surprisetech Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 TDK had a Category of Tapes they called SA (Super Avilyn) which would utilise the Chrome setting on most players. Maybe it was just what TDK called their Chrome tapes ? but the sound they produced was superb. They were a lot cheaper than the Metal tapes and they were basically the only tapes I used. They have lasted very well and still sound good https://tapetardis.wordpress.com/tag/super-avilyn/ Yeah, the SA's were used on the Chrome setting, but the formulation was different, and they didn't wear out the heads as quickly as Chrome or Metal. My SAs still sound really good too. I think TDK originally developed SA as a high performance video tape formulation that was kinder on the moving heads on VCRs. I never bothered with Metal, didn't consider the trade-off in head wear was worth it. I have a small number of Chrome tapes, Maxell UDXLII, which still sound great. The better Ferro formulations have also stood the test of time; TDK AD-X, Hitachi/Maxell UDXL1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericd Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 The Radio National program The Quiet Space often plays tracks from new cassette releases. I'm not sure what rationale these labels have for cassette-only releases. They tend to be pretty small run releases (<100). Maybe some people just get irrationally affectionate towards particular formats...but that would never happen here of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freedom Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Yeah, the SA's were used on the Chrome setting, but the formulation was different, and they didn't wear out the heads as quickly as Chrome or Metal. My SAs still sound really good too. I think TDK originally developed SA as a high performance video tape formulation that was kinder on the moving heads on VCRs. I never bothered with Metal, didn't consider the trade-off in head wear was worth it. I have a small number of Chrome tapes, Maxell UDXLII, which still sound great. The better Ferro formulations have also stood the test of time; TDK AD-X, Hitachi/Maxell UDXL1. A friend of mine wouldn't play 'TDK' tapes on his machine! He reckoned they were too harsh on the heads! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surprisetech Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 A friend of mine wouldn't play 'TDK' tapes on his machine! He reckoned they were too harsh on the heads! Interesting, haven't heard that before. What brand was his preference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joz Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I really miss the FF and FR ability while trying to find tracks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 (edited) I had a walkman which automatically would play the other side when one side was finished. It also had a switch for doing it manually. If you held it in the right spot just past halfway it would play whatever was on the other side backwards. And I'm sure we've all "rewound" a tape by spinning it on a pen at some point.....? Edited April 10, 2014 by Dirty_vinylpusher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrose Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I don't miss Cassette at all. The need to record real time, having to fast forward through an entire song to skip a track, warping in the heat when left in a Car, gradual deterioration of sound and the need to manually wind tape back along with a host of other short comings. DCC and DAT suffered from most of the shortcomings. CD was a significant improvement, especially when they became recordable and digital is far more convenient with generally better sound quality. They did make some mighty fine decks back in the day though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 (edited) CD was a significant improvement, especially when they became recordable.Yes it was but the transition from tape to recordable CD was still quite long.At least until it became available and affordable for the general population. My first standalone CD burner/copier was the envy of all my mates at the time (2000-ish), can't remember how much it cost at the time but it wasn't cheap. You still had to record real time from other media but could do 2Xspeed from CD to CD on the unit itself. I used it a lot with my MD deck. Record a DJ set on MD, track mark etc, then burn to CD via optical. Brilliant. Of course once computers became more advanced and commonplace higher copying speeds became available. And I guess they did on CD decks as well? The 3CD stack on this was very frustrating and slow. Hardly ever used it part from when copying. Pretty sure it stopped opening in the end and there's still a CD in there. Should pop the lid on it one day and see what's going on Edited April 10, 2014 by Dirty_vinylpusher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freedom Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Interesting, haven't heard that before. What brand was his preference? ANY brand 'other' than 'TDK' ! Personally it wouldn't bother me either way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky_Sardine Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Just my 2 Bitcoins worth Inflation must be crazy in this country. Used to be 2 cents :-) (Admit to being away from any kind of forum action for quite few years so first time I've seen that written with reference to bit coins. Sorry for being a noob) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luc Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 No My thoughts exactly. Anyone want to buy my deck? It's black, it's rare-ish, it's got meters that go back and forth, it plays two speed ,timber enclosure and it's not a Sansui. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 people probably need to get with the times ... when you can buy a SSD recorder for 100s of dollars why on earth would you blow the dust off some old relic and try keep it going ? oh yeah ok I forgot, its not analog...want the foibles of tape etc ...ok ...ok.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 people probably need to get with the times ... when you can buy a SSD recorder for 100s of dollars why on earth would you blow the dust off some old relic and try keep it going ? Some members here have 1000s of cassttes!!! And still use it to this day, good on them, unfortunately I was forcefully moved on....no more space.... The ITB HDD i have holds all my CD collection and is only 20% full, a backup is ITB is only around the $80 and USB3.... so go figure Nakamichi 1000zxl LTD GOLD (When only the best will do) One for sale on audiogon for those who want a cassette player upgrade!! 1000zxllimited.JPG http://app.audiogon.com/listings/tape-decks-nakamichi-1000zxl-ltd-gold-2014-04-04-miscellaneous-5730001 When I 1st got into audio my cousin took me to Encel Stereo, this deck was one i aspire to owning but never had the opportunity to do so... It was on a rack to compare with all the other Nakamichi, Luxman, rotel, decks.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woadl Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I must admit I still like the tape format be it cassette or reel to reel This is a Pioneer cassette that I have just finished re-capping and now I'm just waiting on new belts for it It's sounding remarkably good 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hergest Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 people probably need to get with the times ... when you can buy a SSD recorder for 100s of dollars why on earth would you blow the dust off some old relic and try keep it going ? oh yeah ok I forgot, its not analog...want the foibles of tape etc ...ok ...ok.. If people had probably got with the times back in 1985 you wouldn't have a Rega P9 to play your records on as everybody would have moved to CD. Fortunately some of us blew the dust off our old relics and kept them going even with the foibles of records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 If people had probably got with the times back in 1985 you wouldn't have a Rega P9 to play your records on as everybody would have moved to CD. Fortunately some of us blew the dust off our old relics and kept them going even with the foibles of records. oh shut up ! ok I did get with the times and the TT went into the laundry cupboard back in you guessed it....1985 But I was a smart one though and re entered the LP scene with a you probably guessed it a brand spanking rega p25....about....15 years ago...and since then more recently when I wanted to upgrade I did so with a brand spanking new rega p9..... so no dusting off of old relics here hehe ps Tascam have moved on too..with SSD recorders....but if really desperate they do still make a cassette decks so ...dont have to dust off an old relic http://tascam.com/applications/recording/cassette_deck/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ando Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 definitely a Tape resurgence…..Sony's 185 terabyte tape breaks storage capacity record... http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/sonys-185terabyte-tape-breaks-storage-capacity-record-20140506-zr59l.html perhaps a new super ultra high res format ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NT3 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 You beat me to it by 3 minutes, saw the same news clip as well. Another resurgence ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 (edited) definitely a Tape resurgence…..Sony's 185 terabyte tape breaks storage capacity record... http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/sonys-185terabyte-tape-breaks-storage-capacity-record-20140506-zr59l.html perhaps a new super ultra high res format ! WTF ? Edited May 6, 2014 by Dirty_vinylpusher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brisso57 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Reel to Reel and Cassette Tape decks are still being used today by people in the know I personally like using them So. You seem like the person to ask ... Can one still buy brand new, high quality cassette decks? Yes, I know you can buy radio cassettes and other "personal audio" stuff, but can one buy a new player - of quality - of any brand? Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyse1 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Don't do it The only sound worse than records 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joz Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I wonder how my old Naka sitting out the back would sound? Looks like I'll never find out. Time to hit the random button! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasebass Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 So. You seem like the person to ask ... Can one still buy brand new, high quality cassette decks? Yes, I know you can buy radio cassettes and other "personal audio" stuff, but can one buy a new player - of quality - of any brand? Doug I bought one of these around 18 months ago.......http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Technics-RS-AZ7-EX-DISPLAY-AUDIOPHILE-SINGLE-CASSETTE-DECK-/171471090077 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddisgeek Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I wonder how my old Naka sitting out the back would sound? Looks like I'll never find out. Time to hit the random button! Would be a crime for it to go to waste @@joz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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