What tapes do you recommend?

[fireworksgoup]

What does everyone here use for their tascam multitrack tape cassette recorder? I have had good results with TDK High Bias tapes, but I was wondering if anyone had a preference...

[Seeker of Rock]

I replied to a similar post a few weeks back. This is my subjective opinion, but I tend to think I have pretty decent set of ears, however inexperienced in engineering I still am. I have a TASCAM 488MKII I was using (actually only recorded one full song tracked out, a couple of "live" recordings in my recording room with a harp player and some partial tracks to other songs I have had written for a few years, but...) but I used two different tapes, TDK SM60 and Quantegy 472. Alot of the immediate differences you will hear in recording a small, a few larger, but most are subtle but the collective adds up to the final product which is usually very noticeable at the end of the day. Long story concluding, I noticed a fairly audible difference between the two aforementioned, and Quantegy is my clear favorite for sound quality. More simply, I just like the sound of the Quantegy tape more. It was the last cassette Mars had before going out of business and I found TDK SM Pro at Musician's Friend, and of course with the words "Pro" in the title thought this is the way to go. I'm not saying I dislike the TDK, but between the two I heard a noticeable difference in the two in favor of the Quantegy. Now I know you can get these online, but at the time was new enough to my machine that I really didn't search. That's what I like anyway.

[Beck]

I've used TDK SA 60 & SA-X 60 since the first portastudio 144, and later with the 244 and 246. Except for a short time using Dennon I’ve stuck with TDK. The first TEAC/TASCAM portastudios were calibrated for TDK from the factory, and that reason more than any other made me settle on it. In fact my 244 came with a bonus pack, including head and rubber cleaner and 6 TDK SA 60s.

Ampex Type II wasn’t available in stores like TDK, Maxell, and Sony, etc, so I never tried it. One of these days I’ll get around to it.

[up-fiddler]

Ditto with TDK. I used it, liked it, and stuck with it rather than searching for something better. Not to say it's the best, just saying that I have had good luck with it. This album was done with TDK. Not trying to spam but just offering my $.02 I used the 488 A LOT over the course of about 7 years and still pull it out once in a while, Dave.

[Seeker of Rock]

"Wild-Eyed Jim's" was similarly done on a 488 as was up-fiddler's, but used Quantegy 472. So many factors on how your final sound comes out, but hit the link if you want to hear 472 on a 488.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...?bandID=244666