thomas (11/02/82)
Has anybody tried the Maxell XL-IIS tapes? They're supposed to be a "whole new technology", etc. They use "epitaxial crystals", whatever those are. Anybody out there know more about this? Thanks. =Spencer (harpo!utah-cs!thomas hplabs!utah-cs!thomas)
burris (11/03/82)
#R:utah-gr:-61000:ihlpb:4000015: 0:261 ihlpb!burris Nov 2 1:36:00 1982 I have heard the Maxell XL-S tape and it sounds good! I am getting a case of them tomorrow to use with my hk400xm. I will let you know how they work out. They are supposed to be noticably better than the UD-XL II's. Dave Burris ihlpb!burris BTL - Naperville
wjm@lcuxc.UUCP (B. Mitchell) (03/01/85)
The Roman Numerals in some Maxell tape types (as well as some other brands,
notably TDK and BASF) refer to the IEC (Interational Electrotechnical
Commission) tape classes (which determine the bias and equalization category
for the tape - note that there can be considerable variation in optimal bias
within a class, which is why one should have one's tape deck optimized for
the brand one uses if your tape deck doesn't adjust bias automatically)
Class I - Ferric (normal) bias - 120 us EQ
II - Chrome or Chrome Equivalent (high) bias - 70 us EQ
III - the now defunct ferrichrome tapes
IV - Metal bias - 70 us EQ
Note that Class II tapes generally require more bias than Class I's and that
Class IV (metal) tapes require considerably more bias than either I's or II's
With that background information, some details on Maxell tape labels.
Maxell traditionally makes its premium tape in both Class I and Class II
formulas, and designates them (whatever)-I and (whatever)-II. The tapes
are generally of equal quality, although one is designed to be used with
Ferric Bias and 120 us EQ, and the other with Chrome Bias and 70 us EQ.
The original premium Maxell tape (which came out in the mid-70's) was
UDXL-I and UDXL-II. Maxell still makes this tape as their "second-line" tape,
a bit cheaper than the newer versions at the top of their line.
This was replaced by XL-I and XL-II (which have now been discontinued) and
they in turn by XL-IS and XL-IIS.
In 1984, Maxell upgraded XL-IS and XL-IIS, although they did not change the
name. You can tell the new varieties since the new versions have primarily
metallic labels (silver for XL-IS and gold for XL-IIS) while the older
versions had predominantly black labels.
While we're on the subject of premium Maxell tape, Maxell still calls their
metal tape (which is the best tape they put in a cassette) MX, although it
has gone through several packaging changes in the past few years.
Several caveats:
1) All Maxell Tapes with Roman numerals use the Roman numeral to denote the
tape class - A tape with a 'II' in the name will be a high bias, 70 us EQ tape
(despite what an earlier article posted to this group claimed).
2) Be sure to get genuine Maxell tape. There are counterfeit versions of
most high quality tape brands (Maxell, TDK, 3M, BASF, to name a few) out there
and they don't perform like the genuine thing - look for printing quality,
quality of the cassette, and at the tape itself. Genuine high grade tape
(regardless of the manufacturer or tape class) is well polished, has straight
edges, and tends to be a very dark brown (there are some lighter brown ferric
tapes, however).
You can get good discounts on high grade tape, so shop around and know what
you're buying.
Regards,
Bill Mitchell ({ihnp4!}lcuxc!wjm)