wjm@whuxk.UUCP (07/26/83)
Some comments of general interest to the net that touch on a few points of
my reply to "HELP ..."
Metal tape, admittedly has the best frequency response, signal to noise ratio,
and overload tolerance of any type of cassette tape (I've pushed recordings on
metal cassettes to +3 or +5 dB and gotten good results) BUT it is the most
expensive form of tape. In most cases, a good grade of CrO2 tape (from a
reputable manufacturer like Maxell, TDK, Fuji, BASF, or 3M (Scotch), of course)
will do just as well and is considerably cheaper. Here is my general guide to
tapes:
TYPE Maxell line TDK line Discount Price (C90) Use
Metal MX MA $6.99 Audiophile disk dubs
Live recording
1st line CrO2 XL-IIS SA-X $3.99 Most classical dubs
2nd line CrO2 UDXL-II SA $2.49 Most pop dubs
FM recording
Voice grade D $ .99 voice only
It really doesn't pay to buy better tape than the quality of the source material
Personally, given that most of my taping falls in the XL-IIS or SA-X class
I tend to buy them by the box (I've got my tape deck's CrO2 position set up
for XL-IIS) and use them for all dubs, since in case (12 cassettes for Maxell,
10 for TDK) lots they're almost as cheap as UDXL-II.
As for tape deck companies, Nakamichi is the top of the line - and now they've
got some "popular priced" models as well. At the high end, their competitors
are Revox and Teac - and Teac's machines are among the best in the $300-500
class. Akai gives you a good deck for the money. Most reputable tape deck
companies' $300+ machines will produce CrO2 tapes on XL-IIS that will sound
good on an Alpine 7347 (which is one of the best car decks on the market).
To take full advantage of its capabilities, the home deck should also have
dbx noise reduction (or you should shell out an extra $150 for a dbx NR-40).
I agree with the demise of Harmon-Kardon (unfortunately). H-K used to be
one of the finest companies in the business (with their early Citation series
of components, for example) but unfortunately, their newer products seem to
be marked by poor reliability, poorer performance per $$ than their Japanese
competitors (especially Sony and Yamaha), and unusual circuit designs which
tend to be problem prone.
Bill Mitchell
Bell Laboratories - Whippany NJ
(whuxk!wjm)
Disclaimer - the opinions expressed here are my personal opinions and not
necessarily those of my employer, Bell Laboratories.