Pics of your Favorite Cassette Tapes

I have the bulk of my reserves as “pre-loved” by myself, and others.

I, like others I suppose, wanted to have a full line sealed collection from the pinnacle year in my mind: 1986. Once that’s done I’m only buying new tapes when I’d be a fool not to.

I’ve got plenty new and used and only lost one used SA100 so far (in the D5!). Just re-recorded it on an SA90. Tried the MA100 and wasn’t happy. And my base bias (done by Sam) is D, SA, and MA, so I’m really close out of the gate and despite this I fine bias cal each individual tape I feed it.

I’m still amazed at the consistency of the post-1984 SA tape. They ALL bias within a whisker of one another, from the 80’s up to the very last blue wrapper crapper. Those last shells sucked badly but the tape was right there. The early (pre-84) SA, which is also a lighter brown color, is not the same tape. Crossing that line you will see more variance in bias for sure. I know I sure did.
 
Oh, and my source material is predominantly red book CDs. I have a decent (small as compared to most here) collection of vinyl and do “rip” it to tape to listen in work, but the bulk is digital. Black background and huge dynamics.

Critical stuff goes into the Alesis Masterlink so I can normalize all the tracks before I burn the master CD which will feed the tape decks.

I was running vinyl through the Masterlink as well but very little of my collection is clean enough for that scrutiny. But, mixes from several LPs must be mastered to get levels matched at least.
 
Sep was kind enough to send me a few of those NINA AH tapes in a couple of mix tape exchanges we shared a couple of years back.

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Nando.
 
oh yes, the Nina tapes! :)

they work fine, i also got some from Sep (thanks again).

don't those shells resemble some kind of Fuji, perhaps?

i had no idea about the Nina brand before getting these from Sep, I wouldn't be too surprised lf they turn out to be from some more famous producer, actually.
 
J!m, Nina tapes are nice tapes, they are made during 90's by Korean factory SKC for the small portables producer Nina from Japan. ;)

Nando, it's wonderful to see my mixtapes there at you all together in those very nice pics! Thank you! I assure you i do enjoy yours too, and also the nice blanks you sent me too, the vintage Sony, Sony GIG, etc. And this makes me to feel like i need to look further to a new vinyl based mixtape for you! :)

Vince, indeed, Nina tapes are Fuji DR-I reincarnation, infact they are same made by SKC using same parts. We also tested them and proved to be just good! :D

Sep.
 
And because of fav tapes infact i do not have just one but more, most of them being regular basic reddish oldschool oxide! They make me to feel like a kid when i was admiring and smelling the fresh new tapes back then! They do not smell anymore, or having just a fainted aroma, but that is all. The feeling when unwrapping one of these is priceless! Of course, i do own more exotic tapes too but i do not feel them so close to my heart like i feel these humble beauties!

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Sep.
 
I love the early 80's tapes, SONY, Maxell and TDK - A lot of the tapes, especially the early MX tapes i have shared amongst members on here and another forum, so do not have that many left - They were cheap to buy 12 years ago! Now my favourite tapes are the good Type 1 tapes, TDK AD, AR, OD and other makes, but mainly the TDK.

I also love Elcaset, But that is an entire horror all of it's own for gathering stock!

PC
 

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those mid 80's TDK AD with white/blue wrapper are great!
i have a couple with some rehearahals of my old bands from the 80s and, despite they were used and played quite a bit, they are still perfect to this day!
 
As much as I love the results garnered from using a premium ferric tape for recording, I still get the biggest kick from using a budget cassette and creating a "ringer" - something that sounds better than it ought to.

A few of us have used entry-level Memorex Type I cassettes for mix tape exchanges. One of my favourite mix tapes is this project from Sep titled "80's hits On 7"s." It was recorded with his Marantz SD-40 using Dolby C onto an infamous Memorex dBSI. All the music was sourced from 7" 45's, while played on his vintage Lenco L85 turntable.

I play this mix tape often because of the genre of music, the recording quality and non-issue with Dolby tracking. When I acquire a "new" cassette deck, I play it to demo the deck.

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Nando.
 
You're right Nando, normal ferrics can do it too in a very elegant way! I love the analogue warm feeling they give and for sure they're on the list mostly every time. I oftenly enjoy your tape mixes too, nicely done with lots of care for details and SQ! Listening right now your Supertape XR and Eurodisco Mix of yours which is the pure enjoyment!
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Sep
 
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