I've been playing and comparing different versions of the (almost) legendary TDK SA and I'm impressed with the performance of even the 2nd generation of this cassette, that comes back from... 1976! I've recorded 'So far away' by Dire straits from a mint vinyl directly using my Pioneer CT-F1250 which is from the same era and the performance. I just did a careful calibration of the tape using the excellent embedded capabilities of the F1250 and tried to set the levels accordingly. The result you can hear it (I attached an 320kbps MP3 file) or download a hi-res 96kHz uncompressed FLAC file from here.
Hey , Nice looking machine you've got there I've always had good luck with the TDK C90........ Chrome !!
Very nice, Hugo. Also, recorded without NR. The CT-F1250 likes TDKs of that vintage. I had just been listening to "Brothers In Arms" yesterday, on my Akai GX-F31. Nando.
Very curious, Nando. I've never seen a prerecorded tape with that look. Seems like a TDK D with a homemade label. I've never heard myself an AKAI deck. A friend had a GX95 and told me he didn't like its sound but he had a very special taste for the sound, so I can't say. I've read in an old review of an amaerican magazine that the GX99 was very special for its features but not for its sound... so not so positive comments about AKAI decks, but I've never heard one. Also, playing (something recorded in another deck) is one thing and record is a different one. So how would you rate yours?
I picked up the tape at the second-hand store along with a few other tapes. Whoever recorded it did a fine job. I put the question out on the TH forum some time ago about what this tape might be - a very well-done personal recording, or something more industry-based. None had seen one like it before, so the mystery is unsolved. If it was a personal recording, someone went to a lot of trouble stencilling the graphics onto the cassette shell. The Akai GX-F31 is an entry-level 2-head cassette deck. I purchased it from the original owner. It has decent specs and it's not one I used for recording, so I can't say how good it is in that respect. Playback is good with many of my better pre-recorded cassettes, and even better with many of the mix tapes I have received through the years. I wouldn't mind having the GX-F91 to try out. Nando.
Very interesting and curious, Nando. The tape seems indeed a commercial cassete, due to those screen printing using two different inks. Looks that the brand is "Sunai" with a strange character in first place, right? "Digi chrome" suggest some kind of digital master or digital bin to made the copy on a chrome cassette. And if you say it has a very good recording, it may be a small company trying to make a high quality product that diferentiates from the standard cassettes... The AKAI looks nice. They have some quite interesting ones. I wouldn't mind to get a GX95 as I find it very cool, and I've read a deep review of an old spanish magazine and they say wonders about it... BTW: What beautiful champagne Pioneer deck is that? Is it a CT-95? Looks cool. the front door has a very curious and different design.
I didn't find any info about the cassette in an internet search, so I leave it at that - a curiosity. The champagne deck is a Pioneer CT-S710G. I have two champagne decks, my other is the Esoteric V-9000. A video of it playing one of my mix tapes: Click on image to play video: Nando.
Although they are hard to find at a reasonable price these days, this vintage TDK SA-X is even better than SA: Nando.
Ahh, the SA-X. Excellent but hard to calibrate tape. I have a box of those very same ones, but this time I was concentrating in the SA first. I'm planning to write an article about the SA... Then it maybe comes another about the SA-X
Very nice photo and nice video too. I guess that deck is close to the CT-95 in specs. I see it has super auto BLE too, so it should do very fine records... right? I'm lucky to have three Champagne decks: the SONY K909ES, AIWA XK-S9000 and the Technics S-B965 [GALLERY=media, 176]Technics Deck RS-B965M by walkman archive posted Dec 11, 2016 at 7:35 PM[/GALLERY] [GALLERY=media, 172]SONY Deck K808-ES Champagne by walkman archive posted Dec 11, 2016 at 7:35 PM[/GALLERY] [GALLERY=media, 164]AIWA Deck XK-S9000 by walkman archive posted Dec 11, 2016 at 7:35 PM[/GALLERY]
