what are you listening to?

derek92994

derek92994

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Elite-ist said:
Derek: I'm getting a kick out of seeing your pre-recorded cassette playback sessions. I haven't popped one of those into my decks for a long time. Any of the XDR issues were very good for sound quality.

Nando.
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Glad you like nando, I gave the 480 a quick service so decided to give her a work out tonight. Re-adjusted the speed as it had drifted out a bit towards the slow side. Warmed it up good before I used my 3khz test tape and checked speed at start, middle and end of tape to be sure.

Re Pre records: A lot of them hit the spot very nicely. Sometimes I forget I'm listening to a cassette, the sound is so pure. XDRs are great. Another good type were the Black "Cobalt High Tech" with the small see through window in the centre. Those were done with HXPRO, a couple I can remember is Phil Collins "No Jacket Required" and Prince's "Purple Rain", outstanding quality and very high recording levels unseen on type 1 tapes.

My other favorites are the white coloured tapes by Island records which are BASF Chrome based but designed to be played at 120 eq setting. A few different record companies did pre-recorded chrome tapes, my only issue with these is that the recording level on some is very low which makes the tape hiss worse if you turn it up, so dolby nr is a must in this situation (Dire Straits - Brothers in arms is an example of this, I have two copies, both the same). Sometimes I like to listen without dolby.
 
Elite-ist

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Derek: Unlike my CD and vinyl collection, I'm fastidious about keeping my pre-recorded cassette collection in alphabetical and chronological order. That's a throwback to my early years when I always had a suitcase of cassettes in the car for listening to. Most of my tapes are from the 70's through to the 90's and the evolution of studio-dubbed copies got better as the years went by. Apart from some of the exclusive releases, most times you could record a better-sounding tape from your albums, with a decent home system, than what factories could produce.

Speaking of Dire Straits, I put a request in for my birthday gift next month - the Dire Straits "Studio Albums 1978-1991" eight record box set. I know the manager of the local electronics store, who showed me the box set a few days ago. He ordered two more box sets and they officially won't go on sale until December 10th.

Nando.
 
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The box set is $119 here, so it's a bit less expensive than other sellers are listing it for.

Nando.
 
Northwinds

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WEA Canada 1st press signed by Kerry and Jeff (RIP) back in 1988. Worn out blue marker LOL but they are legit. This came from a respected Canadian metal collector Claude Doiron





 
derek92994

derek92994

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Elite-ist said:
Derek: Unlike my CD and vinyl collection, I'm fastidious about keeping my pre-recorded cassette collection in alphabetical and chronological order. That's a throwback to my early years when I always had a suitcase of cassettes in the car for listening to. Most of my tapes are from the 70's through to the 90's and the evolution of studio-dubbed copies got better as the years went by. Apart from some of the exclusive releases, most times you could record a better-sounding tape from your albums, with a decent home system, than what factories could produce.

Speaking of Dire Straits, I put a request in for my birthday gift next month - the Dire Straits "Studio Albums 1978-1991" eight record box set. I know the manager of the local electronics store, who showed me the box set a few days ago. He ordered two more box sets and they officially won't go on sale until December 10th.

Nando.
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I learnt my lesson when I had tapes in my car back in the early 2000's. Most of them were BASF Chome Extras and I didn't look after them. I would not rewind them or anything just chuck them in the center console of the car and throw another one in the deck. The rollers were never cleaned in my car decks, just the playback head so all the tapes ended up frilled or rail roaded, however I'm surprised at how many times I played them and most of them still play ok today. They were mainly recorded in my first real deck the Yamaha K-600 which didn't have great condition rollers (these were cleaned though), so the first song of the tape usually had variation in fidelity with every revolution of the take up reel LOL. Back then i recorded at +8db with dolby b, I'm surprised there wasn't excessive distortion. Usually when I played them back they would register +4db on the VU meters.

I started with a Pioneer auto reverse deck with worn rollers in my fathers Mitsubishi Sigma, that deck got such a work out and was a brilliant machine.


Then I had a crappy Phillips auto reverse deck which came stock with my first car, a 1990 EA Series 2 Ford Falcon, I later upgraded to an Clarion auto reverse which was much better.





These days I have a full logic alpine deck in the car. It has never chewed a tape or frilled/railroaded, I keep the heads/rollers pristine clean, and every single tape I have made sounds brilliant in fidelity and has no drop outs what so ever. I always rewind and put them in a case before storing in the glove compartment. My recording technique is much more reasonable these days too, knowledge sure pays off.
 
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Derek: It's neat seeing those decks. I still have my Pioneer KP-88G deck, along with GM 40 amplifier, and TS-X9 surface mount speakers - my first car stereo system I bought in 1979. I may pull them out to take a picture of them and post those photos in the appropriate thread.

I also have a Pioneer KP-909G deck with GEX-90 tuner.



Nando.
 
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The Kinks - The Live Kinks
(1967, Reprise) -1B/-1C





I still remember how much we dug these guys when All Day And All Of The Night came screeching out of our transistor radio on the AM Top 40 station. a lot of energy that must have been their live show.
 
derek92994

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Elite-ist said:
Derek: It's neat seeing those decks. I still have my Pioneer KP-88G deck, along with GM 40 amplifier, and TS-X9 surface mount speakers - my first car stereo system I bought in 1979. I may pull them out to take a picture of them and post those photos in the appropriate thread.

I also have a Pioneer KP-909G deck with GEX-90 tuner.



Nando.
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Love it! That one has the full logic soft touch buttons too, a big thing back in those days. Unfortunately I don't have mine anymore as it was before I was into collecting. It was all about partying and pussy in those days, still is kind of, but I keep them away from the house now, would rather go to theirs :evil4:
 
Northwinds

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orange

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It's amazing how you can say you'll never open a RECORD named Meghan but...


And it's fortunate that records aren't like old electronics or WOMEN, and don't stop responding from being ignored.
 
Northwinds

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orange said:
It's amazing how you can say you'll never open a RECORD named Meghan but...


And it's fortunate that records aren't like old electronics or WOMEN, and don't stop responding from being ignored.
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Oh, in person I would definitely open her up, I would get that dress right off her and play the flipside first :toothy5:

This album in mint condition open will run $50+ easy from a trusted known seller. I just missed a copy a few minutes ago on eBay with a factory blemish on the disc. I was only willing to gamble $22.77 for a player copy and lost. I know the seller, he owns the Waxidermy board I belong to but a blemish is a blemish and as a collector and listener, appearance as well as sound is important

I'll find an open copy eventually
 
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derek92994

derek92994

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Nick Danger

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Northwinds said:
WEA Canada 1st press signed by Kerry and Jeff (RIP) back in 1988. Worn out blue marker LOL but they are legit. This came from a respected Canadian metal collector Claude Doiron





Click to expand...
This one has been in heavy rotation for me since it came out and I own/ have owed this on cassette, LP and disc. For me, this is the album that all metal albums are compared against- most, fall very short in comparison as the talent and energy of this band are hard to match.
 
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