Customer Reviews

Xlii 90 High Bias Audio Cassette Tape (5-Pack)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various music supplies and recordings from the 60's and 70's.

I have used thousands of Maxell cassette tapes over the years and the quality has been superlative.

The Maxell XL2 is high bias, also known as chrome, position 2, and CRo2. They are specifically engineered for music. If you are recording rock, jazz, or classical the quality will surpass your expectations.

Maxell's reputation for tapes was solidified as far back as the 1970's when the majority of the sound crews would use Maxell at the mixing board for playback after a live performance.

In order to get the best result it is imperative the tape deck you use has clean heads all the time. Failure to keep dirt away from the internal parts will result in sub-par recordings even with first class tapes.

If you are recording voice only, look for the normal bias, position 1 tapes by Maxell.

Try to avoid using tapes over 100 minutes you will have less headaches with breakage. The 110 and 120 minutes are thinner and will tear fairly often.

Enjoy the music and be well,

Craig Fenton

Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

Maxell manufactures excellent "Xlii high bias" 90 minute cassette tapes for all purpose general recording. As long as you have the right kind of equipment, these tapes record the sounds of record albums, radio shows, CD-Rs, people talking and more. These tapes have 90 minutes worth of blank recording tapes on them so there are 45 blank minutes for recording on each side. Record lectures, music, conversations, piano playing and more--whatever you want! The tape playback will work well in any basic tape deck including the one in your car.

The tapes are extremely well made in that they DO allow you hours upon hours of listening enjoyment because you can record over them many times; and they take up very little room so they're easy to carry around with you.

If you pay the current Amazon price of $13.77 for the five-pack you spend roughly $2.75 per tape. Some people will find that to be too expensive while others will want these blank cassette tapes anyway, not minding having to pay the price.

Unfortunately, these tapes still cannot produce 100% the same quality recording reproduction as a digitalized copy would give you. This means that if, hypothetically, you were to copy a CD-R onto another CD-R instead of a Maxell cassette tape, the quality of the sound on the CD-R copy would be at least somewhat sharper and clearer with less background noise than these Maxell cassette tapes will give you. Moreover, cassette tapes can break if not handled with care. They can also break if used a few too many times, too. Therefore, I recommend that any important recorded material should be copied onto another blank tape and then keep that second tape in a safe place to use as a backup. These shortcomings frustrate me and therefore I will have to take off one star to make this a four star review.

The tapes have small pieces of plastic on the narrow top of each cassette which you can punch out easily so that accidental recording over an existing recording is impossible. If you do wish to record over an original recording then you can merely place a small amount of regular tape over the hole. The cassette tape is now ready to record a fresh recording. I also agree with the gentleman who suggests that you clean the heads of the tape deck before using these cassette tapes to maximize the quality of the recording.

Overall, Maxell Xlii high bias cassette tapes makes a great choice when you want reliable cassette tapes to record music, the radio, people talking or anything you wish to record. I have used this brand for decades and I cannot think of any major complaints. I highly recommend Maxell normal bias 90 minute cassette tapes for you to use when you need to record something onto a tape.

I`m a musician and I record almost everyday . These tapes is an excelent way to check my self. Very clean recordings and excelent playback.Good tapes

I don't know why this listing still says "In stock." I wish it were, but when I get to Amazon check-out the following message always appears:

"We're sorry. The quantity you requested is no longer available. The number to the right is the maximum quantity currently available."

I have used Maxell XLII for over two decades. I've used them on a Nakamichi 581 cassette deck, a Tandberg TCD320 cassette deck, and small hand-held recorders from Sony (with built-in microphone).

I've used the Maxell XLII tapes for recording albums from vinyl, recording from compact discs, and recording live, e.g., parties, waterfalls, and my own electric-guitar playing using a Nakamichi microphone.

When I first got my Nakamichi 581, I did a side-by-side test of an actual vinyl record, and my taped copy of the vinyl recording. I was not able to tell the difference. This demonstrates the high quality of the Maxell XLII tape. The particular recording was a duet with Max Roach on drums and Anthony Braxton on saxophone. This recording was an especial challenge to the tape's ability to record at higher frequencies. The Maxell tape passed the test, so to speak. Also, I recently listened to recordings that I made in the year 1980. I have no reason to believe that the recordings on my Maxell tape have deteriorated. This is another good thing about the Maxell XLII tape.

I have nothing bad to say about the 90 minute Maxell XLII tape.

But I do have bad things to say about tape recorders. First of all, my Tandberg is a risky machine. Perhaps, one time out of 100 times that I use the Tandberg, the tape gets tangled up. I blame this on the Tandberg, not on the tape. Another problem is that my Nakamichi 581 has been broken for many years, and I have not been able to find anybody who repairs this sort of machine. The Nakamichi 581 was, and probably still is, the highest quality cassette deck known to mankind. But I can't find anybody who can fix mine. Again, this is not the fault of the tape.

Finally, Sony had an excellent little hand-held cassette player/recorder, the TCM-454VK. The sound quality of this machine is fine for recording nature sounds and children's music concerts. However, I dropped this Sony machine, and it broke, and it is not manufactured anymore. Instead, Sony does make a similar, newer model, but the sound quality of this Sony cassette recorder is garbage (please see my reviews of the newer Sony machine). But this is not the fault of the tape. Sony TCM-200DV Standard Cassette Voice Recorder adds a high-pitched whining sound to your tapes. A similar recorder, the Panasonic RQ-L31 Portable Cassette Recorder with Slide Microphone, adds a high-pitched chirping sound to your tapes.

The following applies only to recording nature sounds, children's marching bands, and so on. The following does not apply to making tape recordings from commercially available music on compact discs.

Last year, I bought a digital voice recorder, the Olympus DS-40. Please see my review of the Olympus DS-40. The Olympus DS-40 is an absolute dream and a miracle -- because of the very low background noise, because of the absence of clicking sounds when starting/stopping or when pausing/restarting recordings, because of the extreme length of recordability, and because of its extremely compact size. Therefore, at least for amateur recordings of nature sounds, marching bands, and parties, cassette tapes and cassette recorders might no longer be medium of choice.

For about $3 per tape (including shipping charge), this 5-pack is perfect for the audiophile looking for near CD quality sound. I use a Sherwood cassette recorder with Dolby S and automatic detection of the High Bias type tape. Recording a local FM radio station rock music at the proper level gives exact reproduction of sound. I tested it after using Maxell UD and the difference is dramatic! The XLII is so clear and the casssette shell and tape are very sturdy. You should record at a level that shows into the red all the time, not just at the loudest parts. This allows the High Bias tape to absorb any slight distortion and the Dolby lets you record at the higher level. Any slight background tape hiss is eliminated.

I have found, through my experience, that Maxell XLII high bias cassette tapes are highly durable, long lasting, and play back very clear sound. While high bias tapes are not the absolute best for recording from CDs (metal bias tapes are), they are a big step up from normal bias tapes. I have used these Maxell tapes for about 15 years for everything from voice recordings, to sound effects, to music. About 10 years ago I started getting into CD burning for some of my music needs, including burning my own original music from tapes onto CD through the computer, but I still use these Maxell tapes to this day for certain things.

Cassette tapes and tape decks are becoming more and more a thing of the past. If you still have use for them, then I highly recommend these Maxell tapes.

A GIFT THAT WAS REQUESTED BY MY BROTHER..SAID THESE ARE GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO FIND...SO IF U ARE IN NEED HERE IS THE PLACE TO BUY THEM..GREAT PRODUCT.

Now I'm noticing in the day & age of cd formats & mp3 downloading that finding good cassettes in just your average store here in michigan is hard to find now, so i was glad to be able to go through amazon to get what i needed,& me being into the quality of the maxell cassettes since the mid 80's i just can't use any other tape, mainly due to me still working pretty regular with a four track recorder which requries a high bias tape for the best sound, so even though some may feel like i'm in the stone age for still using cassettes but what i'm able achieve sound wise through equalizers & the four track is still cutting edge thanks to good tapes that can handle the pressure.

I have had consistently poor experience with Maxell XLii 90 High Bias audio tape. I have two high-end cassette recorders that both have automatic stop if the tension on the tape gets too high to prevent breaking the tape. The mechanisms in the Maxell XLii 90 cassettes are problems in both recorders. They do not roll as freely as they should and put so much drag on the tape recorder mechanism that the tape recorder stops. On some of the cassettes, I can hear the reels rubbing against the sides of the cassette shell. This has happened on three different 5-packs, purchased at two different stores. I also have a lower-end cassette recorder, and there is no problem with these cassettes on the lower-end recorder, because it is less sophisticated machine and does not sense the amount of tension on the tape. I have absolutely no problems using TDK SA90 cassettes on either of the high-end cassette decks. The portion of the Maxell XLii 90 tape that does get recorded on the high-end recorders before they stop sounds great.