Tascam Master Studio 424: Type II Cassettes are back in production!!??

[@anadialog]

A note form TASCAM that contacted me after the video: The tapes are the result of a 4-year long project. These are not repackaged 799 or any other type of cassettes. This recipe is being manufactured exclusively for TASCAM. Several of you signaled that also ATR Magnetics is selling Type II cassettes. Before they were NOS but apparently they are also selling new type II cassettes! Perhaps the same source?

[@jn3750]

I have used ATR tapes extensively and can attest that their r2r tapes are amongst, if not the best, the best sounding ones on the market. I have a friend who bought some type 2 cassette tapes from them but not too impressed with ATR type 2 tapes at all (due to the limitations of type 2 tapes). BTW, I heard that some of the folks that used to work at Ampex/Quantegy (whose tapes were used by countless famous bands) moved to ATR after their divisions went out of business.

[@anadialog]

ATR was using BASF (true chrome) NOS up until now. Just recently started to produced new type II with cobalt based formulations.

[@anadialog]

Thank you very much Alex! Another gentleman offered the same kind service and I have accepted...but thanks again, much appreciated!

[@jn3750]

@@ThiefOfKrondor My Otari 2-track R2R is professionally calibrated for ART Master Tape. The freq resp (+/-3) is a mind-boggling 20hz-39khz. I can hear things I have never heard before.

[@jn3750]

@@ThiefOfKrondor md36 sounds fantastic on my 4 track Akai r2r deck, even without calibration (simply select *low noise* tape option on the Akai)

[@analoguecity3454]

Analogue in ANY form being made again is a HUGE plus, and a win for audiophile music lovers like myself! "Good" Analogue and hi resolution digital, that's the way to go!

[@charlessmyth]

1/2 inch two track at 30-ips. Yeah. . . good luck with that :-)

[@jhonwask]

Back in the late 1980's, i was striving to create a digital medium to preserve and promote my analog recordings. It never worked out well, but a decade later, there was a device called the iPod. Today, after almost 40 years, I am for the preservation of analog tape, it's ease of use, relatively inexpensive production (as compared to making memory chips), and longevity. I think we've come full circle when it comes to audio and video media. Tape is so much more versatile and cheaper to make. Thanks for all your tape work.

[@rainer-mb]

Despite the high costs for non-USA cassette engaged artists, specially outside of north american and Europe, a new Type II tape is a breath of fresh air. We need to dig deep to find NOS type II tapes that are possible to buy, record and then replicate to good NOS type I to distribute our physical albuns. Actually type II NOS are a becoming a very costy media to record and produce "master tapes" for our music; sometimes the costs of NOS type II are so high that it becomes cheaper and affordable to find and pay for studio hours offering Reel-to-reel recorders. I hope we will be able to at least buy cheaper Type II NOS after the new ones start to became world-wide-spread (fingers crossed!).

[@MoviesMusicMonsters]

ATR magnetics also now sells type II cassettes.

[@anadialog]

They have been selling them for quite a while, they are NOS. Now they are making new ones with cobalt...maybe the same source?

[@TomokoAbe_]

nothing works better than reel-to-reel. Mine still works and the sound is incredible.

[@OneRoomShed]

Still use my Akai (in my avatar pic) here and there too. With a good tape it still sounds amazing and it has direct drive so I don't have to worry about belts. 🍻 buddy.

[@ginseng1978]

God bless for the good news! Hope they will soon sell them in Europe also and, yes I hope they will engineer a type IV Cassette. Thank you, Tascam!

[@ReginatorNet]

I use NAC 771 type II and 799 type II in my Tascam MIDISTUDIO 644 and they work great. NAC has excellent customer service and it's a win-win if they're working with Tascam!!! Good times for all!

[@robertporter2447]

I have the Portastudio 424 mk11. I bought new and it still sounds amazing. Then it's a Kenwood KX-1030 also amazing sound use all the time. Stuff I recorded in 1988 sounds almost like I did yesterday. So, this is great news! Thank you Tascam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Z.K.

[@K_Tech64]

I just pre-ordered a few, looking forward to trying them out. Thanks for the heads up!

[@petermitchell6348]

Good! Now they need to start manufacturing decent decks again instead of the low-fi dross they make today!

[@analoguecity3454]

That's the problem! That's why I'm happy LP records got real popular again, it forced the industry to make better cartridges and turntables! Hopefully cassettes can get the same foothold! Analogue formats demand top quality equipment to play them back on, unlike CDs and digital devices which sound pretty similar to each other no matter what price!

[@petermitchell6348]

@@analoguecity3454 I wholeheartedly agree.

[@nickwallette6201]

@@analoguecity3454 Haha, yeah so we have new tape with no good decks, and new turntables with lousy digital masters on vinyl. Ya just can't win around here. :-D

[@iangerahty3422]

🤔🤔🤔 might be time to resurrect my old Sansui SC 1330 especially if type 4 metal tape makes a comeback.

[@Gezira]

A good gift from Tascam! Happy new year folks :)

[@Badassvidsz]

That's amazing dear Guido i DO LOVE CASSETTES and Happy New Year to everyone 😀

[@michaels2910]

Wow! Just saw your video. Thanks for the great news. I checked the Tascam website and they are not cheap. $35 each. My enthusiasm kind of fizzled after that.

[@anadialog]

Here I did a review of all recent type II (spolier: there are terrible!): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXunf3RvntyIn5Y

[@nasraroshan7875]

I wish they or japan could make cassettes with beautiful shells like old ones. The new cassettes have very simple shells. But the new manufacturing type II cassettes are very amazing and hopeful. Thank you.

[@alanbauder5089]

I just received my first Tascam tape today. I ordered it after watching your video. I will try recording on it tomorrow. All my cassette decks are Nakamichi. I will try and record on my RX-505 which I usually only use for playback. I still don't like recording on it because of the way it is designed. I also have a 682ZX which is my all-time favorite machine too make great recordings. recently I tried to record The Beatles Mono LP set for a friend, but the recording sounded like crap. I did a complete rebuild of that deck using a donor unit because I couldn't find a record head. It seemed to be working fine until recently. My first Nak was a 480 and recently tried to get another having sold mine years ago. Both decks were purchased on Ebay and they were both screwed up upon arrival. I did manage to get one working by combining parts, but only use for playback. I also have one of the original Nakamichi 700's which has one channel dead which I will try to repair. Trying to find good places to repair these units is almost impossible unless you spend a ton of money. Also, I love your channel and watch it all the time. Thank You - Alan

[@anadialog]

Great! Waiting for some feedback!

[@milojenikolovski7522]

Great news, thanks for info, it will be nice to have analog video VHS-HD come back, to watch at home old movies without framerates...

[@axelfiedel3793]

I would love to see it happen however sadly they stopped making both VCRs and Tape. If VCRs were still made I'm sure it would be limited.

[@blastfromtheeast]

your enthusiasm is contagious

[@hgesser]

Good news 🙂 Happy New Year!

[@littlevibetown]

so happy to see how passionate you are about this

[@marcgoldscheider6336]

I m french but i can understand you I love cassette ! Remember the 80's !

[@MusicalHifi54]

That’s great! Hooray for us tape heads and also the general public!

[@nimam81]

I got my tape today and did a quick test. 1) the tape surface is ok. nothing like previous type I tapes made by NAC. 2) this tape is not usable in decks without calibration capabilities. It will sound dull and distorted. 3) In decks with manual calibration, it can produce good sound. However, you need to find the sweet spot with trial and error. The output level will be lower than your typical type ii tapes. I calibrated this tape in my Nakamichi ZX-7 following the typical calibration process. But, the sound was distorted at around 0dB. I played with calibration more and I reduced the level to just above -3dB and maintained the bias at 0dB. During recording, I set the recording level to around 0dB max and this tape finally produced good sound without distortion. With this setup, the tape’s maximum output will be slightly less than 0dB on VU meters if playedback on non-Nakamichi decks. But, it sounds good. In my opinion, this tape is not a standard type ii tape. It’s not suitable for average users, but it can produce acceptable results if a deck is tuned specifically for it, which is a problem.

[@fabricehaesendonck196]

at last !i m so glad about it thanks Guido for the info!

[@2011RAIMONDS]

Very pleasant news. Thanks for informing.

[@wasiuuu1]

thank you for the news and big thanks to TASCAM :-)

[@Elijahsmith2023]

Yeah! Cassette renaissance is coming!

[@pomeneal4941]

Analógico é insuperável, é mágico

[@EasyMusic36]

Good news, I have the CC-222MKIV, I wait for the premiere. Thanks for the info.

[@peterrech2307]

Happy new year, Hope the new one is better than the previous two.........Enjoy the music

[@anadialog]

🤞

[@rockrollhi-figuy6824]

I wish someone would also make a quality 8 Track Recorder too. That would be lovely.

[@francisard1488]

Seriously Tascam obviously sees that there is a market for it

[@leemski]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for reporting this! Fingers crossed.

[@bletheringfool]

The part that stands out as positive in this is actually that NAC are working with a company like TASCAM and engineering the result around real equipment. I heard their version of type 2 has been hit and miss. They need this kind of collaboration which can only improve the final product

[@ELPCOTILLION-SD1970]

I've Always Liked Those Cassettes With The Miniature Reel To Reels Inside...I Purchased One In Mid 1980s...

[@MR.GECKO-i6h]

That is a very attractive cassette including the J-card and everything...

[@glenesis]

$21.99 per tape. Nuts. Bring on competition!

[@KClark]

I pre-ordered one. Thanks for the heads up!

[@superradness]

Now all they need to do is make actually high quality cassette decks, instead of making us rely on old electronics.

[@axelfiedel3793]

Yeah even though I was born after 2000 I'm actually quite interested on how the cassette would sound.

[@kensims4086]

My 1984 deck sounds as great as the day i bought it.

[@rockrollhi-figuy6824]

70s Marantz and Pioneer are the best that Ive heard so far.

[@superradness]

@@kensims4086 That’s awesome! I wish you another 40 years!

[@kensims4086]

@@superradness And all my tapes outlasted the cd-rs i made in 2001...

[@davedavenport8176]

I just ordered 4 hopefully next week I can order 4 more 😁 Thank you for this information. As I do love playing my vinyl I also enjoy a mix tape for playing during activities such as playing pool or partying.

[@favouritethings11]

Where from ?

[@LosFicosMusic]

You did it Bro!

[@rodrigodaniou5949]

Great news !! Thanks. It will look beautiful on my Tascam 122 MKIII.

[@SlainGecko]

i heard somewhere some months ago that Tascam were asking people if they were interested in a new four track recorder, if they are going forward with this that would be great. I myself have two Tascam 688`s Midistudios. I would be interesting to see how far they take this.

[@darwinsaye]

I was wondering about that. Seems weird to bring the cassettes back into production when all there are to use them on out there are 40 year old machines in rough shape, like mine.

[@tweakerman]

Excellent news, thanks for sharing👍

[@crcastilho]

Just bought 2 😀. It's going to be delivered to my nice in NY and she will ship to me in BR.

[@smvwees]

And... now it comes down to really decent new playback equipment. The current situation is a very sorry state of affairs.

[@lesrogers7310]

There are still good, underrated cassette decks out there. The Teac V-1050 (3-head but no dual capstan), Yamaha KX-580 (Dolby S 2-head) and Technics RS-BX580 spring to mind. I have all three and performance even with a good ferric tape is decent.

[@nohrtillman8734]

Glad to see excitement about the resurgence in popularity of home-pro cassette multi trackers for the purposes of getting quality analog recordings. First glance into why my 424 MKii became desired (aka expensive) again was disappointing: Evidently a great deal of demand comes from those wanting to “dumb down” their digital recordings. Audio productions, essentially photoshopped together, are getting re-recorded through “grainy” portastudio machines to sound more “real.” No matter, I’m anticipating watching the mini-reels using the fresh blue-printed tape formula. It’s worth having one at $35 on sale! (but only one on my income)

[@olxzender]

Tested one, pretty much like a BASF LH. Cuts highs and the dynamic range. Tested with 3Head Aiwa with BIAS calibration

[@fokkenossom9287]

Thank you TASCAM!

[@chrisa2735-h3z]

Oooh how exciting!!

[@saricubra2867]

I have a TASCAM digital condenser stereo microphone with 96KHz and 24bit resolution that i still use to record. Very old but frequency response is absolutely flat and gigantic dynamic range. I think it shows a cassette or reel-to-reel deck/tape every time i turn it on. Watching TASCAM released and improving upon old tech is refreshing, they like their roots too.

[@ELPCOTILLION-SD1970]

If They Really Are Back And Available...That Shall Be Absolutely Splendid...I'd Purchase Some..

[@anadialog]

They are! Tascam contacted me and confirmed. They also told me that they are not the one that NAC is selling.

[@itayashkenazy2895]

Great news mr.G 🤩🤩

[@leninpaily]

Good decision 👍👍👍👍 thanks to tascam team, special thanks for this guy to reporting this latest news👍

[@BogoEN]

Judging from the specs, it would make sense that this is rebranded NAC type II tape, especially since they are the only folks outside of China producing the actual tape now in large quantities.

[@alobosk]

THIS IS HUGE!!!!

[@theklaus7436]

I can hardly wait. I'm one these guys who still has a 8trip foxtex

[@hifirulezzz]

The TASCAM 424 Studio Master High Bias Type II Cassette was a joint project between TASCAM and the National Audio Company, which is the largest manufacturer of cassette tapes and the world’s largest duplicator of recorded music cassettes.

[@MitchellHang]

This sounds like a real Cassette Comeback. [EDIT: Anybody else enjoy watching that channel?]

[@melovemusic69]

Let's hope so.

[@luanhana2100]

ME TO Mitchell Hang.

[@wasiuuu1]

i do, excellent show

[@GlaciaDay]

That is weird, why only released in the US while being a Japanese company. Also I love the looks and the package, reminds me of the classic “open reel” cassette.

[@MrKLindholm]

IT looks like Panasonic or National Ångstom Cassette tape case.

[@larsholst6216]

Limited series of NOS OEM.

[@melovemusic69]

Probably laced with some deadly virus that once it is played in our decks spews it into our air, lol. Jk

[@squallywally]

Is only because the company manufacturing it is in US. National Audio Company in Springfield Missouri. My guess is that it is the same as the studio master 799 type II. I am anxious for somebody to get one and test it out.

[@nimam81]

@@squallywally a couple of people tested the NAC type ii tape over at tapeheads, and the results were not promising. I really hope NAC improves their tape surface so it doesn’t look like sandpaper.

[@ACommenterOnYouTube]

Maxell is making Type 1 cassette's TODAY but not in the US. They are the Maxell UR90N. I just a pack of 5 last month. But its good to hear that they are making Type 2's now

[@ACommenterOnYouTube]

@Carl Menger No ... they are made today, just not in the US. These were shipped from Japan kzbin.info/www/bejne/imS1kKOVls9ki7M

[@ACommenterOnYouTube]

@Carl Menger and they sound really good providing the source is clean. I recorded onto these from CD and play back was quite clean and impressive.

[@TheHmm43]

I'm reely looking forward to this. I'll head to their site, track them down, and bias some of these as soon as they're out!

[@stimpy1226]

Wishing you and yours a healthy and Happy New Year Guido.

[@anadialog]

Thanks Neil! You too!!

[@jbvinyl]

Just ordered 3 on Tascam website $21 dollars each,but only 60 minute lenth.Maybe 90 minute and more affordable price will follow with enough interest.90 minute length to record 1 lp on each side is needed.Thanks for the info .

[@johne5543]

Wow!!!!!!! This is fantastic!!!!!!!!! Can't wait till they go on sale!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@electricarchaic]

Dream come true! I’m going to pick up a couple to support the production, but they are a bit expensive no? I assume the price on their site is for one tape. Either way we should all support this so that they continue then prices can come down and maybe we see new 4 TRACKS!!!! WOOOOOOOOO

[@brunohebert1351]

$22 for a C-60 cassette... ouch. I think I can find NOS C-90 Metal for less than that. I'd like to support but that's a bit too much for me.

[@anadialog]

True, but it is a costly production and the cassette has metal spools, it's fancy!

[@SDsailor7]

@@anadialog Will you be doing a review of the new cassette once you get one or two? Thank you

[@steelcantuna]

I've been looking through your "library" of videos (there are a lot). Do you have one where you address recording with two (2) reel to reel machines into one (1) mixer? You know, so the two tape machines can "talk" to one another, or "bounce" tracks from one machine to the other. If not, it would make a good addition to your teaching(s) about tape machines.

[@anadialog]

I don't, thanks for the suggestion!

[@bob4analog]

Amen! This is awesome news! I have a 424 MK II. Works good with currently available NOS type II, but I really want to hear the difference with the new TASCAM tape.

[@anadialog]

If you do, give us some feedback!

[@Music-zh7fm]

@@anadialog will do, and I'll try to make a vid of it too.

[@bob4analog]

I finally ordered the tape, but they informed me that it's on indefinite back order. :-/ I hope it isn't a scam!

[@AndyP126]

We need metal tapes to come back

[@vasekk4504]

Goot job. I like type II cassette.

[@rajaravindran4276]

Excited 😁

[@Joker-is4ib]

Your the man bro!

[@erikkroll2154]

Good news!

[@freestylerjpartner6270]

Great news,that's awesome..😀

[@SDsailor7]

I left one of those tascam at a flea market a couple of weeks ago. I did not know they were popular. I guess i will have to my keep eyes open for one.

[@Neqael.]

Good news! Спасибо Никифорову :).

[@metastaticmince2386]

we need to to have somebody in the US to buy and ship to ROW/Europe ;-)

[@Fluteboy]

0:11 - When gesturing the number 2, be sure to hold your hand with the palm forward - otherwise you are only telling us to F off!

[@anadialog]

Oops!

[@bob7872]

That's good news. Next step, making reel to reel affordable lol. Anyway, happy new year!

[@peteytwofinger]

I am not an analog obsessed guy. i see red when people kind of put themselves above others because of their gear or possesions. there is a lot of that online when you get into analog and digital, which in my house they just go hand in hand. i will say i recorded on a few cassette 4 tracks and then i had some 1/2 inch 8 channel reel machines . i used to listen to a lot of music on tape , some metal tapes but high bias was my thing . i would often record with the noise reduction ON and play back with it off (for good luck) . i also used EQ with tape . all these things they do have a sound , i really liked the sound of those high bias tapes with the eq. i also realize how far we have come. i sold my tape machines and i record via digital. the recordings sound great now. i dont miss the analog so much but there was a time i used it and it does color the sound. i just prefer digital and also i can see it when people talk smack and there is a lot of smack talk on this topic a lot of pretending , and gatekeeping. i know a lot of people hated on cassettes but i loved them , when done right -slam them just below where they break up and run an eq for playback. that was how i like to do it , it was NOT the proper way , but it was my way , and thats ok . its ok to use what ever gear you like , none is "better" so much . i think "we" get hung up on this a bit much at times . people who go on and on about their gear tend to not have music to share . thats the thing , you can jabberjaw or type all day but if you dont have any music to share ... my channel is full of it . i record every year at this time . i cant wait to start when the time is right . i would like to have a shirt that says "digital" but perhaps this would not be easy to find. for some of us the good ole days are now .

[@yurigoryunov]

Hi, I'm trying to record on a 799 and the recordings come out extremely dull, while on the same deck old type IIs are nearly perfect. Was really excited about the 799 and now about the Tascams, but am a bit worried now. Any ideas why this might be happening?

[@anadialog]

I am waiting for my 799s. Then I can report my impressions. Tascam and also NAC told me that the Tascam formulations are different from the NAC type II currently produced.

[@Raptor50aus]

Seems to be only available in the US?

[@rwesreal]

Would they be proper for the tascam 688

[@ratspam7655]

If you read the press release it states, "Steve Stepp, President of National Audio Company, offered his perspective of the TASCAM 424 cassette, "The TASCAM 424 Type II cassette is a Type II High Bias cobalt formulation using currently available magnetic oxides to recreate the tape which Portastudios were designed to use. The recording bias and equalization settings for this tape are as near a match for Portastudios as possible with materials available in 2021. Operators familiar with Portastudios will easily be capable of 'fine tuning' for the new tape."

[@anadialog]

I thought I read that in the video 😄

[@ACommenterOnYouTube]

My Panasonic boom box can only record on Type 1, i guess i will have to hunt down and old school tape deck now

[@TheStOne1]

This are some great news!

[@Rigs275]

Great Video thanks

[@johnkaplun9619]

ATR brought back there type 2 cassette as well and are regularly stocking it.

[@anadialog]

Yes, very recently! Before it was NOS

[@KekmanForTheRestOfTheWorld]

i hope the are gonna give us a new version of the cassette porta studio aswell

[@anadialog]

That would be interesting!

[@christopherdunn317]

The problem i have is Dolby not being there ? they had Dolby -s the best, and unless that comes back forget it.I bought shit load's of tapes about 7 years ago cause i had just bought on eBay a new fostex 380-s so I'm good for a while anyway.

[@favouritethings11]

When will they be available?

[@anadialog]

From what I understood some have already been sold...I am in Europe and I can't see the order page unfortunately

[@korling99]

The new cassettes are shipping!

[@anadialog]

👍

[@srijitofficial]

Truly I'm Feeling Amazing ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🤩🤩🤩🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🥰🥰😚😚

[@charlessmyth]

Last year, since I had a decent cassette deck to hand, and an almost new TDK-II cassette tape, I recorded a short section of a page of a book to the cassette instead of the computer. I couldn't believe how appallingly bad was the performance, as recorded by the cassette. With or without Dolby NR. Back in the day -- of the 1970s and 18980s -- it went without too much criticism. Now. . . don't even think about it :-)

[@paulb4uk]

It is great news a new type 2 is coming but i doubt it will preform as good as a cheap new sealed late tdk sa .

[@lesrogers7310]

The old TDKs were indeed very good. The problem is that some have degraded in their wrappers over time so you never really know what you're getting.

[@marcump]

Yay! Now I can feed my Yamaha K1000 and K2000 using dbx NR to record, playback sounds BETTER than CD--from high quality vinyl source.. it does according to my ears. And from a CD source it’s practically indistinguishable-only beefier bass output. I’ve bought a lot of Maxell new old stock XL-lls, but this is great news for us that love our vintage cassette machines.

[@anadialog]

👍

[@chrisbaron70]

Does anyone know when these tapes will be available in the uk?

[@scottstrang1583]

I'm amazed that TEAC would even consider this.

[@tecnisdaimondm.g9321]

Excelente 👌

[@nickbitten9910]

Sounds very promising - will await developments with interest. At $21:99 I will not be buying many ( bearing in mind postage into the U.K. ) but if it raises the profile of tape then so much the better.

[@melovemusic69]

Now there over 30 bucks on the same web sight. Forget it.

[@anadialog]

Insane!

[@wblynch]

Now $35 in 2023. $21.99 was a bargain barely a year ago

[@MauroGuerreiro]

I have the Tascam CD-A580 Tape Deck. Will this new tape record with this Deck?

[@anadialog]

It will but the quality is so bad I do not reccomend using it. Literally ANYTHING will play better. Get Maxell UR on Amazon and you'll be satisfied or NOS type II cassettes (which are pricey though)

[@MauroGuerreiro]

@@anadialog Thanks

[@MauroGuerreiro]

@@anadialog Maxell UR is not Type I? I prefer Type II.