Tapes 2 / Overview And Group Test Of Newly Released Compact Cassette Tapes (2022)

Tapes 2 / Overview And Group Test Of Newly Released Compact Cassette Tapes (2022)
List of hardware used:
Trevi C60 Type 1 Compact Cassette Tape
TDK B C60 Type 1 Compact Cassette Tape
EQ Professional C90 Type 1 Compact Cassette Tape
BKB C60 Type 1 Compact Cassette Tape
Ricatech C60 Type 1 Compact Cassette Tape
Sony HFS C60 Type 1 Compact Cassette (Vintage)
Fuji Z2 C60 Type 2 Compact Cassette (Vintage)
Akai GX-R35 Auto-Reverse Hi-Fi Cassette Tape Deck (Vintage)
Teac V-1050 3 Head System Hi-Fi Cassette Deck (Vintage)
Sanyo Q-25 Hi-Fi Vinyl Record Player (Vintage)
Zoom U44 USB Audio Interface
Dell Windows PC, Hi-Fi RCA Connectors, e.t.c.
Music In this video :
Star Trek Theme (J.Goldsmith) Performed by Bruno Bertone Sound Orchestra
(M.C.R. Production B.V.) 1984
Busy City Performed by Track Tribe (KZbin Music)
Sleepnessness Performed by The Brothers Records (KZbin Music)

[@Daijyobanai]

One reason I buy these tapes is just to encourage the manufacturers to keep making them, and keep improving them. I have enough old tapes to record onto, and "new" Maxell UR are stil available.

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi, yes, same here! Thanks!

[@blijbijgerrit1]

dank je wel, prima test!

[@Катюша77]

The exact video I've been searching for! Thank you so much!

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi! Thank you very much!

[@andygriffith5160]

I bought a 5-pack of the Ricatech ones a while back and what struck me was the thinness of the tape. (You can see clearly how thin the tape pack is on this video, like it's a 60-minute cassette made from 120-minute tape stock.) This is probably the reason it distorted once the signal crossed the 0dB line. That said, I got some pretty decent recordings from it when I kept the levels low.

[@lesrogers7310]

Great informative video. Thank you very much!

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi! Thank You!

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Great comparison, thanks!

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi! Thanks!

[@stevesloan7132]

From long experience of music recording I found that Maxel UDXL II CHROME 90s and BASF Chrome 90 minute tapes had the best durability and sound fidelity for jazz and rock. But of the two, BASF was the best, though Maxel was close.

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi! Absolutely agree, Maxell's and Denon's were the best for me at that time, from BASF i could remember Reference Maxima and Chrome Maxima as of the best ones. Thanks!

[@DaXande135]

@@TechieViewVideo BASF Chrome from the begininng til the mid to late 1990s used mostly pure chromium dioxide as an magnetic layer tho. This layer usually ages way worse than cobalt doped ferric oxide as used in most maxell, TDK, Denon, ... tapes. The aging process of this pure chrome can be noticed by a drop of level on tape. So if you record at 0 dB from source for example, you'll only get out -3 dB on tape. This makes Dolby NR hard to use on such BASF or Agfa pure chromes... Which cassette you made better experiences with probably is also depending on which tape you deck was calibrated back then.

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi! Thank you for comment! Yes, absolutely!

[@guerrillaradio9953]

@@DaXande135 It absolutely can. However, it depends on the formulation. I have several Sony UCX 1982 tapes that have been well used, still sound excellent, and have not shed at all. I have also had some late 90's Sony UX 100s and CD-IT 90 Chrome tapes that although they haven't shed, they developed serious stretching and creasing of the first few meters of tape on each end, and I had to shorten them. These were tapes I kept in my car back then, so I think that things like sun damage and rough handling most likely play a major part, not to mention the thinner, lower-quality welded cases those late 90s tapes had, as well as thinner tape media.

[@Badassvidsz]

I really liked this :-)

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi, thanks!

[@fretlessfender]

Nice first impression test is looking at the tape and see how glossy it is... the glossier the tape is the higher resolution it will bring. It gives you a first impression... try it! You will see! Compare it to '90 cassettes and you will see what I mean!

[@mastamove]

Hey nice! The GX R35! Bought that one new in the 90's! Lost it though but bought back a mint one last year :). The TEAC looks and is better of course. Great video!

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi, yes indeed GX35 is a treasure, loving it! TEAC V1050 is a real workhorse, still goes strong, planning to service it somewhere in the very near future. Thanks!

[@mastamove]

@@TechieViewVideo Only "problem" with the GX35 of mine is that the Record Balance isn't working properly (can only control the left balannce). But i can live with that :).

[@pancudowny]

There's a couple sayings coined [quite often] by Tony of the "Cassette Comeback" channel: "A great tape deck with make a 'good' tape sound 'great'... but a bad tape deck won't make a 'great' tape sound 'good'." And... "Garbage in = rubbish out...!"

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi, as i could remember some of the Denon, Onkyo, Technics and Kenwood mini-systems in the 90' could make quite a good recording on TDK SA, TDK D/AD, Sony HF-S, so i could not entirely agree with what you've wrote in comment. ...Cassette wat? 😉

[@gijsdaretodo1266]

There is a big difference in TDK D and B, the tape inside a B tape has to be much more thinner then original. If i take an old stock D60 tape, the whole cassette is filled with tape. On the B version there is a lot of space left.

[@pcorf]

The older TDK B (genuine) was pretty much identical to the D.

[@louisreinhard7047]

I had bought the Eq- professional cassette some days ago in a shop in germany. This ones have the secruety tabs. They are produced in 2021. They dont sound bad, quality is ok and they were cheap

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi, EQ Pro is good cassette tape, maybe with 2021version they’ve had slightly better quality control so yours has security tabs (lol) but in general it is a good very usable tape, indeed. Thanks!

[@larswikstrom9090]

I have a couple of those made in 2022 without security tabs. I think the company have to use what they can get from the market. In this case shells meant for prerecorded audio cassettes.

[@Ruinwyn]

The company is apparently a duplication company, so presumably, they always have shells for prerecorded and use those as backups.

[@PanaSonyc]

I tried yet the BKB, TDK B60 and the EQ Professional from 2021. The TDK is newly made in China (after a lot of research I found the manufacturer and also all tapes had a production date on it, all written in chinese, so yes they are counterfit) The TDK B is really bad for music, I only recommend it for speech because of the price. The BKB is about the same quality like the TDK, I could imagine the tape comes from the same factory. The EQ Professional is a really great cassette. Even better than the last Maxell UR-s. Mine all had the protection notches on. I don't know they seem to have different shelves. Good comparsion video btw! What I also recommend as newly made cassettes are the Japanese domestic Maxell UR's, they have the same quality as the old which is good. But yes backside is you have to order it from Japan

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi! I would not agree with you about TDK, i believe it is a licensed product. Licensed does not mean equal in quality - so here is that. BKB in my test as you can hear in video is slightly better than TDK but not good for music recording on standard home equipment, absolutely. Thanks!

[@PanaSonyc]

@@TechieViewVideo To be honest if the TDK is really a licensed product I would be happy because then Maxell isn't the only big manufacturer that still makes cassettes on the market🙂. Have a nice day

[@TechieViewVideo]

TDK as brand is not exist already for many years, it’s been used by Imation for some limited product lines on some markets, Imation also did licensing for TDK brand products for mostly Asian markets so here is one of the products of that licensing plus obviously its an old stock, the quality is not perfect but its usable. There is some other manufacturers besides Maxell who is producing compact cassettes nowadays, ATR, FOX, Ricatech etc, some of those newly produced tapes are quite good. Have a great day too! 😉

[@Ruinwyn]

I have noticed that currently there is tape being sold on Amazon that looks like TDK B, but without the TDK logo. The rest of the print is same with the big B and TDK colour scheme. Looks like they lost the licence or TDK came after them (in that case I would assume bigger change in packaging though).

[@jmi5969]

I suspect there are different grades and sources of TDK B, some outright fakes, some quite decent. I ordered these only once and received a mixed bag of Imation and TDK-branded cassettes. To me they all looked genuine, the tape pack looked perfect, tape surface good. The tapes, however, were slightly different in colour and optimal bias. Both were usable, nothing special but no dropouts either. Was it worth almost five dollars for a ten-pack? sure, if only as trading chips.

[@kensmechanicalaffair]

Eq Professional cassette, very mature.

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi, I think its a good tape only quality control was kinda having a party somewhere far from workspace at the time of production of my sample. :) Thanks!

[@kensmechanicalaffair]

@@TechieViewVideo Which brand would recommend for audio production purposes? The Sony UXs is looking pretty good right now.

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi! UXS is a very good tape, sound very powerful with bright top end, easy to record on, works on everything, great choice indeed! Maxell XL2, XL2S - very low noice, fantastic frequency response, etc. TDK SA, SAX, MA, MAX - all of those are quite good, for audio production purposes - master tapes i would recommend metal tapes, type 4 due to frequency response and noice floor, all of Sony, TDK, Maxell - ones just great for that purpose! Thanks!

[@larswikstrom9090]

For some reason, the makers of todays cassett tapes prefer 60- minute ones. The brands I have tried recently have a quite "plasticky" shell and the tape itself are not up to yesteryears standards. The cost are too high also compared to the quality!

[@stevewhitcher6719]

TDK "B" if not a FAKE isnt made very well the surface is not well calendered, I do see alot of these and dont buy them! The case for the BKB is a polypropylene box, I think they are made by Music Box in Italy but i'm not that sure as i buy mine from a wholesaler. Eq- professional are made by/for Golding Products in Telford! They had a good stock of C0's but i would guess they are running low and may only have the tab out version left. The UK is running out of c0's there were alot of NOS ones but stocks are drying up. Chinese made ones are not very good, and the MB ones are getting expensive due to global events.

[@bobsbits5357]

hi this is i funny way i come back into the cassette someone left some dubbing gear and a cassette loaders like otari dp2700 so i got in to the pancake and the basf 8 1/2 inch reels for the loader units and some slave 1/8 inch reel to reel decks i will say high speed 3 3/4 ips with LONG PLAY 1/8 tape is very good you can get 25min each side tapeline in the uk stock this pancakes i like all my cassette's look the same and it is alot easyer to set up the decks i have a 8 1/4 inch reel with 1/8 tape last 3 hrs same size reel with lp is over 4.30min there's i real time counter on otari mtr 12 i made a new set of rollers for it mono full track is mind blowing running 1/8 i tryed it at 7 1/2 on a tascam 238 it can go this fast 100% i pimped the deck 1 7/8 to 7 1/2 as servo motor was bad so a re made all the transport in side yours bob the AV TEC

[@milojenikolovski7522]

Fuji is the best tape today in the world, sound from Fuju is great, is it made in Japan??

[@TechieViewVideo]

Hi, Fuji is certainly a very good one, yes, it made in Japan. Thanks!

[@wblynch]

Is made, or was made? Are they still made and available from Japan? Thanks

[@VitaliiKovalev-xb3tq]

Нешанел Панасоник кассеты с катушками разные а тдк в 90 не очень по записи

[@amajtheory]

TDK B tape looks like sand paper, not as smooth as TDK D.

[@VitaliiKovalev-xb3tq]

Согласен с тобой

[@user-yt6gv1rr8b]

Both are smooth

[@silentboy8080]

Yes UK tape is the best