Review of the Maxell Communicator Series Cassette, C-90

[NAD613]

I bought a new, 10 ct. box of the 90 minute tapes on Ebay last week for $3.25. Tried them out tonight. What Maxell says about the cassette transport is true; it is well built. The shell is clear & doesn't look like much, but It's stable, no problems at all.

As far as the tape itself goes, I tried recording with the bias @ -1.2, like I did with the Akai & TDK Studio tapes. Didn't sound very good, sounded kind of garbled in the highs, like it did when I recorded the Akai tapes @ -.5. It also sounded a little distorted in the low-mids. So I set the bias @ -2 & turned the recording level down 2db & that seemed to do the trick; sounded much better. Sounds pretty good for a type I cassette. Sounded alright with the bias set @ 0, but a little flat.

I'd use this tape for orchestral pop/easy listening & bossa nova, but not for rock music. The softer the music, the better the tape sounds. Rock music sounds just alright, but tapes such as Akai or TDK Pro Sound Master would work much better.

I hope this was helpful.

[Des-Lab]

Thank you for the review. It doesn't surprise me that they only got a mediocre review. I think that those tapes had more 'industrial' and 'bulk' applications in mind as opposed to serious high fidelity recording. Unfortunately, pretty much the same thing can be said about all of their currect offerings. As such, if you really want the good stuff, you won't have much choice but to search down some NOS. Might not be the cheapest, but once you get your hands on it, you'll be glad you did. The results will speak for themself.

[NAD613]

Thank you for the review. It doesn't surprise me that they only got a mediocre review. I think that those tapes had more 'industrial' and 'bulk' applications in mind as opposed to serious high fidelity recording. Unfortunately, pretty much the same thing can be said about all of their currect offerings. As such, if you really want the good stuff, you won't have much choice but to search down some NOS. Might not be the cheapest, but once you get your hands on it, you'll be glad you did. The results will speak for themself.

The only decent tapes now seem to be the pro/studio grade tapes from TDK & the Akai SX & GX. I think Fugi still makes decent tapes if you can find them, but I haven't tried any of the ones I just bought yet. I listened to an Akai SX type I tape today & it sounded much better than the Maxell Communicator. It sounds as good as some high bias tapes I've used & for $4.50 a box, they might be the best bargain around.

http://www.batteriesandbutter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=AKAISX-90&Category_Code=audio

I knew those Maxell Communicator tapes were for general/industrial use, but they will work well for recording stuff like Mantovani or Percy Faith. They just can't handle rock music, so that only sounds so-so on these tapes. If only the tape were as good as the shell! It might be worth it just to buy them to use the shells for transplants!

[Mr. Lin]

Yours have clear shells? Mine are black.

[NAD613]

Yours have clear shells? Mine are black.

I think you have the older version. Back in the mid-90's I bought some & the shells were black. Actually, I don't think I bought them, I think they were a throw-in from the mail order house where I got some Maxell Studio SM cassettes. I only had one or two of them.

Have you recorded with yours yet? I've found after listening to those, they're really not designed for music. Playing an Akai type I cassette after one of those Maxell Communicator will make the Akai sound like a Sony Metal Master (slight exageration). Seriously though, those Akai SX type I tapes sound very good.

The other day I saw an auction on Ebay where someone was trying to sell a single Akai SX for $10. It had a different wrapper, but c'mon. $10?

[Mr. Lin]

I think you have the older version. Back in the mid-90's I bought some & the shells were black. Actually, I don't think I bought them, I think they were a throw-in from the mail order house where I got some Maxell Studio SM cassettes. I only had one or two of them.

Have you recorded with yours yet? I've found after listening to those, they're really not designed for music. Playing an Akai type I cassette after one of those Maxell Communicator will make the Akai sound like a Sony Metal Master (slight exageration). Seriously though, those Akai SX type I tapes sound very good.

The other day I saw an auction on Ebay where someone was trying to sell a single Akai SX for $10. It had a different wrapper, but c'mon. $10?

I saw some of those too. If only people knew.

I haven't tried recording anything onto mine yet, but now I wonder if the tape is better than the ones you have. I doubt it, but who knows. Like we talked about on AK, I'm just going to get a cassette recorder and use it for voice/field recordings.

[Maxell-LN]

I saw some of those too. If only people knew.

I haven't tried recording anything onto mine yet, but now I wonder if the tape is better than the ones you have. I doubt it, but who knows. Like we talked about on AK, I'm just going to get a cassette recorder and use it for voice/field recordings.

I was able to push the DB levels up by a further 2db with the black shell ones before distortion came in, over the transparents. Definitely better version.