Type I cassette tapes

stuwee

Denon makes some very nice tapes, I really like the HD8, which is a metal particle type II, then there's the MG-X super metal in a ceramic shell that's badass.

While I haven't done a head to head with a Dragon against my Teac, I bet it'd be pointless. When it came out Audio magazine could not detect or even measure any wow and flutter from the IC logic, Quartz PLL direct drive dual capstan transport and it had the flattest frequency response they ever tested to that date (1992). I must say it's not only gorgeous, it sounds exactly like the source recorded. http://www.vintagecassette.com/Teac/V-8000S

Joe08867

Another Denon fan here or TDK metal tapes don't remember the part #'s but they were quite good.

George Grand

Denon "HD"

That Technics video recorder is neater than ****.

skrol

stuwee wrote: »

Denon makes some very nice tapes, I really like the HD8, which is a metal particle type II, then there's the MG-X super metal in a ceramic shell that's badass.

I have a few 3 packs of Denon HD-8 100s tucked away. Each pack has an MG-X as a bonus. I picked these up around the time of the fall of cassettes. I also have a TDK MA-XG that I'd love to hear but can't bring myself to open the package.

Good results with most Sony. I still have a Type-I HF-S in my desk drawer that I pull out and listen to at work form time to time. Still sounds good.

I had good results with some, not all, of the TRACS tape too.

Not so good results with Fuji, Memorex or Scotch

BASF were ok but I had problems with them jamming. So much for their fancy guide mechanism.

[Deleted User]

heiney9 wrote: »

I've often thought about buying another just as an art/conversation piece. I loved my Dragon and would still have it if cassettes were even a tiny bit practical

H9

H,
Out of curiosity, what is a fair price for a Dragon, any idea ? :cool:

SCompRacer

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Lust! That would match my CA-800/CT-800 integrated/tuner combo just a bit better than the CT-720. (I don't care for the TC-800 casette deck styling). I still play some cassette tapes on the retro system while working in the basement. Rocking out through Polk 7A's.

stuwee

nap wrote: »

H,
Out of curiosity, what is a fair price for a Dragon, any idea ? :cool:

Contact Willy Hermann, http://willyhermannservices.com/ , see if he has a rebuilt one fo sale, or ask him what he charges for an overhaul (they all need one to get the best out of them), then base your price from that figure.

Most are waaaaay overpriced because of their reputation, most aren't worth it when you add the rebuild $$'s in. Talk to Willy, he's a great guy, very fair businessman.

heiney9

nap wrote: »

H,
Out of curiosity, what is a fair price for a Dragon, any idea ? :cool:

$500-700 for a nicely working unit. They are worth every penny if cassettes are the most important media you own and are into. Many here have named some other really great decks, but the Dragon and it's technology was the best. People tend to forget about NAAC which made the Dragon not only great playing back it's own recorded tapes but those from other decks as well. Nakamichi built their rep on building the best decks available, money no object and the Dragon and the 1000ZXL stand among the best consumer decks ever made.

Personally if I was going to make a run at getting into cassettes, I wouldn't pay more than $500 for a Dragon in very good working order. And yes as stuwee says, the guru's that fix and maintain these units aren't cheap. It's like taking your Ferrari in for the 15K service, expect to pay.

H9

[Deleted User]

heiney9 wrote: »

$500-700 for a nicely working unit. They are worth every penny if cassettes are the most important media you own and are into. Many here have named some other really great decks, but the Dragon and it's technology was the best. People tend to forget about NAAC which made the Dragon not only great playing back it's own recorded tapes but those from other decks as well. Nakamichi built their rep on building the best decks available, money no object and the Dragon and the 1000ZXL stand among the best consumer decks ever made.

Personally if I was going to make a run at getting into cassettes, I wouldn't pay more than $500 for a Dragon in very good working order. And yes as stuwee says, the guru's that fix and maintain these units aren't cheap. It's like taking your Ferrari in for the 15K service, expect to pay.

H9

I probably (famous last words) will not get into cassettes again. If I were to buy a Dragon it would most likely be a curio only. Its just one of those things I always wanted. So what would happen is it would sit there in the rack and just look impressive. In terms of a movie reference it would be akin to Monty Python's Meaning of Life, where the hospital administrator needs to have the machine that goes "ding". Insert joke here........ Cheers. :cool:

deronb1

I loved being able to set levels on recordings and all that. Still have all the tapes I made back in the 80s. Alas, nothing to play them on though. Maybe Ill pick up a deck.

I still have a tape that Ford gave to audition their car stereos. JBL / Infinity. That tape was recorded awsome of course.

I liked the Maxell high bias tapes. Metals sounded kinda tinny on my stuff though

stuwee

For a real curio piece, remember the Pioneer cassette changers? They actually sound really nice and work great, a buddy of mine has one for sale, I'm thinking about getting it just to watch it work, here's a video of one in action, not my buddies, he has better taste in music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVfbOvPSJP4

skrol

deronb1 wrote: »

I loved being able to set levels on recordings and all that. Still have all the tapes I made back in the 80s. Alas, nothing to play them on though. Maybe Ill pick up a deck.

I still have a tape that Ford gave to audition their car stereos. JBL / Infinity. That tape was recorded awsome of course.

I liked the Maxell high bias tapes. Metals sounded kinda tinny on my stuff though

I have a couple of those Ford tapes. They were recorded very well.

There are some great deals out there on decks. About a year ago I picked up a Denon DRM-800A (3-head, dual capstain) for $35. It had been purchased new by a church and never used. The box was opened but it was still in the foam wrap and plastic.
Stan

gudnoyez

TDK AD 90 were pretty good for normal bias tapes the TDK DC 90's were ok, however the TDK SA high bias tapes were the best, they were way better than what Maxell or BASF high bias had to offer. I always had the best luck with TDK SA High bias or the TDK MA Metal Bias tapes, those were the Cream of the crop for TDK, I have every Alan Parsons Project Album on MA 90's and to this day they still sound great, I have lots of music on cassette and still play them frequently.

Mon40CSMM10

mhardy6647 wrote: »

The AD was a pretty decent tape; tipped-up HF response compared to the normal TDK Type I tape of the era (the "D", I guess).

Yes, TDK D60 and D90. I found D90 tapes were more than acceptable for making a dub of the original tape for use in a Walkman type of portable tape player. I wouldn't have wanted to use one as a master tape, however.

Tbone289

gudnoyez wrote: »

TDK AD 90 were pretty good for normal bias tapes the TDK DC 90's were ok, however the TDK SA high bias tapes were the best, they were way better than what Maxell or BASF high bias had to offer.

I totally agree, and still have a stash of SA90's in the package. Maxell and Sony Type-II's were decent, but TDK SA's seemed much more durable to me, holding the high frequencies much longer than the others.

Malbec

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=60462&stc=1&d=1315261165

Ah yes Tandberg machines. No mention of the Ampex GrandMaster tape?
TDK MA tape was at the top of the foodchain for me but the Ampex wasn't anything to pass on.

George Grand

Every cassette I ever had that "squeaked" during play was a TDK. The cassette shells themselves did not have the durability of Maxell products.

mhardy6647

George Grand wrote: »

Every cassette I ever had that "squeaked" during play was a TDK. The cassette shells themselves did not have the durability of Maxell products.

Anecdotally, that was my experience as well, I think. Maxell made a big deal over their premium engineered cassette shells - remember that they were screwed together. I also (think I) recall that the Maxell cassettes had graphite sheets installed on either side of the tape reels to minimize friction/squeaking as the tape played.

My 1970s sense was always that the Maxell tapes were premium; the TDKs a small notch down the ladder. The latter were certainly a tad cheaper in those halcyon days. I have many Maxell (as well as some TDK) tapes made on a Yamaha TC-511S as long ago as 1978 that still sound quite good.


- not the selfsame TC-511S, but uncannily similar :-)

heiney9

I used both Maxell and TDK and both performed excellent for me. TDK's were screwed together as well at some point and time. I had the opposite experience as GG, some of the later Maxell XL-IIs' I had squeaked like a mouse. I remember being farily PO'd about it at the time.

TDK SA-X and MA's were excellent and I also used Nakamichi brand tape which was actually a TDK formulation. I had really good luck for awhile with FUJI brand high bias tapes as well.

H9

mhardy6647

I honestly don't remember (anymore) but don't doubt that both were screwed together - I'll check some tonight.

I think that the more recent squeaky Maxells were widely (wait for it...) squawked about at the time. My comments are strictly late-70s/early-80s-based. I'm still there, y'know?

I never complained about the sound of TDK tapes and used SAs and UD-XLIIs at about a 1:1 ratio back in the olden days. For reel to reel, I preferred Maxell (UD-35 90B) to the equivalent TDK (Audua)... FWIW.

mhardy6647

Re: TDK
From the excellent archive of recording (mostly R2R) ads and reprints at
http://reel2reeltexas.com/catIndex.html



(from 1974)


oh... and speaking of Tandberg... hubba-freaking-hubba! :-)


(from 1976)

skrol

Too bad we have a size limit on attachments. I have scans of some cassette tape test reviews from 1987, 1990 and 1993. They are about 8MB each.
Stan

skrol

For all interested in Nakimichi decks...

kolbywhite28

I still have cassette tapes piled in a cabinet inside my room..those have sentimental values worth the keeping..

Phil Dawson

I have been involved in a project of transferring about 700 tapes worth of music to CDs. Tape does degrade over time and most of these tapes were recorded off of vinyl 20 or more years ago an it was time to either get rid of them or transfer the music. Almost all of the tapes were either TDK SA 90s or Maxell XLIIs. The recording was done on a higher end Pioneer deck or a Nak MR-2 (Pro line) deck. The playback for transfer. has been all done on the Nak. I have completed about 600 of the tapes and still have about 100 left to go. During this project I have not had any problems with either of the tapes and have not been able to tell the difference between them sonically. Phil

stuwee

Keiko wrote: »

I had tried these open reel type cassette tapes years ago. From an aesthetic point of view they look really cool, but they sound and preformed like crap. Squealed like a stuck pig, literally.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/REEL-CLEER-CRMII-90-GOLD-HIGH-BIAS-BLANK-AUDIO-CASSETTE-/120763668462

I agree, those Reel Cleer's are only good for show. I heard the squeal too and immediately took them out, but they sure look cool :cool:

Phil have you tried taping nasty CD's to tape? Try it, you might be surprised