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Which brand do most people prefer in terms of sound quality and tape construction of the two brands for recording from CD's,TDK or Maxell?
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several years ago and preferred the TDK, though they're both good. I've used TDK ever since and really like them. (If the statements about TDKs being "voiced" for Nakamichis are true, then that may be a factor, because I use all Nak decks.)
as an old dead head, I've my share of old tapes. At time of recording, I can't tell the differnce, but over time the maxell's hold up much better. My 25 year old TDKs are now almost worthless, the maxells have also lost some fidelity, but nothing like the TDKs.
TDK may have fixed this problem, and the ones bought today may hold up as well as the maxells.
Me and my friends used to think we could tell the difference at time of recording, but every blind test we conducted came out statistically even-steven.
Tom
For the extreme long haul, yes, Maxells do hold their information quite well, but for a period in the early 90's, they did have a dropout problem and that is why I switched to Fuji's. Have been using them pretty much ever since. Fuji's do hold their information quite well. I have a friend who has older Fuji's from the 80's that I venture still sound good. I believe Fuji tapes are more consistant from year to year than many other brands.However, on a good deck and fairly resolving system, you can detect some differences between brands, albeit limited. There are brands that simply don't sound good, given a simular grade of tape. Memorex HBII chrome tapes are one that are fairly decent, but no Maxell or Fuji or TDK in overall sound quality. I find that Fuji FR-IIxpro sound very nice and their Z-II's are even better. Better dynamic range for starters.
John.
I agree w/ RBP on this one. There are several factors that when combined, will demand one tape over another.One of those factors is the type of tape you are going to use, be it normal bias, Chrome or metal bias tapes. Normal bias tapes are OK for cheap walkmans, speach recordings etc, or where critical sound quality (sic) does not matter all that much, whereas Chrome and Metal tapes will be more suited for critical listening with Metal being superior, mainly due to the fact that it's more capable of taking a higher recorded signal without distorting than it's Chrome bretheren.
Unfortunatly, you won't get the most out of metal tape with a two head cassette deck (even if it has the metal setting for recording only, however, will do fine for playback). A two head deck, where the record and playback head is one and the same. Therefore more prone to distortion than a typical three head deck where the erase, record and playback heads are visably seperate.
I've been using Maxell for many years, including UDS, UDS-II, XL, XL-II and XL-IIS, but there was a time in the early 90's when Maxell tape's quality deteriorated and I found that many of the tapes that I bought created dropouts almost right after I recorded on them. I then switched to Fuji. I mostly use DR-II chrome tapes, while not the best Fuji Chrome tape out there, it's what's been most available at most places I've gone to buy tapes. I've also bought Fuji FR-IIxpro which is much better than the DR-II, however, I've also use a type of chrome tape called the Z-II from Fuji. It's the best Chrome tape that Fuji makes. Also, Fuji is less likely to develope dropouts so soon. I've got Fuji's that have been in the car most of their lives and they are just now begining to develope dropouts after 4-5 years (or more) of extreme temperatures, dust and dirt (and in some cases, heavy playing).
However, I've used some TDK's too, mostly their SA, SA-x series Chrome tapes and have not had many problems.
However, for a recommendation, try both, see which one you like best and stick w/ it. But also check w/ audio magazines for a recent tape test to see which ones have less incidence of dropouts and will least likely to develope them later as those are the biggest criteria. But a lesser criteria is overall sound quality of the brands, some are better than others, but it all depends on what brand your deck is biased to.
Sorry I can't make a certain recommendation but I do pretty much use Fuji mostly as I found that I like that brand very well. Sounds good and is quite robust for the car.
Just my .02 worth.
John.
Loran made some great tapes for the car etc. The shell was made of Lexan and darn near bullet and melt proof. The erase tab was keen too... not a break-out tab, but a circular piece that was rotated via a slot-head screw so you could unprotect and reprotect a tape over and over. Still have a few floating about, though I haven't seen any in stores for over a decade. Teac cassettes are fun too with the tiny reels inside... doesn't sound as good as TDK, Maxell or Fuji IMHO, but the cassette housing is great!
I've made some high quality CD transfers using Maxell XL-IIs tapes.PriyaW
What's up with the Brand name thing again.....A cheap TDK is not as good as Maxell's best metal, hence A TDK Chrome will outperform a Maxell Normal bias.
Maxell or TDK?
Cheverolet Corvette (Cherverolet)(ZR-1 limited edition 70,000.00 car)
Or Cadillac Cimmaron (Cadillac) Actually a Chevy Cavalier with Caddys name on it.I thought Cadillac was "BETTER" than Cherverolet...
Despence with the Brand, but how about your tape deck ??Nakamichi Decks were Biased for TDK
Hitachi's were Biased for Maxell. Now that goes for Chrome.
I am not trying to be an arse, but the question is just too general.No ONE COMPLETE brand is better than another.
Would you choose a 69 cent Maxell to a TDK MAR (14.99) because you heard Maxell is "Better"... Sony makes 600,000 mixing consoles, and 29 cent batteries.
Sorry for the rant...but things do relate to one another, and to get an accurate answer to your question, phrase the question with some user statements, like
( I am going to use these for live performance) Or for the car, or etc....
Im I coming through ??
Hope so.
I cannot logically answer your question until you give me some facts about application, tape deck,etc....
I don't recall the model but it seems that I used to buy metal TDKs that were black with largish windows and ceramic rather than plastic guides. They made great copies and were very reliable. No wear, tear or tracking problems whatsoever. Alas I no longer own a tape deck; I think my cousin now has all my dubbed tapes.
But I'm not sure these are around anymore. They had a really cool clear plastic and aluminum edged shell. Plus the tape was the best. (Probably not any better than Maxell though).If they are still making MA-R's, go with those, though be forewarned--they're expensive.
Mike
I liked the OR (normal bias aluminum shell), AR (think that's what they called em... they were like $18.00 each back in 1980... had about 4 of them that got ripped off) Chrome with metal shell. Haven't tried MA-R but assume it's the same shell with metal tape.As for ones you can get, my favorite is TDK SM-X (a variation of SA-X meant for studio use that has a bit flatter frequency response)... one of those things you'll likely have to hunt for though (I buy by the box when I find it). As for the high end consumer tapes, I use Maxell XL2-S and TDK SA-X (pretty much identical and have used them for over 20 years, though I do have a slight pref. for the TDK).
Haven't compared their metal tapes.
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