... 105 bucks, plus shipping. How much are you guys getting NOS metal tapes for these days? Anyone have any experience with recording on these?
That's a very good price for what metals are going for these days, I don't buy metals anymore as I still have a stockpile of TDK MA-XG's. I believe the Nakamichi cassettes are made by TDK.
Holy mother-lode! In the old days of the forum, around 2004, I started my hunt for the elusive Nakamichi Cassette Tape. At the time a single used tape was going for around $75 USD on Ebay and they didn't show up very often. I've never seen one in the wild but I've found stacks of equipment so it's not for not trying. I think the market has shifted a bit and they're a little more common now but they still get good money and most normal Metal Tapes will have much more value than standard tapes. Back in the day, Metal Tapes were as expensive as the vinyl album, I could never afford them but I've found a dozen or so NOS over the years. Personally I think they're worth more for a collector than a user.
With $20 buying you a 128 GB SD card these are pointless now as recording media. But I could not help paying 50 cents for a 2-pack of Type II TDK cassettes.
I have tapes from the 1970s that still play fine. Will an SD card still work in fifty years time. In the early days of FLASH memory it would amuse me that manufacturers would quote a data endurance of 100 years on devices they had only launched that year. p.s. The other problem with hard drives and SSDs is that failure tends to be 100%. In contrast you are unlikely to lose more than a few minutes when your tape gets eaten by a player.
I know, I know. Maybe I am just jealous, not having any Metal cassettes back then, and having only two of them now I bought them used for $1 each a year ago and was thinking, what I should record on them? Then again, I a not planning to live for another fifty years, and I am not planning to leave stuff behind me. My son does not care for this old junk anyway.
Howdy SoloK ..... Have you moved forward with any recordings on those Naka ZX C-90 Cassettes ? Really high quality from mid 1980s. Basically TDK MA Type IV tape stock in those ZX's, so you can record above zero dB bias and level measurements. Maybe up those 2 or 3 dBs. Ideal deck for recording will be with manual controls for azimuth, bias and level measurements, like Nakamichi ZX-7 or ZX-9. Good efforts coming, enjoy !!!
