Made my first cassette recording of an LP in over 30 years

StantonZ
StantonZ Posts: 439
edited August 2016 in 2 Channel Audio
I recently had my Nakamichi cassette deck restored and decided to re-make a few of my "old" tapes that had faded/deteriorated over the years (I still listen to cassettes once a month or so). Turns out the Maxell XLII-S tapes didn't hold up as well as the older Maxell UDXL II tapes, so I bought a few (used) of the latter off of eBay, bulk erased them, and sat down to record. I can't believe my turntable is still going strong on the original belt after 30+ years (new cart), but all of my original cassettes were made on a (very good) Harmon Kardon back then (although most sound pretty darn good on my Nak thanks to azimuth adjustment)!
Yamaha RX-A2050 AVR (5.0.2); LG OLED77C2 4K TV
(4) Polk Monitor 10B's w/SoniCaps, Mills, and RDO-194 tweets (R/L F/R)
(2) Polk RC80i (Top Middle)
Polk CS300 center channel
Analog: B&O TX2 Turntable, Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1
Digital: Pioneer CLD-99 Elite LD, Panasonic DMP-UB900 UHD Blu-Ray
Bedroom: Arylic Up2Stream AMPv3 driving Polk Monitor 4's w/peerless tweets
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Comments

  • voltz
    voltz Posts: 5,384
    Belt Drives RULES! Rock on!
    d618ithkcku5.gif
    2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge

    HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,306
    I still have all my old tapes, too. maybe even a working Walkman.
    None of mine were made on any good equipment, but I do remember using a bulk eraser back in the old days, as well. that was a big deal for a kid with just paper route money, but I hated poor recordings, and that was the best way to get the tapes clean, and I saved up and picked one up at the local Radio Shack. accidentally wiped a friend's computer disks, too.

    I enjoy indulging in the nostalgia, myself, from time to time. I might see, now, if I can still pull off any freestyle tricks on my old bike...
    I disabled signatures.
  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    Making Mix Tapes...brings me back.
    Had a Nakamichi back then too. Still have it, but needs new belts.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 10,716
    mine too. pain in the butt to fix.
    rescued a couple of JVC dual cassettes from the scape heep of
    life and slumming with them.
  • StantonZ
    StantonZ Posts: 439
    There's basically 2 guys/shops left that service Naks: one on each coast. They can still get things like belts, but heads/motors/etc they swap out and re-build.
    Yamaha RX-A2050 AVR (5.0.2); LG OLED77C2 4K TV
    (4) Polk Monitor 10B's w/SoniCaps, Mills, and RDO-194 tweets (R/L F/R)
    (2) Polk RC80i (Top Middle)
    Polk CS300 center channel
    Analog: B&O TX2 Turntable, Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1
    Digital: Pioneer CLD-99 Elite LD, Panasonic DMP-UB900 UHD Blu-Ray
    Bedroom: Arylic Up2Stream AMPv3 driving Polk Monitor 4's w/peerless tweets
  • Yeah I need to get my Naks fixed.
    I have a bunch of new Sony Metal ES and TDK MA-XG tapes that I would love to use!
    Remember when TDK MA-XG finally outpaced the Sony Metal ES on Audio magazine's annual tape shootout?
  • gmcman
    gmcman Posts: 1,739
    Remember when TDK MA-XG finally outpaced the Sony Metal ES on Audio magazine's annual tape shootout?


    No, but I remember when MA-XG was affordable....unreal prices now.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 10,716
    I have a couple NOS Maxell XL II Black Magnetites sitting around...
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    I still have most of my compilation cassettes. Had a series of Nakamichi's back then, don't have any now. Those babies had the best sound quality.
  • gmcman wrote: »
    Remember when TDK MA-XG finally outpaced the Sony Metal ES on Audio magazine's annual tape shootout?


    No, but I remember when MA-XG was affordable....unreal prices now.

    @gmcman
    I got all of mine on fleabay.The catch is that I waited PATIENTLY to find some reasonable ones.
    (*were talking months here*)
    If you want any I'll sell you a couple.
  • @rednedtugent
    The "S" versions of the Maxell's always seemed to be better.
    XL-1S and XL-IIS
    Come to think of it I also have some of those sitting around. All are brand new and in the original packaging if anyone is interested.
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    I remember really liking the TDK MA.
  • gmcman
    gmcman Posts: 1,739
    @gmcman
    I got all of mine on fleabay.The catch is that I waited PATIENTLY to find some reasonable ones.
    (*were talking months here*)
    If you want any I'll sell you a couple.

    I may take you up on that. I have had the best luck with TDK SA-X and I actually stumbled upon a lot of SA, SA-X, XLII, XL II S recently among a few other assorted tapes for $1 per tape for 100 tapes....haven't had any luck with the metal tapes but I remember the more dynamic recordings they offer.
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    Best cassette tapes I ever bought were Denon metal. Those suckers you just pushed up to +3db into the red and let it go. I still have them I listen to at work on a boom box. Those tapes are every bit 30 yrs. old. Some of my other favorite TDK SA some if those still are just OK but most gave of the ghost a looong time ago. The highs on the TDK's are pretty dull but those Denon's still are very good. All I have left in the cassette recording were all done on the same deck a top tier Yamaha single non reversing deck. Wonder if there are any manufacturers making tapes these days? I seen the other day that VCR's and tapes were still being made in Japan( I think) until last couple weeks.
  • The Sony Metal ES and last version of the TDK MA-XG were known for being able to handle ridiculous amounts of signal. However they also required more bias current than a lot of older tape decks could manage.
    I have them all in original packaging unused along with the Maxell's.
    If anyone is interested let me know.
    I'm going to keep some of them though.
    The Nakamichi decks made excellent recordings with them.
    Hey does anyone have a Pioneer CT-95 deck?
    That was considered the only deck besides the really expensive ReVoX and Tandbergs that could compare to the Naks.
  • StantonZ
    StantonZ Posts: 439
    edited August 2016
    @rednedtugent
    The "S" versions of the Maxell's always seemed to be better.
    XL-1S and XL-IIS

    I have found the exact opposite: the non-"S" versions have done better over time. In fact, I bought some (used) UDXL-II tapes to replace the XL-IIs! Probably going to put the IIs on eBay when I finish the new recordings.
    Yamaha RX-A2050 AVR (5.0.2); LG OLED77C2 4K TV
    (4) Polk Monitor 10B's w/SoniCaps, Mills, and RDO-194 tweets (R/L F/R)
    (2) Polk RC80i (Top Middle)
    Polk CS300 center channel
    Analog: B&O TX2 Turntable, Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1
    Digital: Pioneer CLD-99 Elite LD, Panasonic DMP-UB900 UHD Blu-Ray
    Bedroom: Arylic Up2Stream AMPv3 driving Polk Monitor 4's w/peerless tweets
  • gmcman
    gmcman Posts: 1,739
    I agree the TDK-SA was lacking a little in the highs, but the SA-X helped bridge the gap. PM sent on the metals.
  • Wow the UDXL-II tapes preceded the XL-II and IIS tapes!
    The SA-X tapes were also excellent. They made an SA-XG version for a while.
  • s4ebsq3n8g41.jpg

    Anyone remember this one?
    It was TDK's attempt at merging metal and chrome tapes together. I used to love this one. Problem was back when it came out a lot of decks couldn't handle the bias it required. So it didn't last.
  • RamZet
    RamZet Posts: 792
    Cool, I just got "The Postal Service" and "21 Pilots" on cassette from Amazon.com. I got them so when my daughter gets older she can see them first hand.
    B&W CM9Classé Sigma
  • BlueBirdMusic
    BlueBirdMusic Posts: 2,066
    A few weeks ago, I hooked up my Carver TDR-2400 player, and found that cassettes sound better than I remember from previous years. Couldn't find any of my compilation cassettes. I used to make "Jimmy Buffett" compilation cassettes to enjoy on my sailboat. Life was good.
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
  • StantonZ
    StantonZ Posts: 439
    edited August 2016
    I too am amazed at how well some of my "home made" cassettes have held up over the years. In fact, re-making these last few (Maxell UDXL-II) on a 3-head deck allowed for a real-time comparison of source vs tape. Yes, CD still sounds better in most cases, but a lot of the older jazz LPs I have are either not available on CD, or the CD release was of such poor quality I never bought it.
    Yamaha RX-A2050 AVR (5.0.2); LG OLED77C2 4K TV
    (4) Polk Monitor 10B's w/SoniCaps, Mills, and RDO-194 tweets (R/L F/R)
    (2) Polk RC80i (Top Middle)
    Polk CS300 center channel
    Analog: B&O TX2 Turntable, Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1
    Digital: Pioneer CLD-99 Elite LD, Panasonic DMP-UB900 UHD Blu-Ray
    Bedroom: Arylic Up2Stream AMPv3 driving Polk Monitor 4's w/peerless tweets
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    edited August 2016
    heh -- I've got TDK and Maxell cassettes ("needle drops" in today's hip, happenin' parlance) that I recorded on a purchased-used (from Soundscape, of course), thoroughly ordinary, two-head Yamaha TC-511S in the second half of the 1970s -- casettes that spent time sittin 'in a box in my already-rusty Ford Bronco in Baltimore in the early 1980s (including some that were buried in a snowdrift inside the truck due to its rather porous nature by that time) -- and they still sound mighty fine.

    Some of them have lost their labels after their Donner Party experience, though.

    15592735814_241d076623_b.jpgTC511S203-420view20AK by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

    FWIW, with the benefit of hindsight, I think I slightly prefer(red) the TDK SA-C90 cassettes of those halcyon days to the Maxell UD-XLII C90 of the same epoch (even though, at the time, I was convinced that the Maxell tapes were the 'better' of the two... I think they were a wee bit more expensive).


  • Uh ooooooh
    The TDK versus Maxell wars begin anew after all these years❕❗ :D
  • StantonZ
    StantonZ Posts: 439
    Those "wars" were short-lived with me: I think I owned a total of maybe 2 TDK tapes.
    Yamaha RX-A2050 AVR (5.0.2); LG OLED77C2 4K TV
    (4) Polk Monitor 10B's w/SoniCaps, Mills, and RDO-194 tweets (R/L F/R)
    (2) Polk RC80i (Top Middle)
    Polk CS300 center channel
    Analog: B&O TX2 Turntable, Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1
    Digital: Pioneer CLD-99 Elite LD, Panasonic DMP-UB900 UHD Blu-Ray
    Bedroom: Arylic Up2Stream AMPv3 driving Polk Monitor 4's w/peerless tweets
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    Well, virtually all of my (purchased-new) reel to reel tapes are Maxell UD-35, FWIW.
    10174120105_9c31b655bb_b.jpgsmall%20maxell%20UD3590 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

    I do have one TDK (reel) tape from back then. It was/is OK (but in the case of the reel tape formulations, I really do like the Maxell UD tape; it was good stuff, at least for home/amateur use).

    10174119865_7490979310_b.jpgsmall%20TDK%20L1800 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr


    More recently, I've taken a likin' to (N)OS BASF reel tape (not that I remember which formulation) -- pretty nice stuff.


    sorry for soiling the thread, so to speak, with a different tape format! :-P
  • xsmi
    xsmi Posts: 1,786
    Thanks for the memories. FWIW, you can still get tapes on Amazon. I didn't realize that.
    2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
  • recoveryone
    recoveryone Posts: 885
    edited August 2016
    WHAT!!!!! no Teac metal, that look like mini reel to reels. I love to just kick back and watch those when listening. The TDK's BASF and Maxell's were the standards back then. I may have to give my old Pioneer M66R a workout this weekend.
    Family Room HT 7.2/i]:Vizio Oled55h1 Pioneer Elite SC-LX502 Pioneer Elite BDP 85FD Eversolo DMP A6 Panamax M5300-EXSpeakers Fronts Fluance XF8L Center Polk Audio S35 Side Surrounds Optimus LS30's Rear Surrounds Optimus LS30's Subs SVS PB4000 x2 Living room 2ch: Crown Xli 1500 amp Teac EQ MKII FX Audio X6 Mk II DAC Squeezebox Touch Fluance Signature Tower Speakers Panamax M5100-EXOffice media room:Vizio M50Q6 50" Pioneer Elite VSX LX103 Squeezebox Touch Polkaudio R50 Towers Polkaudio CS 10 Panamax M4300 Monoprice 12" subMaster bedroom:Vizio M55Q7 Pioneer Elite VSX LX302 Pioneer Elite BDP 85FD Squeezebox Touch Polk audio RTi 6 fronts, Rears Dayton B652 Polk Audio CS10 center Monoprice 12" sub Panamax M5300-EX
  • qbjcxm2qckt4.jpg
    Family Room HT 7.2/i]:Vizio Oled55h1 Pioneer Elite SC-LX502 Pioneer Elite BDP 85FD Eversolo DMP A6 Panamax M5300-EXSpeakers Fronts Fluance XF8L Center Polk Audio S35 Side Surrounds Optimus LS30's Rear Surrounds Optimus LS30's Subs SVS PB4000 x2 Living room 2ch: Crown Xli 1500 amp Teac EQ MKII FX Audio X6 Mk II DAC Squeezebox Touch Fluance Signature Tower Speakers Panamax M5100-EXOffice media room:Vizio M50Q6 50" Pioneer Elite VSX LX103 Squeezebox Touch Polkaudio R50 Towers Polkaudio CS 10 Panamax M4300 Monoprice 12" subMaster bedroom:Vizio M55Q7 Pioneer Elite VSX LX302 Pioneer Elite BDP 85FD Squeezebox Touch Polk audio RTi 6 fronts, Rears Dayton B652 Polk Audio CS10 center Monoprice 12" sub Panamax M5300-EX
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    sure but... obscenely expensive on the "collectors' market" today.