Meltrack - Type 1 Cassettes From India

I find it strange that there weren't more Indian made cassettes on the market. In this video I review 3 from Indian manufacturer Meltrack.
Decks Used : Revox B215
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[@R33Racer]

Good to see you again Tony, in 2021!

[@riyaz93]

Hi Tony, thanks for rewinding my memories..'MEL' stands for their company name Murugappa Electronics Ltd and they added 'TRACK' to it..being a 90s kid I remember those were used by middle class boys to record film songs from shops. Most of them used Japanese Boomboxes, but premium users always rely on Japanese brands.Anyway thanks for this video on 2021.

[@CassetteComeback]

Thanks. The MEL bit makes sense.

[@NK-hy8bz]

I was one of those middle class boys ...

[@MrAjithutube]

18 rs..

[@srijitofficial]

This cassettes are available in India in abundance!

[@Robert-sg4ep]

Price ?

[@mrnmrn1]

9:53 It's not *that* bad English, you are reading it wrong, because the sentence is this: For best results from MELTRACK Gamma-Super Cassettes forward&rewind cassette fully prior to recording. Just a missing comma, and a missing 'the'.

[@MASK256]

Meltrack cobalt is best cassette in my time. I did lots of mix tapes on it. I am a recording quality lover like you

[@StillCloser]

The part where they announce "LOW AZIMUTH" is hilarious... Low as opposed to what? :XD

[@mrnmrn1]

Yeah, low azimuth deviation would make more sense.

[@jimmacleod3965]

Best half hour of entertainment on the go. Thanks and Happy New Year from a blessedly snowless Newfoundland.

[@Kenshindegozaru]

I love how it sounds "gammasutra".

[@theaylesburycyclist8756]

I love a good Cassette Comeback video.. Happy new year.

[@lFlashing]

I'm glad you back with Compact Cassettes videos!

[@JamesE707]

Great to see a Cassette Comeback video again! Happy New Year to you and yours Tony.

[@IM-qq3jf]

Thanks very much for all the great uploads Tony. You are an inpiration. I have been watching your vids for a good while now and I have built a good collection of tape decks and cassettes. Thankyou. Ian.

[@arthurfraguas]

Happy new year, Tony!! Wish you all the best, including a lots of cassettes to record and enjoy!

[@dougbergen8157]

Great now I have to find them to. Nice to see you back again. Thx for the great job you do.

[@vwestlife]

"DR" was Fuji's designation for a Type I cassette. So maybe that "Japanese technology" consisted of using Fuji tape?

[@CassetteComeback]

There's a reason you've got a bigger fanbase than me 😉 That's a good shout, but they still look more like Sony to me with the shell and hubs, but yeah, they could be complete frankens...

[@DaXande135]

It could also mean "Dynamic Range"...

[@antringwood]

Happy new year Tony! Keep the great videos coming!

[@nickbitten6037]

Good to see you back. Intetesting video and good purchase there. Hope 2021 is a positive year for you.

[@Urbex-Adventures]

That's a good start for this year ! thank you ^^

[@flyingkillerrobots877]

I'm using Japanese technology right now, myself...thanks for the video, Tony - wishing you and yours and happy and prosperous 2021! :)

[@benkrake3678]

Another great video to start off the year! Happy New year Tony!

[@umeshupadhyay...]

I still have some MEL cassettes and therecordings made in 1990 onwards are still sound very noice on my Nak Decks. These recordings were done by me on ordinary Bush tape recorder. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021 and thank you for this video.

[@markphilpot4981]

Lovely to hear you again my friend in the New Year! Using my favorite deck to and these sounded good on the headphones. So happy to see your video and hear your voice Tony. My deck is getting a real workout professionally by an expert tech. Looking forward to putting it through it’s paces when I get it in. Blessings to you and yours this New Year! Stay safe mates!😊💖😷

[@CassetteComeback]

Same to you!

[@SG-gt7nq]

This are genuine good high quality cassette made in India and I have them.

[@kostependrhs]

Before any sound test you should perform the safety test: 1. Clean you deck's heads and rollers. 2. Play both sides of a cassette like any "meltrack" or whatever strange product like this. 3. Play same cassette again from start to end (both sides) 4. Clean the heads again and check inside the cassette compartment for brown dust and particles scattered all around. 5. If there is none then you can proceed to sound tests. 6. If there are dust and particles inside the deck, this cassette should go to the bin. Basf and scotch cassetes always filled the decks mechanisms with brown dust ANYWHERE.

[@marlenestockton2269]

Do your 'own' channel mate...

[@Ale.K7]

Happy new year, Tony! Great video!

[@ychesnokov]

Hi Tony and Happy new year! Thanks for another great story. As always, my favourite part of the show: An attempt of opening the wrap with care and then tearing it off in seconds saying you can't be bothered with that anymore🤣Is that a message to those amateur cassette collectors who prefer to buy them to store and never use? To me it's like buying a Porsche 911 to keep it in stables and never drive. But we are of course greatfult to these people for preserving the cassssettes for us so that we can open them and use in our beloved vintage Nakamichis after all that years!😉Cheers

[@ganeshram863]

I have cobalt tapes 90 minutes and recorded songs in 1993 ,30 years down still performing as brand new🎉🎉🎉

[@user-kb4si3ri3n]

Cobalt does add some hiss - the right channel is a bit ahead - If I had a gear like that in the 90s - Ijust can't believe what I hear. Thank You for what You do!

[@user-kb4si3ri3n]

Don't Stop!

[@PeterMilanovski]

It's great to see that you pushed up the recording level while recording, I found it fascinating to see how far one can go before the tape saturated or the recording circuit ran out of headroom and began to clip! I don't know if the thickness of the tape coating has anything to do with the ability to record a tape hot or not but it's always fascinating finding the limits of anything... I guess that you could use one of those left right tracks to see if the channels start to bleed over into the other at higher recording levels? I wonder if some tapes are better than others? This could get scientific LoL.

[@rwparker1968]

Happy New Year, Tony!

[@stefanrodic5398]

Happy new year Tony!

[@chevycaprice87]

For me, these cassettes look like they reused old Denon and Sony molds with Denon hubs, I've compared them with my Denon DX1, hubs look very same. Also, 3M Scotch cassette hubs from the mid-1970s look similar.

[@stephendevore3902]

My understanding is these are in house tapes to be used at the time for business use. This is my gut feeling based on other tape products on used or sold at the time again to business exclusively for them. Until now it does not matter. The date of the tapes manufacturer. The outsourcing of these tapes in this time period. No internet and limited connections and the world market nothing as it is now. Working at a company who really stressed security use on these style off brand titles to keep track of the tapes. Copying was still not easy to do even in 1993 A long winded story to a long tale. Im 53 and have used cassette tapes from the horrible to the best Metal tapes. At the time the equipment was bought from the company many times from other tape manufacturers who upgraded to newer models and sold to foreign manufacturers and then everything is passed on and on.In 1993 tapes were still king at the time. Good Video 😎 Cassettes Rule!!!

[@steveoszman8746]

Happy New Year!

[@lmkan]

Happy 2021! Can't help you on this one. You made me drool for a Dragon again that now I could afford and bought. Feeling 14 again with half my hearing left... Me 😁

[@general682002]

Happy New Year cassette man!

[@moco2802]

Good to see you back Tony! Looking forward to more great videos in 2021. Would love to see some c120 performance tests , and dying to see you do a is it type zero test on Winfield Alpha plus and Alpha super cassettes (70s/ early 80s from Woolies!) Happy new year!

[@kiirunavaara]

The earlier Alpha Plus and Alpha Super tapes were Audio Magnetics, the later ones EMI. Not exactly type 0, but performed a bit below the standard ferrics from the big tape brands by that time.

[@moco2802]

@@kiirunavaara I do remember the earlier audio magnetics cassettes as well. My father bought hundreds of alpha plus cassettes, I don’t think that lower dynamics were much of a problem as he was using a mono ITT cassette recorder with a 5 pin din lead and a GEC Starfinder radio. It wasn’t until the early 80s and his first Stereo that the Sony’s Basf’s and similar higher branded tapes appeared in his library! I still have functioning Alpha Plus tapes, and personally other than slight depreciation due to age they are excellent!

[@jonsymmonds1120]

Another nice video. Never heard of these cassettes, but I would buy them. I am sure my Nakamichi decks would like them just fine!

[@scottherron8007]

12:15 What! No Biro? 😂 Great video as ever. Happy new year.

[@kishoreda69]

Very Nice review indeed....most underrated cassette of its time in India 👍 Thanks 👍

[@joeystinks]

HAPPY NEW YEAR from NYC Long Island

[@Mouse2113]

These all sounded pretty good

[@ralphreinhardt6020]

DR = Dynamic Range maybe ? Hi Tony , so glad to see a new video from you. Hope you had a great Christmas. Happy New Year to you and yours sir.👍👍

[@CassetteComeback]

Maybe it's a smash of D and UR 😁

[@ralphreinhardt6020]

@@CassetteComeback Ha,ha,ha. Oh your a real card Tony.😃😃😃

[@ramgopaldandamudi5126]

Meltrack was best Indian cassette brand .As on today they are still working.

[@ANALOGUEAVENGER]

Dear Tony, Trust you are well and in good spirits in such unforgiving times. Greetings from India!! They used to compete in local Indian market and did fairly well in their days against Japanese rivals. I have few of them and I have recorded them on Technics RS-AZ7, RS-TR 777 and 575M2 and Sony TC-KA890ES from variable sources. They usually peak at Sony HF90 and Fuji Type I levels and costed 1/3 of HF90, which was a treat in school days. Also, one interesting thing about these cassettes are that they are less vulnerable to hostile environment and are very rigid and strong and dust resistance. Some of them I recorded in early 90’s even play fine today. One reason for their vanishing from market without trace is that they were introduced by the time the decline of magnetic tapes had begun and CD had stormed market at very competitive rates. Once my schedule permits, I would love to submit a more comprehensive info on these from my side. We all love you lots here, your videos are loved across India. Best Vikram

[@CassetteComeback]

Thanks for the update Vikram!

[@crspwl1950]

Thanks for the video.

[@paper_panzer]

Happy New Years! If somebody had mentioned the name of the brand only and out-of-context I would had assumed they were talking about the Melbourne Transit Authority or something along those lines...

[@roshthomas2008]

hi Tony I have a number of their Cobalt DR cassettes from the late 80s, at a time when Super Avilyn (TDK SA) was premium this was very reasonably priced and offered decent performance.. Just recently tried one of them on my CR7 and it worked quite well..after almost 30years..

[@DaXande135]

Which hand winder do you use? And also, a happy new year, kepp on making this videos!

[@gazjones4763]

Happy New Year Tony

[@bad.sector]

11:40: I actually have a Sony HF that has the same center piece, and it's also in the inside, also has the same label cutouts. I'd suspect they used the same moldings as Sony. Bought in Germany (likely), if this is of any help. Also: Happy new year!

[@srilabpal]

in india, meltracks were considered much better than that of blank cassettes from t-series or rpg tapes. so it was all about affordability factor. sonys tdks costs around 60-70 rupees for normal type 1 tapes. so we bought meltracks instead. and these actually are purely made here in india. the reason behind meltrack pulled off is due to these cassettes entered very late in the market, so much so that people were busy buying cds. hence at the time when mp3s were at par, these finally went off. and to answer to ur question, why these are not available in plenty just like sonys or tdks, as it only sold in india and in neighbouring countries, and we indians bought many of them.

[@CassetteComeback]

Thanks for the insight!

[@Yusuf-yx7hg]

Make a video about Indonesian Cassette. Happy new year, Mr. Tony.

[@CassetteComeback]

I only know of the Panggung Maxell.

[@ShawnTewes]

Happy New year! Can't help but appreciate the dry humor here and there. Have you heard of the T-series Indian brand? As India's largest music company (and somehow the #1 KZbin channel), they used to make blanks. I came across some in the 90s, and they reminded me of a mix of Goldstar-esque guts/shells with SKC-like funky designed slipsheets, and they performed decently as a basic non type-0 ferrec. T-series as a music label were also well known for prerecorded Bollywood music and bootleg releases of US pop titles. Some prerecorded tapes look weird, sometimes having a fully opaque white shell with no transparent window in the center.

[@CassetteComeback]

Someone else mentioned them. Inspiring start and tragic end for the founder apparently...

[@ReyVillalobos]

which type II do you think has a warmer sound for recording on 4 track, Maxell or TDK?

[@ychesnokov]

when I think of Indian made cassettes I recollect on those with very creative shells (did they bear name HDX? I had a few somewhere in my collection...) that not only have latches for record erase prevention, but also allowing you to change TypeI to TapeII...let me google for some photos...

[@ychesnokov]

Finally found that cassette in my stock..the name is Verrox HG, no surprise I mixed it up with very similatly looking HDX...but they are both maybe not indian, but indonesian..

[@kirkmooneyham]

Is there a India-only version of ebay? If so, maybe that's where those are being sold now.

[@irtbmtind89]

Remember before the early 1990s India was a closed market like the Eastern Bloc. Before that the real TDK Sony etc. would have been near unobtanium there. The way the Indian economy was structured meant Indian companies had a essentially a total monopoly in the domestic market but also made it difficult to export. Lots of Japanese companies licensed technology to Indian companies in this period, like the "Samurai" NES consoles or Sony-Orson TVs.

[@CassetteComeback]

Yeah, that's probably the reason

[@saiprasad8078]

I have used MELTRACK cassettes -- cobalt only -- very good cassette for the price. Have not used the normal ones though.

[@retrolover659]

Do you have extra Meltrack tapes to trade in? I would be interested to buy a few.

[@RetroCore]

I dont know if its just the camera angle but the tape pack on those tapes seems uneven and waterdamaged in a way. Still, they did sound quite good.

[@vatansagolsun566]

What is the pinch roller size of the Teac v7 cassette player?

[@upendrashanbhag600]

Should come back again. And old two in one from Japan also.

[@mylesrichardson2087]

Missed you Tony.....

[@wrestletube1]

Those Red guide wheels are in a battered old early 80s EMI Supers shell I have.

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

Hi Tony Happy new year. What do you use for cleaning the pinch rollers?

[@CassetteComeback]

Servisol foam cleanser 30. Been using it since the 90 for all plastics and rubbers. Gets them clean, but isn't harsh.

[@mrnmrn1]

Tony, I wouldn't put a moldy tape even in my lowly bottom-mid range decks, let alone a Revox like this. Sometimes I do, but after that I clean the deck afterwards thoroughly with 95+% alcohol, including the pinch roller. Because you can 'infect' your whole collection of cassettes with mold spores through the deck. I wish you a Happy and COVID-free New Year!

[@CassetteComeback]

I do it so others don't have to 😁 The deck was well cleaned afterwards.

[@kiirunavaara]

Usually what looks like white powder on tape packs is not mold, it's just some chemical components of the binder in the magnetic coating drying out. Many Agfa Chromes have it, and some TDK metals. Still a mess and makes the tapes difficult to re-record, but it won't affect other tapes you play in the same deck after them.

[@mrnmrn1]

@@kiirunavaara Yes, I'm aware of that, but I would say 'sometimes' instead of 'usually', as I personally came across (and unfortunately also bought) a lot of moldy tapes, both audio and VHS, while I've never seen the white residue that comes from deteriorating binders.

[@kiirunavaara]

​@@mrnmrn1 You are eright about video tape, there are some formulas which can mold horribly. But for audio cassettes, it is still rare, at least in central European and in Scandinavian climate conditions. Here is a typical Agfa cassette wtih binder break down: www.tapedeck.org/400/AGFA-STEREOCHROM-60+6_MCiPjH_121006.jpg

[@mrnmrn1]

@@kiirunavaara I guess you can get moldy tapes anywhere in the world if you store them in a damp basement for years... I just bought a cassette package few weeks ago, they are moldy, and I mean stinking moldy, and a first one for me: they got so aggressive mold in them that it eaten holes into some of the J-cards. I can smell it from meters away. The side of the tape packs themselves doesn't look very moldy, they are Sony UX-S cassettes, I found out years ago that Sony Type-II tapes are very resistant against mold. I also have plenty of pre-recorded audio cassettes which are moldy.

[@karensingh2020]

aaahh nice tapes from india!

[@sellmeyoursoul6601]

nice revox man

[@ofthedawn]

What type are the cassettes studios recorded on and then sold in stores?

[@CassetteComeback]

Duplicator cassettes. Usually filled with BASF or SKC tape.

[@clamanttomb2317]

I've just bought some Mitsubishi cassettes. Have you come across them before? If so, what is your opinion of them?

[@CassetteComeback]

If they're the late ones, then they are decent Saehan or Raks rebrands.

[@jaskovlahovljak6364]

👍

[@MitchellHang]

Is it me or does the RMR logo reminds me of a skull? Nonetheless, Happy New Year!

[@MeDicen_Rocha]

Tony if you wanna try cassettes from a weird place, you gotta get ahold of some Colombian Maxvalls. Not Maxells or Maxwells, Maxvalls. They were made in Colombia from the early 80s until 2002, copying BASF, Sony and TDK cassettes, using their own tape formulations. According to some they were actually fairly good too.

[@CassetteComeback]

I know of them, but there's no easy way for me to get hold of them.

[@lakshmiparithiilakya630]

Murugappa group is consumer cycle company..and vehicle machinary manufacturers..

[@rakeshkpandey3266]

I am surprised to know they had cassette making technology.

[@StackOverflow80]

All the ferric tapes are "gamma", because they have Fe2O3 crystals in gamma-phase (type of crystallic structure). So there's nothing special here (nor in Sony's case), only maybe it sounds more cool.

[@wrestletube1]

Like all the Japanese powerhouses these are good throughout the range so this is Japanese tape. For example TDK was good throughout the range even though some CDing 2s were a bit rubbish most of them were even good.

[@TheOniblade]

Meltrack Gamma - Super - very good . I am surprised.

[@macdaniel6029]

They look so nice and so cheap at the same time...

[@wildbilltexas]

Those shells look like they copied Sony's HF's shells too. Nice review!

[@MrLuisDeAlmeida]

DR = Dynamic Range ?

[@2626sylver2626]

1st cassette it sounds almost same from source/record(bass clean and deep),2nd one i can't hear any difference between source/record(same bass clean and deep),3rd one the sound is almost same (bass clean and deep)

[@Godzilla941]

Ahh, mold... the bane of tape sniffers everywhere... :)

[@SFtheGreat]

10:00 It's gramatically correct sentence"For BEst results from M G S Cassettes froward and rewind cassette fully etc".

[@CassetteComeback]

If you're going to comment of grammar, make sure you spell correctly 😉 "froward"?

[@SFtheGreat]

@@CassetteComeback Touché, typing on the keyboard on the knees in a train is not really optimal, I should really double check before submitting. And that Double capital lettering, I hold the shift a little bit too long.

[@MagicCyclops]

DR Direct Recording or Dynamic

[@kirkmooneyham]

Yeah, I thought Dynamic Recording

[@user-kb4si3ri3n]

Why are You so generous, they are type zeros, how can You use anything but MA or Cr (SA-X is/was my favourite). Of course You do what You do, who else gonna show us the gems there are, love Your channel, I just think You sould be more strict to the quality - Meltrack is rubbish - sorry, when a channel drops down and hisses like hell - it is bad, it's my opinion. Thank You a lot and Happy New Year.

[@CassetteComeback]

Not everyone managed to hoard the best cassettes away before prices went through the roof and not everyone is solely focused on sound quality alone. Besides, how boring would the channel be of all I did was the same level of cassette? Sometimes you just fancy a kebab instead of constant fillet steak 😁

[@user-kb4si3ri3n]

@@CassetteComeback Thank You for the answer. If You think You paid a lot for Cr and MA I did pay ten times more, here in Russia. I did buy the Maxell masterpiece just to know that a few years ago my parents just threw them away - I was furious! My mother was telling me why didn't you say - that's how it goes, you can't be mad at your parents. Your channel IS amazing! I haven't heard of Nakamichi until I became 40! (I am 1979). You just go on, do what You do, because You do it with all devotion to all that we love! By the way, I do like the way You sing.

[@fhwolthuis]

If they were made under license then they probably were not allowed to sell them outside India to make sure they didn't compete with the original brand (Sony?)

[@CassetteComeback]

Perhaps, but I don't think anyone would have mistaken them for a premium brand.

[@yanks1fan09]

I am glad they didn't Melt!

[@lesgl]

Imagine if you'd been in India and came across them how cheap they would have been compared to western prices for TDK's etc..could have bought cartons of them

[@theaylesburycyclist8756]

Any news on your store reopening Tony.?

[@CassetteComeback]

I think RM have sorted it out, so it will re-open on 4th January

[@theaylesburycyclist8756]

@@CassetteComeback Happy days ✌

[@Rompler_Rocco]

@@CassetteComeback 😃 ... Cassette Comeback *Comeback* !! 🥳

[@JayK.2002_]

Meltrack meant for Melody track...

[@vikramjitbanerjeetuki]

please excuse our bad English Tony,thank you

[@user-kb4si3ri3n]

It doesn't sound really bad at least for a russian ear but melting, I do agree, is a bad process

[@simplifygoals]

I have used these cassettes before, Not impressed by the performance but those were so cheap, and available everywhere around the country, I guess that's why they didn't export cause India a big country and wide markets high requirements.

[@Baerchenization]

I've been watching a lot of Indian DJ stereo set videos lately... they seem to have arrived in the 80s by now, but not in a good way, more like in a fever-dream-cringe-way and you can get a truck load of speakers for the price of a McDonald's meal - that makes me worried about these tapes :)

[@user-qw8ds7nt5f]

Привіт із України ))

[@EZ647]

Interesting. I did not know the brand, nor the Indian manufacturer of audio tape. But I have a Philips FX Ferro 60 Made in India (May 2002). ez647.sk/cc/philipsi/b/philips_fxferro6002z.jpg The design of hubs and shells is inspired by Sony. But they are not original, just imitations. Dark tape does not automatically mean cobalt. Many superferric has a dark brown with a shade of rusty ferric. For example Sony HF-X, HF-ES, old Maxell XLI-S, .... Everything is obviously inspired by Sony's design. Japan technology can only be a flashy sign for packaging. Or maybe they really bought something, hard to say. Thanks for the video, I wish you a lot of inspiration for new work and a lot of cassettes. EZ

[@TaylorBlack0]

You find the craziest shit lol

[@wrestletube1]

Kanika UR sounds fishy T Series CDing as well. Maxell and TDK lookalikes with crap Type 0 tape or is it actual TDK and Maxell in disguise?