Metal Type 4 IV Cassettes - Why would any sane person use them?

hi it's Tony from cassette Kombat calm and today I'm doing a video really for the new guys in this video is on metal tapes type 4 tapes I haven't done a video on type 4 tapes I thought you know a lot of you guys out there see metal tapes people praising metal tapes and one portly see the price of metal tapes and think good grief what is this all about so it's a bit of history metal tape from what I understand was developed more for studio and live use it was there to be able to capture stuff hot live and clear and also to be used in studios to give you know copies to artists or PR men after a sessions recording so they've got a good idea of what is gonna sound like now metal tapes were always expensive I know when I was young and I had you know be PC decks and BBC son for a black plastic crap decks and boom boxes I remember looking at the prices of metal tapes and going well I mean look at this one right I left the sticker on this one for posterity reasons this one is from the mid late 70s and it costs to pound 59 over 40 years ago I know inflation is one isn't books come on to pound 50 over 40 years ago that was a lot of money then and metal tapes as far as I know as far as I remember were never cheap I used to look at them and thinking wow good are they what are they all about and so once I bought a metal tape I think it cost me about five pound in the early to mid 90s put it to be ghettoblaster did some recording when what was all about so the rubbish didn't sound as good as a max hell you are I was using and that's true because not every debt can take advantage of a metal tape and that's the thing where metal tapes you need to have a debt that not only you can calibrate properly but also has enough mine I want to say a power book can actually drive it because a metal tape is harder to write to it's harder to get the magnetic to a civet II on there compared to say type 2 or a ferric so you need to have a depth at me that is able to handle them now ferry yes sorry Farex metals usually came in I think three categories okay we we had sort of like you know the the entry-level stuff you know this this was an entry-level metal from the late 80s from Sony you know the you know a plastic shell and it I don't think even think this is a screw child this is a sealed shell and this is like were they sort of came to I mean you have the TDK mas as well and the max LMX is no those are sort of the entry level then you went up a bit in quality and he has stuff like this the TDK ma x which is like the MA but the X version you're at the SA and the X which were a more premium metal more premium shells with a more premium price and then you went up and up again again until you have the likes of of this which is a TD KMA XG you know there's the ma are there which was for Bearer you know and these had like an alloy metal shell round them heaviest tape ever some people think this is the best tape ever there's certainly some of the most expensive tapes ever and certainly are now and and these are basically you know the the pinnacle you had stuff like the Sony metal master and you have the Max hell metal vertex and the that's a worn or metal you know that the top end top to your metals and nowadays you know let's be honest here the ma HD and we're looking to get one of these of the em er for less than 50 pound I mean this is one of my favorite metals of all time the 85 max L MX I love these cassettes and I have so few of them left that you know I've got a web store they in on the web store cuz I ain't sellin them because I plan on using them because they're just wonderful wonderful cassettes but again this one if you wanted to buy this off me I'd hunt 35 pound off year and even then I probably wouldn't take you because I don't know when I see in the we have some of the earliest stuff like this one you know the the you know PD magnetic so that's Philips DuPont media this is a very early metal of theirs and then we went up to what some people might consider the best matte level which is the last version of the mah G I mean you just look at that he doesn't have the metal shell but this is was advertised has been engineered as the best cassette ever you know the advert had a stripped down of this with all the pictures of how it's made and handmade and it's got all the screws you know that there's a big big variety of metal tapes so you're probably thinking out Oh Tony which one of these are you gonna rip up and play today I'm not that's the point this is kind of the thing with the video these are all very expensive cassettes luckily I have some that are opened and all of the categories I've talked about so we can use them for example this is the 1992 version of the TDK ma this is like one of the ones which i bought in the day and was disappointed with but now I know what I'm actually doing you know it's a bit different and then they're a bit not chip on this a more premium one which I think he's one of the best wolf tapes ever the that's MRX Pro metal this is an 87 version and yet for the top ends oh-hoo I haven't got any of the top-end ones all up and you know I can ma RI I don't have a top I don't have an ma are sealed and bugger it you know what you're a long time debt and I'll be a long time dead there we go well we'll have this nice em er and literally just just doing that that that literally was like taking 40 pounds and just screwing it up and throwing it in the fire but what a tape I mean let's just just have a look at this I mean what a tape it feels like a small Wortman it feels like a small electrical device you know beautiful it's got full perspex face around this alloy frame know the right protect tabs there you can switch them off and answer you'd have to snap them out it is a work of art it really is a work of art it's a piece of industrial art so we're going to take these three and we're gonna have a play with them and hopefully by the end of it you'll be able to understand why these tapes were made why they're expensive and why even though normal people who aren't into cassettes will wonder what's wrong with you for buying them you'll understand why you would anyway okay so I'm gonna use my dragon for this again where we using top-end tapes I might as well make them sound as good as they can because this ultimately isn't a scientific video it's not a knowledge video it's a video for new guys who were wondering all the fuss about metal is and it's more of like it a glam up for the deal if you will they're they're a bit of Filth in it just so you can appreciate why people would buy metal tapes so I'm not even going to calibrate it for this ma 50 because I've already done that and you don't want to be sitting here watching me calibrate tapes how boring sir and besides in this context we're not doing any comparisons and we're not trying to show what the formulas like we're just going to enjoy them so I'm gonna try again to let you listen to fires in Paradise the song which I've got coming out next month as opposed to on the knack Farrell master video where it just went all warbly so let's start this recording okay as you can tell it's not a new tape this one and let's try again [Music] now this is peaking at around banks [Music] and you've got nothing to say so listen to the sauce it's just a game about to the tank [Music] pretty good a peeking up +8 and because we're recording it so hot you don't really notice a hiss yes matter tapes are inherently he SIA then say a good chrome or a good type to Farrell cobalt but because you can ride them so hot he sought it becomes a non-issue and this one like I say this is about as entry-level as metals get except for maybe the late max Lu metal CDs with the old clear shell which er incredibly cheap looking but incredibly good sounding so let's go onto metal number two okay the next one I'm going to use now is a bit more premium I think anyway there were more premium in the day certainly because we're harder to find a more expensive and the silly more premium now but see that's Mr X Pro and destroy things that matter that that's unlike other brands actually started out making metal tape first and then went into making cobalt or ferric and ferric so they did it the other way around that's what I like about tail you Dan they're always a bit different now I know we weren't going on about by singing levels but this tape actually does level and bias almost identically to the TV KMA we just had so maybe it was for compatibility who knows but let's have a bit more of fires in paradise [Music] was to the sauce [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] okay so honestly I thought the MA sounded better I was hearing a bit of distortion in that and the treble wasn't quite there however that's taken contents you know if you're always punished and sauce sauce or sauce tape tape you're gonna notice differences but don't get me wrong that sounded really good he really did sound good but I yeah I thought that may send it better okay couple of fakes we've got this obsession with running tapes hot the hotter you run them ie the higher the DBS a peek at that means you have to use less volume on your amplifier that means you don't notice a hiss but I was just listening to them again and I don't think he was doing much favors yes they handle seven yes look whoa seven eight DB handle them but I don't think it needs them so this one the ma are you gotta think this has got 1982 formulation metal taping in an amazing shell the last two tapes that I played you have between five and ten years of development of tape in them so the tape might be better but this one I'm not going to roll quite as hot because I want you to just appreciate how good they are that you don't have to run them that hot just to get a decent recording off them so let's finish our fires in paradise in fact I'm going to take it from just before the bit we clipped off there because we've got a nice it's all a bit coming in and let's have a listen to the M er which are going to turn down a bit I'm not gonna be peaking quite as Hart [Music] go back to sauce [Music] the turn you know [Music] maybe fight [Music] seven [Music] Stephanie [Music] ladies and gentlemen that was an ma are recorded in a dragon taken from an uncompressed digital source oh bloody hell am i turning it to an audiophile shoot me shoot me now so if you've got yourself a nice heavyweight vinyl and you want to make a copy of it so that you don't have to wear out your vinyl you can just play the tape then don't get Mel no Mel's not your right tape for that for that you want a nice pure chrome or a really good Ferro cobalt like an SI X or R in Excel 2s or something like that that will give you the analog warmth you crave you see here's the thing about metal metal is trebly sharp almost it's almost like they're trying to be digital now here's the thing if you've got say a lossless album that you really want on cassettes or you stream from koba's or something and you really want that album on a cassette and you want it as perfect as possible but chances are if it's a modern album it's something that was recorded on a laptop all in the box and it's never seen analog then get a metal tape because metal is very good at capturing the digital sterility almost of modern music they're ahead of the time now is the time the metal tapes could really come into the fore but unfortunately they haven't been made for decades so recording metal tapes especially brand-new ones to me it's a bit like going on a drinking binge it's expensive it's lots of fun but you don't want to do it all the time and that's the point it's like this one yeah I wasn't joking when I said I told when I told the wrapper off this I'm a retailer this went from a cassette that I could sell to something that secondhand now and worth half of what it was with a wrapper on this 40 quid but you know it is like I said you're a long time dead so it's like the drinking binges don't do it all the time but a little of what your fancy does you good and so if he curious about metal tapes get yourself a good deck make sure you got a good debt because like I said not all debts can make the most out of a good metal get self good deck make sure it's something you really really want on tape and there's a treat just just go and buy self a male tape or two and enjoy them and know that you're at the pinnacle really of how cassettes concerned however I must caveat that with one warning TDK metal tapes that are still sealed from the early 90s now this one is sealed right an ma X very good tape but these have been known to have a white powder problem where the tape has broken down if you look on tape as you'll see talk about it and have experienced this I don't know if you can see if I brilliant bring into the camera but look at the tape pack here it's sort of mottled it's it's got a bit of a dandruff you sort of affect on let's see if I can focus in on it so you can see it's not pure blackest grey it's got stripes in it so this one is not a cassette I can use or a cassette I can sell it's simply something that I have so that's the only caveat be careful on these ones not just emex but the ma of the same sort of vintage but other than that metals are expensive you don't use them all the time but as far as I'm concerned if you really want to make an accurate copy of a CD or a digital source these are the most accurate way of doing it and it's just a shame that they're so damned expensive because basically you gotta be nuts to record on them you could buy a copy of the source or another CD for less than it would cost for one of these tapes but when did hobbies have to make sense it's as simple as that Wendy going out for dinner have to make sense you go out for dinner you have expensive meal Phil at stake you know what it all ends up in the same place as if you'd gone to McDonald's it's got the same and effect only one cost a lot more than the other the difference is that this doesn't have the same end effect as used in a cheaper tape you've got something there that you'll always treasure so thanks for watching please give me a thumbs up please subscribe and don't forget I've got next to none of these tapes for sale and cassette combat calm because I like him so much I'm gonna use it myself because I'm greedy and that's why it shouldn't be that you should sell products that you actually like I should maybe go and sell who I don't know hair dryers something I couldn't care about because then it would just be a product and I'd maximize my profit these they should be sold they will sell fast but I ain't doing and that's the strange thing some things do not make sense and hubby's certainly don't make sense so go and get yourself some mettle tapes thanks for watching please subscribe like and I'll see you next time bye

Channel: Cassette Comeback

Views: 106,319

Rating: 4.8740158 out of 5

Keywords: Cassette, cassettes, cassette reviews, blank cassette, blank cassettes, tape, tapes, blank tapes, tdk, maxell, that's, cassette comeback, review, metal, metal bias, type 4, type iv, metal cassette, ma

Id: hywlgjKRPUQ

Length: 22min 13sec (1333 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 25 2019