Sony ZX - Sony's worst audio cassette. But is it that bad?

[@CassetteComeback]

Never met a bad Sony cassette. These, the FXI, HD-F, EF...they're all the same...very decent.

[@retrocoreav7025]

I'd have to agree. Surprised some said these were awful. Sure, they're not great but not bad either.

[@FlamingMonkey46]

Hi Tony, enjoying the new videos, can I ask why you don't enable comments on your videos as it seems it would be a great place for discussion and knowledge sharing, cheers.

[@retrocoreav7025]

His latest video did have them enabled. Tony had an issue with idiots for a while so he switched off the comments.

[@wrestletube1]

Treble reproduction was pants but I kinda liked what it did right the bass and mid range. That is what I would call a raw sound 70s ferric that changes the source to sound warm and good in it's own way but much later than 70s. I wouldn't use it on any genre that needs a lot of treble like a literal 70s Disco record which needs you to hear that Disco treble though.

[@retrocoreav7025]

Yeah, I agree, it was pretty poor on the high ends.

[@historiaycoleccionismo]

Hello i use this cassette to recording music in 1999 and the tape still working. Sound very great. Greatins for Perú. Cheers.

[@Yoda8945]

One good thing about those cassettes is that they are screwed together. This gives you a good basis for a cassette repair from another ruined cassette.

[@Konstantin_Terletskiy]

Latest versions of EF and HF look similar, but in blue and red colors respectively.

[@retrocoreav7025]

Maybe they all have the same tape stock?

[@chevycaprice87]

@@retrocoreav7025 Probably ZX is the same cassette as EF, but for the Asian market.

[@retrocoreav7025]

Yeah. It wouldn't surprise me. Kind of like TDK's AE is the Japanese version of the D.

[@vidtech2630]

The EF is good sonicly as well but comes in a sealed shell , without screws .

[@Musicradio77Network]

I used to have those Sony ZX tapes and they were good for recording Old Time Radio. Sony also has the EF and the top of the line HF. I have so many HF’s in my collection including the 1986 edition which is still the best one, along with the 1985, 1988 and a few others right up until 2002. The earliest ones that I remember was the Sony CHF cassette from the early 1980’s along with the LNX cassette. Both looked identical to the CHF cassettes.

[@retrocoreav7025]

I had to Google the CHF but after seeing it I could remember that tape. Had some as a kid.

[@Musicradio77Network]

@@retrocoreav7025 I also have the Sony C60 and C90 cassettes which dates back to the late 1960’s and early 1970’s which is the first generation Sony cassette from that era that has “Auto Sensor” on the leader which was silver.

[@olaniyi570]

A great deck will get good sound out of all but the worst (type zero) cassette. Thank you for the video. Keep them coming.

[@retrocoreav7025]

Thanks. Will try to do more videos soon.

[@amerigocosta7452]

It looks like Made in Japan still means something after all in this world of today where almost everything is made in China.

[@retrocoreav7025]

Yep. Japan still has standards even if they do think they're too low for the domestic market.

[@janchristianursuaaguilar7434]

everything made in china? DINKLEBERG!!!!!!

[@HostiaRecords]

I have some later EF tapes that looks really cheap and Bad, but sounds amazing, better than another early type I tapes.

[@retrocoreav7025]

I wonder if these low end Sony tapes all have the same stock inside?

[@zextakamania2086]

I have two ZX cassettes and while the tape seems alright although a bit hissy, I feel like something is wrong about the shell because both have horrible flutter which is especially noticeable at the start of each side. Definitely not a deck issue, with a test tape both my decks showed it in 0.05-0.1% range, which is not that audible. I wonder if moving the pancakes to different shells would help, at least these cassettes have screwed shells unlike last-gen EFs..

[@vidtech2630]

Same here , I've noticed that too .

[@waymorelonesome6446]

There's an earlier ZX tape that came in a full square case with it's own J card. Maybe that's the shit one? Great video.

[@srijitofficial]

Literally sounds same as source ❤️🌟

[@RadOo]

The tape looks like sandpaper to me 😀. Even though the sound quality is usable after all. BTW the recording is in mono sadly, haven't you noticed?

[@retrocoreav7025]

Yeah, that was an error on my part. The source was in mono too. This is because everything goes through a matrix switchbox but I had accidentally touched the mono switch 😔. Still, both channels of the tape were recorded on to so I just left it.

[@armandomolina9905]

Justamente hace 2 días atras tuve la oportunidad de comprar 2 cajas de la linea ZX , hoy grabe un cassette y el resultado fueron muy bueno , lo utilize en un deck Yamaha KX-360.

[@teensuicide9103]

Did a recording on a used one of these, using dolby b, i was extremely surprised at the sound quality.

[@jaha_trini_2]

I was scared when I saw the actual tracks on the cassette tape, but it held up better than I thought. I guess this video just goes to show that you can't take anyone's word at all, you need to try stuff for yourself and come to your own conclusion.

[@retrocoreav7025]

Absolutely. On forums and the like, some say that these tapes were fine while others say they were terrible. While they weren't amazing I did think they preformed reasonably well. Definitely missing some high end but over all, not bad at all. They'd be perfect for radio recordings or stuff that wasn't going to be played back on a high end deck.

[@darinb.3273]

Kind of makes me wonder if this was spooled from the edge of the main rolls and being at the edge not the best consistancy. Center cuts would likely have a different name like say EF or HF. Just thinking on my keyboard (thinking out loud, LOL).

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

Looks good and sounds good!

[@Monacomaverick]

Could you possibly review aftermarket CD jewel cases? I'd like to buy nice replacements for my CD collection and most of them are terrible. Any leads to a quality supplier?

[@retrocoreav7025]

I live in Japan so the stuff I can buy here will not be available overseas. Our replacement CD jewel cases are just like original ones. Well molded and strong. You could try Amazon Japan but the best are sellers on Yahoo Auctions that sell in bult of 100 cases a time. Inserts can be white, black or transparent.

[@JohnSmith-lh1wp]

I have some Sony ZX90 and they are OK. The boxes in my cassettes are different with embossed Sony on them. They are typical for Sony boxes with this typical Sony ZX90 paper on front side from down.

[@CannondaleCAAD]

You should make a discord for cassettes sometime! I bet alot of people would join :)

[@retrocoreav7025]

Sadly I'm way too busy to do that. This is actually my second channel. My main channel is a retro gaming channel with over 40,000 subscribers. I wonder if this channel would grow that big.

[@billrootes-composersongwri5552]

I had 2 van halen albums on one of these tapes. Sounded great at the time but aged terribly very fast >

[@wildbilltexas]

They remind me of the last HF's that Sony made in Mexico. It also had the L card and was as cheap as they could make it, but it was a capable type 1. I like the ZX shell better because it has screws to fix the tape if it jams or breaks.

[@retrocoreav7025]

Also, screwed shells are often stronger.

[@dean6816]

Wonder why the named them ZX when ZX on Nakamichi decks refers to metal??

[@retrorambles517]

Sounded good to me I like the simple shell with hints of green

[@rdrgtreer]

Want this tape very badly... Love an underdog

[@janchristianursuaaguilar7434]

wait i have those zx tapes the old ones have like you said were made in japan now all EF ZX and HF line of tapes were made in thailand. they were sold in the philippines sold for 30 to 41 pesos and the maxell ur 120 cost 69 pesos.

[@retrocoreav7025]

Maybe these are the remaining Japanese stock before they switched production to other countries?

[@janchristianursuaaguilar7434]

@@retrocoreav7025 edit the prices as of oct 2020 now is 50 pesos for both normal and chrome. for metal, 250 to 300 pesos. my 1998 sony metal xr from europe cost as mention above.

[@Lucrativecris]

How do you connect the audio to the camera?

[@retrocoreav7025]

Via a 3.5mm jack.

[@am74343]

NORMAL-type cassette tapes actually work fine, as long as you boost the input signal treble signifcantly (maybe by about 6 dB to 8 db), and record them at a really hot volume, almost overdriving them just under the point of clipping. The other thing that works wonders for recording on NORMAL tapes is to run the input signal through an audio compressor/limiter with a fast response/rampdown, and increase the recording volume even more. NORMAL tapes need TONS higher volume in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio.

[@2ndPyleOfVinyl]

Oh yes. Reminds me of the days when I had this cheap Pyle turntable that used a ceramic cartridge and a built-in preamp. I used a Shure M35X in it's place but did not modify the preamp so when I dubbed tapes, they sounded really hot. Especially ones that I transferred from 45 rpm singles. I could make some very basic cassettes sound good. I miss the Pyle as finally the cheap drive motor bearings wore so I replaced it with an AudioTechnica. The sound quality and reliability of the ATLP120 is better by far but I occasionally miss the hot sound of the Pyle when it worked.

[@PhilipDXpeditionMalaysia]

Same tape as 2006 EF tape (with screws)

[@swanthechosenone3975]

I am from a 3rd world country and most of the mainstream album releases from 2000s to the early 2010s were on zx tapes it sounds great to me

[@ivanpetrov1985]

...Try this cassette on Nakamichi ZX-9❤😊❤

[@user-id9pm2jn7s]

Yes, this is definitely the worst Sony tape, at the end of each side there is a terrible creak and detonation. This shows up on different cassette decks, I have three of them: AIWA AD F 910, AKAI GX 69, TECHNICS RS TR 474.

[@retrocoreav7025]

It is poor for a Sony but preformed better than I expected.

[@josephfrye7342]

to be honest i got ux and some cd it chrome cassette by sony with their original hubs and there is the other version using either agfa basf or emtec skc or usual Korean style saehan hubs and Pangong hubs from Maxell that it usually used and some hf hifi which it's in ferric position of course. some are in good slim or usual cases and some are in slide cases which it is convenient.

[@josephfrye7342]

and they are 45 minutes per each side and 90 minutes in total. so you got the 30 minutes perside which it is 60 minutes.

[@retrocoreav7025]

I guess you can't be sure what you will get with things like this.

[@josephfrye7342]

@@retrocoreav7025 and it looks like i got the 90 minute version ;) i did check out the get in the groove slide cassette of sony.

[@djamarrecording678]

Price kitna hai

[@triplem8238]

Poor sound quality yet durable 😊

[@SmoggyLambGG]

Eh? Sounds like normal bias to me

[@moshezaharia4666]

Not bad at all! much better than i was expecting!

[@retrocoreav7025]

Same here. Many people said they were awful but truth be told, they aren't too bad.

[@jasonlam9017]

Why are they called ZX? And who are these trolls 🧌 who say their really bad?

[@florincozma4920]

Mai sunt și acum casete ca mar interesa sa cumpar