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Ace Rob
Guest
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 Posted:
Sat Nov 12, 2005 3:08 am Post subject:
TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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Hey everyone,
For people like me who still love fooling around with TASCAM 4-track
and 8-track cassette multitrackers:
What's the deal with TDK "Studio Master" cassettes?
Are they any better than the regular high bias TDK tapes?
Marketing and hype? Or a real and noticable difference?
Thanks!
Rob
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Mike Rivers
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 12, 2005 3:13 am Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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Ace Rob wrote:
| Quote: | What's the deal with TDK "Studio Master" cassettes?
Are they any better than the regular high bias TDK tapes?
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I don't know if the oxide formulation is any different, but as I
recall, the SM had a more solid mechanism. That's probably a good thing
particularly if your 4-track cassette recorder runs at double speed. |
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Scott Dorsey
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 12, 2005 3:24 am Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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Ace Rob <ace.rob@hushmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Hey everyone,
For people like me who still love fooling around with TASCAM 4-track
and 8-track cassette multitrackers:
What's the deal with TDK "Studio Master" cassettes?
Are they any better than the regular high bias TDK tapes?
Marketing and hype? Or a real and noticable difference?
|
The problem with most of these machines is that you can't adjust the bias
on them easily. This means that it becomes a matter of selecting the tape
to fit the bias setting on the machine rather than adjusting the machine
for the tape.
This means you wind up either having to use the tape that the manufacturer
recommends for _your machine_, or having to pick the tape that gives you
the flattest response.
Which means the tape that is optimal for your machine may be totally
inappropriate for your friend's Fostex.
The ability to adjust the bias for a given tape type (a la Tascam 122)
does wonders for minimizing tape differences and means you can select
the tape with the highest quality rather than the tape that is most
appropriate for the current machine settings. In the open-reel world
where tape formulations have changed radically over the past 50 years,
this is just considered standard practice.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
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David Morgan (MAMS)
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 12, 2005 3:31 am Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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"Ace Rob" <ace.rob@hushmail.com> wrote in message news:1131743311.732316.123090@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: |
Hey everyone,
For people like me who still love fooling around with TASCAM 4-track
and 8-track cassette multitrackers:
What's the deal with TDK "Studio Master" cassettes?
Are they any better than the regular high bias TDK tapes?
Marketing and hype? Or a real and noticable difference?
Thanks!
Rob
|
I have to agree with Mike, and add that the packaging also lends
itself professional notation. There's only a few cents difference
in cost, so it's probably worth giving it a shot. IIRC, they may
have a little more headroom, but the most notable difference
that was quoted to me by TDK some 7 or 8 years ago... is no
more than quality control; a more carefully inspected assembly
and supposedly from tape slit from what was expected to be
the most stable portions of the current lot.
--
David Morgan (MAMS)
http://www.m-a-m-s DOT com
Morgan Audio Media Service
Dallas, Texas (214) 662-9901
_______________________________________
http://www.artisan-recordingstudio.com |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:30 am Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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Ace Rob <ace.rob@hushmail.com> wrote:
: What's the deal with TDK "Studio Master" cassettes?
: Are they any better than the regular high bias TDK tapes?
A friend of mine told me it was the same tape, but from the middle
of the spool, or something like that. Personally, I bought a few
and on my machine they sounded worse. Can't explain that.
Scott |
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William Sommerwerck
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:42 am Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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| Quote: | A friend of mine told me it was the same tape, but from the middle
of the spool, or something like that. Personally, I bought a few
and on my machine they sounded worse. Can't explain that.
|
If it were from the middle of the spool, it wouldn't say much about TDK's
quality control. This is just "urban legend" bilge.
It "sounds worse" because your deck's bias and record EQ are not set
correctly for it. |
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Ace Rob
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 12, 2005 10:11 pm Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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William Sommerwerck wrote:
| Quote: | A friend of mine told me it was the same tape, but from the middle
of the spool, or something like that. Personally, I bought a few
and on my machine they sounded worse. Can't explain that.
If it were from the middle of the spool, it wouldn't say much about TDK's
quality control. This is just "urban legend" bilge.
It "sounds worse" because your deck's bias and record EQ are not set
correctly for it.
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Interesting, but why would it sound any different if everything was the
same but the shell? Wouldn't the bias/EQ be identical for both tapes?
Or not...? |
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William Sommerwerck
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 12, 2005 11:44 pm Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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| Quote: | William Sommerwerck wrote:
A friend of mine told me it was the same tape, but from the middle
of the spool, or something like that. Personally, I bought a few
and on my machine they sounded worse. Can't explain that.
If it were from the middle of the spool, it wouldn't say much about TDK's
quality control. This is just "urban legend" bilge.
It "sounds worse" because your deck's bias and record EQ are not set
correctly for it.
Interesting, but why would it sound any different if everything was the
same but the shell? Wouldn't the bias/EQ be identical for both tapes?
Or not...?
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The assumption is that not just the shell is different. |
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Ace Rob
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 8:43 pm Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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Ah, OK.
Also, I appreciate everybody's suggestions. One thing I neglected to
mention is that I want to purchase cassettes for a Tascam 488 MKII
8-track, and you can't easily adjust the bias on that machine.
Tape.com looks like a great resource except for the fact that the bias
may be different than TDK tapes. Or would it really not matter all
that much? What do you think? |
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Ace Rob
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 8:48 pm Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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(If my previous post doesn't make any sense, I apologize that I
originally posted it to the wrong thread, ooops, sorry, but I tried to
remove it.)
I appreciate everybody's suggestions! I assume that at this point I
should do my research and see if the two types of cassettes have the
same bias and EQ, right? And if they do, get the Studio Master tapes,
and if they don't, stick with the regular TDK high bias? |
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Mike Rivers
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 9:26 pm Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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Ace Rob wrote:
| Quote: | I appreciate everybody's suggestions! I assume that at this point I
should do my research and see if the two types of cassettes have the
same bias and EQ, right?
|
Good luck finding that out. It's really obscure information and it's
going to find someone to ask who actually has the real information. But
you'll no doubt get plenty of "the real scoop" right here.
If you have a good cassette deck, you can get top performance out of
any decent quality tape stock simply by having the deck alligned for
that tape. This is easier to do than trying to find out what tape is
best matched to your deck. You might get a factory recommendation for a
particular tape based on how that tape was made and how the machines
were aligned at the factory at one point in time. But both of those
things change over time - formulas change and electronics drifts.
Pick a tape that's easy for you to get whenever you need to restock
(not some obsucre type), get your deck aligned for that tape, and
you'll be getting the best performance you can get out of it with no
doubts. |
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Scott Dorsey
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 13, 2005 9:30 pm Post subject:
Re: TDK "Studio Master" cassettes? |
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Ace Rob <ace.rob@hushmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
Also, I appreciate everybody's suggestions. One thing I neglected to
mention is that I want to purchase cassettes for a Tascam 488 MKII
8-track, and you can't easily adjust the bias on that machine.
Tape.com looks like a great resource except for the fact that the bias
may be different than TDK tapes. Or would it really not matter all
that much? What do you think?
|
I think if you like the TDK tapes and you're stuck using them, you
should find a distributor that carries them. If Cassette House doesn't
carry them, and Tape Warehouse doesn't carry them, try Polyline. There
are lots and lots of tape distributors out there. Ignore the websites,
pick up the phone and ask them. I know Tape Warehouse has a lot of stuff
that is never on the website.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
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