Tascam reintroducing high bias cassettes

[thepsychedelicdollhouse]

I hope nobody is expecting these to be reasonably priced.

My guess is $6 per.

[digitaldrummer]

I was thinking more like 3 easy payments of $5.99 each (for one cassette)

[shedshrine]

While at the record store about a month back I was going through the new vinyl arrivals and working my way over to the dollar bin section. Next to it they had started a dollar a cassette bin. Among the beat up label issues stuff was a half dozen or so *old school gold and black Maxell XL II High Bias Cr02 90 minute tapes with hand-written labels of recorded symphony concert broadcasts and the corresponding station call letters. The cases were basically pristine and the tapes looked brand new as well. An image of some older guy sitting with his pipe sitting in a high backed chair listening to his prized Nakamichi came to mind.

I took one out of its case and spooled past the leader and there was no curling at all, flat as a ruler. These were minty, unlike my own mix tapes from back in the day that were baked and stretched to perfection from years of being left in hot running car decks for weeks at a time.
For a buck a piece I bought the lot.

*the decal around the reel window is gold foil with black stripes. As opposed to the newer ones in the gray cases with printed gold lettering. Just getting the facts straight man.

[thepsychedelicdollhouse]

While at the record store about a month back I was going through the new vinyl arrivals and working my way over to the dollar bin section. Next to it they had started a dollar a cassette bin. Among the beat up label issues stuff was a half dozen or so *old school gold and black Maxell XL II High Bias Cr02 90 minute tapes with hand-written labels of recorded symphony concert broadcasts and the corresponding station call letters. The cases were basically pristine and the tapes looked brand new as well. An image of some older guy sitting with his pipe sitting in a high backed chair listening to his prized Nakamichi came to mind.

I took one out of its case and spooled past the leader and there was no curling at all, flat as a ruler. These were minty, unlike my own mix tapes from back in the day that were baked and stretched to perfection from years of being left in hot running car decks for weeks at a time.
For a buck a piece I bought the lot.

*the decal around the reel window is gold foil with black stripes. As opposed to the newer ones in the gray cases with printed gold lettering. Just getting the facts straight man.

I stay away from 90 min tape.

[shedshrine]

I get it. 60 or shorter are recommended. 60 are thicker, the 90 has slightly thinner backing but the same magnetic layer thickness. If you use an old 90 that has been re recorded a bunch and used in cars and boom boxes, you are probably asking for heartache. As long as you're using reputable brand new tape, I've found that as long as the 90 is packed loosely, in other words not stretched and tightened up, and never been used in a car, I've had no issues. It's got to spin freely front to back so as to not stress the motors. ONly new tapes. It's worked for me, and I've never had a motor fail. but of course I'm flouting convention so don't listen to me. 60's are the way to go. Unless you use 90's.

[markjazzbassist]

I stay away from 90 min tape.

same here

[shedshrine]

I stay away from 90 min tape.

same here

..and soon David, Jack and Mike will chime in. et tu brute?

Your replies gave me pause. I had to reflect a moment. Starting out with cassettes, when I had more time than money, it was much more about getting bang for the buck. a 90 gave you 33% more recording time. And if you had multiple versions of a tune you might be more likely to keep them together on one tape.

Now in 2021, having just spend several hundred to get a Tascam 238S back to spec with recapped Dolby S daughterboards and a recapped motor, it would definitely behoove me to follow the manufacturer guidelines to keep these old beasts happy and healthy. I did pickup three cases of 10 piece 60's back when Quantegy was dying. A box of 10 Maxell 60 pros, a box of 10 TDK pro 60s, and a case of 10 QUantegy 60's.

the transport definitely breathes better with 60's, both sides move at a more even speed throughout, nice thick tape to keep things stable. By all means use the 60's if you can.

[floid]

By the mid aughts sources for cassette local to me had dried up to virtually nothing. The local cd store had the grey Maxell XLII shedshrine mentioned, only available in 90 min. Since it was the only option, I used quite a bit of it in my mt8x, 238, and 246. Never had any problems.
I recently got my mt8x running again and have done transfers of all the tapes I had from that time. I'll admit I haven't done the best job of storing them, due to a couple of moves where I didn't really have anywhere safe/ideal to keep them, but they still mostly play fine.
I did erase a couple and try some fresh tracking on them, though, and found the results to be noticeably lower in quality compared to fresh tape.

[floid]

I hope nobody is expecting these to be reasonably priced.

My guess is $6 per.

From what I heard, at one point Tascam was listing the expected price at something like $40/per, but then quickly walked that back claiming "a glitch in the system, correct price to follow shortly." I don't know the latest on that though.

[The Scum]

At one point (2013), Tascam were owned by Gibson. You know, the purveyors of the $7000 Les Paul for Tone Dentists. So a $50 cassette doesn't seem outlandish.

But apparently Tascam was spun off on the 2018 re-org. So maybe they'll be reasonable?

[jacksaturn]

..and soon David, Jack and Mike will chime in. et tu brute?

Ha! I actually wasn't going to comment because so much of this thread is pure opinion, but since I've been called out, I suppose I'll share mine as well...

90 minute tapes, to my mind, are fine to use in a cassette 4-track recorder. My understanding is that anything *more* than 90 minutes might provide extra wear on the torque of your average 4-track's tape mechanism, but I don't think it's *that* serious of a thing to be worried about. Especially if someone is using a 238 - that mechanism is robust enough that even using 120 minute tapes is not going to decrease the lifespan.

But then again, I also think Type I tapes are fine to use, if that's what's available and the user is okay with it. It won't damage the machine, and all you're missing is some rolled-off high end.

I also highly encourage people to pick up cheap pre-recorded Type II cassettes like you did. I routinely obtain full collections from old music lovers who would do one-pass recordings of their LP's or CD's on to Type II's; there have been a few occasions where I got 100+ Type II cassettes for pennies or literally nothing, simply because the previous owner no longer had a use for them. Like I say, most of them were single-pass recordings and had been lovingly cared for. Some delicate swiping with my handheld Radio Shack demagnetizing unit and they're good to go a second round! Realistically, there will not be a significant decline in the quality of the record/playback if the tape has been fully bulk erased/demagnetized first. Type II tapes are unlikely to ever come back in great quantities, and buying a NOS cassette for $10+ when you can have perfectly fine recorded-used-once tape for $1 or less? There's no question in my mind.

My overall feeling comes down to this: if one is still using the tape format in 2022 and they're looking for pristine results, why not upgrade from cassette to open reel? To me, the choice between using a 4-track/8-track cassette recorder vs. a DAW is not (all) about sound quality, it's about a different workflow and an appreciation of the little quirks you get out of the process, be they lo-fi or otherwise.

Lastly, on the real subject of this thread: the Tascam limited edition Type II's that are coming in 2022.

Will I buy one, or a few? Absolutely. They're a cool collector's item.

Will I record on them? No, because I can reuse all those aforementioned pre-recorded tapes. I'm not a toy collector, but I also wouldn't buy a still-sealed early '80s Star Wars figure and take it out of the box to play with it!

Should Tascam charge $5 or $50 for them? Within reason, they should charge whatever they want - they're meant to commemorate Tascam's 50th anniversary, and not to be seen as a new, ongoing source for tape.

Jack

[Scodiddly]

I don't have a horse in this fight, but I'm intrigued by the question of motor wear / damage from different length tapes and how it might work.

What exactly causes the problem? Which motor(s)?

What would happen if you simply cut 30 minutes of tape from a 90 minute cassette?

[shedshrine]

Here you go Scott, from the Tascam 238 manual. *Which gives it's tacit blessing of the 90 minute cassettes at the end..

..and soon David, Jack and Mike will chime in. et tu brute?

Ha! I actually wasn't going to comment because so much of this thread is pure opinion, but since I've been called out, I suppose I'll share mine as well...
Jack

Yay Jack! It had been awhile, so I ran a 60 and a 90 when I got home tonight just to confirm. Again, we're talking good condition 9os here, There was no slowing down or any sense of additional strain coming from the motors swapping out 60s and 90s. They spun right up and stopped on a dime running variously through the controls. Every time. And as I recall when I used to spend a lot more time hunched over a tracker, punching in and out and listening back for hours using various tape lengths, you notice if anything strange is happening. Immediately.

[markjazzbassist]

for the record, i don't frown upon or look down upon those that use 60+ minute tapes, i just don't use them myself. i apologize if my comment came off that way. i have nothing but love for you Shed.

use whatever you can. NOS supply is drying up, so use em if you got em! i find the 90 minute tapes are coveted by the audiophile crowd though because they can fit one LP on Side A, and one on Side B, double album. they don't like the 60 min tapes because they have leftover room on them. so i find the 90 min tapes to be more expensive believe it or not.

hell i'm so cheap i bought 46 (yes 46, not 45) minute tapes and 30 minute tapes, because no one wants those and i can get them cheaper. lol. that's about 1-2 song ideas per tape but i'm saving money baby!

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I'm not really evangelical about the machines or the tape used. I like the work flow more than anything else. Linear recording with no screens. I'm most drawn to the format because of the low price point but I also really enjoy the fact that what you put in isn't exactly what comes back out. Sometimes that's good, other times not.
If I'm just demoing I'll use just about any kind of tape. I've used type 1 and 2, 30, 60 and 90 min. New, used, whatever.
If I'm using the format for proper work, soundtrack stuff or my own proper recording, I want consistent results so I'll use type 2, 60's. Thankfully I have a decent stock.
If I need better sound or more flexibility I'll move to the 16 track reel to reel or Pro Tools.

If my only option for tape was $40 limited edition nonsense I'd be working on something else.

It's a tool like any other. Sometimes it's the right tool for the job. Sometimes it isn't.