New Production Type-II Cassettes - ATR Magnetics Cobalt Gold Series Review and Recording Demo
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2024
- It's been a while since Type-II cassettes have been produced new. Sure, you can get cheap and nasty Chinese type-I online, but chrome and cobalt have been hard to find new. ATR Magnetics produces brand-new tapes! Today, we'll review and demo the Cobalt Gold Series, their highest end new cassette tape. Not only will we record at the normal speed of 1 7/8 IPS, but we will record at high speed 3 3/4 IPS and see if the results are better. This tape looks cool with its reel to reel look, but let's see if it sounds as good as it looks.
Let me know your thoughts on these tapes. Are they better or worse than the tapes you use?
FOLLOWUP VIDEO HERE: • REVISITED - New Produc...
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The tape version sounds more distant, tiny bit muffled. The source sounds fantastic. The issue is still there at double speed, just a little less so.
it could be the deck, BIC was never the best. this needs to be done on something like a Dragon, that would really tell you how the tape stacks up.
@@kwd-kwd Yeah. Agreed. I just thought there'd be some real departure in sound, what with that cobalt tape and a machine that can spin it at 3 3/4. I thought, this has *got* to be better than I used to do it with Maxell type lls on a 4 track Fostex deck, that didn't even have double speed on it.
Maybe there could also be a test of a new old stock Maxell or TDK type ll, just to see if they held up or could do better than this.
@@keithbrown7685 Agreed on the distant recorded sound. It almost has an echo vibe (/ phase shift / source sound coming softly through?) to it and the highs sound reduced.
I bought this cassette a while ago and on my Revox B215 (using auto alignment) it records pretty OK: the recording is about 1 dB softer and sounds slightly muffled (both less noticeable than in this video). Trusted standards like a TDK SA, Maxel XLII, Sony UX-S, etc still remain better: on the B215 it is hard to distinguish the recording from the source.
But still, it is a decent type II tape, especially considering you can buy it new in 2023.
@@kwd-kwdCome on, the dragon can make toilet paper sound good 😂😂😂🎉.
No bias or level calibration. Of course level will be down or the highs will be missing.
I've been reading a lot about the actual tape inside these cassettes (nac756) on the TapeHeads forums. Everything you hear is consistent with their observations. Im glad you made a video giving me a chance to hear them for myself.
Listening through IEMs here. The tape recording sounds boomier and with lower HF content than the source. Quite the opposite actually of what you would expect from a type II tape. Also, the tape recording is more silent than the source, so maybe the deck was unable to fully calibrate to the tape. At the higher speed, all these effects are less noticeable though. Maybe you can redo the test on your Tascam deck to see what it gives ?
That's a great suggestion. I'll redo the test on the Tascam and see if it sounds different.
Agreed - there is clearly a lot of high frequency roll-off on the tape, though less noticeable at high speed. I too would like to hear another demo with a different deck. I would be really surprised if this was a result of the new tape and not just a calibration issue.
Also, it would be nice to hear a comparison to a classic TDK SA or Maxell XLII as a benchmark. If the new tape can hang with them, or even get close, then we have a real product here.
I'm going to check the azimuth adjustment on the BIC deck as well as repeat the test on my Tascam deck. I'll use a classic Type II as a benchmark.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel That's the way. I'd want to start with some new old stock chrome from the 80s or early 90s. I'd be so damn curious.
The TDKs would blow these new tapes out of the water.
I'm going to do my best to get this done to release the video this coming Wednesday. I'm hoping the new tape isn't as bad as it sounds, but I still expect older true chrome type II cassettes to be superior to the new cobalt-doped one.
@@summersky77 Maybe even a TDK D90 would blow them out of the water, and that one's a normal bias. : ) haha
interesting! sounded ok i guess. not a bad price for a reel cassette either. good to see more stuff like this coming out
Not the best sounding type II I've ever heard, but for new tape, I'll take it!
Something is definitely off and I would guess it's either the biasing or that these just aren't great Type II tapes. Huge noticable difference between the source and the tape and really they should sound closer on a decent deck with proper biasing.
You're probably right on both counts. The followup video in a different deck didn't produce any appreciable difference in the performance of the ATR tape. I'm not convinced there still isn't a bias and/or azimuth adjustment needed on the B.I.C., so I'll be digging out the oscilloscope soon to check all that.
I found that your recording session with a 3-head tape deck was able to provide more data than other channels but everyone else is correct that there exists the possibility of faulty equipment. I agree that a deck capable of fine-tuning bias, equalization, and recording level would zero in on the cassette's potential. I plan to purchase one ATR Silver and check it out with my recently refurbished JVC DD-7, but I might end up sticking with my standard TDK SA and SA-X blanks.
Woah, I wonder if techmoan knows about this.
I think @Techmoan knows about everything already. Lol
This seems more like something Cassette Comeback would cover.
This guy is upfront in this new tape and didn't want to waste time with the standard tape 😂
@@thiagocastro2263 Hey he's wearing the t-shirt as well. I smell paid review.
I bought the T-Shirt a couple years ago when I bought some reel to reel tape from them. Wondered if anyone would notice.
My local dealers still carry Maxell UDII (made for domestic Japanese market) at around five dollars. Although at this price point it's only funny lengths like 46, 54 or 60 ... you got the point. If bulk availability is not required, NOS from the late 1990s is much cheaper and miles better. You're not the first youtuber to test the ATRs, and other reviews were just as merciless.
The only new cassette tapes I can buy locally are Type-0 tapes at Walmart. I'm tempted to buy some just to show how terrible they are.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel I've used some and compared myself, they are BKB audio tape. They are the exact same tapes as the later mid 2000s through 2010s fake TDK B cassettes and the same shell, just with different branding.
Interesting cassette. Recording, however, sounded dull. I've noticed that the bias selector was set to high. Have you tried setting it to normal or low?
hm...I can smell it, when you open the Tape the first Time. Anyone remember the smell? This distinct, wonderful mixture?
It was heavenly!
All thanks to petroleum and its family of plastics. I mean that, too.
I don't remember the exact smell, but I've got a pretty good idea of it. I love smells! This may be the third time in the comments of this video that I've mentioned Cassette Comeback, but he always smells the freshly opened cassette.
@@igotes When I was little, I'd sometimes do something odd on Halloween. I would smell the masks, those flimsy plastic ones that seemed almost breakable, which they could be I suppose. But that smell they had.... new tape and tape cases had a similar scent to them.
Paying $22.00 for an audio cassette doesn't make a person a beggar or a chooser. That makes them a sucker.
So $21.95 for one 60 minute cassette and recording at 3 3/4 IPS that's just 30 minutes. That's less than an average album length which is why 90 minute cassettes were the "go to" cassettes to buy.
Wow. With all due respect I think you could do a much better test. That piece of music already has a lot of built in distortion in the bass frequencies, so one thing would be to try a different track (actually better to do 2: one of classical music and one of modern music). But given the difficulties they are having with new tape manufacturing, it is pretty clear this new Type II tape pales in comparison to even the cheapest Type II produced 20 years ago (TDK CDing or Sony CDIT).
Noted and totally agree with you. I recorded a followup video and released it yesterday. Check that one out and see what you think. I used a different deck to rule out any azimuth or biasing issues with the BIC and threw in a new RTM type-I and a NOS Maxell MS-60 XL-II for comparison purposes. Also changed my capture method. Might have had some doubling on the last capture.
it can't even compete with a TDK D90, let alone an SA or CDingII......
the Sony tapes i get off amazon smoke the new type II's they have coming out..
Source quality sound better than that blank cassette tape quality.
💯 On one of my decks I find it hard to tell source v tape using A NOS chrome or super ferric?!
I don't doubt that at all. I've yet to find a new tape that beats a NOS chrome from back in the day. I do have a Ferro-Chrome Type-III cassette that was recorded back in the late 1970's and it sounds incredible as well.
$22 for a cassette!? What a gyp.
You can get the non reel for under $10. Still high by comparison when they were ubiquitous.
The source had a clearer high end. Might be one of those that need to be recorded on normal bias to gain back the clarity that’s lost due to the high bias setting. Wish Quantegy would’ve made type II tapes, I’ve used a lot of GP-9 when it was in production on my 909 and it was amazing what I could get out of it.
It sounded like "companding", a possible Dolby reference level problem. Whether it is the tape, machine or a combination thereof is hard to say.
I can hear quite a bit of distortion in the source signal left channel, specifically at the beginning of the track. Aren't you accidentally overdriving the tape, which would make it sound duller. Came here from the revisited video, but need to check that out in a few minutes.
Just done an experiment recording the same tune using a NOS BASF CEII in my TEAC V7000 and the results were a lot better sorry to say.
I believe that. I'm going to record a followup to this video using my Tascam deck and compare it to some NOS type II tapes. I think I may have an azimuth issue on that BIC.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel cool looking forward to it.
Didn't sound that great. Back in the early 80's my cheap Pioneer CTF-500 sounded close to source using the best Maxell or TDK chromes. Thank you for the info!
I had a cheap Sherwood cassette deck and I used TDK and Maxell chrome tapes almost exclusively in it. They sounded amazingly good. That deck and those tapes are what led me down the rabbit hole of analog audio and video throughout my life.
I'm new to the channel, I'm curious as to why do you have UK outlets on your bench, are they connected to 240V?
I grew up in the UK and have 240V equipment. I have a single phase step up transformer that runs them.
@@VintageElectronicsChannelcool, with me it's the other way around, I grew up in Canada and I'm in Portugal, so I have stepdown transformer for 120V equipment 😅
They are not UK power sockets as the the pin slots are vertical not horizontal and are a lot smaller.
@sexytasmin, it is a UK socket. Standard square pin socket. Vertical earth with horizontal live and neutral.
from the sound theres something wrong with your deck or the output from the tape. when u swich to the tape theres a short delay effekt(chorusi) so the tape sounds weird compared to the souece
There's a short time difference between when the tape records and when it hits the playback head, so there will be a slight delay there.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel no I don't mean the delay from switching sources. You can here it the whole time when you play the tape. Wen you switch back to the source audio it sounds fine
I'll go back and listen to it. I may have had the monitor activated when I captured that. I bet it doubled.
The source had crashing highs and booming bass like there was too much gain, the tape sounded like there was reverb. I think something is out of phase with your set up too? Things seemed to be mostly center and left. Tape seemed to do okay, but I think there’s an issue somewhere in your capture path.
shame when type 1 im getting off amazon are beating the new Type II's that came out
They were disappointing to say the least.
Hey the flutter on that playback is off the charts
Higher speed definitely sounded much better, much fuller, there was a noticeable drop-off in the upper frequencies with the tape though (even at the higher speed)..... head wear will cause that... What condition are the heads in that deck?
I hear Audio cassettes are slowly making a comeback
Seems they've been having a resurgence the past few years. I just found some new releases on cassette... from major artists. Had no idea anyone was still doing that. Well, besides small, independent artists.
Imo it sounded very muffled on normal speed, double speed just a little bit better, but both speeds have lost quite alot on high end and middle range, cannot be compared to a tdk sa-x series not even a sa series, i think nowadays is the same issue as almost everywhere, manufacturers trying to sell a cheapo for high end tapes from the 80 's
both sounded vg. replay was a tad down in level on both. 3 3/4 is way better than 1 7/8. Does playback whilst recording utilise dolby?
Dolby was off for the test.
It kind of sounds broken? I don't even get near that level of HF loss on a type I
The consensus on groups and forusm is that those are not really good and NAC tapes perform much inferior to RTM tapes.
I'm going to have to get my hands on some RTM tapes. I've never used them.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel They are the stock used in European duplication plants for C60 and below. Not sure about C90.
I am amazed that cassette tapes from 20+ years ago sound BETTER than tapes made today... Essentially this proves that absolutley no improvements in products has occurred despite the vast improvements in technology over all these years.
IT'S LIKE WE ARE GOING BACKWARDS.
Unless something is wrong with that BIC tapedeck, that tape recorded/sounded weak...
It's amazing, but not surprising. I'll be doing some testing on the BIC to be sure it's performing properly, but the followup video released yesterday using a different deck didn't seem to yield better results.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel
So the point is proved, that tape production/quality has fallen way off, despite a massive technological/manufacturing improvement
I remember having a cassette walkman type player. I could run, jump, ride bikes, jog everything and never have to worry about skipping, sudden turnoffs etc like the portable CD players were riddled with.
We advanced technologically with the CD player/CD, but went backwards functionality-wise with the device having very limiting tolerances/environments it could work in.
Today it is the MP3 players that have functionality and technology, but can fail/burnout suddenly without warning and have no ability to fix it...
We progressed to "ease of use", I suppose. I am a big fan of physical media. Watching a tape move through the mechanism and the progression of the tape from one reel to the other. That's something CD didn't do for me and digital definitely does not do.
We've progressed technologically, but at the same time have figured out how to make things simpler and less robust. I'll likely not be able to fix an MP3 player or digital audio device, but a cassette deck? Absolutely. They were brilliant in their simplicity.
I'm not convinced it is the tape we are comparing here to the source. I have both a T2 and a T4-M and they both produce a sound that is different from yours regarding higher frequencies, so i'm not sure your Azimuth angle is optimal. That said both my decks have a somewhat boomy bass which has always been a "problem" with BIC. Azimuth can be easily adjusted by ear if you dont't want to go through the whole correct process. My thought is that it is unlikely to have that lack of higher frequencies with a new type II.
I'm going to repeat the test using my Tascam deck to verify and then do an azimuth adjustment if needed. It should have sounded better.
Is there an easy way to reduce the bass hump in a BIC? I never had one, but both my Technics decks with M85 transport (M65 and 270x) have a pronounced hump at around 70 Hz. I tried to fix it when I did a full service and recap... and it turned out that the head amp is configured in such a way that tweaking any of the capacitors affecting the bass actually makes it worse.
Man, there are still people selling vintage sealed packs of type 1 tapes all over the place. I got a sealed pack of quality tapes just recently at a garage sale for a few bucks. I hope they can find a market and also price it within reason. But what people want is reel to reel tapes, that do not cost an arm and a leg. But well stored old tapes like Maxell can be erased and used again if you can get it cheap. I think some institutions had tape libraries, like broadcasters and schools and others, of RTR tapes and might be a source of lightly used material. I don't see cassettes as being a problem to find except the highest grades which cost alot initially so small market.
Maxell UR90 being made TODAY .... Got me a 5 pack for $25 ...
Why did the source sound 'hot' and slightly distorted?
Your review makes me think comments I've read are true. These just don't stand up to Maxell UD-II or TDK SA-X in critical listening. Too bad, but I've also read things like those formulations are "lost". I find that ridiculous. There were tons made and better grade VCR tapes had similar formulations. My take-away is that no tape maker has gone to the trouble to meticulously make new Type II tapes that match those great vintage ones mentioned. They've cut corners and it shows. That tape shell and mechanism looks quite good so it's a shame the tape doesn't really match the visual shell quality.
I'm listening on my phone and there is a huge difference in the high end. Tape is definitely rolled off. My NOS Maxell XLII tapes have less roll off. Let's see how the Tascam deck does.
Video is publishing tomorrow. I used a Maxell XL-II as a comparison this time.
you might try some lightweight general purpose oil on that lazy meter. factory lubrication probably just dried out. single drop on the pivot points should do the job.
I'll give that a try. Thanks for the tip!
@@VintageElectronicsChannel I wasn't sure if anyone else was going to comment about the sticking VU meter on the left channel and I wasn't sure if you attempted any repair in another video. Some of the analog VU meters have a pivot adjustment. It may be dried lube, however I'm not sure if such a tiny contact point would even have lube. I mean it isn't an electric motor turning X RPMs. I would say a tiny tweak to the pivot screw or the slightest pressure on the top side pivot would loosen the needle and make it like new again. If it doesn't have the pivot adjustment be EXTREMELY CAREFUL tweaking the hinge point, you are essentially widening the gap between both pivot points, it won't even feel like you moved anything with the pressure I'm talking about. Mr. Carlson's Lab has some videos about these analog needles sticking perhaps it would be helpful if you decide to try the meter repair. I wish you good luck in what you decide to do. It didn't appear the right channel analog meter was the freest moving needle so perhaps a slightest adjustment on that one would help as well.
As a final thought, if you don't feel confident to work with the meters, then don't mess with them at all, it is extremely easy to completely destroy the meter beyond repair.
What no tape calibration?
The treble was subdued and it sounded weak as a whole.
I dunno if that is down to lack of calibration, the deck recording quality, or both.
Definitely lacked the power and crispness of the source.
After listening to the tape, I think the azimuth needs to be adjusted on that BIC deck. I'm going to record a followup to this video using my Tascam deck. I'm hoping that tape is better than it appeared in this video.
I bought two of these a couple months ago and paid $56.34 total. Both of them bind up on those reels and I can't use them. I've tried running them back and forth but the deck just shuts off. I've tried doing the same manually and can feel the tape binding and it makes no difference once in the deck. This reminds me I need to contact them for a return.
Sounds like your experience might be typical, unfortunately. Definitely contact them for a return.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel
Yes, and I will look into those RTM tapes you used in your follow up video, thanks!
Interesting. I read the same about the Tascam and reviews stated it had the same issue. However I also read they were made for Tascam multitrack recorders. I have a Tascam 4 track and played one through, tried ff and rew, no issues with it.
@@shitmandood
I dealt with ATR and got replacements but they were the same. The problem is that at some point one reel has so much tape that it intrudes into the other reel and I think if not perfectly aligned it binds up. They look cool but aren't worth messing with.
From what I hear, either this particular cassette is not good at all, or deck itself is, or cassette is badly calibrated. Sounds like Type 0 even at double speed.
I agree. I'm going to repeat the test using my Tascam deck and see if it changes any.
Doesn't sound good at all
That's where my thinking was going. I kept wondering, could I have done better with my Fostex 4track and some Maxell chrome? I used to have such a deck. It was set up for dolby type ll and if you set the input faders as hot as possible (without distorting of course) the results, I felt, were quite respectable.
It would be interesting to repeat the experiment with RTM ferric which i think is better than the NAC ferric to see if the NAC type II which is in these shells ATR type 2 sounds better than the RTM. I know in theory type ii should sound better than type 1 but i'm not sure if this is true these days!
Definitely going to get my hands on some RTM tapes. I've never used them.
@VintageElectronicsChannel while you are at it, chech EQ Professional as well.
For my ears the sound from tape-source listens much compressed dynamicly. Can it be, that the record-input of the tape was too hot? Otherwise the tapequality is not the best? 22 Bugs for a type 2 Tape? Hm... :/
Thank you for the interesting Video!
I don't think the input was too hot. It sounded fine on the passthrough. I think the tape just lacks fullness.
can that meter actually be replaced?
If parts can be found, yes.
I guess we hear the difference clearly....lack of high end even in Co cassette is something to surprise...even at 3.75 ips it dosa not recover much...
He has a UK power socket in the studio! Nice! Is it 50Hz I wonder?
Grew up in the UK so I have a lot of 240V stuff. Unfortunately it's 60Hz 240V running off a step-up transformer.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel Ah, I wasn't really expecting it to be 50Hz, but I thought it may have been the North American 240V circuit that Technology Connections likes to talk about.
Nothing good would come of that. Both the live and neutral would be referenced to live and the ground would be neutral.
Ah, OK. I struggle a bit with AC, but I guess there's a centre tap in the transformer which is connected to ground, so you can get 240V, but it's no good as a regular power outlet. Unless you just don't touch the appliance.
US 240 is a bit odd. Technology Connections and Big Clive do a great job explaining it, but yes it's a center tapped transformer. Two phases of 120V which are 180 degrees out of phase. Basically -120V and +120V. When you use both phases, there's 240V potential. Many US 240V appliances use only the two hot phases and a neutral (or ground), but they're shielded from someone touching them. Immersion water heater, for example. Strange system. But it works.
Are you sure they're not just rebranded new old stock?
They advertise them as new production tape.
Tape kinda sounds out of alignment but that's damn good for a type 2. Almost no harmonic eq on it.
You can tell that after the video has been through the YT algorithm?
Enjoyed this review a lot. I can hear a slight drop-off in SQ between tape and source, but it's still a great sounding tape. At the 3 3/4 setting it was effectively identical SQ in my opinion. Nice to see another option for Type II tapes besides buying NOS or used on eBay. I know there's another company out there selling new Type II's as well, but I don't recall the name. They're made in the USA,
I believe I mentioned this on the belt replacement tutorial, but I'll say it again regardless. My T-1 had a sticky left meter exactly like yours does. Easy fix perhaps. It's often a speck of dust or metal shaving down in the pivot or perhaps a bit of oxidation. You can go inside the case to access the back of the meter. At the bottom of the meter you'll see a tiny screw covered by a piece of clear tape. Peel the tape back and adjust the screw counter-clockwise just ever so slightly enough to free the needle. You'll literally see the needle drop down to zero. If it happens, you should be good to go. Remember to re-apply the tape when finished.
Thanks for the tip! I'll try that.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel
Let me know if it works. The other option is to disassemble the meter and attempt to clear the issue without destroying it. I liked my method a lot better! I ended up havinfg to do the same for the right channel meter as well. They've been perfect ever since. That was like a year and a half ago.
i wonder if Dolby Noise Reduction will make a comeback
From what I understand, Dolby doesn't license that technology any longer. I doubt we will see Dolby noise reduction make a comeback.
there is somthing wrong. I hear a strong echo on Tape. That is not normal. Maybe TAPE/SOURCE Switch is faulty
It could possibly be the monitor loop I was using to record the output. I'm going to redo the test using a different deck and different capture method.
Old is gold
The BIC was never a great deck anyway. I bought a T3, and returned it for head realignment 3 times within a month! Beautiful, nice design, just unreliable. I would never pay more than 10 dollars for a blank cassette; fortunately I have plenty of high end decks and Type II and IV tapes.
Good to know! I think head alignment may be part of the problem, but the tape didn't perform any better on my Tascam deck on my followup video.
is that a BIC tape deck?
Yes, I have a BIC T1 and a T3
I wouldn’t pay more than double the price for some gimmick “reels”. $9 is already too much for the standard construction.
I think on par with TDK D90
its sounds like a 2 dollar and 22 cents tape ,tell them keep trying
If you had a machine with auto bias calibration like my technics 3 head has it may have had better results.
checked out their site. they don't have 45 or 90 minute tapes, the standards for taping LPs.
They do have 90 minute tapes for both their Ferric and Type II tapes. Just no version with reels.
Even if my ears are older than cassette creation by Philips, when you switch to tape, there is a loss of trebles (and your Dolby is OFF...). No need for a frequency analyzer, this cassette does not deliver. But the deck may have an issue too.
After listening to it, I think the azimuth my be off. I'm going to redo the test using my Tascam deck and see if the results are better.
Hmmmmm expensive 30 years a go i paid less than 10 dollar for TDK SA 90 cassette tapes very good quality.
if the gimbal on the lazy meter was cleaned up it could work normally again
It's since been cleaned and calibrated and works great!
I think an old cding would beat this tape. Alrhough i am impresses that new companies are at least trying to make type ii tapes
You need a deck with calibration. That's all. If you underbias it a bit, it may sound much better. A deck without manual bias calibration is simply worthless these days. I have thousands of various types of cassettes and most of them I can record pretty well with excellent quality thanks to manual calibration. Look for high end deck from the late 80's - they were at peak of quality those days.
I try to produce videos the casual cassette user can relate to. Most people don't have a deck with calibration. I do have a deck with calibration and bias adjustment here, and I may do a followup at some point with that one.
Apparently there's something really really bad that's preventing my message from getting posted.
Others put it best, by comparison between this and a couple more occomplished brands.
Followup video doing exactly that is publishing tomorrow.
The sound on slow speed was minutely lower in volumed and the high freq. was very slightly cut. At high speed I could hear NO difference (but who has high speed cassette players)?
Exactly. I thought doing a test at 3.75ips would be neat, but there are few decks that can do that. The followup video to this one that was just released compares that tape to some others. There's quite a difference.
Wiich company madie this?
The new type II in this video is by ATR Magnetics.
Lost a LOT of the high end frequencies when switching to the cassette, sounded like a Type 1 cassette
Oh boy, thats a damn shity quality for a 20 dollar tape, not one bit compares to good chrome tapes from the 90s…I work as a mastering engineer (bigcitynightsproductions) & I occasionally do tape transfers into high quality Digital Files for two privat musiclovers with lots of extra money. So they have amazing collections of cassette tapes, reel to reel & vinyl. For cassette tapes I use two machines in the studio a Revox (Studer) B215 & a Teac 8030s. So I’ve ben fortunate to to compare from amazing, chrome and metal tapes of the 90s golden era & what I just heard in this video is a plane choke in terms of tape quality…So sorry for new folks starting with this hobby but this ship has sailed !
Sorry but $22.00 for a blank cassette is way to much money 💰. You could still buy Maxell blank cassette tapes out there at most record stores.
Totally agree. Especially when the quality is lacking.
The machine is not properly biased with the tape....high frequency is missing...big time.
I think the azimuth needs to be adjusted on that BIC. I'm going to record a followup to this video using my Tascam deck.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel if the record head and play head are seperate...then maybe yes 🙃
Incredible, how badly it sounds compared to the source, I also had a feeling it has some reverb effect added to it and the soundstage is so to say broken or maybe i just fancied it, but the overall quality is so inferior...
Hm... 22 dollars, i assume free shipping.
Definitely pricey and I had to pay for shipping as well.
Not that impressed on THAT deck.....a lot of the high end when missing.
I'll be repeating the test on my Tascam deck. This was the first real test of that BIC. My Tascam 112 is my go-to.
For a type II tape it sounds really unimpressive... it is clear we are not there yet. Compared to the humble TDK SA tape back in the day, this does not impress. You would not be able to sell this as a quality tape...
Next stop metal?
Bring back chrome!
Instantly can hear that the cassette loses a little treble but is barely noticeable.
So you instantly notice it? But you didn't because it's barely noticable.
barely noticebale YET you "instantly" heard it ??? 🤣
There is something severely wrong with the tape sound or the way you captured it. There is a slap back echo added to the tape recording, which is not at all normal for tape. I'm sorry and with all due respect, the test is useless even for the normal guy listening- unless the tape media actually sounds like that (which is highly unlikely).
Why?
Nine bucks!
Yeah I know. I could buy a cheap hooker with that kind of money. I mean, decisions.
with a no name cassette deck with the wrong speed? I have harman/kardon TD 292.
The deck is actually not that bad. It’s the crappy tape made by NAC
Cassettes do something that digital recording media can't match, instant ease of use.
Program access is obviously much easier rather than winding back and forth looking for a song. But us dinosaurs are not overly perplexed by that.
I prefer the antipation of rewinding or fast forwarding.
Peak physical media in my opinion is minidisc. Yes, it's digital, but it has such a robust build quality and satisfying load and eject mechanisms. imho
@@igotes I would agree. It's a shame the format never really took off in the U.S.. Thanks to Sony.
I've never owned a minidisc player, but it's been on my list of wants since I was 13 years old. Maybe one day!
Crikey $22 a pop to sound like you threw a blanket over your speakers... But then again we could have done with a few more tapes and machines thrown in to verify the results. It's very likely your equipment is making the tape sound worse than it really is
Released a followup yesterday to do just that! And the results are not surprising.
@@VintageElectronicsChannel Your follow up vid is ace! Nice work
Thanks!
Hmmmm, This cassette sounds bad..... Way too muffled, and I can't believe the tape itself is at fault. I suspect your machine isn't calibrated properly for this type of tape. Even at 3.75ips, there is a very noticeable roll-off. I'm willing to bet my Denon DMR-24HX and my Teac Z6000 would, with the correct bias adjustment, be almost indistinguishable to the source. As a user of professional open reel recorders, I can tell you that no tape is exactly the same in it's characteristics. Each type of tape from each manufacturer will require differences in bias and record level. This is why higher-end cassette decks have separate bias fine-tuning to allow for those differences.
Não sei se é por causa do deck, mas essa fita me pareceu fraquinha. Se o deck estiver bom, a fita é uma porcaria, pois faço gravações muito melhores, com mais agudo e definição, nas Type 1 que tenho aqui.
the cassette sound very bad... dull and compress. channel separation also shrink. diaanalog did test with those new cassette he said they are crap...
I'll have to check out @Ana[dia]log and find that review. I really like his channel and I must have missed that one.
Wow, not only the meter is lazy but the sound is with an echo and not good. Please do not revieuw new tapes with a crappy tape deck please
This tape is garbage in comparison with an old good quality tape....
I would tend to agree.
No thanks, to expensive, not worth it.
Sounds like cheap dinky cell phone speakers
Big mistake Sir, you should have got a better tape deck from the late 80s or mid 90s to carry out this test including a better source of high quality music! Lots of people who have better tape decks, could achieve better results with this tape than you, no disrespect. Buy a better tape deck.
I have a better deck. This was the first test of this BIC. I'll be retesting with my Tascam deck.