what is the best cassette tape maker in your experience?


what is the best cassette tape maker in your experience? 

if you saw my last thread, i said my personal favorites were TDK and Fuji, but what are the best in your experience?



and also, do you think a cheap type 1 cassette tape sounds that much worse than a more expensive type 1?

by cheap i don't necessarily mean quality, just the inexpensive kind you would find in a K-mart or 7-11 back in the day.

some of these names might ring a bell - Tonemaster, Top Crest, Onn, Zenith, Scotch, 3M
leemurray2007
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.
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.