lorne
Sonic Lizard
What's Next? The Current State of the Art
Cassette tape enthusiasts continue to get by on dwindling supplies and NOS. But what's next? Assuming that the old and favoured coatings are out of production, or soon to be so, how will we get the best bang for our buck in a market where older tape stock will be at a premium?
I thought this was interesting. It's a quotation from the Wikipedia article entitled Compact Cassette. The relevant facts are referenced against a pubished engineering paper:
My understanding is that the most commonly available tape coating these days is cobalt adsorbed iron oxide, commonly referred to as Avilyn. It was introduced by TDK in 1974. Now does this mean that ALL current production is Avilyn? Does this mean, for example, that if you order some TDK SA/SM or whatever 'chromium' Type II tape, you are in fact buying the old badge, but implementing a substitute coating? Perhaps more likely it is made in a country that allows manufacture, and is sold in locations where environmental law does not prohibit it. Environmental disaster due to heavy metals has been tragically impressed upon Japan. All the tape wrappers I currently see in Japanese stores omit the coating description and are only marked as either Type I or II. I think that we can safely assume that any tape that is made or sold in Japan is going to be Avilyn.
Be that as it may, just what are the comparisons? I would love to find some comprehensive information about how the various coatings compare in performance with respect to dynamic range, noise, retentivity, bleed through and so on. And I am very curious as to whether or not we can make up any possible lost ground on the older coatings by using high end recorders that include a calibration facility.
Some comprehensive answers to these questions may help some of us in our efforts to keep cassette recording a healthy alternative. I’ll be using new stock come what may because I have a lot of it. But I'd like to be aware of what I am doing in my recording. Over the last two years, I've heard and read a lot of subjective commentary, and I have pored over spec sheets, which to tell the truth don't mean a lot to me (despite effort to understand them better).
I have favourites too. But what do a user’s predilections mean? The systems keep changing. Machines come in and go out of adjustment. Recording techniques vary, and source material is hardly consistent.
Any ideas?
Cassette tape enthusiasts continue to get by on dwindling supplies and NOS. But what's next? Assuming that the old and favoured coatings are out of production, or soon to be so, how will we get the best bang for our buck in a market where older tape stock will be at a premium?
I thought this was interesting. It's a quotation from the Wikipedia article entitled Compact Cassette. The relevant facts are referenced against a pubished engineering paper:
A Japanese site mentions that some coatings were discontinued due to environmental concerns — presumably consistent with the fact that chromium is considered undesirable in land fills and so on. So it is just possible that local laws and ordinances prohibit certain coatings. This would go some distance in explaining why we can’t get X in Y location, but Z has the product.
My understanding is that the most commonly available tape coating these days is cobalt adsorbed iron oxide, commonly referred to as Avilyn. It was introduced by TDK in 1974. Now does this mean that ALL current production is Avilyn? Does this mean, for example, that if you order some TDK SA/SM or whatever 'chromium' Type II tape, you are in fact buying the old badge, but implementing a substitute coating? Perhaps more likely it is made in a country that allows manufacture, and is sold in locations where environmental law does not prohibit it. Environmental disaster due to heavy metals has been tragically impressed upon Japan. All the tape wrappers I currently see in Japanese stores omit the coating description and are only marked as either Type I or II. I think that we can safely assume that any tape that is made or sold in Japan is going to be Avilyn.
Be that as it may, just what are the comparisons? I would love to find some comprehensive information about how the various coatings compare in performance with respect to dynamic range, noise, retentivity, bleed through and so on. And I am very curious as to whether or not we can make up any possible lost ground on the older coatings by using high end recorders that include a calibration facility.
Some comprehensive answers to these questions may help some of us in our efforts to keep cassette recording a healthy alternative. I’ll be using new stock come what may because I have a lot of it. But I'd like to be aware of what I am doing in my recording. Over the last two years, I've heard and read a lot of subjective commentary, and I have pored over spec sheets, which to tell the truth don't mean a lot to me (despite effort to understand them better).
I have favourites too. But what do a user’s predilections mean? The systems keep changing. Machines come in and go out of adjustment. Recording techniques vary, and source material is hardly consistent.
Any ideas?
The TDK on the left side, the Type II CDing 2 sounds like something they market here too, but its in different packaging and I can't think of it off hand. 
