New Old Stock Memorex MRXI

[@slowpawstevet3676]

I remember using these tapes back in the 70's, at one HiFi exhibition in those days Memorex were doing a "breaking glass" demo, no idea how many glasses they got through but was an amazing demo and a good sales gimmick.

[@rockrollhi-figuy6824]

I like the MRX1 tapes. The look cool and i love the old style pressure pads. Replace that before you play or record on the tape and youll be in business.

[@CBitsTech]

Thanks. Sorry for the delay replying. Do you replace the pads with that foam draught excluder stuff, or something specially designed for the purpose?

[@rockrollhi-figuy6824]

@@CBitsTech all good! I use the parts from the 8 track tape repair kit. I have a video up of it. Adhesive backing, cut it to size, then glue the original felt tip onto it

[@ianz9916]

The only good thing about Memorex tapes was the TV adverts for them. I have a couple that I bought back in the day and was unimpressed with them then. I found the Curry's own brand tapes were much better and cheaper because they were made by Philips but my go to tapes were always TDK or Maxell. I certainly wouldn't have paid £9 for one now. I'm thinking of selling my new old stock tapes and I wasn't anticipating getting anywhere near that kind of price for them.

[@CBitsTech]

Yeah, I thought I'd treat myself and didn't want to wait so I bought the cheapest NOS Buy It Now one. Won't be Fooled Again. I've got lots of good used ones to use.

[@paulb4uk]

The early memorex cassettes are often not good ,but most of the later ones are made by skc or sayhan and are decent cassettes, i have one dixons branded cassette and it is an agfa made cassette.With memorex cassettes it is better to look for ones that are made in korea .

[@CBitsTech]

@@paulb4uk Fantastic info and advice thanks. Is it a Facebook group you get this info from?

[@theelectronage]

Hi, Maybe you can open it and change the tape? Didn't see any screws but it's doable.

[@ianz9916]

@@paulb4uk I have a couple of Memorex C60 tapes which are still sealed but they are Korean made and do have screws.

[@m80116]

You're discarding good shells. Even the tape looks absolutely playable and still good. A dual capstan closed loop deck wouldn't have a problem correctly playing and recording over it. Anyways... the pad can be removed and replaced. Some cassette shells have pins already to use a leaf spring pad.

[@AudioGuyBrian]

There is NOTHING good about Memorex tapes. Other than filling up trash cans for the trash day guys.

[@randyharrigan4790]

You absolutely need to replace those pressure pads they always go hard or sticky and ruin the tape. Had you replaced it prior to recording the tape would have likely been fine. They can sound really good when recorded in a good deck.

[@CBitsTech]

Thanks. I know that for the future, but it's really too much hassle to get a working cassette when I have lots already.

[@randyharrigan4790]

@@CBitsTech I can understand that. To be honest have tons of cassettes myself just not tons of mrx-i's laying around so i'd have went at it as it is however a fairly easy fix just pop in a spring pressure pad from a junk tape with some tweezers. Just hoping someone finds this info helpful. Cheers👍

[@AudioGuyBrian]

Memorex has the worst tapes in the World. Even worse than Certron tapes. Did you notice while he was winding the 90 minute tape you could still SEE THROUGH IT!!! Total garbage.

[@CBitsTech]

You're probably right. I have a soft spot for Maxell as a company because they're British and they're my favourite brand of Minidisc (where production quality isn't an issue, usually). I've seen some other manufacturers' tapes that are transparent too. Maybe it's just entry level tapes generally.

[@AudioGuyBrian]

@@CBitsTech You meant Memorex right? Maxell is 100% Japanese.

[@CBitsTech]

My mistakes entirely, sorry, I misread your comment. I read it as Maxell are the worst tapes. I don't have much experience with Memorex, except their old-school floppy disks which were bad. Maxell are my favourite mindiscs. They may be a Japanese company, I don't know, but the minidiscs were made in Telford, UK.

[@vascosantos5489]

Funny that you should mention those two specific brands, because once I bought a lot and it had both a Certron tape and two Memorex Chrome tapes. The Certron tape literally ruined my favorite Sony compact system and sent me on a spiral that resulted in way too many expenses. The Memorex ones I never got the chance to even play, I put them on my deck and both cut the tape immediately and because of the absence of screws I basically had to trash them. What a waste. It put me off American tapes as an European for a while, although I have recorded beautifully onto Scotch BX, CX and even the maligned Dynarange. I have purchased a lot of mostly odd BASF models for consolidating a collection and tomorrow they will arrive and there are two Memorex dBs in there too, including the really cool one with the colors. I hope I can finally know how a Memorex sounds like, hope they don't die on me too. Truth is boring and no one wants to accept it: nothing beats Sony HF, TDK D and Maxell UR Ferro tapes. They are resistant, consistent and will play fine on every deck regardless of it being cheap or premium (unlike Type II tapes). Plus because these tapes are boring and relatively common you'll get the best deals on these. I collect strange models and brands, but, if I want a tape to play and enjoy I'm going to go for those three.

[@AudioGuyBrian]

@@vascosantos5489 I agree about the Sony HF, TDK D's and UR's. They are a great value and easy to find. However, you should try to get the older TDK D's that are made in Japan instead of the Imation ones. You can tell on the back who made them. The Imation made TDK D's are not very good. Kind of the same with Maxell UR's. I think they are still made by Maxell, but the older ones are better sounding (For Type I tapes anyway).