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Maxell UD And TDK AD Tapes

braxus

braxus

FeCr Type III
Im on the hunt for a bunch of these. Was bidding on a 1983 Maxell UD from Dr. Bo and swiftly got outbid. Im going to try and snipe it- but why do these tapes go for so much on Ebay? I mean you can get TDK AR and Maxell XLI tapes for less then what UD and AD command. I don't understand why.

Someone fill me in on this one. I just BIN'd 3 paks of TDK AR for $5 a tape, so does any of the UD pricing make sense?
 
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Cassettes? I have AD's and UD's. I've found that UD's hold up better physically, though the AD's have better high end, but TDK tape tends to stretch a little over time, affecting the sound, no matter how anal retentive your care of them was. I've noticed that maxell chromes I bought 3 years ago for $2.50 apiece are going from $5 to $17 dollars on the bay, but Ill buy a new CD recorder before I'll pay that.
 
I'm guessing that since UD open reel tape is sought after lustily, it's spread to the cassette. I'm curious about the UR tape, as they're reasonably priced.Never heard of AR until now.
 
The TDK AR and AR-X tapes were great. I stopped buying SA once it tried these when they came out. The AD was definately worse than AR both in terms of FR and hiss.

I don't know about Maxell UD - never seen or used one, but it only takes 1 or 2 crazy people for prices to go sky high.

My local supermarket still stocks TDK D60 and 90 and Maxell UR90 for almost $1 a piece. I should perhaps start buying their stock gradually, like 4-6 tapes every visit, so I can force them think there's a market and restock regularly. But I have too many cassettes already.
 
I think I'm going to buy some UR, as it's a matter of time 'til it's gone, too. Or rerecord my old tapes- they're still in good shape.
 
I recently purchased a 12 pack of Maxell UR 60 Normal bias tapes and well aside from them not being High Bias (which would have made them even better) they are pretty damn good, well worth the price.
 
I have UDs from the '70s that are still going strong. As far as construction they were top notch, metal screws, really good pressure pad, proverbial head cleaning leader tape.

Sound wise you can do better but they do sound fine. Not as good as TDK SA though.
 
If you don't have a problem with used tape you can get them pretty cheap at the thrift. I have seen lots of UDXLII's I have yet to have a problem over recording.
 
The only problem I have with used tape is FINDING it, haven't seen any at my thrifts , yet. I've just spent $ 70 on Akai chromes and Maxell UR's, so I should be set for life. The UR's DO sound good.
 
think i have a sealed UD90 in my stash..also one i recorded on years ago..its held up well soundwise..much better than the ad90's i have which still play well but seem thin sounding in comparison
..i think tdk ar90 still beats most vintage ferrics for sound quality,dynamic headroom and longevity though.. if i remember rightly you could push an ar90 to about +6 db without overloading the tape (dependent on the music content presumably)
funnily enough i find the humble tdk d90 makes for a good everyday tape..much better than the newer maxell ur90's... the old ur90's seemed better to me..
another very good ferric is the older sony hf-s 90...as good as a tdk ar 90 with a tad less dynamic headroom..

the prices some NOS cassettes are fetching these days makes me glad i began stashing a few 'odd' tapes over the last few years..:D
 
Im bidding on some used tapes at the moment. I refuse to use bottom of the line tapes today which includes UR, D, HF, and so on. I actually got rid of all my bottom feeder tapes for the most part. Anyway I'll see if I get more of these.
 
The only difference I'm finding between vintage UD and modern UR is the UD has a slightly better shell construction. I taped my garage party with UR on an old Technics deck I just picked up , and am quite a happy camper!:beerchug::guitar:Great headroom, and high end. I'll have to try it with Dolby C and DBX next to make sure.
 
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