Alex N
pfm Member
I have some sealed Maxell Metal Vertex tapes you could have. Just checked ebay sales, and I could do you a special pfm price of £200 each.
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Cassettes? Seriously?
- Thread starter Rockmeister
- Start date
Locheeboy
pfm Member
To answer the OP…YES…
Still viable. Ma mate ( a meticulous engineer) taped all of John Martyn’s and all Nick Drake’s albums for me, several years ago… still mint replay.
Pioneer really built machines back then…CT-91a…
postimg.cc
Shocked at how much they are selling for. Very rare in UK.
Still viable. Ma mate ( a meticulous engineer) taped all of John Martyn’s and all Nick Drake’s albums for me, several years ago… still mint replay.
Pioneer really built machines back then…CT-91a…
Album — Postimages
Shocked at how much they are selling for. Very rare in UK.
deebster
Half Man Half Biscuit
No, I haven't bought anything from RobFTM.Were they the ones you bought from RobFTM?
One D6C was mine from new, one from fellow Buiscuiteer (and absent for a while it seems) Joe Hutch and a D3 I picked up on Gumtree that needed the works from a tech.
awkwardbydesign
Officially Awesome
See post #19.
deebster
Half Man Half Biscuit
What are you talking about? Rob's post says
'I had three, for some reason I can't remember, Sony DD33 Walkman (men?) and I was amazed to get the best part of £350 for them on eBay. I'm not too sure they even worked as I don't have any cassettes to try them out. I did point this out in the listing but that didn't stop the bids. They sold in hours which amazed me. I'm pretty sure I didn't pay that much when they were new. I had no idea that cassettes were a thing with the youth.'
so how the hell do you infer I bought one from him from that?
Rockmeister
pfm Member
My first cassette, a Pioneer 9191. That was a good deck.To answer the OP…YES…
Still viable. Ma mate ( a meticulous engineer) taped all of John Martyn’s and all Nick Drake’s albums for me, several years ago… still mint replay.
Pioneer really built machines back then…CT-91a…
Album — Postimages
Shocked at how much they are selling for. Very rare in UK.
waxkinglyrical
pfm Member
I don’t really understand the cassette revival or the preceding vinyl one as that would suggest I’d ditched the medium in the first place, digital and streaming does not appeal to me: each to their own.
So, as long as the decks can be serviced and a steady source of blanks remain available I’m in for the long haul.
I haven’t delved into the new cassette releases, good to have it as an option though.
So, as long as the decks can be serviced and a steady source of blanks remain available I’m in for the long haul.
I haven’t delved into the new cassette releases, good to have it as an option though.
I have a Factory green pouch copy of A Certain Ratio's "Graveyard & The Ballroom"...
...it ain't going near a cassette mechanism!
Too many bad experiences in my first car - a 1975 VW Golf with a Pioneer cassette player.
The Golf ate my New Order "Low-Life" linen boxed cassette.
So I was forced to record my Japan for UK Factory CD with pre-emphasis to a TDK TA60 and insert the contents in the Factory cassette shell - before selling it on!
...it ain't going near a cassette mechanism!
Too many bad experiences in my first car - a 1975 VW Golf with a Pioneer cassette player.
The Golf ate my New Order "Low-Life" linen boxed cassette.
So I was forced to record my Japan for UK Factory CD with pre-emphasis to a TDK TA60 and insert the contents in the Factory cassette shell - before selling it on!
AnilS
pfm Member
And I still have 6 cassette decks to sell, and need to clear a few TDK tapes that have been recorded on once 
I recently sold a Nakamichi and Aiwa here, and both made exceptional recordings and sounded great.
I might put the Yamaha KX580 SE back in my rack, now I have space. Forgot it had the play trim feature. Might have a play.
I recently sold a Nakamichi and Aiwa here, and both made exceptional recordings and sounded great.
I might put the Yamaha KX580 SE back in my rack, now I have space. Forgot it had the play trim feature. Might have a play.
Tony L
Administrator
That is an item I’d love to own! I’d not be afraid to play it unless it is known to be on ‘sticky-shed’ tape, I’ve got a fair few (blank) tapes from that era and they are all fine. Car cassette decks are always best avoided for a variety of reasons (often only one spool, varying humidity, temperature etc), but any decent hi-fi deck should be safe enough.
It is known to be sticky shed - that is why I am nervous!
Jamie
pfm Member
I still have my Denon DRM-500 in the loft. I don't think I have any tapes any more, but couldn't bear to sell it for what little the going rate is (or was, not checked lately). Cost me £180 new in the day. It is pretty much as new (maybe not the belts), all boxed with instructions. Not a pitch to sell, though. It's a keeper!
Werner
pfm Member
That's about the only thing to do with them. TDK metals nearly universally, old or NOS, suffer now from 'white dust syndrome': binder leaches out from the emulsion, forming tiny white crystals all over the tape pack, polluting the deck's tape path. The tape itself becomes brittle and self-destructs upon use.
I was given a new MA-XG last year. I dared running it long enough to observe that it offers a dynamic range of no less than 68dB(*), no Dolby.
(* 400Hz 3% THD MOL minus bias noise over 20kHz bandwidth, A-weighted, Nakamichi CR-4.)
Werner
pfm Member
Rightly so. Just about any deck picked up from its owner will have suffered from use (which is not too bad), and years or decades of standstill and bad storage (murder). Success is unlikely.
There is now an underground of hobbyist service people all over the world picking up worthy decks and refurbishing them. Aforementioned df_genius is a good example. For plenty of models the knowledge exists about where to source the correct belts, gears, pinch rollers, ... Heads are a bigger problem, but often wear is not that bad, or the head can be lapped. The right tools can be found, albeit at a cost.
I myself have refurbished some 40 decks in the past 5 years, most of them Sankyo-based Nakamichis from the BX-125 up to the CR-7. Nearly all of them came out better than new(*).
(* Don't ask: I have nothing in stock and will not sell outside of the EU anyway. And I will not take on work, this is just a hobby which has taken already too much time in the past.)
cj66
pfm Member
Two old Denons here, DRM44HX and a DRS810.
44 gets occasional use and the 810 is in storage. I have approx. 300 cassettes remaining, some are my own compilations, most were copies for car usage and a few only-on-tape-recordings.
For car use the advent of smart phones and BT connectivity as standard took over.
For recording I ran with Mini disc for its lifespan, have a portable and mini size deck remaining.
44 gets occasional use and the 810 is in storage. I have approx. 300 cassettes remaining, some are my own compilations, most were copies for car usage and a few only-on-tape-recordings.
For car use the advent of smart phones and BT connectivity as standard took over.
For recording I ran with Mini disc for its lifespan, have a portable and mini size deck remaining.
Zombie
pfm Member
I played a MA-X from the early 90s (1990 I think), but haven't noticed anything like that
Tony L
Administrator
I’ve got a MX-XG that I bought new at the time and has only been recorded once (band recording) and it still seemed fine last time I played it. I’ve never known any TDK to fail, they seem pretty bomb-proof either cassette or open reel. Japanese tapes in general seem really good.