Maxell XLII 110

[Rex Everything]

Hello all you cassette freaks :)

I was digging around doing some cleaning today and I came across an unopend Maxell XLII 110 blank cassette. The back says it's a High Bias.IEC Type II.EQ 70us.

These are the cassettes I used for recording CD's to listen to in my car before I got a CD player in the car.

Are these cassettes any good? What are your thoughts and/or fealing about these blanks?

[Scorpion8]

Yea, they were pretty good. Maxell's formulation was on the downhill trend due to the green eyeshade guys and competition from CDs, but they were still a decent tape. Is it man-in-the-chair forumlation, or before that?

[Rex Everything]

Not sure, how do I tell?

It does have the dude in the chair on the wrapper. I'm guessing it's from around '90-'93.

And just cause I gotta know, who or what are the green eyeshade guys?

[Acoustic]

And just cause I gotta know, who or what are the green eyeshade guys?

He's talking about the bean counters I believe.

It's a decent tape. Some think 110's are thin, that's the max I will use.

[Rex Everything]

He's talking about the bean counters I believe.

It's a decent tape. Some think 110's are thin, that's the max will use.

I remember the "thin" arguments and understand them but the extra time was needed to record the longer cd's.

[Scorpion8]

I remember the "thin" arguments and understand them but the extra time was needed to record the longer cd's.

Yup. That's back when artists used to limit themselves to putting on CD the same thing that would fit on vinyl, ~ 55 min per side of tape. Once everyone moved "away" from that as the reference, we started to get the longer 74 minute CDs and copying to tape became a dead issue. CDs started to get the "bonus" tracks that vinyl didn't hold. But to make a longer tape it had to be slightly thinner.

[Web Police]

I would guess they are no better or no worse than the current crop of XLII-90 minute tapes. :-?

I remember seeing them for sale locally, but opted for the 90 minutes tapes as I prefer the 90 minute length over the 110 minute tapes. I did keep a few 110 minutes tapes and a Pioneer 6 cassette changing deck on hand for recording from FM though.

[Acoustic]

I remember the "thin" arguments and understand them but the extra time was needed to record the longer cd's.

Sure.. the but ended up being a Catch-22. Nice length but certain decks would eat them and an almost certain death sentence in the car. My Nak manuals predate the 110's but it definitely says they didn't recommend the 120's.

[Rex Everything]

Sure.. the but ended up being a Catch-22. Nice length but certain decks would eat them and an almost certain death sentence in the car. My Nak manuals predate the 110's but it definitely says they didn't recommend the 120's.


I used these with great success for years in my car cassette deck. They must be pretty durable. I'm gonna have to dig further but I bet I still have several that I used in the car.

[Acoustic]

I used these with great success for years in my car cassette deck.

You had better luck in your car with cassettes that I did. I rarely took them back into the house and my car never spent a day or night in a garage here in the hot Kansas summers.

[Rex Everything]

You had better luck in your car with cassettes that I did. I rarely took them back into the house and my car never spent a day or night in a garage here in the hot Kansas summers.

I must have as I left mine in the car not to far from ya in east central Missouri and never had a garage either.

[Scorpion8]

I've left 110's in the center console of my truck thru a few Alaskan winters (although Juneau is mild, we only have a week or so below 0 degF) and they still play fine. Well, as long as you warm them and the radio up before you pop one in.