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Did you buy new cassette tapes lately? Show us your musical taste here!

Discussion in 'Cassettes' started by odyrock, Dec 22, 2016.

  1. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    Nando, I'm curious why do you like the AR so much. Almost all type I tapes I've tried lack a decent silent hiss and the AR wasn't different in this matter. I like to record without Dolby and with chrome you can get an excellent recordings with very low hiss, but with type I you can always hear it. In walkmans is always worse.
    What is the thing you like most from the AR?
    What these type I tapes have is a very powerful bass, indeed! :music:
     
  2. TooCooL4

    TooCooL4 Well-Known Member

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    I am a TDK AR fan too, the TDK AR are the lowest quality tapes I use.
    I like the crisp clear sound they produce, if I remember correctly the midrange on them are very nice too. Yes you do notice the hiss but once the music get’s going you don’t really notice it much, just don’t use them for music with loads of quiet passages. I too never use Dolby but still I love the AR.
     
  3. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    Thanks for your clarifying reply. Very informative. And you're totally right: once the music starts, the hiss is gone...
     
  4. Elite-ist

    Elite-ist Well-Known Member

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    I often record with Dolby C and HX Pro with many of my Type I mix tapes. I think for those using portables with headphones, or those who prefer to use headphones with their regular stereo systems, when no NR is used, the tape hiss is noticeable during quiet passages such as song gaps, beginning and end of tape, and times where the recorded music is low in range, . For some it can be bothersome. There a few ferric tapes that can give Type II tapes a run for their money. It's hard to beat the solid bass delivered by a good ferric tape. Some premium ferric tapes like the TDK AR, and AR-X, especially, impart a sound you won't forget. A number of years ago, I was a tape snob who didn't use Type I cassettes, thinking they were somewhat inferior, but I know better now.

    [​IMG]

    Nando.
     
  5. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    Nando, your comments inspire me enought to give the AR a try. I have used a few HF and one HF-S back in the late 80s and then went to type II definitely, using my beloved AIWA CSD-SR6. Being a teen I only could afford CDings and CDIts, and ocassionally a TDK SF.
    I remember to feel that powerful bass of the HF-S; it was notorious.
    But now, with much better equipment I think I can have much deeper understanding and better feelings...


    I also got an AD-X from a friend but still didn't used it. Any comments about it?


    I'll update :)
     
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  6. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    Nando, looks to me that new cassette releases uses very low tape quality. What are your thoughts?
     
  7. Nickfish

    Nickfish Member

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    AD-X was one of my favourite tapes. It used a chrome tape stock but operated at normal settings. This allowed much higher record levels without saturation than other normal tapes. TDK did the same trick with HX-S which used metal tape at Chrome position and the headroom on those was enormous. Perfect tapes for use in portable units because you could play louder for less battery usage; all without distortion unless you went mad with the record levels. The other benefit is that chrome and metal tape does not seem to age as badly as normal. Most of my 80's and 90's recorded tapes sound as good today as ever. The only exception was the high end That's tapes with the triangular window. They seem to seize up over time and most are unplayable these days. Shame because the MRX-Pro was a wonderful sounding tape.
     
  8. Kalach Portable

    Kalach Portable New Member

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    If you like the TDK-AR check these limited edition ones I got a few weeks ago! Love them!! Presently I don't own a 3 head cassette deck but I own the latest and final iteration of Pioneer's ELITE cassette deck with super Auto BLE and digital technologies such as FLEX and the amazing Digital Signal Processing which completely converts the signal to digital domain where it is vastly improved while the noise is dramatically reduced. Normal tapes greatly benefit from this digital signal processing.

    I no longer use noise reduction (which has always hindered the natural sound - only to a lesser amount with Dolby S). On the Pioneer DSP tape decks the sound is so improved that, in many occasions, it competes with CD sound (on my MA-XG tapes, for instance, the sound exudes potency, depth, brilliancy and excellent sound reproduction).

    My favorite normal tapes are the AR-X, the Sony ES-1, HF-X and HF-ES (Crystal Gamma).

    According to a trusted online source: “We were stubborn enough to believe that digital sound is great — it’s clear and crisp and sharp — but it’s not natural,” says Stepp. “The human ear, like the world around us, is analog. For some strange reason, analog music just sounds better to the human ear, that’s how we’re built.”

    Me: In general I tend to favor a natural sound even if it means having more hiss noise issues.
     

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  9. TooCooL4

    TooCooL4 Well-Known Member

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    I would try the TDK AR limited you recommend but I am not willing to pay the prices they are going for these days, besides I have a pile of TDK AR’s, SA’s and MA-XG’s unopened so I am good for a long time to come.

    A lot of people rave on about the TDK SA, they are okay. Given the choice of TDK AR or TDK SA I would pick the AR every time. Funny when I make tapes for other people I would rather let the SA’s go than the AR’s.
     
  10. Elite-ist

    Elite-ist Well-Known Member

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    Hugo: There are many premium ferric cassettes out there - the TDK AR-X would be one of them. Almost every major cassette tape manufacturer of the day produced one - even Realistic. And yes, the prices are really climbing for sealed NOS ones - to the point you are better of using a model down from the premium ferric cassette and do your utmost in squeezing the best the tape can offer with good equipment and good recording practices.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    As for Neil Young's latest release on pre-recorded cassette, I think it is safe to say you and I can do a better recording. It is an inexpensive tape and no NR is used in the recording. Nevertheless, I wanted to support the cause. And I do mean cassette revitalization for mainstream artists, not Neil's environmental cause.

    Nando.
     
  11. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    Really? :shock
    How did you know that? It's hard to believe for me... Seems a very simple trick and I find it with no sense... Excuse me if I'm wrong.
     
  12. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    I haven't seen the prices of them these days but it doesn't surprise me what you say. Almost everything vintage is overpriced now.
    Reading all your thoughts about the RA I'll give them another try definitely!

    I have around 20 Limited Edition AR as the one I show, so I have plenty of ones to try. I don't feel the necessity to buy new ones; at least now. Who knows if my thoughts will change after testing the AR? :scratch2:
    Regarding Neil young's cassette, I guessed that. Old days of reasonable good quality in prerecorded cassettes are long gone. Not to talk about MFSL and others.
    It's interesting that the NAC (National Audio Cassette company) is selling brand new blank chrome and 'chrome plus' cassettes which they assure they are BASF cassettes. Why artists don't release albums using those -supposedly- good ones? Even more in case of Neil. I don't know...
    BTW: It's very curious how cassettes were duplicated at huge speeds like 128X in digital bin machines, using a special head and a procedure that didn't use a D/A conversion. It was done naturally at the very head. :eyepopping:

    Techmoan has shown this in his latest video:

     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2017
  13. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    Thanks for your reply, Kalach. I think you haven't seen my photos I previously posted. I have the same Limited Edition one... (two boxes).

    I don't understand this very well. You don't have a 3-head deck but you have the latest Pioneer ELITE? I guess it's just a mispelling. :scratch2:
    I bet that is the CT-95, right? If so, that's a 3-head deck indeed... Can you post photos of it?
    Anyway, although the AutoBLE works very well, I don't like the idea of the signal being digitized internally to then process and convert back to analog to be recorded. I have to hear a CT-95 in person, but at first sight the idea doesn't convince me a lot...:iconconfused:

    Sorry if I sound a bit skeptical, but I have to hear a tape recorded with that to believe it. The fact that the deck process the music digitally has anything related to the fact that in the end it will be recorded in the same magnetic tape using the same [as many others] head, so the inherent characteristics of the magnetic recording will show up: same dynamic range, same hiss, same MOL and SOL... :old:
    Basically it's not different than if I play music from my computer and I do some processing into it, to the record in my CT-93 deck, i.e. Isn't it?

    What decks do you have and what are you using as source for your recordings?
    Regards,
     
  14. Kalach Portable

    Kalach Portable New Member

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    Hi! The truth is that if you are going to use a normal bias cassettes there are still a number of choices. Plus dedicating some time to finding a great deal on the prices of such media is well worth it. Amazingly, you will find the person who is undercharging up to 80%less
    For instance, these limited edition TDK-AR could very well be sold around $25 and thats the market price for such items being kept in great condition after at least two decades!
    They easily turn into priced collectible items. Bottom line is that I got 3 of those cassettes in excellent shape for around $20 - obviously eBay.

    In refernce to your comments related to the TDX-SA, I used 4 generations of that tape and although I never tested or compared them to other cassettes the results were pretty good for everyday recordings. I would get improved definition by using the SA-X or the rare SA-XG. When I traveled to Eur0ope I was made aware of the brands that I had never even considered (other than Sony and TDK): Fuji, Denon, BASF, That's and more.
     
  15. Kalach Portable

    Kalach Portable New Member

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  16. TooCooL4

    TooCooL4 Well-Known Member

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    The TDK SA are good, i am not saying they are not good but just saying they are not as good as what everyone makes them out to be.

    Is that $20 each or $20 for all 3 AR's either way i would not pay that much for them.
     
  17. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    @Kalach Portable , I see you quoted my reply but haven replied anything; a browser issue?
     
  18. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    First test...

    IMG_6411.JPG
     
  19. odyrock

    odyrock New Member

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    Last bunch of tapes I bought over amazon!
    IMG_1425.JPG
     
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  20. Command8

    Command8 Active Member

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    had been waiting 2 weeks for this tape.
    IMG_20170213_210345.jpg IMG_20170213_210300.jpg IMG_20170213_210247.jpg
     

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