My purchase from R&M Pro Audio

[NAD613]

Here they are; the TDK Pro Media SM 90 minute cassettes. No longer in production, I lucked into these off that R&M Pro Media website for only $22/box. I called them up & they sold me their entire inventory of TDK Pro Media SM-90, 5 boxes. The only way this could have been better is if they would have had the SM-X90, or some Sony UX-Pro or Maxell XLII-S. Man, I'm glad I got these tapes!

[MacGyver]

wow, good deal!!:-)<- still, for being "Professional" and all, they sure cant come close to the MA-XG...

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/DSCF0385.jpg


... they remind me of something, though. ah yes, they use the EXACT same shell as the late model SA-90s that i got at $.99 per 5-pack at office max in kennewick seven years ago. i believe i found a half dozen bricks or so in the closeout bin. in sum, this all leads me to believe they are in fact SA-90 clones in "Professional" dressing. still, a great tape, and a :-)<- find...

[Scorpion8]

So, I'll be in Boise, ID next week, with a State-paid for rental car, and the distance to Bismarck at night is ...... :D

ETA: Oh yea, may have to get an SUV. A BIG SUV ...... :D

[stuwee]

So, I'll be in Boise, ID next week, with a State-paid for rental car, and the distance to Bismarck at night is ...... :D

ETA: Oh yea, may have to get an SUV. A BIG SUV ...... :D

Does Montana still have the safe and prudenite(sp) no-speed limit law? Zooom, Zooom

[NAD613]

... they remind me of something, though. ah yes, they use the EXACT same shell as the late model SA-90s that i got at $.99 per 5-pack at office max in kennewick seven years ago. i believe i found a half dozen bricks or so in the closeout bin. in sum, this all leads me to believe they are in fact SA-90 clones in "Professional" dressing. still, a great tape, and a :-)<- find...

Actually, the SM tapes are built better than the newer SA. The SM has has a real metal plate behind the pressure pad & a much wider pad. The new SA's don't appear to have a metal plate at all anymore.

[Mr. Lin]

I'm glad you managed to grab all those up. They're amazing tapes, some of my favorites, although I only have the 20 minute ones, about thirty of them.

[NAD613]

I'm glad you managed to grab all those up. They're amazing tapes, some of my favorites, although I only have the 20 minute ones, about thirty of them.

Yeah, those were the tapes I'd been looking for since I got back into cassettes. It's nice to know the SM-60's are still being made & are readily available from just about every online music supply company in the country. Apparently, they're the preferred cassette for musicians to use in the Tascam Portastudios.

[MacGyver]

Actually, the SM tapes are built better than the newer SA. The SM has has a real metal plate behind the pressure pad & a much wider pad. The new SA's don't appear to have a metal plate at all anymore.


ah. come to think of it, what are those metal plates for?

[Flyquail56]

ah. come to think of it, what are those metal plates for?

It's a mu-metal shield. It's placement behind the pressure pad shields the rest of the cassette from the magnetic field generated by the record head.

They seem to be disappearing from some current production tapes though, Sony HF and TDK D and SA in particular and probably others. Some genius must have decided that they aren't necessary, or more likely, that it would lower manufacturing cost by a fraction of a cent *headache*

Mike

[MacGyver]

It's a mu-metal shield. It's placement behind the pressure pad shields the rest of the cassette from the magnetic field generated by the record head.

They seem to be disappearing from some current production tapes though, Sony HF and TDK D and SA in particular and probably others. Some genius must have decided that they aren't necessary, or more likely, that it would lower manufacturing cost by a fraction of a cent *headache*

Mike


thanks! BTW, what is "Mu-Metal"?

[Mr. Lin]

Uh oh, here comes the avatar change!

[Flyquail56]

thanks! BTW, what is "Mu-Metal"?

Here's a borrowed definition: Mu-metal is a nickel-iron alloy (75% nickel, 15% iron, plus copper and molybdenum) that has very high magnetic permeability.

The high permeability makes mu-metal very effective at screening static or low-frequency magnetic fields, which cannot be attenuated by other methods.