It's SO nice to share in your excitement here! Family, friends, and co-workers tend to glaze over when I enthusiastically discuss differences in blank cassettes ;)
Recently, after watching your video, got some of these (DS-X) sealed, and recorded one today. Just brilliant! I personally think they might be better than most of type II cassettes, at least non-top ones.
If you get more of these (DS-X) , can you make a ''high speed dubbing'' test ? I'm really curious to see if it's because they sound better than an ordinary D (or any ordinary tape) . Usually high speed dubbing tends to attenuate high frequencies on the ''copy'' tape
That all to do with the bias calibration decks. Most high-speed dubbing setups are for cheap and dirty copies and don't often have correct EQ or bias applied for higher speed. Either way, if you want to make good copies - high speed dubbing is never the way, and is nothing like the optimized process that manufacturing high speed duplication was
Misteur Cassette When I get my Sony TC-WR701ES fixed, I might give it a try. It’s still skewing the tape on deck B. The reason why I want to do it on that deck is because it has an auto calibrate feature unlike most mainstream dubbing decks.
I’m from Adelaide, South Australia and I used to use TDK cassettes all of the time when I was a kid, right up to my late teens- early 20’s. I have used quite a few D tapes in my time and to me the are a good standard type 1, but I have never come across any DS-X tapes. It must be an American tape. As I got older, I discovered type 2 and type 4 SA/MA TDK tapes which as we all know sound much better as to be expected, so then I became more picky as to what tapes I used.
Even the D is amazing! Recorded the new Tool album and took +7 without noticable distortion! Then again, it's a Tool, so their sound isn't super clean or anything. D is good for crunchy gritty music. :)
For the longest time I played it safe, but I found out the humble TDK D can also take a lot of level if you feed it the right kind of music. I recorded the new Tool Fear Inoculum album and I can hit +7 db no problems! The music is kind of gritty, so it didn't cause any noticeable distortion at that level. I can't show it on UA-cam for copyright reasons, but in the Facebook group, I did a live video where I was playing it back - it actually out performed the DS-X in this very special instance! I doubt I can repeat it with other kinds of music. Lets just say expletives were used to describe the experience. :) Great album to boot! Has a familiar sound, but also some new interesting sounds. Just enough old to keep Tool fans listening, and just enough new to keep them moving forward.
I had one of each from various years. 1988 D, 1989 HF, 1985 AND 1988 UR, but mostly crap tapes like ToneMasters and those Swire rainbow tapes. When I got older, I did try a 1989 Memorex dbs (clown tape), Fuji DR-I, and got my first metal (Sony SR).
I think your version of the D is slightly newer than the DS-X. I remember seeing D's from '94 with the same black/red gradient on the logo on the spine of the j-card, with D90 underneath instead of just D, and with the embossed case logo the other way round, just like your DS-X. Notice how yours is solid red and just has the D. Those were around from about '96. They probably found it easier to just print one j-card for all lengths. Also, earlier tapes had "High Precision" rather than "Precision Rigid Construction" printed on them. I also love how more premium TDK's had that nice wider spring on the pressure pad.
I found these on Amazon for about $7 a piece. They are the version with the black plastic surrounding the edges which I prefer. It's the cheapest super ferric that I could find, so I ordered quite a few of them. They either have TDK AR or AD tape in them, I can't remember which one. I typically don't pay over $2 to $3 for a type 1 tape,but super ferrics are just in another league.
The UK D's just seem to be built better than the UK ones. Those blue pads held really crap in the pack and no screws thats not what I remember from from a 1992 D. The UK one looked more like DS-X but brown pad but it's held in properly with a normal holder thing. US cheapened out on the pads design so I'm not expecting as good performance over the UK build with the perfect pads on it.
Despite the worse design on the pad compared to the UK 1995 the US D sounded as good as the source on the guarrilla setup of recording so even a bad design D has D cassette quality. I didn't expect that out of a bad cheapo pad setup on the US 1992 compared to the same UK 1995 with expanded to look more like the bit the TDK logo sits in logo insted of triange yet again another improvement over the better padding and having screws as far as I can remember that is I remember the D we were still using in 1992 a lot more.
The UK had this D for shorter because we had the previous D for a little longer until 1995 but when 1995-1997 came they reused the pad of the previous UK D and didn't cheap out with a no metal holder Memorex style design at all and the pad was brown so we did get the 1992 D better than the 1992 D in 1995 which may be confusing and instead of being triangle logo it looks like they expanded it to me as well on my one like it looks more like the shape the TDK logo is played inside on the J Cards which is much more TDK than a triangle. images.app.goo.gl/sPG62qpuZeoiVgm69
Absolutely not. I just recorded on a new DS-X today. Needs negative bias, overly-sensitive to level, and unusually high bias noise. Only good for loud Pop or Rock. Dolby B helps a lot with this one. ANY Type IV should perform better !!
In the early days they had a lot of Dynamics in the later days it ended up being only the standard D the D's popularity killed off it's own expanded line near the end of it's life I'd say. No less than 11 Dynamics range and I don't even think that was the full range if you count all the deleted Dynamics predating the TDK spreadsheets that were killed off by them as a new full set yet alone many being killed after by it's own maker the D at the very end. lol www.45spaces.com/i/11227bcf04346be55cc
When you hear how awful the pre recorded Geffen version of The Simpsons Sings The Blues sounds although it's probably played back on a Denki deck mind you and probably not a true picture at all and probably sounds very good on a great deck you know you have a good grade tape if both a TDK FE and a TDK CDing 2 sounds better compared to this source on a Sanyo CD dual tape boombox from the 90s. Yes, I'm aware I used Type 2 on a Type 1 but CDing II is to Ferric Cobalt standards which means it works good enough as a Type 1 CD Boombox cassette as long as it's Japanese branded standards of course and maybe Type 2 shouldn't have even been on the labels of them anyway because they were always Ferrics. ua-cam.com/video/snjAzWPtdGI/v-deo.html
It's SO nice to share in your excitement here! Family, friends, and co-workers tend to glaze over when I enthusiastically discuss differences in blank cassettes ;)
Yeah, I know! I don't have many people I can talk to about cassettes or any of my hobbies really. :)
I've just cracked open a 1990 D (UK) and done a recording on my new Teac V-7000 and I was blown away with the recording!!
TDK Ds are seriously underrated! Especially the later year models!
Recently, after watching your video, got some of these (DS-X) sealed, and recorded one today. Just brilliant! I personally think they might be better than most of type II cassettes, at least non-top ones.
If you get more of these (DS-X) , can you make a ''high speed dubbing'' test ? I'm really curious to see if it's because they sound better than an ordinary D (or any ordinary tape) . Usually high speed dubbing tends to attenuate high frequencies on the ''copy'' tape
That all to do with the bias calibration decks. Most high-speed dubbing setups are for cheap and dirty copies and don't often have correct EQ or bias applied for higher speed. Either way, if you want to make good copies - high speed dubbing is never the way, and is nothing like the optimized process that manufacturing high speed duplication was
But the DS-X will massively outperform the D, and any standard ferric because it is AR tape, just in a cheaper shell.
Misteur Cassette When I get my Sony TC-WR701ES fixed, I might give it a try. It’s still skewing the tape on deck B. The reason why I want to do it on that deck is because it has an auto calibrate feature unlike most mainstream dubbing decks.
I’m from Adelaide, South Australia and I used to use TDK cassettes all of the time when I was a kid, right up to my late teens- early 20’s. I have used quite a few D tapes in my time and to me the are a good standard type 1, but I have never come across any DS-X tapes. It must be an American tape. As I got older, I discovered type 2 and type 4 SA/MA TDK tapes which as we all know sound much better as to be expected, so then I became more picky as to what tapes I used.
Thanks, Techie! Got a few of these myself that I'm eager to try.
Even the D is amazing! Recorded the new Tool album and took +7 without noticable distortion! Then again, it's a Tool, so their sound isn't super clean or anything. D is good for crunchy gritty music. :)
I really like to crank it up as much as possible. Never saw one of these before. I'll have to look into them.
For the longest time I played it safe, but I found out the humble TDK D can also take a lot of level if you feed it the right kind of music. I recorded the new Tool Fear Inoculum album and I can hit +7 db no problems! The music is kind of gritty, so it didn't cause any noticeable distortion at that level. I can't show it on UA-cam for copyright reasons, but in the Facebook group, I did a live video where I was playing it back - it actually out performed the DS-X in this very special instance! I doubt I can repeat it with other kinds of music. Lets just say expletives were used to describe the experience. :)
Great album to boot! Has a familiar sound, but also some new interesting sounds. Just enough old to keep Tool fans listening, and just enough new to keep them moving forward.
The good old D90, many which I have where I did experimental recordings on them when I was a kid (also have plenty of 60's as well).
I had one of each from various years. 1988 D, 1989 HF, 1985 AND 1988 UR, but mostly crap tapes like ToneMasters and those Swire rainbow tapes. When I got older, I did try a 1989 Memorex dbs (clown tape), Fuji DR-I, and got my first metal (Sony SR).
I think your version of the D is slightly newer than the DS-X. I remember seeing D's from '94 with the same black/red gradient on the logo on the spine of the j-card, with D90 underneath instead of just D, and with the embossed case logo the other way round, just like your DS-X. Notice how yours is solid red and just has the D. Those were around from about '96. They probably found it easier to just print one j-card for all lengths. Also, earlier tapes had "High Precision" rather than "Precision Rigid Construction" printed on them. I also love how more premium TDK's had that nice wider spring on the pressure pad.
I'll look into this, but I think they really are from the same time period.
I found these on Amazon for about $7 a piece. They are the version with the black plastic surrounding the edges which I prefer. It's the cheapest super ferric that I could find, so I ordered quite a few of them. They either have TDK AR or AD tape in them, I can't remember which one. I typically don't pay over $2 to $3 for a type 1 tape,but super ferrics are just in another league.
Mid-90s DS-X is AR tape in D shells. Late 80s-Early 90s DS-X is AR tape in previous gen AR shells.
I used TDK to record vinyl and maxell for CDs. thanks for the video!
Just like Christmas morning!!
Beautiful deck
i was hoping to see how much of a deviation there was from the the DSX and D while calibrating
Hmm....maybe I will make a video of this the next chance I get! Thanks for the idea!
The TDK DS-X is the US version of the AR. I used to have one.
The DS-X hit and wow thats a dynamic Dynamic I can see why it was more expensive.
"That's why I like the D!" I listen with sample ears, not normal ears. Drives everyone crazy. Sorry.
The UK D's just seem to be built better than the UK ones. Those blue pads held really crap in the pack and no screws thats not what I remember from from a 1992 D. The UK one looked more like DS-X but brown pad but it's held in properly with a normal holder thing.
US cheapened out on the pads design so I'm not expecting as good performance over the UK build with the perfect pads on it.
Despite the worse design on the pad compared to the UK 1995 the US D sounded as good as the source on the guarrilla setup of recording so even a bad design D has D cassette quality. I didn't expect that out of a bad cheapo pad setup on the US 1992 compared to the same UK 1995 with expanded to look more like the bit the TDK logo sits in logo insted of triange yet again another improvement over the better padding and having screws as far as I can remember that is I remember the D we were still using in 1992 a lot more.
The UK had this D for shorter because we had the previous D for a little longer until 1995 but when 1995-1997 came they reused the pad of the previous UK D and didn't cheap out with a no metal holder Memorex style design at all and the pad was brown so we did get the 1992 D better than the 1992 D in 1995 which may be confusing and instead of being triangle logo it looks like they expanded it to me as well on my one like it looks more like the shape the TDK logo is played inside on the J Cards which is much more TDK than a triangle.
images.app.goo.gl/sPG62qpuZeoiVgm69
Hi Zeddie, greetings.
I'm Levent from Belgium...which soundtrack is that please?☺
Overwatch, the world could always use more heroes
so TDK DS-X tape is as good as type IV tape?
Too different to say one is better than another.
Absolutely not. I just recorded on a new DS-X today. Needs negative bias, overly-sensitive to level, and unusually high bias noise. Only good for loud Pop or Rock. Dolby B helps a lot with this one. ANY Type IV should perform better !!
Shouldn't the DS-X be more akin to the AD (maybe an earlier, or maybe a later "beta" revision 😄)?
DS-X is AR is a cheap shell.
Вы действительно не понимаете, когда вам указывают направление отрыва упаковки?
In the early days they had a lot of Dynamics in the later days it ended up being only the standard D the D's popularity killed off it's own expanded line near the end of it's life I'd say.
No less than 11 Dynamics range and I don't even think that was the full range if you count all the deleted Dynamics predating the TDK spreadsheets that were killed off by them as a new full set yet alone many being killed after by it's own maker the D at the very end. lol
www.45spaces.com/i/11227bcf04346be55cc
hi lady, you got very very nice nak there
When you hear how awful the pre recorded Geffen version of The Simpsons Sings The Blues sounds although it's probably played back on a Denki deck mind you and probably not a true picture at all and probably sounds very good on a great deck you know you have a good grade tape if both a TDK FE and a TDK CDing 2 sounds better compared to this source on a Sanyo CD dual tape boombox from the 90s.
Yes, I'm aware I used Type 2 on a Type 1 but CDing II is to Ferric Cobalt standards which means it works good enough as a Type 1 CD Boombox cassette as long as it's Japanese branded standards of course and maybe Type 2 shouldn't have even been on the labels of them anyway because they were always Ferrics.
ua-cam.com/video/snjAzWPtdGI/v-deo.html
That Nak is fine.
Nak?
@@thespeez Nakamichi (the tape deck)
Ok, you can send me one DS-X :D