The writing below Hungary "Származási ország" means "Country of origin" and its Malaysia I also got myself a Sony TC-K690 just the other day and i had lots of cd, minidisc players before but this is the thing that i enjoy the most bothering with it😉 like i found it so much fun to record my vinyls in 2020 at the age of 17 😂 calibrating the tape.. then setting the record volume... hunting for good quality cassette tapes.. I already got hold of two brand new TDK MA-X 60 and it is awesome 😁😁 I first started off with collecting vinyl now i found that it's just as much fun recording it.. and it also stays in analog 😉 Loved the video tho and thanks for keeping these things alive 😊
I wasted a lot of money on tapes and cheap decks/players in the 80s. Had no idea what I was doing but I had fun. Great info. Have enjoyed your videos. Thanks!
Only the audiophiles will be unhappy with all the new cassettes. Haha. I love the sound of all my mixtapes. They sound beautiful and clear in my car and stereo system. My cars have dolby cassette players. My friends and family don't even notice I'm playing cassette's .
For years I've been trying to pay an installer to integrate a cassette deck into my modern vehicle with no luck. May you please tell me how you do it ?
These are indeed very good tapes, probably the last major-brand type 1s standing. A couple of years ago, I acquired (aged 36!) my first ever high-end deck (Nak 480Z), and I tested it out with an old UR I probably bought in the late 90s. I was utterly shocked at just how good it sounded. Perfectly balanced, weighty sound, and with Dolby B engaged, extremely low hiss. And they are still available cheaply in local branches of Wilko here in the UK. I only wish that the same could be said for old TDKs.
I use these (USA versions) to record on a 4 track multi-track recorder. Most of those are calibrated for type 2, so using these gives a ... colored sound. And I LOVE IT. So happy I incorporated tape into my life.
Can confirm, they work great with 4Track multitrackers. You might get a bit of a wrong bias but it still works pretty well. Especially with DBX enabled.
I some from the last few years in us of the maxell ur,one year is the last from Walmart and the other was bought 2 years prior from cvs pharmacy... Honestly my maxell ur's and I have several versions of tdk,Sony hf's and Memorex usually the dbs 87-91 clown version lol, but the maxell ur is probably the best tapes I own.
A deceased friend of mine ordered some 100 pieces of Maxell cassettes from Slovakia a few years back. They were even available in bulk and relatively cheap as well, but not anymore. As I said, in Slovakia, ironically. He was generous and gave me a few as some kind of present as well. Now, I checked the labels after watching the video, and I can confirm, that the Hungarian market Maxells URs (as shown in this vid) are made in Malaysia indeed. Greetings from Budapest... :)
Yeah I have a crap ton of these of various vintages that were given to me, mostly used. They are what they are. They are not garbage by any means and are sound OK as long as they are not over driven. They are on par with what I could afford when I was a kid. In fact, as the tail end of legacy tape manufacturing goes, these are probably near the top of the line of what is generally available. Thanks for the breakdown of the different manufacturers.
Thanks for this great vid! I bought a few URs (made in Malaysia) recently and was surprised to see that the tape is definitely darker brown than the ones shown in this video. So there may be even more varieties of URs... (Btw shame on Nakamichi for not adding Dolby HX Pro :))
As long as we use Dolby B on them, they are just fine. Their output level is a bit low, but considering Wilko sell them at £4 for 5, who are we to complain. The other available candidate is the Bush C60 which can be bought in Argos - at £10 for four. Talk about taking the wee-wee!
Honestly, like I say, Perception is more important than reality. They're no worse than the budget cassettes we bought "back in the day", they just have no nostalgia. I might have to get some of those Bush, to see if they're as bad as I've read...
@@CassetteComeback Admittedly I've seen the Bush ones and considered splashing out a few times, but always thought they look horribly cheap in the catalogue so haven't bothered. A video on them would be much appreciated!
The US version of UR I have seen three different oxides. The cases are the same BUT there is very little difference in calibration in my Teac C3X. No dropouts. I just got 500 of em for $45! As far as I am concerned they are fine as long as levels are kept at 0dB with a 200 nWb reference. These tapes are fine in my boat as salt water will ruin a chrome tape as well as the UR. In all reality at home if I want better I'll use my fully restored Teac A 6300 or get the "big iron" out and use the Otari MX 5050 BIII. The chrome tapes are for the Kenwood pullout in my Sebring! Over at Tapeheads where I am a member they hate these UR tapes. Fine by me, keeps the price down!
I bought one Maxell UR in Russia somewhere in 2008, and recently I opened it up and tried to record it. It was pretty nice actually. I liked the recording quality. It was one of Hungarian type shown in this video, one in the middle, with nice globe in the middle of the shell.
@@CassetteComeback Yeah, very true. And these days you can buy them sealed in Russia in shop-device.ru for 500 rubles a piece (I guess one pound is about 90 rubles now). If you sell them in UK for just 79 pences... They definitely worth that money.
Great Video Tony. I have all 4 versions and after watching i will do a comparison myself. Really kind of you to open these tapes when you could be selling them . Thankyou.
The frequency response graphs you've been dismissing are extremely important and show the reason why some of the URs are struggling for high frequency accuracy with Dolby NR enabled. If you try them with a Pioneer deck with Super Auto BLE instead that corrects for bias, sensitivity AND recording EQ, the Dolby mistracking will probably disappear. All decks that only have bias and sensitivity controls are missing a vital part of the equation when it comes to getting the most out of modern budget tapes.
The Maxell Hungary tapes are actually made in Malaysia, as it states just below Hungary. I guess those are the ones that you asssign later in the video to Indonesia. The British tape doesn't state its origin but Korea sounds logical.
I recently bought two packs of the UR which apparently are the hungarian ones, but I must say they sound pretty good for a type I cassette, nothing wrong with these at all 😉
Fantastic video. This completely reflects my views on these tapes; I actually got some of the Panggung ones free when I bought a Pioneer Dolby S deck about 18 months ago. I knew they were newer and kind of associated them with the likes of the TDK FE, which I considered inferior years ago (and to be honest the FE is a perfectly good tape as well, it must have just been my old Aiwa didn't like them). I was reluctant to use them because of perceived quality, but in practice I couldn't fault the things. They seemed no worse than any other basic ferric I remembered from the 90s/early 2000s. I've since received a brick of the Saehan ones (mine came with the original Saehan hubs you showed on the Samsung tape), and they seem absolutely fine as well. You end up with the idea in your head that they are the same cheapo trash that was being sold in pound shops about 10 years ago (Mr Audio and the like, obviously Chinese tapes with numerous problems and bad batches etc). But to be honest they're fine. If you think of them as equivalent to the typical 1990s Memorex supermarket tape (or later Scotch, Konica, BBC, Bush etc etc), that's pretty much what they are. They're no TDK AR but then they don't pretend to be.
@@CassetteComeback Hitachi sold their AV division to Vestel/Argos decades ago but that's not really trash, just very basic and surprising for them to have done that. Maxell tapes in any form have always been good workhorses.
You're pretty good at finding out these similarities between different tape manufactures (either brand or unknown brand). Perhaps it would be fun to make a video about it should you have more examples available.
I keep a lot of these on hand, they're a good all rounder. They can handle the high frequencies well too, and I push the audio well above the 0 db level, with no distortion. I use a Technics RS-T20 from 1986.
I used to use a technics tape deck I don't remember which one, the record button stopped working, and I was working a full time job and going to work 3rd shift 12 hr days 4 days a week.. so I just stopped using it I probably still have it?
Dude thanks alot for this i have over 200 pangong versions without globe recorded and this gave me some peace of mind. Also i still have large stock of FERRIC90 tdks, bought 6 boxes of these in 2009...
I have a 5 pack of these, Hungary with the colour planet (as far as I can see). On the outside of the five pack wrapper it claims to have a cleaning leader tape.
Thanks for the comparisons, are all these recent buys? I've bought USA red wrapper UR's since the early 2000's that were made in Korea, Mexico and Malaysia. Some Mexico UR's had SKC style hubs, red oxide tape and lower output. The current Panggun UR 90 isn't a bad tape. If it had come out in the 80's the quality would have been closer to a Maxell UD. I just hope Maxell keeps making them. The only other new cassettes I've found are Wal-Mart's Onn brand and they are crap, junk tape and cheap shells.
Are the Wal-Mart Onn tapes any good? I've heard some people saying they're junk and some saying slightly below a TDK D, but I haven't been able to find a definitive answer
@@wildbilltexas they had some wicked wow and flutter when I tried them out. Although the pinch roller on my deck is a little glazed. But still there's uneven tension with the tape coming off the reels on them.
Excellent video. I bought a bunch of these from Wilko for £4 odd for 5 cassettes (panggung versions by the looks of it) and held off recording to them until very recently. I have to say that they are perfectly musical. With negative bias and a bit of calib on a decent deck they sound very good indeed. Don't usually use Dolby, but for tunes with quieter orchestral passages they are even pretty good with Dolby C applied. I'm pleasantly surprised although I think the strength of this video is the conclusion - a good deck with a bit of time spent dialling in - will make an average tape sing nicely. Only downside I can see to these tapes right now is that they are a bit rattly - but for my most important recordings I'll probably use something sturdy like a That's VX or a Sony UX-S which really don't need much tweaking at all. Once again - thanks for the video. Good to know that it's not only me that thinks these cassettes are perfectly acceptable.
Yeah but.... that beautiful artwork on the wrapper looks to imply that CASSETTES are making a WORLD comeback... (Oh Yeah!) Notice the UR logo on the J cards are different too. Notice the GOLD vs. SILVER background URs.
Don't want to sound like an Audiophile, but having a well maintained, good quality, 3 head deck is important to getting the most out of a Cassette. Once you have one, you'll feel the need to buy less type 2 as you can make basic type 1 sound so good. You could get a deck like this Aiwa for around $100 and it's cheap and easy to replace the belts.
The craziest thing happened, I live in Spokane Valley, and I was shopping in Fred Myers, and I ran into 2 5-packs (sealed, brand new) of Maxell URs! the sound quality isn't that bad in my opinion, but its crazy brand new cassettes were being sold in the Spokane Valley Fred Meyers of all places!
@Iain MacLennan I'm sure with all the different toxic stuff that is manufactured, a few high bias tapes aren't really going to make that much difference. Or do you mean toxic in that in this day and age anything associated with cassettes is toxic to the dumb masses who suck on the teat of apple and Google.
I use UR all the time and for my casual tape hobby needs they sound better than fine. I made a couple of tapes sourced from streaming last week and I was very satisfied with the results. In Canada they cost around $20 for a pack of 5.
Cool video. You made me go and unwrap a UR I've had sitting around a few years. Not surprisingly it's that third one you opened. Doesn't sound bad at all though. Cheers from Australia.
Just bought off eBay a UR to tape test and I got a 90 minute version of that 60 minute sian of yours and for the price £3 on my Pioneer it sounded epic, I'm impressed..👍😀
The second one you unpacked were my favorite and i just can't get them anywhere anymore..... They even still had the little metallic shielding that the current batch (just like the last gen TDK SA90 tapes) completely lack.
The Walgreens by my house sells a 5pack for 11$ Meanwhile the record shop that sells both old and new tapes (scored a 1985 Maxell XL II for 1.50$ and a lovely sealed 5 pack of mid 80s TDK d60s for 5$) sells them for a buck Which is nice for buying in large quantities. Why pay 11 for 5 When you can 11 for 11$ URs aren't that shabby. But my heart belongs to D90s and HFs for type I's
The dotted hubs are the same as in the Memorex dbs+ or dbs-1. There were at least four types: full white, black, yellow and yellow with a simple tape locking pin. I'm using the yellow hubs to recreate Technics cassettes. They're using a case from a TDK SA or MA, probably also the same tape.
I would suggest that the tape inside and the shells/C0s are manufactured in different places. The Telford plant is actually and has been for a long time (even when the tape was still Japanese made) a plastic injection moulding plant.
Those with bright tape are BASF for sure. I bought UR 12pack in UK 18 years ago and it looks like no 3 here. Smells like maxell, rolls looks like maxell too.
I have 4 of the pangong maxell UR tapes, i have yet to test them out and record on them. I need a decent tape deck. Luckily i found a good used one for cheap. But that Aiwa man..that's Awesome! I love AIWA! grew up using their systems.
I have the Maxell UR46, which looks like the Saehan, the last one you showed. The highs have dropouts, it sounds like I turn the HI EQ down, and turn back after a second. Later I'll try with some Dolby, maybe it will help. Also have the Maxell UE with green case, it sounds really good. After a long time I come back to cassettes, just for fun, so I'm kinda "newbie"
I just purchased a 5-pack of Maxell UR90s at Fred Meyer in Portland, Oregon. Pretty decent sounding tapes compared to other tapes they sell today. Especially the Walmart Onn brand, which doesn't specify which type it is. (Type 0 in my opinion) designed for dictation. Basically I have no choice but to buy Maxell, since Sony tapes are not original Sony tapes anymore. (One of my favorite brands back when Sony was by Sony). As a matter of fact, when u compare today's Sony tape to a Maxell tape, they look identical. Looks like Maxell makes tapes for Sony as well today. Last brand new TDK tapes I purchased also looked like they were manufactured by Maxell.
I actually like these cassettes because they are surprisingly tolerant of high volumes. Funny thing is they are actually getting more expensive now slowly but surely. I just liked the smoke-grey cased ones with the Planet on the foil inside a LOT more than the boring all clear versions you are getting nowdays. :( I also noticed that more and more of these are coming wrinkled after 30 minutes of runtime, all the way to the end of Side A. The Productionbatch code doesn't seem to be an indicator for how to avoid these because that seem to be the standard now. And yes, the tape i'm talking about comes from Hungary.
The third Maxell UR cassette tape you opened in this video are the same Maxell UR cassette tapes that they are currently selling in the US. They put seven of them into a bundle and none of them are separately wrapped. You buy a bundle of UR's for $11.99 USD and like I said none of them are individually wrapped. So I don't know what Maxell is doing currently here in the US with their UR cassette tapes. The bundle wrapping is the standard red rapping with the guy on the chair being blown away by sound and not that over colorful European wrapping which are on all of these UR tapes that you have opened. I recently bought a bundle of 7 UR's but I haven't had a chance to try that out yet. I like the look of them. Their quaint and I don't think they're very boring looking to me. The proof is in the pudding as they say so I will have to try one out soon. I just find it interesting that the Third UR that you opened in this video is the exact same cassette that they're selling the US currently. Nice video Tony, thanks!
And I'm holding a 5th one now. Looks most like the second one, but has the A in red circle on the left side as I can see through the wrapper. Gold writing on it too
I found out today I have two different versions of the USA market modern UR. One has the clear-ish shell and scallop looking hubs, while the other has a smoky shell and hubs with circle holes all the way around (with no gaps like that first Euro one you showed). I know the first one I have is Indonesian, it says so on the wrapper (though nowhere on the tape or j-card). However, all I can guess is that the second one is from Mexico due to the smoky shell. It's a crazy hobby, that's for sure.
Prices on the rise now. Similar to tdk fe, going for around 2 gbp a tape delivered on ebay. Have found some ex police interview ur with no j cards for just over a pound a tape. Recorded on a brand new pangung version yesterday. Agree re Tony's comments on decks. My properly calibrated 3 head Denon sounds amazing with these, and I'm also hoarding them.
I bought a tiny lot of used tapes from Taobao, and it contained 3 Maxell UR (1986 variant). I guess these are quite similar to TDK D or Sony EF - solid entry level tape that does the job.
I've been using the UR you show at 8:20 for probably a good 3 years now, and they all looked exactly the same, but I have noticed the performance of them changing over time, as well as the color of the actual magnetic tape, so they probably really are using what they have laying around! I'm using a 2 head deck, but it does have a calibration feature(Pioneer's Super Auto BLE) and if I use that, I can really get all of them sounding the same though, and they sound excellent! When compared to the source, they more or less sound as good as the source! And I rarely use any other tapes, just because of how good but at the same time how cheap they are!
Yeah, they had the same wrapper for a long time, but the tape changed. Supposedly the last tape in them was ACME from China, but they were always decent. These are why "new" tapes struggle, as these are so cheap and decent in comparison.
Exactly! I have also tried the RTM fox, and it's a really good tape too, but it's not worth its price in comparison to the UR, so that's why there really is no reason to buy the fox, despite the fact that it is a really good tape.
I was looking for info about the US version, about a 3rd of the way in I started scrolling to see it opened. Might be a cool idea to do a separate video for that tape itself. I've got about 30 of the recent ones, recording with a Sony TC-WE475 and playing back in a 1996 GM delco series radio, I have found they sound really good, of course this is in the car lol but the sound is good, would be nice to see that exact tape on the 3 head system to see the difference. Also I have a ton of electronics that will record to tape but a Pioneer CT-W502R is the only other contender for the best recording, I find the Sony actually pulls it off better, and I have serviced the older pioneer. So 2000 dollar cassette recorder on Ebay aside, I found the Sony I got new in like 2005 is the most practical way to get good music to a tape, and the new maxell tapes have worked fine. I think that was Sonys last cassette deck in production before they all disappeared here in the US, if I recall I bought the display model lol they were out. I've tried recording to different types II and IV and it's worked well, but those tapes were old mixed ones I have had since the 90s and had previously been used.
i have hundreds of sealed blank tapes and sold them for a dollar each and i can't believe how fast they sold. had to stop selling them to keep them for myself
about the calibration process: so you go LEVEL first until the lower meter hits the red marker and then you adjust BIAS until the upper meter catches up - is that how you do it ? i have a SONY TC-K690 that has a calibration button and REC LEVEL & BIAS knobs just like that AIWA deck - but i just fiddled with the knobs until both meters eventually matched up, not knowing what exactly i am doing. i can't get some tapes to match up at all - is that a common thing or is there something wrong with my tape deck ?
Some tapes don't play nice. What you ideally should do is have both at centre. Adjust the bias until they match, once they do adjust the level until they hit the desired point, as they should then go up in tandem.
so, start with both knobs centered and adjust BIAS first until both meters are even, then adjust LEVEL until they line up with the red marker - right ? thanks a lot.
Put the dials both at 12. Start the calibration. Turn the bias until it matches the level, even if they aren't near the optimum. Once they match, increase the level.
Thanks again, worked out great. Recently, my Girl was sorting thru her Stuff and found a sealed 2-Pack of those EMTEC FE I tapes hidden in some crate or drawer wich she brought over to me. I already wanted to make a "test tape" some day that works in any old ghettoblaster (even those without tape type selector so it had to be a ferric) and features music from the youtube library so i'll be able to test and show off one of these ghettoblasters if i feel like it (or any other device with a cassette player in it). and now i got a decent quality C60, type 1 tape that i wanted to buy anyways - what a convenient coincidence - isn't it? So i got to it this evening and with Your help and my sony deck i might have just made the best recording to a type 1 tape i ever made since i figured out what the red button on a cassette recorder does - that must've been about 30 years ago :-D
The local Cash Converters have just restocked with the Hungarian URs. I find it amusing that when watching this video I get interrupted by an advert for DENON
There can't be that many manufacturing plants around world making tape formulations, surely? At the end of the day, it is quite a complex procedure (I presume) to manufacture formulations, apply it to a tape and package. Well, maybe the packaging part is easy. In my mind, when blank tapes were in full swing and selling big, I imagined loads of engineers in the factories or research centres of TDK, That's, Maxell, Fuji or whatever brand you care to name, all knocking their heads together to come up with these new and improved formulations and shell designs. Then, at the end of the day, they will have created their great new tape and the process moves on to the manufacturing stage. Again, I could imagine a place where there are large vats of chemical dusts that are then scientifically mixed together to create a paste that is magically glued to the backing....................blah, blah, blah. You know what I mean. What is (was) the process of tape manufacturing from start to finish? There must still be people alive who were involved in the process. What were the factories like? I've search UA-cam but can't find any old video footage recorded in a tape manufacturing facility.
I like your demos mate... I've had some decent recording results with my Maxells, looks like mine came from Hungary , £3.99 for 5 Maxell tapes, I actually love the tapes! Got an Aiwa AD F-480 and also recently bought a an old Pioneer boom box, I can't calibrate the tapes like you can, but they sound pretty nice to my old ears!
that's crazy that they do that. the ones i always find here in canada have always been the same. they can be pretty much found in just about any dollar store. but sometimes it's a hit and miss if you go looking for 90's and only find 60's. too bad they didn't have any 120's in stock. because i would have snagged them all. but i don't think they have ever changed the tapes here. other then the J card. they used to be pretty good in the 90's. but now they are more of a glossy type of paper, which sucks if you use the wrong kind of ink on it, and it smears up a storm.
I recently bought a 5-pack of these (Hungary, Malaysia) for 11€ and tested them in both a Pioneer CT-757 and an Akai GX-95. These are the only factory-new cassettes I can get my hands on in a major electronics store, by the way. The results were very ... sobering (or disillusioning). Even the (allegedly) high quality Akai drive mechnism couldn't eliminate the obviously built-in drop-outs and the very unsteady noise level. The Pioneer deck is no better since it doesn't even have a closed loop dual capstan system. Also, I could not manage to calibrate the Akai deck to this tape formulation. Bias works fine, but the Rec Sensitivity can't be set properly, even with maxing it out. That could be due to a head that needs some demagnetizing or a misaligned rec amplifier, but the Pioneer deck showed similar behaviour to the Akai. At least I could get the calibration right with this one, though so maybe the Pio allows for some more extreme Rec Sensitivity settings. As for the sound quality: it quite simply sucks. The noise level is bearable unless you listen to really dynamic music but a very early cut-off on the treble and a bass that is present but absolutely lacks precision (probably due to the fact that the tape material isn't exactly steady at keeping level with artificially generated test tones) make listening to those tapes quite the torture on decent systems or headphones (I was using my old trustworthy Sennheiser HD600 for listening tests). But what do I expect from entry-level tapes in this day and age, right? What is interesting is that my UR's show the same EAN and packaging color scheme as the ones you showed at 1:37 and 1:48, the case, hubs, shell design, inlay card, copper-coloured pad spring and stickers look like the one from 4:19 BUT the directional arrows on the lead-in are not Maxell blue, but dark gray or black-ish. Plus, my UR's also show a tape side marking on the opposite side of the lead-in which yours don't. So there might be a fifth variant of those UR's that people should absolutely avoid in my honest opinion. Quite frankly, I wouldn't even put those in an old answering machine lol. And I am really glad I have some sealed 1989 Chrome Maximas coming my way.
@@CassetteComeback you might be right. Just wanted to let you know that these are out there and that people will probably be very disappointed. And let's face it: paying more than 2€ for a single most basic compact cassette of that quality can't even be called cheap.
@@CassetteComeback offtopic: I found some guys on ebay that claim to be selling some wrapped original TDK, mostly the high-priced SA-X, AR-X and MA-X (some even sell the beautiful blue MA-X from 1986). Lots of them would be sent from the east like Russia, Ukraine or Kazakhstan, though. As a person dealing with cassette sales, what do you think? Legit or fake?
The is one more tape which has tape no 2 with j card but has coloured stickers to put on the tape with music genre and master and copy stickers. Edit: It is the Australian Maxell UR made in Indonesia.
Gawd. I wish I could just find a good deck for less than 100 bucks. Any functioning deck with a calibration feature, I see listed on ebay is listed for well over a thousand bucks.
I have quite a lot of the clear version an to be honest, they sound fine. Even though I DON'T have the BEST OF THE BEST (JVC TD-W216.... I know it is very basic machine) it stands out quite nice, with Dolby C? Decent. What is your opinion on that?
Maybe the "most boring tape in the world". But, as you remark at the end, in a really good deck AND with proper biasing and level calibration (this is from my own)...What a sound! A pity not anyone can have today a cassette deck like your Aiwa, let alone your Nakamichi Dragon...
I have a mid 80s Sony deck and it doesn't have nearly as many features as this deck heheh, makes me think my deck is a tad more low end than I originally thought.
I just recently aquired 60 of the hungarian UR because they are excellent value for the money and give me good results on both my Nakamichi RX-505 and my Yamaha KX-493. They sound a tad better, more sparkling with the Yamaha, maybe because of HX-Pro which the Nakamichi lacks? I need to investigate a bit further.
I swear this guy could make a 20 minute video on how bad pissing on a cassette is bad and i would still watch all the way through
There's an idea 😄
I am just grateful they still make these and can be bought easily and cheaply. I am currently hoarding them, for obvious reasons
@@Iainmaclennan70 I believe they still make them for some countries. In Australia, you can buy 50 URs for $100 AUD directly from Maxell.
I think this is a great thing that someone is making new tapes to this day. It's not type IV or II, but at least it's not the type 0.
Type I tapes are great with a good deck, and a good source.
@@rockrollhi-figuy6824 yep with HX-pro and a deck that can fine tune the BIAS they sound good.. ass Dolby C or S or DBX they sounds wonderful
The writing below Hungary "Származási ország" means "Country of origin" and its Malaysia
I also got myself a Sony TC-K690 just the other day and i had lots of cd, minidisc players before but this is the thing that i enjoy the most bothering with it😉
like i found it so much fun to record my vinyls in 2020 at the age of 17 😂
calibrating the tape.. then setting the record volume... hunting for good quality cassette tapes..
I already got hold of two brand new TDK MA-X 60 and it is awesome 😁😁
I first started off with collecting vinyl now i found that it's just as much fun recording it.. and it also stays in analog 😉
Loved the video tho and thanks for keeping these things alive 😊
18 éves magyar létemre én is imádom ezeket. :D
recruit rush
recruit rush
Kovács Pál Én boomer és doomer között ingadozok valamilyen szinten😂
Who ever decided to print that "🌏" right in the middle of the actual cassette, should be FIRED!
I wasted a lot of money on tapes and cheap decks/players in the 80s. Had no idea what I was doing but I had fun. Great info. Have enjoyed your videos. Thanks!
You had fun. That's the most important bit.
Only the audiophiles will be unhappy with all the new cassettes.
Haha. I love the sound of all my mixtapes.
They sound beautiful and clear in my car and stereo system.
My cars have dolby cassette players.
My friends and family don't even notice I'm playing cassette's .
For years I've been trying to pay an installer to integrate a cassette deck into my modern vehicle with no luck. May you please tell me how you do it ?
These are indeed very good tapes, probably the last major-brand type 1s standing. A couple of years ago, I acquired (aged 36!) my first ever high-end deck (Nak 480Z), and I tested it out with an old UR I probably bought in the late 90s. I was utterly shocked at just how good it sounded. Perfectly balanced, weighty sound, and with Dolby B engaged, extremely low hiss. And they are still available cheaply in local branches of Wilko here in the UK. I only wish that the same could be said for old TDKs.
I use these (USA versions) to record on a 4 track multi-track recorder. Most of those are calibrated for type 2, so using these gives a ... colored sound. And I LOVE IT. So happy I incorporated tape into my life.
Can confirm, they work great with 4Track multitrackers. You might get a bit of a wrong bias but it still works pretty well. Especially with DBX enabled.
I some from the last few years in us of the maxell ur,one year is the last from Walmart and the other was bought 2 years prior from cvs pharmacy... Honestly my maxell ur's and I have several versions of tdk,Sony hf's and Memorex usually the dbs 87-91 clown version lol, but the maxell ur is probably the best tapes I own.
A deceased friend of mine ordered some 100 pieces of Maxell cassettes from Slovakia a few years back. They were even available in bulk and relatively cheap as well, but not anymore. As I said, in Slovakia, ironically. He was generous and gave me a few as some kind of present as well. Now, I checked the labels after watching the video, and I can confirm, that the Hungarian market Maxells URs (as shown in this vid) are made in Malaysia indeed. Greetings from Budapest... :)
Szia Budapest 🙂
@@jarrahdrum Szióka... 🙂
@@MSI6728 greetings from 🏴
Why am i watching this at 3 a.m.
omg same here haha!!
Lol same here at 3.08
Same here at 2:51
Yeah I have a crap ton of these of various vintages that were given to me, mostly used. They are what they are. They are not garbage by any means and are sound OK as long as they are not over driven. They are on par with what I could afford when I was a kid. In fact, as the tail end of legacy tape manufacturing goes, these are probably near the top of the line of what is generally available. Thanks for the breakdown of the different manufacturers.
Thanks for this great vid! I bought a few URs (made in Malaysia) recently and was surprised to see that the tape is definitely darker brown than the ones shown in this video. So there may be even more varieties of URs... (Btw shame on Nakamichi for not adding Dolby HX Pro :))
Under that wrapper, there will be an infinite number of variations it seems...
These are what got me back into cassettes, as I had no plans or thoughts of doing it but saw some on a shelf and bought on a whim.
The music taking me back to so many a techmoan episode about tapes that I was seriously expecting the puppets to show up at the end.
As long as we use Dolby B on them, they are just fine. Their output level is a bit low, but considering Wilko sell them at £4 for 5, who are we to complain.
The other available candidate is the Bush C60 which can be bought in Argos - at £10 for four. Talk about taking the wee-wee!
Honestly, like I say, Perception is more important than reality. They're no worse than the budget cassettes we bought "back in the day", they just have no nostalgia. I might have to get some of those Bush, to see if they're as bad as I've read...
@@CassetteComeback Admittedly I've seen the Bush ones and considered splashing out a few times, but always thought they look horribly cheap in the catalogue so haven't bothered. A video on them would be much appreciated!
But that would mean spending money on cassettes that I know are crap.
@@CassetteComeback Touché.
The US version of UR I have seen three different oxides. The cases are the same BUT there is very little difference in calibration in my Teac C3X. No dropouts. I just got 500 of em for $45! As far as I am concerned they are fine as long as levels are kept at 0dB with a 200 nWb reference. These tapes are fine in my boat as salt water will ruin a chrome tape as well as the UR. In all reality at home if I want better I'll use my fully restored Teac A 6300 or get the "big iron" out and use the Otari MX 5050 BIII. The chrome tapes are for the Kenwood pullout in my Sebring!
Over at Tapeheads where I am a member they hate these UR tapes. Fine by me, keeps the price down!
I think they are very decent cassettes. Perception plays a big part in what you can "hear"
I bought one Maxell UR in Russia somewhere in 2008, and recently I opened it up and tried to record it. It was pretty nice actually. I liked the recording quality. It was one of Hungarian type shown in this video, one in the middle, with nice globe in the middle of the shell.
Nothing wrong with them UR
@@CassetteComeback Yeah, very true. And these days you can buy them sealed in Russia in shop-device.ru for 500 rubles a piece (I guess one pound is about 90 rubles now). If you sell them in UK for just 79 pences... They definitely worth that money.
Great Video Tony. I have all 4 versions and after watching i will do a comparison myself. Really kind of you to open these tapes when you could be selling them . Thankyou.
I became a dealer because I love cassettes. I don't love cassettes because I became a dealer 😉
I gave you a compliment and a \thankyou...you reply with a snotty comment! @@CassetteComeback
The frequency response graphs you've been dismissing are extremely important and show the reason why some of the URs are struggling for high frequency accuracy with Dolby NR enabled. If you try them with a Pioneer deck with Super Auto BLE instead that corrects for bias, sensitivity AND recording EQ, the Dolby mistracking will probably disappear.
All decks that only have bias and sensitivity controls are missing a vital part of the equation when it comes to getting the most out of modern budget tapes.
The Maxell Hungary tapes are actually made in Malaysia, as it states just below Hungary. I guess those are the ones that you asssign later in the video to Indonesia. The British tape doesn't state its origin but Korea sounds logical.
I recently bought two packs of the UR which apparently are the hungarian ones, but I must say they sound pretty good for a type I cassette, nothing wrong with these at all 😉
UR never gonna know what UR gonna get till you unwrap it. LOL
Fantastic video. This completely reflects my views on these tapes; I actually got some of the Panggung ones free when I bought a Pioneer Dolby S deck about 18 months ago. I knew they were newer and kind of associated them with the likes of the TDK FE, which I considered inferior years ago (and to be honest the FE is a perfectly good tape as well, it must have just been my old Aiwa didn't like them).
I was reluctant to use them because of perceived quality, but in practice I couldn't fault the things. They seemed no worse than any other basic ferric I remembered from the 90s/early 2000s.
I've since received a brick of the Saehan ones (mine came with the original Saehan hubs you showed on the Samsung tape), and they seem absolutely fine as well.
You end up with the idea in your head that they are the same cheapo trash that was being sold in pound shops about 10 years ago (Mr Audio and the like, obviously Chinese tapes with numerous problems and bad batches etc). But to be honest they're fine. If you think of them as equivalent to the typical 1990s Memorex supermarket tape (or later Scotch, Konica, BBC, Bush etc etc), that's pretty much what they are. They're no TDK AR but then they don't pretend to be.
At the end of the day, Maxell is still a trading business, part of Hitachi. They're not going to risk putting their name on trash.
@@CassetteComeback Hitachi sold their AV division to Vestel/Argos decades ago but that's not really trash, just very basic and surprising for them to have done that. Maxell tapes in any form have always been good workhorses.
You're pretty good at finding out these similarities between different tape manufactures (either brand or unknown brand). Perhaps it would be fun to make a video about it should you have more examples available.
I love the early 90's versions of these. they smelled great, the felt nice, omg, I wish they hadn't changed it round about, oh 1993?
Yeah, the Oval shell UR are about as good as they got!
I keep a lot of these on hand, they're a good all rounder. They can handle the high frequencies well too, and I push the audio well above the 0 db level, with no distortion. I use a Technics RS-T20 from 1986.
I used to use a technics tape deck I don't remember which one, the record button stopped working, and I was working a full time job and going to work 3rd shift 12 hr days 4 days a week.. so I just stopped using it I probably still have it?
I use those Panggung UR's in my Pioneer CT-S450S with Dolby S activated. I drive them up to +1 and they still sound fine to me.
Fantastic Video! I think the Emtec cassette contains AGFA Pe X49 Tape. Some late FE1 and BASF Sound1 Cassettes use this AgFa tape.
Good to know. Late cassettes are all "Don't judge a book by it's cover"
I meant late 1990s early 2000 Cassettes.
Dude thanks alot for this i have over 200 pangong versions without globe recorded and this gave me some peace of mind. Also i still have large stock of FERRIC90 tdks, bought 6 boxes of these in 2009...
I have loads of these, and keep getting hold of them. I will be checking them all now. Yes, they do sound really good.
Very interesting channel! Cassette is my childhood memory.
That's why most of us are returning to them. Things that were "magic" as a child, always remain magic.
Nice video. I actually have an earlier version of the most recent one, but with a slightly different mechanism and a J-card with perforated edges.
Nice. There's probably another 20 different versions 😀
I have a 5 pack of these, Hungary with the colour planet (as far as I can see). On the outside of the five pack wrapper it claims to have a cleaning leader tape.
They do.
Thanks for the comparisons, are all these recent buys? I've bought USA red wrapper UR's since the early 2000's that were made in Korea, Mexico and Malaysia. Some Mexico UR's had SKC style hubs, red oxide tape and lower output. The current Panggun UR 90 isn't a bad tape. If it had come out in the 80's the quality would have been closer to a Maxell UD. I just hope Maxell keeps making them. The only other new cassettes I've found are Wal-Mart's Onn brand and they are crap, junk tape and cheap shells.
Are the Wal-Mart Onn tapes any good? I've heard some people saying they're junk and some saying slightly below a TDK D, but I haven't been able to find a definitive answer
@@wildbilltexas they had some wicked wow and flutter when I tried them out. Although the pinch roller on my deck is a little glazed. But still there's uneven tension with the tape coming off the reels on them.
I remember when Maxell used to be molded into the case in the top corner
Excellent video. I bought a bunch of these from Wilko for £4 odd for 5 cassettes (panggung versions by the looks of it) and held off recording to them until very recently. I have to say that they are perfectly musical. With negative bias and a bit of calib on a decent deck they sound very good indeed. Don't usually use Dolby, but for tunes with quieter orchestral passages they are even pretty good with Dolby C applied. I'm pleasantly surprised although I think the strength of this video is the conclusion - a good deck with a bit of time spent dialling in - will make an average tape sing nicely. Only downside I can see to these tapes right now is that they are a bit rattly - but for my most important recordings I'll probably use something sturdy like a That's VX or a Sony UX-S which really don't need much tweaking at all. Once again - thanks for the video. Good to know that it's not only me that thinks these cassettes are perfectly acceptable.
Yeah but.... that beautiful artwork on the wrapper looks to imply that CASSETTES are making a WORLD comeback... (Oh Yeah!)
Notice the UR logo on the J cards are different too. Notice the GOLD vs. SILVER background URs.
I can't even make CrO2 sound as good as you do with normal tapes in that deck of yours...
Don't want to sound like an Audiophile, but having a well maintained, good quality, 3 head deck is important to getting the most out of a Cassette. Once you have one, you'll feel the need to buy less type 2 as you can make basic type 1 sound so good. You could get a deck like this Aiwa for around $100 and it's cheap and easy to replace the belts.
The craziest thing happened, I live in Spokane Valley, and I was shopping in Fred Myers, and I ran into 2 5-packs (sealed, brand new) of Maxell URs! the sound quality isn't that bad in my opinion, but its crazy brand new cassettes were being sold in the Spokane Valley Fred Meyers of all places!
I do so verily hope that maxel will make some new high bias tapes
@Iain MacLennan I'm sure with all the different toxic stuff that is manufactured, a few high bias tapes aren't really going to make that much difference. Or do you mean toxic in that in this day and age anything associated with cassettes is toxic to the dumb masses who suck on the teat of apple and Google.
Would you consider a brief follow-up video testing the U.S. version of UR, which you showed early in your video? Thanks so much for this video.
I use UR all the time and for my casual tape hobby needs they sound better than fine. I made a couple of tapes sourced from streaming last week and I was very satisfied with the results. In Canada they cost around $20 for a pack of 5.
In Slovakia it cost 12€ a 5 pack
A great video. Nerd level = Jedi.
Where I live we have a local thrift store and I been buying up tapes when they come in. Usually find Maxell or Fuji type one and two.
Cool video. You made me go and unwrap a UR I've had sitting around a few years. Not surprisingly it's that third one you opened. Doesn't sound bad at all though. Cheers from Australia.
Just bought off eBay a UR to tape test and I got a 90 minute version of that 60 minute sian of yours and for the price £3 on my Pioneer it sounded epic, I'm impressed..👍😀
i built my own tape player using a 2 stage la3161 circuit and a beautiful home made spectrum analyser.
Hi, you didn’t compare against US version. How does that stack up against the others?
Now I must open my unsealed maxell UR - UK ver. 😂
The second one you unpacked were my favorite and i just can't get them anywhere anymore..... They even still had the little metallic shielding that the current batch (just like the last gen TDK SA90 tapes) completely lack.
Should've tried Dolby S and not B. I've noticed a big difference between the two.
DBX works pretty good with them too.
What would be your thoughts on Maxell UDI 100 minute tapes? (the oval window type with black shells from the early 90's)
Love these tapes, the 120m are my favorites for normal type
The Walgreens by my house sells a 5pack for 11$
Meanwhile the record shop that sells both old and new tapes (scored a 1985 Maxell XL II for 1.50$ and a lovely sealed 5 pack of mid 80s TDK d60s for 5$) sells them for a buck
Which is nice for buying in large quantities. Why pay 11 for 5
When you can 11 for 11$
URs aren't that shabby. But my heart belongs to D90s and HFs for type I's
The dotted hubs are the same as in the Memorex dbs+ or dbs-1. There were at least four types: full white, black, yellow and yellow with a simple tape locking pin. I'm using the yellow hubs to recreate Technics cassettes. They're using a case from a TDK SA or MA, probably also the same tape.
I would suggest that the tape inside and the shells/C0s are manufactured in different places. The Telford plant is actually and has been for a long time (even when the tape was still Japanese made) a plastic injection moulding plant.
Good to know. Thanks!
Those with bright tape are BASF for sure. I bought UR 12pack in UK 18 years ago and it looks like no 3 here. Smells like maxell, rolls looks like maxell too.
I have 4 of the pangong maxell UR tapes, i have yet to test them out and record on them. I need a decent tape deck. Luckily i found a good used one for cheap. But that Aiwa man..that's Awesome! I love AIWA! grew up using their systems.
Bought some UR off ebay and as a rating imho they sit somewhere below the 90s TDK D's in music playback. A little "flat" but certainly usable.
I have the Maxell UR46, which looks like the Saehan, the last one you showed. The highs have dropouts, it sounds like I turn the HI EQ down, and turn back after a second. Later I'll try with some Dolby, maybe it will help. Also have the Maxell UE with green case, it sounds really good. After a long time I come back to cassettes, just for fun, so I'm kinda "newbie"
The more you explore, the more wonderful the hobby becomes!
I found a UD-II type 2 in this UR type shell the other day a a local Goodwill store very unusual.
Yeah, the last UDII-CD came in the same type of shell. So did the the last Maxell Metal CD...
The colour UR one is the ones I grew up with, still got one lying around somewhere.
I just purchased a 5-pack of Maxell UR90s at Fred Meyer in Portland, Oregon. Pretty decent sounding tapes compared to other tapes they sell today. Especially the Walmart Onn brand, which doesn't specify which type it is. (Type 0 in my opinion) designed for dictation. Basically I have no choice but to buy Maxell, since Sony tapes are not original Sony tapes anymore. (One of my favorite brands back when Sony was by Sony). As a matter of fact, when u compare today's Sony tape to a Maxell tape, they look identical. Looks like Maxell makes tapes for Sony as well today. Last brand new TDK tapes I purchased also looked like they were manufactured by Maxell.
Once again, I thank you for a well made video. Informative & entertaining, your videos really are enjoyable. This tape hobby is fun.
I actually like these cassettes because they are surprisingly tolerant of high volumes. Funny thing is they are actually getting more expensive now slowly but surely. I just liked the smoke-grey cased ones with the Planet on the foil inside a LOT more than the boring all clear versions you are getting nowdays. :( I also noticed that more and more of these are coming wrinkled after 30 minutes of runtime, all the way to the end of Side A. The Productionbatch code doesn't seem to be an indicator for how to avoid these because that seem to be the standard now. And yes, the tape i'm talking about comes from Hungary.
The third Maxell UR cassette tape you opened in this video are the same Maxell UR cassette tapes that they are currently selling in the US. They put seven of them into a bundle and none of them are separately wrapped. You buy a bundle of UR's for $11.99 USD and like I said none of them are individually wrapped. So I don't know what Maxell is doing currently here in the US with their UR cassette tapes. The bundle wrapping is the standard red rapping with the guy on the chair being blown away by sound and not that over colorful European wrapping which are on all of these UR tapes that you have opened. I recently bought a bundle of 7 UR's but I haven't had a chance to try that out yet. I like the look of them. Their quaint and I don't think they're very boring looking to me. The proof is in the pudding as they say so I will have to try one out soon. I just find it interesting that the Third UR that you opened in this video is the exact same cassette that they're selling the US currently. Nice video Tony, thanks!
And I'm holding a 5th one now. Looks most like the second one, but has the A in red circle on the left side as I can see through the wrapper. Gold writing on it too
I found out today I have two different versions of the USA market modern UR. One has the clear-ish shell and scallop looking hubs, while the other has a smoky shell and hubs with circle holes all the way around (with no gaps like that first Euro one you showed). I know the first one I have is Indonesian, it says so on the wrapper (though nowhere on the tape or j-card). However, all I can guess is that the second one is from Mexico due to the smoky shell. It's a crazy hobby, that's for sure.
Maxell never made a bad tape
Just got a bunch of URs delivered today and it turns out they're 90s of the 4th type of European URs! So they're not just 60s evidently.
I wish these were available in stores.
Prices on the rise now. Similar to tdk fe, going for around 2 gbp a tape delivered on ebay. Have found some ex police interview ur with no j cards for just over a pound a tape. Recorded on a brand new pangung version yesterday. Agree re Tony's comments on decks. My properly calibrated 3 head Denon sounds amazing with these, and I'm also hoarding them.
I bought a tiny lot of used tapes from Taobao, and it contained 3 Maxell UR (1986 variant). I guess these are quite similar to TDK D or Sony EF - solid entry level tape that does the job.
Anyone remember 'Scotch' video tapes? And the ads with the skeleton? "Re-record, not fade away, re-record, not fade away"
Nah, me neither.
Hahaha yeah I remember that
Brilliant ads! 👌🏻
I've been using the UR you show at 8:20 for probably a good 3 years now, and they all looked exactly the same, but I have noticed the performance of them changing over time, as well as the color of the actual magnetic tape, so they probably really are using what they have laying around! I'm using a 2 head deck, but it does have a calibration feature(Pioneer's Super Auto BLE) and if I use that, I can really get all of them sounding the same though, and they sound excellent! When compared to the source, they more or less sound as good as the source!
And I rarely use any other tapes, just because of how good but at the same time how cheap they are!
Yeah, they had the same wrapper for a long time, but the tape changed. Supposedly the last tape in them was ACME from China, but they were always decent. These are why "new" tapes struggle, as these are so cheap and decent in comparison.
Exactly!
I have also tried the RTM fox, and it's a really good tape too, but it's not worth its price in comparison to the UR, so that's why there really is no reason to buy the fox, despite the fact that it is a really good tape.
I was looking for info about the US version, about a 3rd of the way in I started scrolling to see it opened. Might be a cool idea to do a separate video for that tape itself. I've got about 30 of the recent ones, recording with a Sony TC-WE475 and playing back in a 1996 GM delco series radio, I have found they sound really good, of course this is in the car lol but the sound is good, would be nice to see that exact tape on the 3 head system to see the difference. Also I have a ton of electronics that will record to tape but a Pioneer CT-W502R is the only other contender for the best recording, I find the Sony actually pulls it off better, and I have serviced the older pioneer. So 2000 dollar cassette recorder on Ebay aside, I found the Sony I got new in like 2005 is the most practical way to get good music to a tape, and the new maxell tapes have worked fine. I think that was Sonys last cassette deck in production before they all disappeared here in the US, if I recall I bought the display model lol they were out. I've tried recording to different types II and IV and it's worked well, but those tapes were old mixed ones I have had since the 90s and had previously been used.
i have hundreds of sealed blank tapes and sold them for a dollar each and i can't believe how fast they sold. had to stop selling them to keep them for myself
good thing you stopped. You don't wanna supply some scalping scumbags cheap Stock.
about the calibration process: so you go LEVEL first until the lower meter hits the red marker and then you adjust BIAS until the upper meter catches up - is that how you do it ?
i have a SONY TC-K690 that has a calibration button and REC LEVEL & BIAS knobs just like that AIWA deck - but i just fiddled with the knobs until both meters eventually matched up, not knowing what exactly i am doing.
i can't get some tapes to match up at all - is that a common thing or is there something wrong with my tape deck ?
Some tapes don't play nice. What you ideally should do is have both at centre. Adjust the bias until they match, once they do adjust the level until they hit the desired point, as they should then go up in tandem.
so, start with both knobs centered and adjust BIAS first until both meters are even, then adjust LEVEL until they line up with the red marker - right ?
thanks a lot.
Put the dials both at 12. Start the calibration. Turn the bias until it matches the level, even if they aren't near the optimum. Once they match, increase the level.
Thanks again, worked out great.
Recently, my Girl was sorting thru her Stuff and found a sealed 2-Pack of those EMTEC FE I tapes hidden in some crate or drawer wich she brought over to me.
I already wanted to make a "test tape" some day that works in any old ghettoblaster (even those without tape type selector so it had to be a ferric) and features music from the youtube library so i'll be able to test and show off one of these ghettoblasters if i feel like it (or any other device with a cassette player in it).
and now i got a decent quality C60, type 1 tape that i wanted to buy anyways - what a convenient coincidence - isn't it?
So i got to it this evening and with Your help and my sony deck i might have just made the best recording to a type 1 tape i ever made since i figured out what the red button on a cassette recorder does - that must've been about 30 years ago :-D
The local Cash Converters have just restocked with the Hungarian URs. I find it amusing that when watching this video I get interrupted by an advert for DENON
This has set my mind at rest..
I checked and found I’ve got 8 of the Pangong(??😳)
i have recently got myself a Sony WM-D6c and just wondering whats the best tapes i can use with it
There can't be that many manufacturing plants around world making tape formulations, surely? At the end of the day, it is quite a complex procedure (I presume) to manufacture formulations, apply it to a tape and package. Well, maybe the packaging part is easy.
In my mind, when blank tapes were in full swing and selling big, I imagined loads of engineers in the factories or research centres of TDK, That's, Maxell, Fuji or whatever brand you care to name, all knocking their heads together to come up with these new and improved formulations and shell designs. Then, at the end of the day, they will have created their great new tape and the process moves on to the manufacturing stage. Again, I could imagine a place where there are large vats of chemical dusts that are then scientifically mixed together to create a paste that is magically glued to the backing....................blah, blah, blah. You know what I mean. What is (was) the process of tape manufacturing from start to finish? There must still be people alive who were involved in the process. What were the factories like? I've search UA-cam but can't find any old video footage recorded in a tape manufacturing facility.
I got about 10-15 of them for free from work, they were about to throw them out. They will come to good use recording some albums onto.
No Chrome Dioxide? Call me weird but I loved the smell.
Very interesting. I've saw in Amazon ES and Co.UK. Good channel
I like your demos mate... I've had some decent recording results with my Maxells, looks like mine came from Hungary , £3.99 for 5 Maxell tapes, I actually love the tapes! Got an Aiwa AD F-480 and also recently bought a an old Pioneer boom box, I can't calibrate the tapes like you can, but they sound pretty nice to my old ears!
that's crazy that they do that. the ones i always find here in canada have always been the same. they can be pretty much found in just about any dollar store. but sometimes it's a hit and miss if you go looking for 90's and only find 60's. too bad they didn't have any 120's in stock. because i would have snagged them all. but i don't think they have ever changed the tapes here. other then the J card. they used to be pretty good in the 90's. but now they are more of a glossy type of paper, which sucks if you use the wrong kind of ink on it, and it smears up a storm.
Did anyone notice that some of those URs had five screws and some had four?
The ones i got have 5 screws which is weird.
I recently bought a 5-pack of these (Hungary, Malaysia) for 11€ and tested them in both a Pioneer CT-757 and an Akai GX-95. These are the only factory-new cassettes I can get my hands on in a major electronics store, by the way.
The results were very ... sobering (or disillusioning). Even the (allegedly) high quality Akai drive mechnism couldn't eliminate the obviously built-in drop-outs and the very unsteady noise level. The Pioneer deck is no better since it doesn't even have a closed loop dual capstan system. Also, I could not manage to calibrate the Akai deck to this tape formulation. Bias works fine, but the Rec Sensitivity can't be set properly, even with maxing it out. That could be due to a head that needs some demagnetizing or a misaligned rec amplifier, but the Pioneer deck showed similar behaviour to the Akai. At least I could get the calibration right with this one, though so maybe the Pio allows for some more extreme Rec Sensitivity settings.
As for the sound quality: it quite simply sucks. The noise level is bearable unless you listen to really dynamic music but a very early cut-off on the treble and a bass that is present but absolutely lacks precision (probably due to the fact that the tape material isn't exactly steady at keeping level with artificially generated test tones) make listening to those tapes quite the torture on decent systems or headphones (I was using my old trustworthy Sennheiser HD600 for listening tests). But what do I expect from entry-level tapes in this day and age, right?
What is interesting is that my UR's show the same EAN and packaging color scheme as the ones you showed at 1:37 and 1:48, the case, hubs, shell design, inlay card, copper-coloured pad spring and stickers look like the one from 4:19 BUT the directional arrows on the lead-in are not Maxell blue, but dark gray or black-ish. Plus, my UR's also show a tape side marking on the opposite side of the lead-in which yours don't. So there might be a fifth variant of those UR's that people should absolutely avoid in my honest opinion.
Quite frankly, I wouldn't even put those in an old answering machine lol.
And I am really glad I have some sealed 1989 Chrome Maximas coming my way.
Sounds like you got some of the very last ones...that are filled with Chinese tape from Acme.
@@CassetteComeback you might be right. Just wanted to let you know that these are out there and that people will probably be very disappointed. And let's face it: paying more than 2€ for a single most basic compact cassette of that quality can't even be called cheap.
Agree. They stopped making these last year as the tape stock ran out, so it's going to be pot luck what's under the wrapper now...
@@CassetteComeback offtopic: I found some guys on ebay that claim to be selling some wrapped original TDK, mostly the high-priced SA-X, AR-X and MA-X (some even sell the beautiful blue MA-X from 1986). Lots of them would be sent from the east like Russia, Ukraine or Kazakhstan, though.
As a person dealing with cassette sales, what do you think? Legit or fake?
The is one more tape which has tape no 2 with j card but has coloured stickers to put on the tape with music genre and master and copy stickers. Edit: It is the Australian Maxell UR made in Indonesia.
Need to revisit this as I Just got 2 10 packs of Maxell UR and there is some thing different they don't Bias the same as the ones i got 5 years ago..
Gawd. I wish I could just find a good deck for less than 100 bucks. Any functioning deck with a calibration feature, I see listed on ebay is listed for well over a thousand bucks.
Don't know where you're from, but I meant US Dollars. There's lots for under that on eBay.
I have quite a lot of the clear version an to be honest, they sound fine. Even though I DON'T have the BEST OF THE BEST (JVC TD-W216.... I know it is very basic machine) it stands out quite nice, with Dolby C? Decent. What is your opinion on that?
Great test - thanks...
Maybe the "most boring tape in the world".
But, as you remark at the end, in a really good deck AND with proper biasing and level calibration (this is from my own)...What a sound!
A pity not anyone can have today a cassette deck like your Aiwa, let alone your Nakamichi Dragon...
Like they said in the film Field Of Dreams "If you build it, they will come"...
I have a mid 80s Sony deck and it doesn't have nearly as many features as this deck heheh, makes me think my deck is a tad more low end than I originally thought.
I just recently aquired 60 of the hungarian UR because they are excellent value for the money and give me good results on both my Nakamichi RX-505 and my Yamaha KX-493. They sound a tad better, more sparkling with the Yamaha, maybe because of HX-Pro which the Nakamichi lacks? I need to investigate a bit further.
Nak reckoned that their decks did a good enough job without it...
Well, I'm off to check the Maxell URs which I've steadily accumulating from Wilko over the last few years. Interesting, thank you.
Hi,
Where exactly can I buy Maxell cassette tapes these days for a reasonable price? I know Amazon sell them but its robbery..Thanks