What was the best tape head?

been pretty impressed with the gx heads on both my akai gx-52's machines..they still make crisp recordings after 20 years. :thmbsp:
 
been pretty impressed with the gx heads on both my akai gx-52's machines..they still make crisp recordings after 20 years. :thmbsp:

that's their advantage - longevity. might not have been the best performer when new compared to other new decks, but they do last forever it would seem, so as others deteriorate, yours won't.

all things being equal. I like a hitachi or other f&f deck in great shape. if not in great shape then there's no advantage to having f&f heads of course.
 
all things being equal. I like a hitachi or other f&f deck in great shape. if not in great shape then there's no advantage to having f&f heads of course.

Most manufacturers switched to Sendust and Ferrite compostion heads because the sendust had much lower eddy current losses at higher frequencies than traditional ferrite heads, although wear was an issue. At normal-expected-life for a tape deck, wear wasn't that big an issue but improved HF response by using Sendust compostion heads was a big plus. Thus the better decks went away from ferrite&ferrite to sendust&ferrite.
 
Akai Super GX Heads

I have two Akai GX912 decks, and contrary to many here, I have had nothing but great results in terms of sonics.

I have used them continuously and have not had any pitting or other wear. They simply sound great.

I would put up my Akai's against any decks out there in terms of sound. And, like I said, the heads are like new.

Maybe I'm just lucky??

My 2 cents worth.

Cheers
 
Most manufacturers switched to Sendust and Ferrite compostion heads because the sendust had much lower eddy current losses at higher frequencies than traditional ferrite heads, although wear was an issue. At normal-expected-life for a tape deck, wear wasn't that big an issue but improved HF response by using Sendust compostion heads was a big plus. Thus the better decks went away from ferrite&ferrite to sendust&ferrite.

interesting! learn something new every day :)
 
I have two Akai GX912 decks, and contrary to many here, I have had nothing but great results in terms of sonics.

I have used them continuously and have not had any pitting or other wear. They simply sound great.

I would put up my Akai's against any decks out there in terms of sound. And, like I said, the heads are like new.

Maybe I'm just lucky??

My 2 cents worth.

Cheers

sorry if I put down akai, they're great decks and very very good heads. but not quite the top end brightness of a couple of the competitors, being really picky. not that the top end is lacking on their better models of course.

PS - I just bought a nak dr-1 fully working (tested) for $50. :-D
 
You might expand this thread a bit, separating cassette heads and reel to reel heads. In cassette decks Nak Crystalloy has what I feel is the best balance of sound vs. wear, but there are many examples of sendust decks that sound wonderful. Yamaha had some sort of plasma coated head in the K900/K950 that was a great playback head. To my ear the glass ferrites were not a neutral when used in R/P, but do sound good in playback only decks.
In reel to reel, those Ampex AG series heads were great. Teac permalloy seemed a bit longer lasting that Pioneer, and Sony lasted longer than both of those. Tandberg crossfield heads, however, run circles around everything sound wise. Great dynamic range, low distortion, natural high end, excellent track to track matching. They would be my top choice, except for the Revox B-77 heads at 3 3/4. I don't know what is different about these heads, but they are extrordinary.
 
I read - can't provide a source - that the ReVox and Studer cassette decks had heads made by Sony in them initially, and then later made by Canon.
Anyone heard this? True or Bunkum?
 
You might expand this thread a bit, separating cassette heads and reel to reel heads. In cassette decks Nak Crystalloy has what I feel is the best balance of sound vs. wear, but there are many examples of sendust decks that sound wonderful. Yamaha had some sort of plasma coated head in the K900/K950 that was a great playback head. To my ear the glass ferrites were not a neutral when used in R/P, but do sound good in playback only decks.
In reel to reel, those Ampex AG series heads were great. Teac permalloy seemed a bit longer lasting that Pioneer, and Sony lasted longer than both of those. Tandberg crossfield heads, however, run circles around everything sound wise. Great dynamic range, low distortion, natural high end, excellent track to track matching. They would be my top choice, except for the Revox B-77 heads at 3 3/4. I don't know what is different about these heads, but they are extrordinary.

Even though Tandberg used X-field technology before the TD 20 series, it had nothing to do with the material used for the heads.
The 10XD and 9100X used ferrit head material for the PB head.
Somewhere I read that they changed it to ferrit for those models which implies that something else was used before that. maybe that was permaloy?

"dolph"
 
Even though Tandberg used X-field technology before the TD 20 series, it had nothing to do with the material used for the heads.
The 10XD and 9100X used ferrit head material for the PB head.
Somewhere I read that they changed it to ferrit for those models which implies that something else was used before that. maybe that was permaloy?

"dolph"

the older Tandberg heads was made of material that had same short lifespan as permalloy - i don't think the called them anything special

the series before 9100 would be the 4xxx and 6xxx in my book - had a 6000x that ate both record and pb heads in less than 2000hr
 
It's funny, but Tandberg used the reverse formula for their cassette and R2R machines. The TD-10 and TD-20 series they used Ferrite heads for playback, but a head that looks-like permaloy for recording (although the tandberg record heads seemed to have extraordinary life, if they were permaloy).

The TD-9000s and prior all seemed to all have permaloy heads, from what I have seen.

But on the TD-3014A, they used a Ferrite record head, and what appears to be a permaloy (but it might be sendust, I can't tell) playback head. My TCD-440A also appears to share the same heads as my TCD-3014A, but the brochure for a TCD-340 advertizes it as having a ferrite playback head.
 
In very general terms:
The longer lasting the worse sounding.

"dolph"

hahaha, it is likely to be true for the more common tape heads, yes.

I'm not sure where fancy single-manufacturer-developed heads like those by Nak fit in there though. Supposedly best of both worlds.
 
hahaha, it is likely to be true for the more common tape heads, yes.

I'm not sure where fancy single-manufacturer-developed heads like those by Nak fit in there though. Supposedly best of both worlds.

I would maybe call it close to the best compromise.

"dolph"
 
Series before 9100x was actually the 3300X/3400X/3500X/3600XD, similar-sized 7" machines but not yet full-logic. They followed the 3000X/4000X/6000X.

The older 9000X (first-gen full-logic) overlapped both of those series. It was added a year or two before the older 3000X/4000X/6000X were phased out and continued for a couple of years as a flagship piece above the 3300X/3400X/3500X/3600XD, before being replaced by the 9100X.

John

the older Tandberg heads was made of material that had same short lifespan as permalloy - i don't think the called them anything special

the series before 9100 would be the 4xxx and 6xxx in my book - had a 6000x that ate both record and pb heads in less than 2000hr
 
I have used them continuously and have not had any pitting or other wear. They simply sound great.

I would put up my Akai's against any decks out there in terms of sound. And, like I said, the heads are like new.

Maybe I'm just lucky??

My 2 cents worth.

Cheers

IMHO dust, dirt and tape shed-off is what causes most head damage (outside of normal wear). Clean tape should if nothing else prolong the life of your GX heads.
 
Best heads of all for wearing were the old Ampex heads on the professional machines. And you could even relap them 5 or 6 times to boot. Nothing wore as well. And their frequency response was excellent.
 
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