i used a lot of these back in my home studio days, prior to getting a CD-R drive. They were quite comparable to my previous go-to cassette, the TDK SA's. The latter's SA-X line might have had a slight edge in frequency response, but if I recall, were a bit more costly as well. Once, I had the good fortune to have the cashier at the local Bi-Way make a mistake and charge single XLII price for a box of ten!
In the 80s I was in advertising. I handled a leading brand Japanese cassette. My client said theirs are the best. So I made a research on electronics magazine and read a review of Maxell chrome against other brands. Maxell came out top. But I need to hear it for myself rather than believing in numbers. I had a drum machine and some sampling synthesizers which sample sounds are in 16-bit and a dynamic range beyond normal CD. That means it could blow up a normal hi-fi speakers. Usually cassette recordings don't have that dynamic range compared professional open reel machine. Surprisingly the numbers for Maxell is right. The dynamic range is far superior than other cassettes. Very close to my drum machine and sampling synthesizer. So my client agreed to do a soft sell rather claiming theirs are the best.
Yes - I was staring at that too, Norliss. Imagine how well the XL-II would sound if the bias were set to type II. Maxell type II were a favorite of mine as well.
Those Maxell XLII tapes were on the market from 1976 until sometime in the mid-2000s. Some on Tapeheads have stated that the later production XLII tapes, made after 1995, were lesser quality particularly in terms of the cassette mechanism quality. Any experience with this? I certainly have loved using those XLII cassettes over the year, they have been truly amazing, though I don't have any of the late '90s ones. Thanks for reviewing.
Very interesting! I was using XLII pretty frequently from 1994 until about 2003. So I must have used many of the later model ones. They sounded fine to me, but maybe the earlier ones were better. I would love to compare an early one with a later one!
Peace Arch - my view is that the later ones such as the one tested here - are every bit as good as the ones from the heydays of the cassette as a medium. I refer to these which were for the US and north Ammerican market and assembled in Mexico. Also included are the XLII made at the Apley Lab, Maxell, in the UK whcih comprised the Mystic series and the Fire Series. All perfect in every respect.
I am playing "RUSH live Album" recorded in a 120 mnutesMaxell XL II Chrome tame (like the one in the picture, and it sounds awesome, better than CD if you ask me ............. I am into audio cassette tapes as I still play my "old school of heavy metal" in the old fashion of audio tapes ............. I have some good quality tapes and others in the middle range ............ I just simply love tapes.
@@techreviewguy7771 yeah, I am still into it, as a matter of fact, you can say I'm a kind of "metalhead" but only in the old fashion, I mean I listen to bands from the late 60s to the middle of the 70s and from 1979 to 1985 with the N.W. O. B. H. M., after that, I do not like new bands .......... I think they suck.
Very close sound. Maybe the cassette sounds better to my ears because there is a bit of tape saturation which is pleasing. I picked up a 5 pack of those a couple of years ago for $50 Australian which included postage from the USA.
That seems to be the average price these days. Once in a while, I will find one, still sealed, in a secondhand shop for a couple of dollars. Always thrilling when that happens!
I have a question. The last time I recorded CD to cassette tape, the year was maybe 2003, so I really don’t remember. When recording, is it fine to leave the volume knob turned down? Or does the volume have to be raised while the CD is playing and the tape is recording? Second question, when the tape runs out on side A after recording, can I flip the tape to side B and record or no? I feel I like I used to record on both sides but again, that was a long time ago so I don’t remember. Thanks. Love this video by the way. I just bought the Maxell XL ii on Amazon before seeing your video.
Hi Amireh. To answer your question, the volume has to be turned up enough to enable a good recording, but not loud enough to be distorted. If the device you are using to record has input level meters, that would be easy to monitor. I would suggest doing a test recording and playing with the volume level until it sounds just right. And yes, you can record on both sides of the tape.
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I started using cassette tape since 2020 October. And I also get the blank cassette tape to recorde my own songs
It is certainly not as easy to find nowadays.
i used a lot of these back in my home studio days, prior to getting a CD-R drive. They were quite comparable to my previous go-to cassette, the TDK SA's. The latter's SA-X line might have had a slight edge in frequency response, but if I recall, were a bit more costly as well.
Once, I had the good fortune to have the cashier at the local Bi-Way make a mistake and charge single XLII price for a box of ten!
Yes, I also liked the TDK SA's. I recall they were very faithful as well. I believe you may have told me that Bi-Way story many moons ago. :)
In the 80s I was in advertising. I handled a leading brand Japanese cassette. My client said theirs are the best. So I made a research on electronics magazine and read a review of Maxell chrome against other brands. Maxell came out top. But I need to hear it for myself rather than believing in numbers. I had a drum machine and some sampling synthesizers which sample sounds are in 16-bit and a dynamic range beyond normal CD. That means it could blow up a normal hi-fi speakers. Usually cassette recordings don't have that dynamic range compared professional open reel machine. Surprisingly the numbers for Maxell is right. The dynamic range is far superior than other cassettes. Very close to my drum machine and sampling synthesizer. So my client agreed to do a soft sell rather claiming theirs are the best.
Thanks for sharing!
Any reason why you left the cassette deck in type I rather than switch it to type II?
Good eye! I didn't even realize I did that. I'll be sure it is in type II next time!
Yes - I was staring at that too, Norliss. Imagine how well the XL-II would sound if the bias were set to type II. Maxell type II were a favorite of mine as well.
Those Maxell XLII tapes were on the market from 1976 until sometime in the mid-2000s. Some on Tapeheads have stated that the later production XLII tapes, made after 1995, were lesser quality particularly in terms of the cassette mechanism quality. Any experience with this? I certainly have loved using those XLII cassettes over the year, they have been truly amazing, though I don't have any of the late '90s ones. Thanks for reviewing.
Very interesting! I was using XLII pretty frequently from 1994 until about 2003. So I must have used many of the later model ones. They sounded fine to me, but maybe the earlier ones were better. I would love to compare an early one with a later one!
Peace Arch - my view is that the later ones such as the one tested here - are every bit as good as the ones from the heydays of the cassette as a medium. I refer to these which were for the US and north Ammerican market and assembled in Mexico. Also included are the XLII made at the Apley Lab, Maxell, in the UK whcih comprised the Mystic series and the Fire Series. All perfect in every respect.
I am playing "RUSH live Album" recorded in a 120 mnutesMaxell XL II Chrome tame (like the one in the picture, and it sounds awesome, better than CD if you ask me ............. I am into audio cassette tapes as I still play my "old school of heavy metal" in the old fashion of audio tapes ............. I have some good quality tapes and others in the middle range ............ I just simply love tapes.
I listened to lots of old school heavy metal back in the day. Growing up in a trailer park in the 80s it was almost mandatory. :)
@@techreviewguy7771
yeah, I am still into it, as a matter of fact, you can say I'm a kind of "metalhead" but only in the old fashion, I mean I listen to bands from the late 60s to the middle of the 70s and from 1979 to 1985 with the N.W. O. B. H. M., after that, I do not like new bands .......... I think they suck.
Thoughts on the XLII-S vs XLII?
I have not used XLII-S in a very long time. I will try to track one down!
Very close sound. Maybe the cassette sounds better to my ears because there is a bit of tape saturation which is pleasing.
I picked up a 5 pack of those a couple of years ago for $50 Australian which included postage from the USA.
That seems to be the average price these days. Once in a while, I will find one, still sealed, in a secondhand shop for a couple of dollars. Always thrilling when that happens!
maxell xl ll 90 es muy bueno, y mas el maxell XL II 90 EPITAXIAL
¡Muy interesante! Nunca he probado el maxell epitaxial!
I have a question. The last time I recorded CD to cassette tape, the year was maybe 2003, so I really don’t remember. When recording, is it fine to leave the volume knob turned down? Or does the volume have to be raised while the CD is playing and the tape is recording? Second question, when the tape runs out on side A after recording, can I flip the tape to side B and record or no? I feel I like I used to record on both sides but again, that was a long time ago so I don’t remember. Thanks. Love this video by the way. I just bought the Maxell XL ii on Amazon before seeing your video.
Hi Amireh. To answer your question, the volume has to be turned up enough to enable a good recording, but not loud enough to be distorted. If the device you are using to record has input level meters, that would be easy to monitor. I would suggest doing a test recording and playing with the volume level until it sounds just right. And yes, you can record on both sides of the tape.
Interesting
Thanks for watching!