.01._SS400_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

― Mike McGooney-gal, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:48 (nineteen years ago)

my XLII-S tapes still sound good. though i feel like towards the "end" of the cassette era all of the companies started dicking around with their formulas to the detriment of tape/sound quality.

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:53 (nineteen years ago)

I still have this shexy mother:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/95/243430994_035127a9f5.jpg

And this gorgeous fella:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/91/243432000_e06f5da404.jpg

But with a two-year-old around, this tends to happen:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/69/162650828_48d589e16b.jpg

― Michael Jones, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:38 (nineteen years ago)

I was always a BASF fan. Felt like the provided more detail than the others, and also less distortion. Maxell also provided some fantastic sound, but had a tendency to distort the bass.

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 15 March 2007 22:53 (nineteen years ago)

ten months pass...

My everyday tape was and remians the Maxell XL-II (i still buy them).
I aspired to XL-IIs, but really couldn't ever afford them on a regular basis. I tried Type I and Metal, too, but my gear was never good-enough to squeeze the extra juice out of those mixtures.

The old shoppe i used to work at moved nothing but TDK SA, Denon HD8 and Maxell URs. Oh yeah, and those friggin' neon crap Memorex's - they really squandered their "Is it live or is it Memorex" tag line, didn't they?

― christoff, Monday, 21 January 2008 19:49 (eighteen years ago)

I swore by Maxell XLII-S. TDKs were too unreliable for me. When I had extra funds I'd splurge on a "metal" cassette. OK, I only did that once, whereupon I realized that cassette and audio-gear companies spent an absurd amount of time & energy doing r&d (and marketing) for a medium that was never intended for music in the first place.

― Sara Sara Sara, Monday, 21 January 2008 20:19 (eighteen years ago)

oh the nostalgia...

― Zeno, Monday, 21 January 2008 20:21 (eighteen years ago)

They were all about the same, except for one which actually I HATED: Memorex. The TV commercials made it look like it was THE audiophile tape, but I found them to be quite hissy.

― Rev. Hoodoo, Monday, 21 January 2008 20:23 (eighteen years ago)

memorex cd-rs suck, too, for some reason. the only brand that coasters for me on a regular basis.

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 09:58 (eighteen years ago)

Didn't the first 5-6 seconds of Maxell's tapes start off with a head cleaner?

― Jazzbo, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 16:58 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

Goodness I love pictures of cassettes.

― Bimble, Friday, 14 March 2008 04:01 (eighteen years ago)

TDK!!

― El Tomboto, Friday, 14 March 2008 04:02 (eighteen years ago)

but yeah the maxell XLII was the standard for everything. ugly, though.

― El Tomboto, Friday, 14 March 2008 04:04 (eighteen years ago)

I mean, you know, who needs a vinyl fetish? Heheh.

― Bimble, Friday, 14 March 2008 04:04 (eighteen years ago)

that was a xxpost btw. Sorry. And you're right Maxell XLII was quite important and ugly.

― Bimble, Friday, 14 March 2008 04:07 (eighteen years ago)

Ah, cassettes. I'm in a bind because I need to get my nice Denon 2x cassette deck pro cleaned. I -- ahem -- slacked off on cleaning it myself on the regular and now tapes sound like mud. Does anyone know a good place in the NYC area that can clean this baby up for me?

Before anyone laughs and gets all "But it's 2008!" on me: I like to bounce some of my mixes from my computer to cassette and then back in. Gives them a sound I like a lot.

― Capitaine Jay Vee, Friday, 14 March 2008 05:34 (eighteen years ago)

you guys maxwells are where it's at

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 14 March 2008 05:48 (eighteen years ago)

Def. Maxell XL-IIs.

what WAS the deal with Memorex? High priced, terrible sound and even worse transport...

and how about Radio Shack? High price and the shittiest of all. I never used them on purpose, but someone would leave one behind and I'd figure why not try it? And like all their shit, it was like 1970s technology in 1990...

― smurfherder, Friday, 14 March 2008 07:16 (eighteen years ago)

memorex had good ad campaigns, probably sold a lot of tapes without bothering with quality control.

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Friday, 14 March 2008 07:26 (eighteen years ago)

I actually made someone a mixtape for a Christmas present last year, and I had to go to three different stores before I could find blank cassettes. All I could find was a brick of 10 Sony HF's at Target, and they seem even more cheaply made now than they did back when people actually bought them.

Wish I'd held on to some blank Maxell XL-II's.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 14 March 2008 07:27 (eighteen years ago)

my local record shops all sell maxwells?

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 14 March 2008 07:32 (eighteen years ago)

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