Really nice. I used to love the Fuji GTII which came in the same shell. Genuine Fuji Type 1s are some of the best in the game and this one certainly performed like it!
Yep, I remember the very first AXIA I got. I knew it was better than most type 1s I'd been using straight away. The tape just sounded so much better. Their type 2s are great also. Never tried a type 4 AXIA though.
Interesting that Sony says to bias first, then level, then EQ. In many manuals I read for other decks (JVC TD-V661 and Nakamichi ZX-7), they say to adjust the level first, then the bias. FYI, both affect each other so you will have to go back and forth until both are calibrated. I was also told that the EQ on Sony decks let you move the range of bias so you don't have to adjust the internal bias if your bias knob is already at the end and you still need more. That EQ can give you that "more". My JVC doesn't have this so I'm a bit jealous of Sony decks that have them, lol. 😅
Hi Techie Zeddie, I'm actually a subscriber or your channel. Saw the teardown you did on that classic cassette adapter. Yeah, it is odd that Sony say to adjust the Bias first followed by the level but as you say, they both work against each other so I guess it doesn't matter. I've not seen anything in the manual mentioning the ability to move the range of bias on my deck although my original manual is in Japanese so I may have missed that section.
@@retrocoreav7025 I'm glad! Hopefully you find the video I'm talking about then. I asked about the Record EQ to someone who has a similar Sony deck that had that feature. If you're not already, you should come to the tapeheads.net forum! It's a great place to ask these questions. You may spark a "discussion" though, lol. Give that calibration method a try and let me know if it works out. Starting from the center, adjust Level first, then Bias, and if the Level moves, adjust the Level again. If the Bias moves, adjust that - keep doing it until both are even. If the Bias bottoms or tops out and you still can't get it right adjust the Record EQ so the Bias is right on the mark, and readjust the Level as necessary. It's a balancing act, but it's part of the fun of calibrating your own tapes! If you watch my videos before I adjusted the JVC internally, you'll see what I mean about that bottoming or topping out. If you watch any of my videos when I calibrate tapes, you'll see that balancing act happening as I bounce between adjusting the Level and the Bias, lol.
Recently I purchased from Russian internet media store diskin.ru three new sealed old stock AXIA Be 2 (Type II) cassettes. They also have original shell and nice unusual hubs, and besides that tape quality is really good, I tried recording on them and got excellent results.This store had also several other Japanese market tapes, such as Panasonic PX-1 or Japanese market version of Maxell UR.
Me too. I love AXIA audio cassettes. In terms of beauty, I think there is nothing else above. Maybe That's audio cassettes. Returning to the subject, I only have 4 audio tapes from AXIA (some used J'z 1, 2 and Colours) bought 4 months ago that I am extremely proud to own because they are absolutley beautiful and extraordinarily hard to find in my location. Or maybe they are still to be found but they are not cheap. From this point of view, I consider Japan the paradise of storage media (audio cassettes and minidiscs also). Some of the most beautiful models were made there and I think they are still there for those who are looking for them... Man ... I wish I was born in Japan right now.
I'd agree with you there. Even AXIA Mini Discs look cool. Fuji Film really had some top designers behind their AXIA brand and not to mention some top quality science for their tape formulations.
I’ve really started to appreciate Axia a lot more. When I was stationed in Japan back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I bought Axia tapes all the time, never realizing they were Japanese market Fuji tapes. I’m finding them a very good alternative to other brands; instead of recording something on a TDK SA-X, I’ll reach for a Fuji ZII or an Axia PS-2 instead.
The first AXIA I got was way back in 1997 and I thought they were great. It was a type 2 cassette but I don't remember which model. I do rememberer it being black with a cool window design.
Lately Physical media get so much attention yet there no new old Physical Media for Sale just old new stock, I hope there still brand new like this kind of Physical media for consumer buys.
Actually, there is new media. It's just not as good as the old stuff. Well , most of it isn't. A company in France called Fox are doing some pretty good audio tape at the moment.
Hmm well it's probably the cost I don't know how and why coz it's have many factor, but the quality will be drop for each year but unnoticeable specially for Mass use only some expert or someone who always used this stuff notice it, heck I recently try flac music but I really don't notice the different with my high def MP3 file, well some say I need high end or at least decent headset to feel the different but I don't have it so I fine with my high def MP3 file as long the music not full of garbage.
This one the bass was awesome for your bass heavy treble light AMIGA game music or whatever. Treble flat but expected with this type of tape or it's that the head of the hardware needs a clean to regain the treble performance but more likely because of the tape type having those characteristics by default though. I like the sound of it for bass heavy music.
very cool video i have many japanese cassettes some of them AXIA. They are very good cassettes. BTW with some decks its better to disengage dolby during the calibration process and then turn it back on after.
Based on the leader it looks to be a TDK classic 80s navy range but then the hubs are by a different brand altogether then the tape may be different from both brands that is the exciting thing about brands that are brands that don't create the tapes inside it can be a combination of 3 brands parts producng a product of 1 brands leader anothers tape and anothers hubs and shell quite litrally plus the 4th brand Axia themselves or whatever the brand on the plastic on the back says assembling the entire tape which means a possible 5 different brands could all be doing something on the product. It's part of the excitment of tapes as sometimes these mixed brand products are superior than the originals due to matching different parts together by different brands.
Going to assume this Axia is not related to the Telos Axia company in the US which supplies specialized high quality IP audio equipment to radio and TV stations.
wow Axia a Japanese fuji is using saehan hubs that was cool it kinds reminds me of skc hubs saehan and lucky Goldstar from Korean made assembled but axia did got their own signature hubs in japan.
Or maybe Seahan got their hubs From Fuji? It's a tough one but here in Japan Axia cassettes were just as big as TDK and Maxell. It would seem odd for them to use Korean parts.
@@retrocoreav7025 indeed but i got some that are made in south korea such as jvc basf memorex akai and genuine saehan. there is some In Europe that bbc cassette had too. so does the Japanese denon cassette tapes the CDo1 and 2
I used to be a big Maison Ikkoku fan as well. The anime was imported to Italy at the end of the 80s and never became truly successful here but I got hooked because it dealt with normal young adults real life issues and that was something you wouldn't see in many shows that were imported at the time. I presume people bought those blank special edition cassettes to record songs from the anime?
That's exactly why I loved the show. Still live it now even though I'm 44. I would imagine people did record Maison Ikkoku music on to those tapes. I have another with Urusei Yatsura on the cover.
That's a mix of the Pet Shop Boys track, somewhere. Not sure of the mix title off the top of my head but I can tell you that mine is a 12" record. Not sure if it was ever released on another format.
Браво бе , гледам ти видеата интересни много хубави и странни касети намираш . Интересно ми е от къде ти попадат всичките тези касети. При нас аудио касетите са скъпи , по скъпи са от видео касетите и трудно се намират. Това е един от пародоксите в днешния свят. Поздрави.
I'd have loved to get my hands on them back in the day!! Axia, That's and Denon were right up there for me in the audio cassette tapes league. I still have minidisc and use Axia and Prime Media minidiscs. Fantastic discs. Tony at cassette Comeback would be interested in your video!
I have a few Sony but I'm not sure if they are the ones you mean. The ones I have are all type 2 or type 4 so they might be what you are talking about. I've not really looked at them yet. But when I do I'll feature them on the channel.
For some reason, I want to import one of those cassettes with the anime girl in the cover. Even though I'm not super familiar with the series she came from outside of the original creator.
Anime character tape cassette inserts were VERY common freebies in 80s anime magazines. So if you really want some of these, just buy up some old magazines that mention still having the freebies. Animage, AnimeV, NewType, etc. They often had free posters, postcards, stickers, cassette insert cards, and more. The value of the free goods sometimes far exceeded the magazine itself. Most 80s shows also sold cassette label merchandise packs. Kind of the same thing but better quality and more variety than the free ones. I haven't see cassette label packs for sale in quite a while but I haven't looked either.
Really nice. I used to love the Fuji GTII which came in the same shell. Genuine Fuji Type 1s are some of the best in the game and this one certainly performed like it!
Axia is Fuji right?
Yep, I remember the very first AXIA I got. I knew it was better than most type 1s I'd been using straight away. The tape just sounded so much better.
Their type 2s are great also. Never tried a type 4 AXIA though.
Yes, that's right.
Interesting that Sony says to bias first, then level, then EQ. In many manuals I read for other decks (JVC TD-V661 and Nakamichi ZX-7), they say to adjust the level first, then the bias. FYI, both affect each other so you will have to go back and forth until both are calibrated. I was also told that the EQ on Sony decks let you move the range of bias so you don't have to adjust the internal bias if your bias knob is already at the end and you still need more. That EQ can give you that "more". My JVC doesn't have this so I'm a bit jealous of Sony decks that have them, lol. 😅
Hi Techie Zeddie, I'm actually a subscriber or your channel. Saw the teardown you did on that classic cassette adapter.
Yeah, it is odd that Sony say to adjust the Bias first followed by the level but as you say, they both work against each other so I guess it doesn't matter.
I've not seen anything in the manual mentioning the ability to move the range of bias on my deck although my original manual is in Japanese so I may have missed that section.
@@retrocoreav7025 I'm glad! Hopefully you find the video I'm talking about then. I asked about the Record EQ to someone who has a similar Sony deck that had that feature. If you're not already, you should come to the tapeheads.net forum! It's a great place to ask these questions. You may spark a "discussion" though, lol.
Give that calibration method a try and let me know if it works out. Starting from the center, adjust Level first, then Bias, and if the Level moves, adjust the Level again. If the Bias moves, adjust that - keep doing it until both are even. If the Bias bottoms or tops out and you still can't get it right adjust the Record EQ so the Bias is right on the mark, and readjust the Level as necessary. It's a balancing act, but it's part of the fun of calibrating your own tapes!
If you watch my videos before I adjusted the JVC internally, you'll see what I mean about that bottoming or topping out. If you watch any of my videos when I calibrate tapes, you'll see that balancing act happening as I bounce between adjusting the Level and the Bias, lol.
Thanks for the info on calibrating the deck to the tape. I'll give that a try as the Sony manual method seems odd.
Recently I purchased from Russian internet media store diskin.ru three new sealed old stock AXIA Be 2 (Type II) cassettes. They also have original shell and nice unusual hubs, and besides that tape quality is really good, I tried recording on them and got excellent results.This store had also several other Japanese market tapes, such as Panasonic PX-1 or Japanese market version of Maxell UR.
Nice. That's great you can get genuine AXIA in Russia. Try to get as many as you can. They really are good tapes.
The treble was questionable for this tape. Great upload… gonna check for more
Me too. I love AXIA audio cassettes. In terms of beauty, I think there is nothing else above. Maybe That's audio cassettes. Returning to the subject, I only have 4 audio tapes from AXIA (some used J'z 1, 2 and Colours) bought 4 months ago that I am extremely proud to own because they are absolutley beautiful and extraordinarily hard to find in my location. Or maybe they are still to be found but they are not cheap. From this point of view, I consider Japan the paradise of storage media (audio cassettes and minidiscs also). Some of the most beautiful models were made there and I think they are still there for those who are looking for them... Man ... I wish I was born in Japan right now.
I'd agree with you there. Even AXIA Mini Discs look cool. Fuji Film really had some top designers behind their AXIA brand and not to mention some top quality science for their tape formulations.
I’ve really started to appreciate Axia a lot more. When I was stationed in Japan back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I bought Axia tapes all the time, never realizing they were Japanese market Fuji tapes. I’m finding them a very good alternative to other brands; instead of recording something on a TDK SA-X, I’ll reach for a Fuji ZII or an Axia PS-2 instead.
Lovely to see some proper hi-fi equipment again. I had to retire my system a few years back because my partner wanted half of the lounge back.
Oh man, that's bad news :(.
Then again I bet if my gear was in the living room I'd have the same problem. I keep my hi-fi gear in the man Cave. .
Truly beautiful looking pieces of media. Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome and thanks for watching.
Those are nice looking cassettes indeed! Don't use 'em anymore but if I did, I'd like to try an Axia.
The first AXIA I got was way back in 1997 and I thought they were great. It was a type 2 cassette but I don't remember which model. I do rememberer it being black with a cool window design.
Lately Physical media get so much attention yet there no new old Physical Media for Sale just old new stock, I hope there still brand new like this kind of Physical media for consumer buys.
Actually, there is new media. It's just not as good as the old stuff. Well , most of it isn't. A company in France called Fox are doing some pretty good audio tape at the moment.
Hmm well it's probably the cost I don't know how and why coz it's have many factor, but the quality will be drop for each year but unnoticeable specially for Mass use only some expert or someone who always used this stuff notice it, heck I recently try flac music but I really don't notice the different with my high def MP3 file, well some say I need high end or at least decent headset to feel the different but I don't have it so I fine with my high def MP3 file as long the music not full of garbage.
This one the bass was awesome for your bass heavy treble light AMIGA game music or whatever. Treble flat but expected with this type of tape or it's that the head of the hardware needs a clean to regain the treble performance but more likely because of the tape type having those characteristics by default though. I like the sound of it for bass heavy music.
Awesome!!! The music also🙂
omg i want a copy
very cool video i have many japanese cassettes some of them AXIA. They are very good cassettes. BTW with some decks its better to disengage dolby during the calibration process and then turn it back on after.
Thanks for the info about Dolby. I always have it off for calibration.
Based on the leader it looks to be a TDK classic 80s navy range but then the hubs are by a different brand altogether then the tape may be different from both brands that is the exciting thing about brands that are brands that don't create the tapes inside it can be a combination of 3 brands parts producng a product of 1 brands leader anothers tape and anothers hubs and shell quite litrally plus the 4th brand Axia themselves or whatever the brand on the plastic on the back says assembling the entire tape which means a possible 5 different brands could all be doing something on the product. It's part of the excitment of tapes as sometimes these mixed brand products are superior than the originals due to matching different parts together by different brands.
This is no TDK, it's 100% Fuji. In Japan Fuji cassettes went under the name of Axia. They only released their own stuff.
Going to assume this Axia is not related to the Telos Axia company in the US which supplies specialized high quality IP audio equipment to radio and TV stations.
Not unless that AXIA is connected to Fuji Film since they are the company behind AXIA cassette tapes, mini discs and video tapes.
Axia is the Japanese market arm of Fuji; they stopped selling cassettes under the Fuji name sometime in the 90’s, if I remember right. Axia=Fuji.
wow Axia a Japanese fuji is using saehan hubs that was cool it kinds reminds me of skc hubs saehan and lucky Goldstar from Korean made assembled but axia did got their own signature hubs in japan.
ok i will point out that ferric saehan has dark chocolate brown color while skc has original typical brown color.
Or maybe Seahan got their hubs From Fuji? It's a tough one but here in Japan Axia cassettes were just as big as TDK and Maxell. It would seem odd for them to use Korean parts.
@@retrocoreav7025 indeed but i got some that are made in south korea such as jvc basf memorex akai and genuine saehan. there is some In Europe that bbc cassette had too. so does the Japanese denon cassette tapes the CDo1 and 2
I used to be a big Maison Ikkoku fan as well. The anime was imported to Italy at the end of the 80s and never became truly successful here but I got hooked because it dealt with normal young adults real life issues and that was something you wouldn't see in many shows that were imported at the time. I presume people bought those blank special edition cassettes to record songs from the anime?
That's exactly why I loved the show. Still live it now even though I'm 44.
I would imagine people did record Maison Ikkoku music on to those tapes. I have another with Urusei Yatsura on the cover.
That's some rocking music. What song is the one at 9:15?
That's a mix of the Pet Shop Boys track, somewhere. Not sure of the mix title off the top of my head but I can tell you that mine is a 12" record. Not sure if it was ever released on another format.
Good!
Браво бе , гледам ти видеата интересни много хубави и странни касети намираш . Интересно ми е от къде ти попадат всичките тези касети. При нас аудио касетите са скъпи , по скъпи са от видео касетите и трудно се намират. Това е един от пародоксите в днешния свят. Поздрави.
The window looks like a gun to me.
Hmm, now that you mention it...
I'd have loved to get my hands on them back in the day!! Axia, That's and Denon were right up there for me in the audio cassette tapes league. I still have minidisc and use Axia and Prime Media minidiscs. Fantastic discs. Tony at cassette Comeback would be interested in your video!
I think Tony has seen my video now. I'll be doing more on AXIA in the next few weeks. Will be doing a type 1 showdown followed by a type 2 showdown.
@@retrocoreav7025 thanks! Yes, I believe Tony mentioned you do the Japanese rarities!! All great interesting stuff!! 👍
All of them for axia tape are made by fujifilm
That's right.
Hi Retrocore AV do you remember those Sony cassettes tapes that were made CO2 chromium or metal are you going to cover those?
I have a few Sony but I'm not sure if they are the ones you mean. The ones I have are all type 2 or type 4 so they might be what you are talking about. I've not really looked at them yet. But when I do I'll feature them on the channel.
Look Luke fuji crome tapes
For some reason, I want to import one of those cassettes with the anime girl in the cover. Even though I'm not super familiar with the series she came from outside of the original creator.
I have another featuring the characters from Urusei Yatsura, another popular anime of the time.
@@retrocoreav7025..........now I'm way more interested in importing them
Anime character tape cassette inserts were VERY common freebies in 80s anime magazines. So if you really want some of these, just buy up some old magazines that mention still having the freebies. Animage, AnimeV, NewType, etc. They often had free posters, postcards, stickers, cassette insert cards, and more. The value of the free goods sometimes far exceeded the magazine itself. Most 80s shows also sold cassette label merchandise packs. Kind of the same thing but better quality and more variety than the free ones. I haven't see cassette label packs for sale in quite a while but I haven't looked either.
@@LatitudeSky Huh. I should definitely keep my eyes on those
wow i have one of those gt tapes mostly t.m. network, misato watanabe and others.
I think the first one I received had TRF on it.
@@retrocoreav7025 what i have 2 trf albums one is billionare and dance to positive.
I don't recall what the one I had but it did feature the tracks Silver & Gold Dance and 寒夜だから (Samui Yoru Dakara).
@@retrocoreav7025 on what album
Calibration is not spot on, overbiased so sound is slightly duller than source
It was close enough but I think I said it was almost spot on.
@@retrocoreav7025 I wouldn't be satisfied with such rec. No wonder people still dont understand how good cassette can sound
Being slightly off won't make it sound that much duller. I personally thought it sounded close to the source.
Card holder. Imbalance of left and right channels