TDK or Maxell or Sony?

[Tucci]

Which brand of cassette tape is the absolute best to use with my 424MKII?

huh huh? Been using Maxell.

Thanks,

Tucci

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Tucci:

When I was using tape, I liked the Sony Pro cassettes; however, I don't know if they are still available; might find some on E-Bay or it still may be in "someone's" store.

Green Hornet

[A Reel Person]

Yes! (Type II only!)

[Bobby Darko]

I you really want the best sound possible, go for:
TDK SA-X.
But, as reel said: any old Type II will do...

[billyshuler]

I like to use maxell, but, out of a case of 25 I usually get about 3 bad tapes.

[Zana]

As a classical singer, I made many recordings on several cassettes, going back to the 60's. Then, over the years, made copies which now NEED to be transferred onto CD's. My dilemma is that there are too many individual solos
on 14 tapes which I would have to single out, and it would be too confusing
for me to try and go directly onto CD's, so I want to make a final cassette
copy and go from there. Please tell me the best type of tape to use, and whether any unwanted noise or hiss can be removed after the transfers are
made. I was thinking of taking my finished CD's to a professional for this.
Many thanx!

[Sexy Heather]

I have used Maxell for the entire time I've used Tascam Portastudios, nearly 20 years. They always sound great and are very reliable.

[the cool one]

Ya, Maxell type II 60 minute cassettes. The 60's have thicker tape, which resists deforming better than the longer 120’s or 90’s. On the other hand, the longer tapes are more flexible which may contribute to better head contact. Your call.

[Gorty]

Originally Posted by Starzz

Ya, Maxell type II 60 minute cassettes. The 60's have thicker tape, which resists deforming better than the longer 120’s or 90’s. On the other hand, the longer tapes are more flexible which may contribute to better head contact. Your call.

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[the cool one]

Originally Posted by Gorty

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I guess Gorty agrees.

[Gorty]

Originally Posted by Starzz

I guess Gorty agrees.

This tape you are talking about,.....is it tapeworm?

[the cool one]

Originally Posted by Gorty

This tape you are talking about,.....is it tapeworm?

Masking tape. Anyone visiting this site should start using masking tape. It works much better than ordinary recording tape. All the big time pros use it. The recordings ‘stick’ much better. Ordinary recording tape is slippery. The sounds just slip off after a few weeks.

[Gorty]

Originally Posted by Starzz

Masking tape. Anyone visiting this site should start using masking tape. It works much better than ordinary recording tape. All the big time pros use it. The recordings ‘stick’ much better. Ordinary recording tape is slippery. The sounds just slip off after a few weeks.

I use analogue gaffa tape. It's digitized for optimum clarity. No signal degradation either!

[the cool one]

Originally Posted by Gorty

I use analogue gaffa tape. It's digitized for optimum clarity. No signal degradation either!

Yes, and wear your "digital" headphones while recording.

[Zaphod B]

What is this "cassette tape" of which you speak? Some relic from the long-forgotten past?

[Reggie]

Originally Posted by Zana

As a classical singer, I made many recordings on several cassettes, going back to the 60's. Then, over the years, made copies which now NEED to be transferred onto CD's. My dilemma is that there are too many individual solos
on 14 tapes which I would have to single out, and it would be too confusing
for me to try and go directly onto CD's, so I want to make a final cassette
copy and go from there. Please tell me the best type of tape to use, and whether any unwanted noise or hiss can be removed after the transfers are
made. I was thinking of taking my finished CD's to a professional for this.
Many thanx!

Well, looks like most people are responding to the old question and are ignoring your new question, so here goes:
I would only attemp doing the cassette compilation yourself if you have a good quality, maintained deck that can do Dolby B or C. Although your best bet if you are willing to pay a pro, is to just cue up all your tapes for the engineer and record them straight digital. A lot of things can go wrong doing it yourself if you don't fully know what you are doing...
Cassette tape hiss isn't as easy to remove in digital as you might think.

[cjacek]

I second this. As hard as it may be for you, Zana, I'd go staight to digital, if at all possible. There's just too much degradation going from slow speed cassette to cassette, especially when you don't have an up to spec deck.

[the cool one]

Originally Posted by Tucci

Which brand of cassette tape is the absolute best to use with my 424MKII?

huh huh? Been using Maxell.

Thanks,

Tucci

Hi Tucci....long time no see! check your pm's

[Zana]

Originally Posted by Zaphod B

What is this "cassette tape" of which you speak? Some relic from the long-forgotten past?

Fuji normal, TDK High bias & normal and brilliant cassettes, Sony Hi fi, different Maxells from
the past 20 or so yrs., and some metals. I even have old Sarex tapes from the early
60's. By keeping them in tin cans, the tapes lasted longer, especially Sarex.
Sarex - please come back! Thanks everyone, for your help.

[Zana]

Originally Posted by cjacek

I second this. As hard as it may be for you, Zana, I'd go staight to digital, if at all possible. There's just too much degradation going from slow speed cassette to cassette, especially when you don't have an up to spec deck.

Many thanks, and I have 2 good decks......Technics RS-TR333 with Dolby B & C and
automatic tape select function, plus Dolby HX-Pro headroom extension system, and
bias adjustment.
My other deck is a JVC TD-W354BK with compu calibration, Dolby B & C, HX PRO and
automatic tape select function, but includes full logic mechanism and compu link.
Could you please tell me which of these decks is best? because I haven't mastered transferring directly to digital equipment yet; thanks.

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by Zana

I have 2 good decks......Technics RS-TR333 .......
My other deck is a JVC TD-W354BK............... Could you please tell me which of these decks is best?

That's a tough call 'cause both seem very reasonable decks. I think what matters most is condition of the deck in question. IMHO, any audible difference would be due to one deck being in a better condition than the next.

You can do a simple but effective test by recording a set of (steady) frequencies, from the bottom to the top, noting what the decks were originally factory spec'd to (from the manual), listenning to how faithfully each of the recorders reproduces those (vs the original signal) and pick the one, as your "master recorder / reproducer", which does a better job. (Prior to the tests, clean the tape path).