TDK or Maxell,Which is the bigger company?

[valman13440]

And who had the most extensive blank cassette lineup?

[Des-Lab]

Over the years? Most at a time? Higher sales? Greater marketing exposure?

As far as the latter two, It was probably neck-and-neck the whole time. As for variety and variants and most at a time, I'm pretty sure that TDK would win hands down.

At one time, roughly around 1987, TDK had no less than 12 (twelve) offerings in one lineup. They were:

Type I: D, AD, AD-S, AD-X
Type II: SD, SA, SA-X, SA-XG, HX-S
Type IV: MA, MA-X, MA-XG

Maxell's apogee year was the 1990 lineup with 11 tapes offered concurrently:

Type I: UR, UDI, XLI-S
Type II: UDX-II Capsule, UDII, XLII, XLII-S
Type IV: Metal Capsule, MX, MX-S, Vertex

[MacGyver]

boy, that's a lot!! makes me so very thankful to have examples of most of the best models from both companies...*headtunes*

[1979TDKAD-C90]

To my knowledge TDK in 1979 sold:

NORMAL BIAS: D, AD and OD
CHROME BIAS: SA and SA-X
METAL: MA, MA-R

if anyone has any other cassettes from TDK in 1979, please correct me.

[Battlesnoopy]

I think TDK also had the MA-R in 1979, but I could be wrong.

[1979TDKAD-C90]

Thank you I corrected my post. here's one from 1973 according to their ads:

NORMAL BIAS:
D and ED

CHROME BIAS:
SD and KR

When was the TDK Maverick cassette made? Was it around 1971? It was definitely before 1973 due to the use of a cardboard box instead of a plastic case to include the tape.

[NAD613]

Right now, I think TDK has a more extensive line up of blank cassettes, those being:

D
SA
Pro Media SM (Best cassette currently manufactured, IMHO)
CD Power
CD Bass

http://www.tdk-media.com/consumer/audio/index.html

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[SLA]

ED and SD were type I cassettes.

In 1972-73 TDK introduced horizontal lines design, at that time their models were: type I: D, SD, ED, type II KR.

Before that we have LN, SD, ED and first chrom cassette TDk KROM-O2,

As to the maverick cassettes:
First (1970-73) TDK have LN cassettes packed in the see-through case and offered in card-boxes with the same look as LN.
Then (73-79) TDK offered TDK maverick - bottom of the pole, terrible cassette (as reviewed in 1978 Audio magazine).

Hope it helped.

[graffias79]

TDK also makes Semiconductors from what I understand, but Maxell is part of Hitachi.

[1979TDKAD-C90]

Thanks a lot SLA! Hey, can you help me with this problem too?
What country or time or edition are these TDK D-C cassettes that have clear shells and cases but have the 1973 and 1979 labeling (and a different inlay)?

[iamhifi]

Those MA90 are nice I got a few, they record great, keep in mind that nakamichi use those for their refence tapes.
Angel
Ortofon MMM I agree

[1979TDKAD-C90]

Here are pictures of the tapes I described earlier:

http://c-90.org/catalogue/tapes/TDK/TDK%20D/0
http://c-90.org/catalogue/tapes/TDK/TDK%20D/1

Can anyone tell where, when, and why they were made?

[SLA]

There were made same as regular cassettes. They are just "true mechanism versions" = clear and transparent shells, Same as 1975, 1979 line and then TDK DS was a counterpart for TDK D. Funny enough there are also TDK AV-D 1979 etc...

[SLA]

Here is the combined picture of
D "True mechanism" + AV-D + L "instant starting" variations of TDK D.

If somebody have seen anything else please let us know. None of these variations were in official TDK brochures so maybe they are only for professional market, who knows....

[stuwee]

I've never heard of/let alone seen any of those ^^^^^ very cool looking type I's.