what is the best cassette tape maker in your experience?

hey but if youre a fan of some of the "cheap" cassettes i listed, dont get mad. I was just reeling off some makers other than the more popular makers.

Maxell for me the XLII-S was my go to back in my cassette days.

They still make them????
Back in the day I was a TDK guy.

TDK was my “go to” brand back when I owned a good cassette deck. I used the Metal tapes for my best recordings and the tape just under them for my everyday use.  That’s 40-50 years ago for me. I later got into DAT recorders, and I had the original Sony ES model.  In 1990, it was around a grand.  It became a boat anchor some 20 years later.

As I remember I always got good results with Maxell tapes in my Nakamihi ZX7.  That was decades ago so I must admit I really do not Schitt from the Siminola Cartel about the subject now.  I don't even know why I am posting.  I shouldn't have had that third Bushmills.

Maxell and TDK back in the day, I sold audio equipment and Nak tape decks, they were the only ones to use.

Deadhead nailed it.

Metal…….

I always liked TDK over Maxwell. The same for R2R. Flatter measured freq. response

For me, TDK beat Maxell every time. I did like the TDK Audua when budget was tight.

TDK Metal with dbx noise reduction. Some may disagree, but boy o' boy the dynamics were awesome!

Maxell and Fuji.  Denon also made a great tape.  "That's" was a brand that unfortunately came in to late to the game, but was excellent also.

Maxell XLII late manufacture and XLII-S.

I've always thought of those low end tapes as pretty much junk.  I tried a few, but never had any luck.  Major dropouts, crinkled tape in the middle, rewinding and having the tape break off the spool, etc.

Anyone remember DAK tapes?  Probably the worst ever.

I bought many cassettes this year, all of them are still sealed.
My best is this TDK and I think it was the best TDK ever made! 

No I never bought cheap tapes as I plan to keep them and didn't want to lose material.

i got some k-mart brand and tonemaster cassettes off of ebay to try them out. 

havent tried em yet.


if they dont sound good, i dont really care. i got 2 tonemasters and 3 kmarts for 6.00 

both 60 min tapes

If you guys are like me and still taping, this company bought all the remaining Maxell XLIIS bulk tape, (on pretty huge pancake reels) and you can order almost any length of tape.  This is one of my favorite tapes and have ordered quite a few and all have been excellent so far.

https://www.duplication.ca/maxell-xlii-s-high-bias-cobalt-audio-tape-in-hidef-chrome-notch-shell-tab...

@mofimadness thanks, checking it out now.

Back I’m my cassette days I used tdk and maxell. I had two different tandberg cassette decks. In my experience, I always repacked the tapes before using for the first time. Ie fast forward and rewind them once before first use. It made a difference, especially drop outs. Regards.😎

i had the best results with TDK at all levels. 2nd place was maxell/BASF/sony.

If you guys are like me and still taping, this company bought all the remaining Maxell XLIIS bulk tape, (on pretty huge pancake reels) and you can order almost any length of tape. This is one of my favorite tapes and have ordered quite a few and all have been excellent so far.

https://www.duplication.ca/maxell-xlii-s-high-bias-cobalt-audio-tape-in-hidef-chrome-notch-shell-tab...

This cassette body is awful even if they use good tape!

Genuine Maxell type-II tapes available on ebay for $5 each (sealed). I bought many this year. 

This cassette body is awful even if they use good tape!

I haven't had any problems with them.  Maybe you should try one before you comment on something you aren't familiar with?

I have blank cassette tapes from many manufacturers, including Tdk, Maxell, BASF, Realistic, Sony, memorex....bought mostly on ebay. I tend to like both the maxell’s and tdk’s the best. My Aiwa f770 has the ability to read any tape formulation and adjust the proper parameters to suit each tape automatically. It was before its time and still going strong.

I haven't had any problems with them. Maybe you should try one before you comment on something you aren't familiar with?

I am quite familiar with cassette tapes and remember very well anti resonance ceramic body made by SONY and others like TDK or Maxell - they always made excellent tapes, you will not find cheap plastic body on any of their top models. The cassette body is important too, not just a tape, here is more from TDK. Since 1979 you can find cast-metal frame used for reference TDK cassettes.  
 
You example is very bad, because the cassette body is cheap clear plastic even if the tape is Maxell, their price is almost $3 for this.

But anyone who's looking for tapes can find and buy genuine Maxell (II) for $5 (new old stock). This year I bought nearly 50 top quality cassette tapes, from working horses like Maxell UDII or XLII (XLIIS) to some high-end like open reel cassettes with metal frame from Teac (with maxell tape) and TDK MA-XG.  

It's very easy to find NOS tapes today, some of them are still inexpensive. 

I believe ATR is back in the cassette tape business, as are perhaps one or two others. I used to purchase Maxell UD or XL tapes and some TDK. I used them back when I had a rock band, and would record our demos and some rehearsals on those with a Harmon-Kardon cassette deck. I still have both the tapes and the deck.

I was always happy with high-bias Memorex

TDK and Maxell were equal in my NAK 482. If I wanted the best recording I used the TDK MA-R. I still have a few of them they are a metal body cassette. The MA-R really performed well using my dbx 224 with my NAK.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649013717-unobtanium_tkd_mar_60_audio_cassette_for_collectors_of...

Yes, TDK MA-XG green is the best TDK and second best cassette ever available. The very best is Maxell Metal Vertex. Both for Nakamichi and Tandberg decks. 

In my youth, after experimenting with different brands and formulas, I settled on TDK MA cassettes as the best performance to price ratio cassettes for use in my Akai GX F95 deck.  I taped most of my new lp purchases with this combo and always had excellent results.

Yeah, those "best" are over $100 each now