barbaral (12/23/82)
I recorded some music on Ampex 90 minute tape cassettes. After playing them several times (about 5 times), the tapes developed alot of friction, and the tape deck could hardly turn the tape anymore. I bought a package of 3 tapes, and had this problem with 2 of them. Fortunately, Fred Meyer's store is good about returns, and I took them back. Has anyone else had this problem with Ampex? I thought it was a fairly decent brand of tape. I've had better luck with Memorex and TDK.
bill (12/27/82)
#R:tekid:-68700:hp-pcd:7900002:000:1276 hp-pcd!bill Dec 26 16:25:00 1982 I haven't used Ampex tapes for quite a while, but about a year ago I had a problem with a 3-pack of Memorex cassettes that, coincidentally, also came from Fred Meyer. They apparently had a bad oxide formulation or something -- music would fade dramatically in and out. Also, my tape deck ate a Memorex cassette that jammed on me once; since then I started buying only tapes that have a shell that screwed together -- not bonded. Anyway, I switched to Maxell UD-XLII for a while, which was okay, and for the past six months or so have been using TDK SA-90. I have never had a problem with either Maxell or TDK; a few days ago, a friend gave me a blank Memorex tape to record an album for her, and after hearing the results, I think the TDK's sound quite a bit better. Anyway anyway, I won't buy Memorex; Maxell and TDK are quite affordable, sound good, and have never given me any problems. (Also, for what it's worth, the SA-90's come with a set of neat little stick-on cassette labels for Side A, Side B, and a spare. I hate having to write directly on the cassette ...) Has anyone else had any bad experiences with any of these tapes? Also, can anyone offer a general ranking of the various brands of cassettes regarding quality, reliability, etc? - hp-pcd!bill
avsdS:avsdT:jon (12/29/82)
In response to tekid!barbaral's inquiry about Ampex 90 minute cassette tapes I can offer a little information. First of all, although I work for Ampex, I have nothing to do with tape production; however, I have a lot of Ampex (and other manufacturers') tapes. Second of all, Ampex no longer makes con- sumer tape. In general, I've found Ampex cassette tapes to be of quite satis- factory quality. They really aren't high-end tapes and it's not fair to compare them (even Grand Master) to TDK SAs or Maxell UDXLs. If they all were the same price, I'd take the SAs or UDXLs. The Ampex EDR and ELN series are fine tapes and offer excellent value. I use them in my car and Walkman primarily but also at home and am perfectly satisfied. The Grand Master series are also good tapes but perhaps don't offer as good a cost/benefit ratio. Grand Master tapes do have two sets of labels for those interested. (The newer GM tape labels leave plenty of room to write, whereas the old ones didn't.) I have over 70 Ampex tapes and have never had a jamming problem. If you are a critical listener you probably ought to stick with TDK & Maxell. Personally, I think Fuji tapes outperform TDK & Maxell in the $3-$3.75 category. I also think it's ridiculous to use $3+ tapes in a car or Walkman and the intended purpose should be mentioned when recommending a tape. Ampex had a number of tape lines out and some are better than others. I have noticed that some lots are of lesser quality than others. Quality control seems to be much higher for Japanese brands. My advice is to by one tape and try it out and if it works OK go back and buy a bunch. While they're still available, Ampex tapes are a very good value for the $$$. -jonathan hahn Ampex Corp. P.S. This is unrelated, but once I bought a Memorex High Bias tape and it only had 3 inches of tape in it! I sent it back and got a replacement with a letter saying "...after close examina- tion, we have determined that the cassette you sent us was defec- tive..."
jwb (12/30/82)
I have been stung twice (though not in the last year or two) by BASF tapes, not the cheap ones but top of the line. I say not in the last year or two because I have not bought any, not because they may or may not have improved. Essentially, I have found these tapes play fairly in a home type player but either run slow or squeek in several different auto decks, particularly Pioneer and Sanyo. Cleaning the heads will allow about 1 or 2 plays (some- times only 1/2 play). I unfortunately recorded a number of very important (to me) tapes, including off air and other nonreproducible material on these tapes and have almost made a career of trying to recover the material which is on them. I have had no such trouble with TDK-SA or Maxell UDXL-I or II. I have also not had this problem with Scotch (except it doesn't sound too well generally). Sometimes rewinding the BASF tapes on a home deck will allow a play or two on the auto deck. I think this problem is a combination of tape tension and oxide build up on the heads but it has not been isolated to one or two or three or four auto type decks. I will not buy another BASF tape.
bill (12/30/82)
I also have been burned by BASF. The mechanism is extremely unreliable; I let a dealer talk me into 10 of the lousy things recently, and two were unusable out of the box. Although they exchanged them, I would never trust anything of value to a BASF cassette. I have used Larksong Cassettes (typeI only), made somewhere in California [if anyone wants address, send me mail] with great success -- no failures in 200+ cassettes, nice boxes and labels, quiet, and relatively inexpensive if you order with several other people (quantity 180 assorted, C60 is around $1.25 last time) bill cox bill@uwisc ...seismo!uwvax!bill