Maxell 1985 Cassettes - Can Cassettes be more than just a dead audio format? 

For me what makes tapes so special is the part of history they preserve. I was born in 1998 and thanks to various tapes I've bought I've been able to experience snippits of the past. on top that, it's so magical to know that decades ago a person thought to preserve history (unknownly of course) you can't replicate the feeling of unearthing a recording not heard for years.

I don't complain about cassettes and cassette decks going up in price or being expensive. It means it is more of a special occasion when you buy cassettes or a deck. Yeah i would love a best in the business decks and tapes. But do i need them do enjoy the hobby? Not really. I'm fine with my 2 head Yamaha and my TDK FE's And the occasional SA.

Hey Tony, I’ve been meaning to write this for a while since starting to watch your channel. I’ve heard you say a number of times that cassettes are illogical and we shouldn’t have to justify the hobby simply because, like a lot of hobbies, it’s fun! Which is true. But there are two other significant reasons that cassettes are important to me and also to others like me. Cassettes are now really the only compact form with which to record analog audio. I realize your demos are from digital royalty-free tracks, but I personally love my record collection and, especially since watching your channel, love dialing in the bias on a good UR or XLII and having a portable, digits-free version to listen on the go to with my Walkman. There really is nothing like a pure, unadulterated analog recording to rock out to. The second reason is that, as a musician, I also love recording in analog and Tascam 4-tracks and the like are simply the best way to do that at home. I can’t explain the sound quality difference in words from limitless digital recording, but suffice it to say: in the best conditions, it just sounds “real”. I love watching your videos (even the rants) and learning about cassettes so I can make better choices both as a musician and a fan and hobbyist and just for a bit of fun. So the point being; I don’t think we need to justify this hobby/recording medium to anyone. It’s just a ton of fun and fun doesn’t need justifying. Cheers!

That is such a FANTASTIC product line. The closeups look GORGEOUS! I love how the writing labels integrate into the design and proportion of it all - Something the later Maxells didn't seem to consider so much.

I remember back in the 90s in about 1990 i had my very first ever home. Back then i feel like we was all more thankful and respectful for what we had. And it was only a flat but with an upstairs but it was a very nice flat. Ive always been good with the decorating. Had beautiful looking flat frontroom. I enjoyed living there. The thing that gave me so much joy was my brushed silver plated yamaha cassette player and separates. It was the love of my life. I played all my tapes till they dried out. I love my past and what id give to go back !. I remember always buying the maxell cassette tapes just like these. My parents use too suprise me for recording albums onto em. My fav one was tina turners foreighn affair my dad in the 80s had the power and euqalizer and equipment to make every tape to sound beyond better and louder than a cd ! Omg i played that tape until it was knackered. Honestly awesome times !

I was a Maxell guy in the mid-eighties. Never bought a TDK until recently. Wish I had bought more of both! Revox and Dragon were but a dream, though. Keep it up Tony!

Great job Cassette Comeback! I really enjoyed this. Your videos are something I look forward to!

Oh man, I found your channel a couple of hours ago and I already love it!

You've motivated me. I know just the best thing to get (make) for my wife for Christmas. Off to making a mixtape like we used to do in the 'old' days :)

I love compact cassette tapes. I like messing around with them and make them sound best as possible. Calibrating my tape deck, using best possible type II chrome or type IV metal tapes, and believe it or not, I managed to make them sound better than CD's. The thing I like about compact cassette tapes is that you can fine tune them, until you get the best sound quality. And so many different compact cassette tapes to choose from (at least then). Cassettes are awesome!!!

Enjoyed the rant at the beginning. I got back into cassettes because of nostalgia. That was why I bought an old deck and some blank tapes over 3 years ago. The thing is, I still have three decks and a (modest) supply of blank tapes. I am still listening to tapes I recorded right up to today. The is not nostalgia, that is something else. There is no tangible way to explain why I still use cassettes. The good news is I don't have to explain it, all I have to do is just enjoy it.

Im cassette tape man. Born in 70's made first recordi gs in late mid 89's mostly albums played on fm stations.Still have sentiment to this type of music played from tapes. Recently bought on gumtree Technics hifi tape deck from 1978 in great condition,great beautiful piece of kit. Made some records on chrome tapes.Amasing!Memories reborn. Cassette tapes reborn.

I haven't heard "what in the Sam Hill" in a long time. I love that phrase.

Earpods, MP3, Spotify and Bluetooth kinda killed much of the magic of music. Who is still nostalgic to the old days of hanging out with friends, playing cassettes on the big hifi set in the garage, all in an atmosphere of cigarettes and cheap wine? People not only gave up smoking and drinking, they gave up music and fun things that came along with music. Everybody is doing music now allone, on his or her smartphone, spotify and earpods, while reading a blog of hearting some instagram photos... It is sad how little we care about our music these days. To me the cassette represents a better time!

I had to stop this video at 8:24 because you nailed it completely right on the head, Tony! There really is no practical reason whatsoever for anyone to get involved in cassette tapes anymore these days except for exactly what you're saying. They're special to you they mean something to you. I'm in my mid 50's and I have cassette tapes from as far back as the mid-1970s and I recorded myself and friends and music on a little Panasonic cassette tape recorder. These things are Treasures to me! It may be Scotch and Certron cassettes, but they are special to me. I can always go down Memory Lane with friends I grew up with that we're just having fun and messing around and putting it down on cassette tape and I still have those memories to this very day. I am most definitely going to make copies of these older tapes that are 40 + years old on to newer and better cassettes somewhere along the line and then obviously when I want to take a trip down memory lane I'll play one of the newer better cassettes but I'll never get rid of the original cassette tapes they were recorded on. I am an absolute vinyl record Die Hard and audiophile. I have over 9000 vinyl records easy and I never stopped collecting vinyl records during the whole CD age and now a store like Walmart in the US can't even give a CD away, vinyl records have made such an incredible comeback that it still turns my head around and around! So what has happened over the last 40 Years of seriously collecting vinyl records I pretty much hit my wall. I've got all my A to Z on Vinyl records and now over the past year to year-and-a-half I've gotten back into cassette tapes as a hobby. I'm going around buying cassette tapes both new and used at shops all over the place and I'm actually finding some pretty good deals with some of these sealed cassette tapes for not a whole lot of money but anyway the point is people are asking me why in 2019 am I so interested in cassette tapes. People ask me why am I getting back into cassette tape recording and collecting and I tell them because I can and it's just something I love and it's all mine! You are awesome Tony for making this video! There is a vinyl record Community out there that's exactly like a cassette tape community and I'm so glad that you make videos about cassette tapes and you're keeping it alive and yes, I have hope like you do too! God bless you Tony!

Do you know what sucks? I can only give you one thumb up... I absolutely agree. This hobby is wonderful, the digital world is too cold.

I have a bunch of the UR 90 minute Maxell tapes (and some UR 120's too - both NOS and used). They are type 1, but ideal for what I want to do. I also have a few UD I 90 minute Maxells (one of which has AC/DC on it - Bon Scott on Side A, Brian Johnson on Side B). Finally I have some XLII Maxells which I bought in a bulk lot off eBay - haven't yet recorded over them. All from 1985. These go well with my 1972-1975-1977-1982 era LN, UL and UD Maxells (most of which are 90 minute). I just like vintage Maxell.

Mixtape is an Art. I'm so glad that your video reinforces this sense of creation. Thank you, Tony.

Hi Tony. Cassettes are special to me because you make them yourself, and especially when that's the only media you had (or mostly) growing up, and the recordings are personal, like friends doing things, they are actually priceless. I've seen your video on hubs, but have you talked about the hubs on these? They are pretty unique and interesting looking.

The Maxell XDII 'gold grain' cassette image has been the icon for my main media hardrive on the desktop since 1995. :)

This is the second time I've watched this video. You presented maxiell the way it should be presented: as works of nostalgic art for our eyes, played on outstanding audio equipment, and as works of memorable, goosebumpy, spine-tingling analogue art for our ears, played on outstanding audio equipment! I have been and ALWAYS will be a maxell fan from the mid-70s to now. Thank you.

Those 1980's Maxell tapes are indeed things of beauty. Back in the day Maxell got me hooked with their terminology, for example: 'Epitaxial' and 'Metexial'.

TEAC SOUND 52X real to real series are the most stunning looking cassettes and will always look futuristic no matter what year you look at them in, I have them still sealed.

Fantastic video. This is exactly the video to show someone to reignite lapsed passion for cassettes. Beautiful job.

When I was a kid (back in the mid 1980s) this Maxell UDII was the best cassette I could get my hands on. My mother always bought 5-packs of them at the "Bertelsmann Club" store and gave them to me one by one...every time I was doing something good somehow, helping around the house or clean up my room. I always used them to record my vinyl records (on my parents Technics RS-M250) to save them from wearing out too quickly. Lots of memories, there should be still some of these tapes around from back then.

The ability to hold your music in hand has great value. And while it's trivial to distribute digital music, people (even new generations) aren't actually willing to pay for it. Streaming is subscription to ad free radio. Cassettes might make a true comeback as a convenient, flexible physical format that gives labels ability to actually sell. I don't think anything beyond good type I tapes are likely to be truly created above a niche, but type I was always the main type. Neither CD's nor Vinyls were ever as convenient as Cassettes. And the ability to actually make a physical mixtape to give someone is an appeal. "This is music I think you would like", "This is music I like", "This is music I make". You can't skip from track to track. You can't skim first 30 seconds of each track. Digital Downloads aren't really generating any revenue for labels any more. All the profit comes from streaming, but pure music streaming companies aren't making a profit. There is a high chance of a streaming crash, if investors give up on Spotify. Edit: I don't mean that streaming might entirely go away, but it might change significantly enough that labels can't rely on similar profits and want to diversify

I found a 2pack Maxell XL-1 S in an electronic store that was going out of business in the late '80s. They were the best normal bias cassette I ever heard.

Those Bic pens are the best thing for winding cassette tapes, way better than pencils. I keep one on me every time i go out to buy used cassettes. Great channel, keep up the good work!

Not a dead format at all! I still use cassettes till this day to record my favorite tunes. Been using them since the '80's and still use them today. Compact cassettes last a very long time, they look awesome, sound amazing. As a matter of fact, you can still buy brand new blank tapes almost at any store. I just recorded a cassette for my friend right now.

Couldn’t beat that talking about the format, the brand and the lovely people who send you stuff to make you happy! You could get more Tony. No address, can’t send anything! You bugger! You have any idea how much people who love this hobby would love to meet you in person? I would. You’re just the sort to be a great mate! God bless you Tony! Keep it up!👍🏻

Another wonderful video. These are some of the most beautiful cassettes ever made. And they sound great, too!

I got some UDI from a coworker of my dad. Really good in terms of bass, and are perfect for recording vinyl. Have the police’s Reghatta De Blanc on one and it has low hiss, and high output. Really nice video

Its like writing a letter instead of sending an email. It adds a personal note and it is beautiful. Analogue all the way!

Thank you, Tony. Nice to see you cover three topics within this video. For those of us who have been involved in this hobby for some time, we understand well the economics related to blank tapes. Most of my best cassette bulk purchases were made with like-minded tape enthusiasts. And I, especially, enjoyed the time you spent on describing what makes exchanging mix tapes such a satisfying experience. I was pleasantly surprised in receiving recognition in that respect. Looking forward to future mix tape exchanges with you. That vintage of Maxell cassette line-up is extraordinary. Got to agree with your on your comments and findings on the Maxells you featured. Nando.

LOVE this year for Maxell. Got a handfull of MXes, have piles of the XLII and S, only a handful of those beautiful gold and red UDIIs, a bunch of UDIs, and a single remaining sealed UR amongst some loose ones.... what a year and what great looking tapes, absolutely classic

Now celebrating a half century of having cassettes 🎂 my first deck was the original Philips consumer machine 😉

Are cassettes simply a niche market? Perhaps, but I want to share a story. Many years ago, my sister was lead vocalist in a touring Blues band. I got her band’s CD and ripped into my iTunes. All was fine and good until one day when I moved and the CD was lost. I had the music digitally in my iTunes library. Then Apple decides they didn’t get any money for it so they deleted it from my library. Since the album was not available in iTunes, I couldn’t buy it to have it restored. By dumb luck, I had loaded it onto an old iPod. I found the album on the iPod and have been certain NOT to connect the iPod to any computer so that Apple cannot remove the album off the device. That one iPod with the digital existence of my sister’s sole album is the ONLY (and VERY fragile) copy I have of that album. Transferring the album from the iPod to cassette is a means of physically saving the music from oblivion. Burn it to CD? I don’t have a functional CD burner and the most of the laptops sold today don’t even have a CD drive, let alone a CD burner. I doubt my sister, herself, still has a copy of her CD. I may have one of the only copies of this music anywhere. It’d be a tragedy for the music to be lost forever. I want to preserve it for my offspring. A cassette tape to the rescue. I doubt cassettes will every become mainstream popular again, but I wouldn’t mind if it did. Apple has removed so much music from my library with no warning and no refund that I’d love it if my kid and everyone else had physical media that some corporation couldn’t simply delete on a whim.

I didn't live this era because I'm twenty-six, but I collect cassette tapes (blank, sealed) which is a way to feel like I'm at this era! Your videos are very rich in content, congratulations!

I've really enjoyed your exemplary knowledge of cassettes as well as your wonderful presentation. I've always liked cassettes and with the technical know-how I've gleaned from you, I now appreciate cassettes even more. Thanks for the presentation and keep up the good work.

the issue isn't no one wanting to pay for new stuff it's that no one wants to spend 4 times retail on a tape or tape player that's 30/40 years old

Really interesting speech you had in the beginning, and i can absolute support your opinion about the nice things about sending cassettes to each other and the how special and personal it is, and its not about Cassette vs CD vs MP3 , because that's just daft.. i like all kinds of media as long as its good enough and gives me satisfaction. Sadly atm i don't have "space" to restart cassette hobby , heck i even have my dads old reel To Reel tapes stored away because for some reason i must secretly love tapes so much , even i probably should give those R2R tapes a proper grave, since they probably damage long time ago..

In the ‘80s I bought a new Lp & a blank tape at the same time, recorded my new records on the first play & put away. Back in 1982 it was so much fun to learn about normal, cro2, metal tapes & it didn’t take long to realize TDK & Maxell cro2 tapes were superior. Back then it was interesting to see how friends tapeing skills varied: 1) worst was the ones who cut seconds off because of the leader. 2) high or low record levels 3) dirty heads on the deck 4) if the Lp skipped & they didn’t redo it... & I used to take recording Walkmans to concerts starting in ‘85 - more fun with tapes. - great channel you have!

Those cassettes in that deck-simply stunning!

Tapeheads rise up!

I've seen that effect on the XL-II described as "brushed", sort of like the faceplate on your Revox. Those Maxell's are some beauties.

I love 1980's Maxells, they look very nice and sound good.

I'm very touched by your narrative Tony, thank you so much, you are spot on pal.

Nice video! I have so many of these Maxell cassettes from 1985. I have a bunch of UR’s, a bunch of XLII’s, and some UDS-II which was a North American version of UDII. The first UR had a light gray J-Card from 1985-86, by 1986, it was replaced with a red J-Card with cutouts added where it was used right up until early to mid 1988. Prior to UR, Maxell made LN and UD, but it later became UR which has the same quality as both LN and UD.

9:20 - It's like pie... You share the recipe, it shows acceptance and, sometimes, trust. But if you make it fresh and deliver it personally, nice & warm, it shows love... and a valuing if opinion.😉

Although the new found interest in cassette is quite different from the vinyl resurgence, it is growing certainly. Vinyl has benefitted because it never really went away; record decks have always been in production and there was always a determined and sizeable group that tenaciously argued 'Vinyl is better' and fiercly supported it. But I recently went into HMV in Poole, Dorset and in the few months since I was last there (March 2019) the small corner of vinyl has now become a major double isle and decks are on sale in their own section (albeit of the Ion and Crosley cheapo type). Vinyl is still niche but has grown considerably in the last two years and shown a enviable and resilient sustainability. I don't know if the Tascam 202 mkVII is selling (£400 is a bit steep when you can probably get a decent refurbed deck for half that price) but the fact that Tascam have made it, is encouraging. However the sales pitch of the usual 'digitise your old tapes' variety, is not addressing the growing cassette community like RTM or NAC have with their new tape formulations/manufacture. It would have been nice if Tascam had put a USB INPUT on the 202 mkVII to record from digital to 2 tapes at a time so musicians could make cassettes of their music to sell at gigs) There needs to be a bit more joined up thinking with the big players, and then it might grow into a sustainable healthy niche like vinyl. Hi Fidelity in popular music was never an issue and still isn't today, when most consumers will opt for the cheap and cheerful to derive their listening pleasure (MP3 and cheap bud headphones, or small crappy speakers in the living room) Hi-fi/audiophile geeks were, are and will always be a minority but despite that, we know suprisingly good quality can be achieved without esoteric transports etc. as the Tascam 202 shows. I am hopeful, May the love continue to grow.

I remember tape trading with people throughout the world, sharing new and unfamiliar music with one another. There is something special and more personal a mixtape has that a mix disc or a bunch of MP3s will never have. I was there before it was a fad and that was just how it was done.

Amazing video. I’m going to invest in a tape deck and revisit the cassettes in my archives. Thanks for the motivation

Brilliant video. I subscribed. Cassettes are one of my passions in life. I don't know where I'd be without them

One day I put a cassette in one of my decks that I hadn't listened to in some years. Something special happened, I remembered the day the cassette was recorded and who recorded it for me, a friend I hadn't seen or heard from for 20 year's. It prompted me to search them out, and we met up a week later, all because of a cassette 😊

Maxell XL-II and XL-IIs were my favourite tapes back then 🤓

Hi, Tony! First time I saw Maxell UDI exactly as in your video in 1985, when several of them was given to me and my brother by one of our friends from America. In the USSR these were never for sale, only LNs were for 9 Brezhnev roubles, these were not available in regular stores, only in special sutores for foreigners or whoever had access to. But these UDIs were just great for us, making significant improvement over Maxell LN or other cassettes available for 9 roubles in Soviet stores by that time, even on equipment we had by that time (I had portable Soviet-made stereo cassette recorder, which had sound quality equal to some mediocre decks, for example, and it didn't even have Type II record capability) we could notie a difference. My best recordings were on these Maxell UDIs. One Maxell UDI 60 this American friend gave to me in 1985 I still have, and it still records well, even though it was heavily used since that time. Recently I found this kind of Maxell UDi 90 on Russian internet auction meshok.net and purchased three of them. I had to pay 1000 roubles per each (1 pounds sterlings is approx. 90 Russian Federation roubles today, so you can imagine the price), but it really worth the money. These ones were a bit different, since it was Japanese market version, but other then Japanese characters lookk the same as in your video and I like how it sound. One of my favorite tapes ever.

All of those Maxell tapes were good. But the fall in audio clarity from the UDS down to ANY of the normal bias Maxell tapes was steep and long. I would agree that the UDS were pretty darn close to the XL tapes, but what I loved about the UDS tapes is that they had a sweet high end. They really did, and if you had a virgin tape then recorded from a high quality source? Well, you had a tape worth keeping. I had a Rachmaninoff piano concerto and more recorded onto a special UDS tape which was played often. Lord I don't know what happened to it. Somebody probably stole it. I doubt that I lost it. But the cassettes which meant a lot to ya were indeed special and remained so as Time goes by.

I have about 50 Maxell type 1 tapes I bought in 1985 that still sound great. My favourite tape. They are well built.

My two Maxell XLII 90 (CDN) cassettes are grey with the white blown couch sitting listener on the right side and the A or B Side and XLII 90 markings on the left.

What got me back into cassettes was I wanted to listen to my music in my old car, after I got sick of the FM stations. I tried a cheap eBay Bluetooth stereo, but it sounded like garbage compared to the factory Ford stereo. It turned out to be a lot of fun recording mix tapes, and buying albums, but inevitably I bought a newer car that doesn't have a cassette deck this year. I still listen to some of my tapes at home on occasion, but now that my car supports satellite radio, USB, Bluetooth, and CDs I just haven't bothered to record/buy any tapes.

Great video Tony and I totally agree. I'm enjoying playing one of my mix tapes on a Sony F203 I just repaired. sounds great.

imo cassettes are at the peak of how popular they *need* to be in this comeback. in my experience, when a new record gets announced it's not uncommon to see a tape release on the merch store. just the other day i saw that the new tame impala has a cassette release, not to mention all the pop tapes that places like urban outfitters get. it's at that perfect balance of not being unheard of, but still a pleasant surprise when you spot a new cassette

Thank you for the time and effort you put into your videos - I appreciate the knowledge and experience you share! Thanks again - M from Canada

How about UDS-I and UDS-II... love XLII-S but one year newer with the anti-resonance shell, truly an improvement.

Back in those years (80s) I worked in a High-End Shop and sold many of these Maxell XL-II and every Saturday morning had a customer (Conductor) buying a couple boxes as being used to record his classical music orchestra. My self I had an Nakamishi ZX7 I stupidly sold in the 90s

1985 born here. I have a few of all of those except the MX ones.. I gotta grab some!

This is a good take on the philosophy of modern day consumer society... but even back then, sharing has always been in the DNA of cassettes...

Love the enthusiasm you have for this format! Recently scored an excellent condition Realistic SCT-35 on eBay for under $50, shipping included! Not a high-end unit, but great for my budding interest in cassette at present. :)

I've been thinking that I was a bit being a bit silly about a project I want to do. I have some mid-80s vintage Maxell URs on their way. I want to put "The Miami Vice Soundtrack" on one of them...because a friend made that for me when I was a teen and that was cool. The original was lost when a car stereo ate it, IIRC. Now I don't feel as silly about it. Thanks for this video.

Very churchillian of you Tony:):). Simple truth is all the major Japanese tape manufactures where at their peak in the mid eighties the very,very slow decline in machines and cassettes began in 1988 in my humble opinion.The Maxell UDII (red gold) is one of my favorite type II ever made, beautiful smooth rich sound to my ears. Anyway Tony another great video and I nearly shed a tear .....But then I remembered my large stash of mid 80s tapes I own.:):):)

Loved the ending Tony. Made so much sense.

People like you make youtube! Would love to come back to cassettes too :)

My fave cassettes were That's Type II's but I loved the XLII & they were my go to tape (That's tapes were as rare as hen's teeth & not a lot cheaper). Never had the dough for an MX though. This is the first time I've heard one: I think you're right. Apart from the barely audible hiss, it's perfect. And it's 35 years old. Amazing tape, just amazing.

Thanks again, this is the Best RU-vid channel. I just manage to repair second cassette deck [Sony Tc-k561s]. Perhaps it is time To buy new[good old] cassettes from Cassette Comeback. Thanks again Tony.

Hi Tony, from what I can see it seems that the reason for this great interest in cassettes is because people are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the digital domain and streaming services. The music industry was destroyed by the Digital Age, and the music coming out today is horrible because it's Perfect, with absolutely no soul or the magic of a live performance, captured on Analog Tape! Thank you brother, great work! Lary

Great rant. From '85 through the early '90s, I had a yearly ritual of making a year mix tape of songs from the previous year that I wasn't sick of. After that, my mixes were more for listening to in the car and while walking around campus. Even though I (sadly) purged a lot of my tapes about 10-15 years ago, I kept all of those mixes and they are like time capsules to my past. In 2015, around the time I found the Synthwave scene, I started the habit again. It's a fun ritual and better than trying to keep a playlist on some random music service. I've all but given up trying to do that, as they often blow holes in my playlists due to licensing issues or whatever. It drives home the fact that this is not my music.

Many thanks for that Tony, out of approx 110 tapes I used in the 80s and early 90s I have a Unicorn tape :)with Al Stewart and Simple Minds. God knows what happened to my 70s tapes, they were likely to be Philips or Woolworths/Boots own. We (brother) used to tape the top 40 on a mono recorder with a mic, and wo betide our parents if they came into the room when it was on. Love your enthusiasm and knowledge.

Thanks for this video. You really made some important points. I have a mix tape that was recorded for me by one of the the guys at Tower Records in Sacramento. He just did it because he was a nice guy. ( Thanks Tom )

Your right Tony CDs are special. I still have recordings that were only ever released on cassette and I treasure them. I was watching a group on BBC1 The One Show and they made a big thing about a new release and it being available on "CASSETTE" and they held the cassette up to the camera. So you are not alone.

By far the best looking, If not the best performing Maxell range.. everything from the UR, to the MX, looked premium in my opinion.

I have a sealed Maxell UD I 90 from 1985. Incredible build quality, soooo solid!. Edit: got another UD I 90 and I am recording onto it - amazing cassette.

Early 80s maxell cassettes, a thing of beauty. I always thought they looked good. I liked the UDXL2. Maxell always performed better in my deck than the more expensive TDK sa. I really like your videos. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but watching your videos got me back into cassette tapes. As far as analog tape, I was more a reel to reel guy. Now I'm into cassettes. After the holidays I going to look for a better deck. I want to get a Nakamichi dragon. I wanted a pioneer, the ones with the fluorescent blue meter to match my pioneer reel to reel and amp. I had 2 of them but had to return them because they didn't work right so I gave up. Great video. Have a nice day.

Back in the 80s me and my friends use to record mix tapes for parties, to listen in the car, to share music because we did not have money to buy all LP we liked, so it was common practice that we agreed on which LP we would buy and then we recorded them on tape to share with our friends

Although I was a TDK man, I have boxes of those Maxell tapes, all of them! They are all built very well, and they sound great.

You've convinced me. I want to get involved in tape trading now.

Best cassette line up for me overall. I'd say the UDII looks much better than the XLII. As a kid I was facinated by my Dad's UDII's and their gold labels. Great video again Tony

Hey Tony. Great video. I'd like to record a tape to you with some Brazilian music. If you'd like to receive it, please let me know. Cheers

That range of Maxell was my favourite. The UDII was so reliable and it looks the dogs danglies!

Hi Tony. That wasn’t a rant it was an actual fact, cassettes are an actual thing that you an enjoy and share ,not digital nothingness. Keep up the good work& long may you reign in the forefront of cassette comeback

Having a clear out the other day I found my old ghetto-blaster from the 90s (Hitachi Super Woofer) and in one of the decks was a mix tape an ex girlfriend made for me. It’s only on an old BBC 90 but it means something and it reminds me of a time that sometimes feels so far back, but when I look at that tape with her cute writing and kisses it feels so close....I could almost be back there and also sometimes I wish I was. Love these videos Tony :)

Take a whiff of that 1985 MAXELL UR mate , what can you smell ?

Great vid, like you say about mass market, that applies to most things, when they're in regular daily use, no one takes any notice of them & they almost become a throwaway item, it's like cars, for example a Mark 1 Ford Fiesta, at the time a cheap car people drove until it fell apart, then scrapped it, nowadays there's only a small number left, if you've got a decent one, its a classic worth serious money. Back to music, yes I do sometimes listen to streamed music & watch music vids through youtube but I've still got all my cassettes from the 80's and also all my vinyl & CDs, you just can't beat that feeling of physical holding the music in your hand & looking at the sleeve artwork etc.

I bought very few Maxell's back in the day but I have two 1985 XLI cassettes - didn't know they were so rare! Must have got them on special offer when they were becoming old stock as the recordings on them are from '88. One is the live concert with Simple Minds to celebrate the freeing of Nelson Mandela recorded off Radio 1/2 FM - quite an important historical moment in retrospect. Sound quality is top notch.

There has never been a better cassette than XLII S. Crystal clear, low noise that doesn’t degrade over time.

1:58 are the individuals complaining they want new cassettes and decks the exact same people who are complaining they're too expensive? 6:10 those cassettes are beautiful! I've picked up some card stock and am looking to make some inlays myself. Most are replacements for rescued or refurbished prerecorded and blank cassettes with lost inlays. 4 years on, as for a cassette comeback, more and more people are seeing an issue with not owning any media they listen to. We're at the whim of the media companies removing large chunks of their libraries from their platforms, and other times giving us inferior versions of said media different from the originals (e.g. Star Wars revisions, remasters of albums with crushed dynamics). Streaming platforms have proliferated, profits are thinning or never appeared, and companies are looking to pare back their offerings. It's not a good future for the availability of back catalogues or the long tail of titles and albums that aren't very popular.

Fantastic stuff, and that Revox is sweet.

Great Video as always, your right about the mass market thing, but id love to collect all those Type Zeros again, more more.... as i tip the money down drain but its all part of the fun, opening a pack of four tapes back in the day for a quid not sometimes knowing the inlay design the quality - well maybe no the quality - although Waltham W60 does anyone remember them - no need to record on some they already had music on! Hi-Tech C90 that where made up of bit of tape spliced together? also does anyone know when the break comes on whats the smooth music thats played when cassette comeback appears thanks

G’day I remember when we used cartridge and then cassettes, I own a Denon twin deck that has chrome to put the works from that time it’s hardly been used. My question is is it worth anything? It was part of my Denon hi fi system love listening to you all the best from John Tasmania Australia 🇦🇺 I don’t know anyone down here in Australia with the same passion, it’s funny and it bought back memories because you love the ones that I used the Maxell tapes only great Chanel regards John

Outside of distortion lower record levels give less tape saturation and better top end response. Hiss will be higher BUT top end is much improved. As far as folks wanting "cheaper" I encounter this when quoting repair cost for reel to reel and cassette decks. Folks here how much to recap and calibrate a deck they start getting cheep. That XLII was my fav back when I was young as well.

Very surprised you revealed the '85 Maxell MX is your favorite. The 83-85 vintage is indeed my go-to tape, and on my Nak decks they sound stunningly close to my vinyl sources, so much so I rate them higher than the TDK MA, SA-X, MA-X and MA-R tapes I have. Heck they sound very good on my 20 year old Sony Walkman, and the look on some people's faces on the train/underground when I pull this crazy silver purple tape out to change over the side!