Recorded with a Type I tape for a change...

[Mr. Lin]

Many of you here may be aware that I'm new to the world of taping with a decent deck and good quality cassettes. So far I've mostly been taping from CD to tape (it's a pain to set everything up to record vinyl at the moment), and I've almost exclusively used Type II tapes, of all different kinds. But I just got a box of the Akai SX normal bias tapes and decided to give them a try.

I selected an old bootleg of The Cure live in Japan in 1984, my favorite year as far as touring went for one of the most bootlegged bands in the world. It's a soundboard recording, so not too bad, but you can still tell it's a bootleg.:)

I screwed up the first tape and had to start over as I forgot to set the Nak on EX (for normal bias) and the EQ on 120. Fortunately it turns out the tape eraser I got on ebay works, so I got a clean slate without having to move on to another tape.

Anyway, it came out very nice. What I noticed is that there's just more hiss in the background, but otherwise the frequency extension and dynamics all sounded ok. On the other hand, the true test is when I play the tape through my speakers, which I haven't done yet.

My Rega CDP decided for some reason to randomly skip two tracks during recording, and they happen to be two good ones. I resolved this by putting those two on one side of a TDK SM20, and filled the other 10 minute side with a couple demos from the same era in the bands' career.

[braxus]

I've been recording onto type 1 tapes a lot this past year. Mostly the high end type 1s. Sound is excellent with good low end. They sound nice and warm too, but the highs are still there. I think the AR-X and XL-IS tape have got to be the best I've used for type 1, but the DX-4 was also good.

[NAD613]

Many of you here may be aware that I'm new to the world of taping with a decent deck and good quality cassettes. So far I've mostly been taping from CD to tape (it's a pain to set everything up to record vinyl at the moment), and I've almost exclusively used Type II tapes, of all different kinds. But I just got a box of the Akai SX normal bias tapes and decided to give them a try.

I selected an old bootleg of The Cure live in Japan in 1984, my favorite year as far as touring went for one of the most bootlegged bands in the world. It's a soundboard recording, so not too bad, but you can still tell it's a bootleg.:)

I screwed up the first tape and had to start over as I forgot to set the Nak on EX (for normal bias) and the EQ on 120. Fortunately it turns out the tape eraser I got on ebay works, so I got a clean slate without having to move on to another tape.

Anyway, it came out very nice. What I noticed is that there's just more hiss in the background, but otherwise the frequency extension and dynamics all sounded ok. On the other hand, the true test is when I play the tape through my speakers, which I haven't done yet.

My Rega CDP decided for some reason to randomly skip two tracks during recording, and they happen to be two good ones. I resolved this by putting those two on one side of a TDK SM20, and filled the other 10 minute side with a couple demos from the same era in the bands' career.

Mr. Lin, have you ever heard of TDK SMX 20 & SMX 30? They're like the TDK Pro Media SM tapes, but with the SA-X tape formulation. A To Z Audio has them on closeout, $6.50/box for the SMX 20, $7.50/box for the SMX 30.

http://www.atozaudio.com/html/closeouts-packagedcass.html

[ferriteman]

do you use Dolby when you dub to CDs?

Further to your posting...I have always been convinced that the tape manufacturers could have produced type I cassette tape that matched most of the high bias stuff, but didn't bother because there was a "marketing" preference for high bias tapes. TDK used to make an excellent type I tape, TDK "AUDUA", I think I've spelt it incorrectly and they used to market it for R2R tapes...I have a couple, it is excellent stuff. But the market at the time wanted "high bias", because chrome bias tape was always "better", being the real hi-fi stuff. Anyhow just my opinion.

[NAD613]

do you use Dolby when you dub to CDs?

Further to your posting...I have always been convinced that the tape manufacturers could have produced type I cassette tape that matched most of the high bias stuff, but didn't bother because there was a "marketing" preference for high bias tapes. TDK used to make an excellent type I tape, TDK "AUDUA", I think I've spelt it incorrectly and they used to market it for R2R tapes...I have a couple, it is excellent stuff. But the market at the time wanted "high bias", because chrome bias tape was always "better", being the real hi-fi stuff. Anyhow just my opinion.

I used to buy the Sony HF-S (Hi-Fi Superior) cassettes in the green wrapper, which was their high-end normal bias tape. It was a very good tape, as good as some type II tapes IMHO. The best part was WalMart sold 2-packs of them for only $2!

[braxus]

do you use Dolby when you dub to CDs?

Further to your posting...I have always been convinced that the tape manufacturers could have produced type I cassette tape that matched most of the high bias stuff, but didn't bother because there was a "marketing" preference for high bias tapes. TDK used to make an excellent type I tape, TDK "AUDUA", I think I've spelt it incorrectly and they used to market it for R2R tapes...I have a couple, it is excellent stuff. But the market at the time wanted "high bias", because chrome bias tape was always "better", being the real hi-fi stuff. Anyhow just my opinion.

Good type 1 tapes sold to the late 80s. A couple choice were available in the early 90s. After that most people wanted chrome or metal tapes, so there was no need for the good type 1 tapes. Anyway if you want a list, have a look for TDK AR-X and AR, Maxell XL-IS and XL-I, and Denon DX-4 and DX-3. Sony had HF-ES and HF-Pro. Triad/ That's had RX. Look for these if you want the best type 1 tapes. Keep in mind TDK AR was replaced by DS-X in the 90s.

[Mr. Lin]

Mr. Lin, have you ever heard of TDK SMX 20 & SMX 30? They're like the TDK Pro Media SM tapes, but with the SA-X tape formulation. A To Z Audio has them on closeout, $6.50/box for the SMX 20, $7.50/box for the SMX 30.

http://www.atozaudio.com/html/closeouts-packagedcass.html

Is the TDK SA-X itself any good?

I'll respond to everyone's comments and questions tomorrow, got to get to bed.

[NAD613]

Is the TDK SA-X itself any good?

I'll respond to everyone's comments and questions tomorrow, got to get to bed.

It was a notch above the SA, which is what's in the TDK Pro Media SM tapes. I think it was TDK's answer to the Maxell XLII-S & the Sony UX-Pro. In other words, a pretty good type II tape.

[close652]

It looks like that at the same time, on another continent I had also taped a Cure bootleg from vinyl... AUD recording, so the quality is crap. I had to return the LPs this afternoon :(

[Mr. Lin]

It was a notch above the SA, which is what's in the TDK Pro Media SM tapes. I think it was TDK's answer to the Maxell XLII-S & the Sony UX-Pro. In other words, a pretty good type II tape.

Do you know if. like with Maxell and Sony, the later TDK SA-X was not as good?

Close52, which Cure show did you tape?

[NAD613]

Do you know if. like with Maxell and Sony, the later TDK SA-X was not as good?

I have yet to hear anything bad about the TDK Pro Media cassettes.

[close652]

Close652, which Cure show did you tape?

see pictures!
I have only one bootleg (Top demos) if you are interested.

[Mr. Lin]

I have yet to hear anything bad about the TDK Pro Media cassettes.

Well I was going to buy 75 of the SA-X tapes on ebay tonight but I got home from work just now and somebody beat me to it.*headache*

I have not tried the SMX type, and until now never knew it existed because I haven't seen it anywhere. Have you ordered from those guys yet? You have to call it in, correct? I'd be interested in trying something like that.

I do not use Dolby when recording CDs to tape since my Nak only has Dolby B, and the couple of times I tried it I thought it sounded like someone had thrown a blanket over the music.

Close652, do you mean you have The Top Studio Demos? That's one I've been trying to get on vinyl for years. I have it on my computer and some of the songs on some old CD bootleg, which is what I took the two from for my 20 minute tapes B side. I've never seen the one you have. I used to download Cure shows with soulseek like there was no tomorrow, and I have pretty much the majority of the shows that were recorded, which is quite a lot, but unfortunately most of them are in the lossy format. Still quite fun to listen to though, and good for an archive.

[NAD613]

Well I was going to buy 75 of the SA-X tapes on ebay tonight but I got home from work just now and somebody beat me to it.*headache*

I have not tried the SMX type, and until now never knew it existed because I haven't seen it anywhere. Have you ordered from those guys yet? You have to call it in, correct? I'd be interested in trying something like that.

I do not use Dolby when recording CDs to tape since my Nak only has Dolby B, and the couple of times I tried it I thought it sounded like someone had thrown a blanket over the music.

Close652, do you mean you have The Top Studio Demos? That's one I've been trying to get on vinyl for years. I have it on my computer and some of the songs on some old CD bootleg, which is what I took the two from for my 20 minute tapes B side. I've never seen the one you have. I used to download Cure shows with soulseek like there was no tomorrow, and I have pretty much the majority of the shows that were recorded, which is quite a lot, but unfortunately most of them are in the lossy format. Still quite fun to listen to though, and good for an archive.

I ordered from them last month; got 2 boxes of the TDK Pro Media SM 60 for only $7.50/box! I also got 200 blank J cards for only $1.90.

[Mr. Lin]

I ordered from them last month; got 2 boxes of the TDK Pro Media SM 60 for only $7.50/box! I also got 200 blank J cards for only $1.90.

Have you ever used the SMX? If it's like the Pro Media SM but a little better it must be pretty darn good.

[NAD613]

Have you ever used the SMX? If it's like the Pro Media SM but a little better it must be pretty darn good.

No, I've never used them, but they are a step up from the TDK Pro Media SM. Knowing how you like the shorter length cassettes, and at that price, I figured they'd be right up your alley.

[close652]

Close652, do you mean you have The Top Studio Demos?

Yes!
I bought it on ebay recently. (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170219465967)
I have some ripped from vinyls of a friend, who has 99% of the Cure bootlegs (lossy) what is avaiable . Now he started to buy the vinyls...

[Mr. Lin]

No, I've never used them, but they are a step up from the TDK Pro Media SM. Knowing how you like the shorter length cassettes, and at that price, I figured they'd be right up your alley.

You are correct.

[Mr. Lin]

Yes!
I bought it on ebay recently. (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170219465967)
I have some ripped from vinyls of a friend, who has 99% of the Cure bootlegs (lossy) what is avaiable . Now he started to buy the vinyls...

Great price for the Top demos. If your friend has all the Cure shows on mp3, there's a possibility I traded with him online at one point. I used to do that with people from all over the world.

[braxus]

I recorded a test on my first Akai SX tape today. Same CD recorded that I put onto a Sony Metal Master not long ago on the same deck. The deck is having issues, so I cannot calibrate the bias properly yet. I set it up by ear. Anyway the SX tape is not a bad little performer. The highs were pretty clear for a type 1 tape, but it still didn't have what a metal tape has in the high end. The sound wasn't quite as open this time and the midrange didn't jump out at me. But for the money it was an excellent buy. I might get more of these.

[Mr. Lin]

I recorded a test on my first Akai SX tape today. Same CD recorded that I put onto a Sony Metal Master not long ago on the same deck. The deck is having issues, so I cannot calibrate the bias properly yet. I set it up by ear. Anyway the SX tape is not a bad little performer. The highs were pretty clear for a type 1 tape, but it still didn't have what a metal tape has in the high end. The sound wasn't quite as open this time and the midrange didn't jump out at me. But for the money it was an excellent buy. I might get more of these.

Well, of course these are nowhere near the performance of a metal tape, but they really aren't bad at all.