I don’t record any tapes anymore. I have a few rare live gigs that were recorded onto cassette. I try to play them once a year. Probably should transfer them to files. They still sound decent. Wasn’t the lifespan of cassettes only 20 years?
I find that cassette lifespan can vary dramatically. I have found that Maxell are consistently the most durable, while at the other end of the scale Memorex can be problematic after only a few years. Another issue to watch out for is that Chromium Dioxide tape in particular can lose remanence, sounding dull and rather quiet after so many years. Consequently, trying to record or re-record onto old Chromium Dioxide cassettes can give very disappointing results.
1 Like
Every day is a school day - ‘remanence’ is my new word for today.
Now I just need to look up a definition.
PS That would be ‘magnetised’.
1 Like
My apologies Graham, by remanence I refer to a tapes response to a magnetic field.
Thanks, Richard, I found that definition online. The internet is an amazing thing!
I always used Maxell, so maybe that’s why they still are in good shape. Still…will they outlive me?
Analog sound of our best days when everything was so fun and easy and the best yet was to come …
I’d not go back to my school days kicking and screaming.
I admit though, back them it was amazing that anything worked. Hifi was fun because getting a good sound (by that I just nean free from click, pops, speed wow, flutter and hiss) required so much effort. Every source required some knowledge.
Deleted, please remove.
5 Likes
Hit fleabay and then retire by the looks of it.
3 Likes
Ah, Brains Skull Attack. The tipple of choice when caving in South Wales. Happy days.
1 Like
The 1982 SA-X is a lovely old tape - one of my favourites and gets me very nostalgic.
I reckon TDK’s 1982 line up was one of the most attractive. Here’s all bar the lowly TDK D…
12 Likes
The SA was a luxury item for my 16yr old self back in 82. The D was my bread and butter. I even bought a couple of each recently to compare on my ADF660. I never used Dolby, only the correct Bias setting and there was definitely a noticeable difference. The SA came pretty close to source but the D was more than cut the mustard.
TDK D went through some considerable development, to the point where by the late '80s it was at least as good as most other premium ferrics and would have been up there with many super-ferrics from earlier in the decade. Only the slightly cheapskate shell and slightly high hiss level gave it away that it was low down in the range. However, for not much more you could buy TDK AR, which was a remarkably good Type I tape.
2 Likes
We bought box’s of them. 
Current market value… lots! Wouldn’t surprise me if you could get several thousand GBP for those in the right circumstances.
More valuable sold individually or as boxes of ten, I wonder?
1 Like
Someone on eBay has a buy it now of £1480 for 8x sealed MA-XG90s. Does that make them worth their weight in gold? 
2 Likes
1 Like
That’s nothing – some geezer on a well known auction site is asking $2,541 for a box of fived unused Sony Super Metal Master C90s!
4 Likes
Great tape - probably the best of the Super Metals, but what a price!