TEAC Metal "Reel" Cassettes

[ferriteman]

Has anyone around here used any of these tapes? I was wondering if they are any good...given the asking prices (don't know about the "sold" prices!) on fleabay these days, these tapes had better be just about perfect.

However...even with all the posts around here on everyone's tape stash, I have yet to see one of these tapes in anyone's stash...which makes me wonder...are these tapes all show and glamour but only mediocre in performance? It makes you wonder when they are never mentioned in any "best tapes" discussions.

There are currently a few of these for sale on e-bay...under:

consumer electronics/a v accessories/blank media/audio tapes, search under TEAC.

But, I have to admit, they sure are impressive to look at.

[NAD613]

I heard those tapes weren't the most quiet or stable & that the tape would get gummed up in the reels. However, that's just what some have said. I've never used one personally, but there may be something to it because they weren't made very long.

[Des-Lab]

Agreed. Those tapes (and their knockoffs) are pretty much all flair and little performance. They look neat. But the tape inside isn't all that great at all. I still have a bunch of those assorted colors "Reel Cleer" cassettes. I've tried them and they didn't sound good at all: Very muddled and dropout prone. No doubt due in part to the cramped inside imposed by the actual little reels.

IMO, as far as I can tell, those tapes were made for folks who wanted the LOOK of reel to reel, but were unable or unwilling to actually invest in them. They are basically "eye candy" with little or no emphasis on quality.

[Scorpion8]

I use the Reel Cleer tapes as photo-posing stuff, but never to record on. Seems I got them from Des awhile back, and stashed them away except for two to use in photos of tape decks. Thanks, Des! :D

[Web Police]

I got a few Reel Tapes from Des too. One of these days I will open them up and load them with some decent tape. :p

[Mr. Lin]

I saw a whole bunch of these on ebay, some are pricey. Not surprised to hear they're mostly just for show.

[Mignun67]

I have some of these tapes in a selection of coloured reels. The tape itself is pretty average really. However, according to UK's Hifi Review (from 1987 - mag is now defunct), the Metal version, at least the early ones, are something very special indeed. The tape they used came from Taiyo Yuden and was similar to MR-X Pro.

I'll have to dig out the mag and do a scan of the tape test - interesting read... There are also loads of Cassette Deck reviews too, at Cassette's heyday, taking in top end decks from Nakamichi, Tandberg, Revox, Denon, Akai, Lux, H-K, Yamaha, Hitachi etc...

[doity]

I have 4 of the Teac metal reel tapes. I have been trying to sell them for awhile. Some interest but no buyers *fit* Teac claims that you can reach Reel to Reel quality with the tapes. I cannot dispute their claim since I have not used any of them yet, but Teac put out some pretty nice tape gear so I do not take their claims lightly.

[Skywavebe]

Hi Doity;
People and companies make claims all the time. I have had the opportunity to test these tapes having worked for the service facility in Chicago.
The Chrome tape were substandard CrO2 tapes made by BASF. The Metal tapes 52 length were measured and came very close to Maxell MX tape. I was later told it was MX tape from Maxell from management. These tapes do not perform any better than any regular Maxell MX tape and most certainly worse than TDK SA which was a standard back then. I don't recall the type of tape that was in the regular bias tapes but I can not say too much bad as it did not stick in my memory either one way or the other. I think it may have been UR. These tapes were told to me to be a novelty not for serious recording purposes. You would see deck playing these tapes at places like sales shelves were they were on display and shows like NAB and CES back in those days.
Sam,

[stuartypoorty]

I have some of these tapes in a selection of coloured reels. The tape itself is pretty average really. However, according to UK's Hifi Review (from 1987 - mag is now defunct), the Metal version, at least the early ones, are something very special indeed. The tape they used came from Taiyo Yuden and was similar to MR-X Pro.

I'll have to dig out the mag and do a scan of the tape test - interesting read... There are also loads of Cassette Deck reviews too, at Cassette's heyday, taking in top end decks from Nakamichi, Tandberg, Revox, Denon, Akai, Lux, H-K, Yamaha, Hitachi etc...

Hello fellow UK tapehead,

Would love to see those journal articles scanned, if you can find the magazine.

Do you remember Hi-Fi Choice used to print an end of year best of the best components edition called "The Collection" or similar, pretty sure lots of decks and tapes were given ample coverage there.

Welcome aboard and greetings from sunny Lancashire,

Stuart

[Mignun67]

I just found my copy of Hifi Review "Cassette Decks and Tapes" No.1 from 1987.

"Teac 52X METAL: Since Metals can be poor, I didn't expect much from this £3.50 tape. So, when it hit all the bells, enquiries were made. It is currently manufactured by Taiyo Yuden (That's) but this is shortly to be transferred to Korean Gold Star, whereupon performance will probably change.

Teac Metal managed +6.4dB MOL315 and +3.2dB SAT10k, overload levels superior to any other tape available. Hiss was high at -51.5dB though, limiting dynamic range to 58dB total. Other significant attributes were flat frequency response and very low modulation noise. It has better compatibility than other metals, except Fuji FR Metal. An amazing tape, especially at the price, but only suitable for high performance recorders capable of recording to high level on tape. A bargain."

Just to put the figures into some context, MOL315 figures were measured for the following other Metals inthe test: TDK MA-XG +5dB, TDK MA-X +5dB, Maxell MX +3.4dB, Sony Metal ES +5.5dB, That's MR-X Pro +5.8dB, Scotch XSMIV +2.2dB, Fuji FR Metal +5.6dB

I would hazard a guess that TEAC used a variety of sources for the tape and it's pot luck what's wound on the reels at any time.

Once I get the scanner working again (bloatware failure), I'll scan and post the whole review as I think it should be of interest on here...

Hi Stuart, thanks for the kind hello. Yes, Hifi Choice used to do a sort of "digest" every year. I had a few but think they've been binned. A shame as one of them had a review of the ZX9 - ever since I read it, I have wanted one. Today I finally got one!!*hearts*

[SLA]

THAT'S are extremely good tapes and were quite pricey the time they were sold. Forget TEAC CRC, get real THAT'S metal tapes and you will be set. TEAC Reels to Reels are not worth that money to record on them. Now collector's value is different.

[no1maestro]

Thanks SLA for the link to the database!!

[imasoundhound]

i just skimmed through the posts in this forum, i may have missed something, but i may be the only one here who has actually recorded on some of those tapes. i bought a few of the gold (might have silver) reel cassettes when they first came out. they definitely LOOKED cool. all of them i recorded on wound up locking up. no problem with the sound quality, but they didn't last very long.

[mang6669]

I recently came across two of the gold reel TEAC CRC 90 cassettes that i bought around 1984.
At the time i thought they would be cool to record my bands demo on.
They have held up well physically, and still sound OK.

*reelspin* *reelspin*