The TDK FE Type 1 Cassette - Importance never came at such a reasonable price...
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- čas přidán 19. 07. 2020
- Even though I've used it before, this "little" cassette deserves it's own video, as right now, it's an important cassette to know.
Deck Used : Nakamichi ZX-9
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*Thanks to your channel I now specify the nature of my toilet visits as a "Type I" or "Type II" and look forward to the result being a nice, rich "chocolatey brown"!* 😄✌️
😆
Typical british lavatory sense of humour at its best )
Ha! And do you look at it afterwards and exclaim "Not bad for a 30 year old D!" 🤔😆
when you have a TYPE IV,it,s time to see the doctor.
or as i used to call it a johnny1 or johnny2
The tape reminds a lot of beautiful memories. Thank you
This was my first cassette. Great sound for a ferric, good looking too, and, most importantly, it was cheap. D's were more expensive for no reason to me. No matter how many times i use other ferrics, i come back to these.
Yeah, once these came out, I saw no reason to pay more for a D.
TDK Ferric Cassette Tape is still one of my top favourite TDK Range which is equally as good as the D Range & I have recorded Radio Mixes on them from The Period of 2004 - 2008 & still sounds impressive even today as it did way back then :) Cheap & affordable & all round good performance:) Great Video with another Great Review 👍
In my experience this is a fine cassette and I still use them almost every week. I just think it is fantastic that such a good product is so plentiful for what is arguably an obsolete format. Great video on a worthy subject. I love this channel.
Hi Tony! Another great video! Here at South America, the TDK cheap cassette was the A (stands for Acoustic). It's a great cassette too. Probably we recieved some FE, but I didn't saw them on any store at the time.
Absolutely couldn't agree with you more that new formulations should be as good or better than the FE.
TDK's were always my favourite and i have all those older weird versions.
know Im late to the party here and managed to get a large batch of these from an old radio station. All had only been recorded on the one time, still have the record tabs on. All are good tapes. I have a cheap 80's Technics deck and they sound good even recorded on this.... Ive been binge watching the videos and have started to get back into cassettes..
Same with me, welcome aboard. Here in the UK TDK FE90s were everywhere in bricks of ten. I got rid of all my tapes c.2008-09. Only after watching a heap of Tony's videos last year I brought a reconditioned TEAC V-615 and a heap of TDKFE90s and Maxell URs - its like 1995 all over again !
Excellent tapes. I've got loads of them, and am making sure I always have plenty.
I'd never seen the other versions before.
I've never run across a FE in the states before but I have noticed that a lot of the later TDK cassettes used the basic D shell around the end: CDing II, CD Bass - off the top of my head.
Greetings Tony. Nice to see this trusty tape given its own vid. Good, no nonsense tape. Happy days.
Perfect as always, Tony. Thank you very much! Got one TDK! Ferric from my brother, 1989 :-)
Thanks for sending it...and the others will feature in future videos.
I just love this video. I still use a cassette based multitracker using type 2 and they are great.
I remember hmv were selling 10 packs of tdk fe90 for £3.99 that's 39p a tape that's a bargain of the century back in the late 90s/early 00s. I use to have these tapes back in the days great recordings from fm radio stations
Most TDK FE cassettes can be taken apart however some of them were welded so it was not possible to open them. I heavily used FE cassettes from around 1995 until 2001 but I used to modify them by colouring the assertate inserts with a black marker pen leaving only the centre clear. This was a cheap and chearful way to make them look "more professional". In 2003 or 2004 I switched to Maxell UR. Nowadays I try to find cassettes on EBay that have black inserts like Scotch, ACME and HOT.
Thanks for recommendation. I just wanted to re-record some of my old fake "original" recordings of Elton John, Phil Collins, Roxette etc. And I found out that on average the new available cassettes cost around 6€ (the cheapest ones). Just accidentally I came across the TDK FE 60 and found it for only 2,48€ so I was curious if it´s any good. Thanks again for making such a good informative video. Listening to your comparison it sounds great to me. What a great value!
I gravitated toward the Maxell, especially the XLII, and XL-II S (type II/Cr02). It was my go-to for recording my high school, college, and early military band recordings.
The audiotape equivalent of TDK’s ‘TV’ videocassette (vs the HS).
Wouldn’t be surprised if the packaging was the only different thing vs the HS (and the D here).
One of the most popular cassettes in Russia back in mid-2000s. I have 2001-gen and latest ~2009-gen of FE, latest gen of FEs have a much thicker tape and little more hiss.
Woah, only yesterday I re-acquired (among other cassette-related things) a mix tape I made around 1999 on an FE90! I listened to it all as well :P I have a blank FE90 still in the wrapper too.
These are my favourite cassette. I’ve used hundreds and have hundreds in reserve for use for years to come.
Never seen these FE in person (not being sold new, at least. **Maybe** I have one used, picked from the trash, from unknown origin) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sounds really good! Love the looks of the white "TDK!".
Thanks Tony another great example of bang for the buck! Cheers!
I like the FE, I've got quiet a few of the white shell ones which I purchased in Woolworths back in the day. I have the later ones as well as shown here and they are a good cassette for what they are and compete very well with the last of the Maxell UR.
Hi Tony, thanks for another great video. Since you include the tech graphs in your vids now ( which is great idea!) you may like to try software called RMAA for your tests. It lets you see other important characteristics like THD at chosen recording level, noise level depending on frequency etc. I believe your subscribers will appreciate it. Also you may like to know yourself which of your great decks suits better to you favourite cassettes (at least by tape type). Cheers!
Thanks, I'll check it out.
That white ferric is gorgeous!
i remember buying blank audio tapes to record my songs
The FE is a very good value cassette in my opinion. Slightly thinner tape than the D, but almost as good fidelity-wise. From experience, they're not quite as stable in a car stereo (yes I've still got tape in my car). I find they bias like a modern maxell UR, the tape surface is similar in colour too.
The TDK's with an exclamation sign, were as well available in the Pewex stores, in comunistic Poland, and in Germany around 1989-1990 (Tdk Cue and Tdk if, both made in Japan). Even i have got one Cue 90 white edition '89, and i have had one If 46. So not only in Japan available.
Thanks for good Job. Greetings from Germany!
TDK FE90 was the very first brand new cassette i ever unwrapped. Mine was the latest edition and it had no screws. I think it was back in 2008 maybe.
With the white hub retainers? I think that's the final version.
@@CassetteComeback They aren't white. They are more like light gray
I love these tapes. I mainly make recordings that I only listen to a couple of times and then record over, and these are just perfect for that. I mostly listen on boomboxes and Walkmans too so there’s no point in using a high end tape on decks that won’t appreciate them .
I had a load of mixtapes on FE90s, I kept in my Ford Escort mk3 Ghia.
TDK never made an FE cassette in the US, only the D.
That's because subliminally you'd be rejecting the Globe🌝
I purchased the TDK MA tapes. Delivery ETA this week hopefully. Now I gotta buy a deck
For us weirdos who still insist on using tapes in the car, this is a little marvel.
Just recorded a load of these today. I agree there's a tad hissy but as I only want them as tapes for the car it makes little to no odds, they're cheap, sound great and if they get stamped on, broken, or chucked about it really doesn't matter. Just purchased another 20 of them!
In Australia back in the 80's and 90's they sold TDK D and AD's more than any other blank cassette. I don't recall seeing the FE60/90 though. But yeah you could buy a D or AD at the supermarket no problems. But yeah, these TDK's could take lots of abuse. I have some 30+ year old D's and they still sound good when I put them into a small CD/ cassette boombox. Have an AR somewhere as well.
In the final years they went further trying to cut the production cost. No screws, glued shell, no metal plate behind the pressing pad. The tape went almost black and pretty much transparent
Now normally they can produce very good quality tapes @low cost because all the production factory's are now situated in the ultra cheap labour country's in Asia..
Have you ever biased up 3 different cassettes from a 3 pack? It would be interesting to see if a 3 pack of cassettes all bias the same way, or 3 separate tapes of the same type, but not bought all 3 together. My guess is the biasing will be at least a little bit different.
Yes. A great tape. I bought 100 of them a couple of years ago. And they compare very favourably with tape costing a lot more.
I love the FE it's a great everyday cassette. I could never really hear that much difference to the D. I've still got a couple...and I used to have a few of the white version, but like you say Tony the white ones I always thought sounded inferior - a bit dull. If the hiss is a worry they work pretty well with Dolby S!
A D with Cobalt to improve the already good formula more in a Supermarket quality cheaper shell which even has the same stripes as Tesco Value and it was sold in Tesco thats the only place I have ever seen them and where we got them from.
The thing is I actually sort of like the Purple blue like colour of some of the shells better than the pure clear of the 90s D. The cheap thing about the shell was the Tesco Value knockoff logo nothing else was cheap.
Edit: Ohh maybe the logo differered a bit to Tesco's stripes afterall. Maybe I remembered the logo wrong a bit?
Wow can't deny visual proof that there is some slightly different particules in there afterall. Thats probably the amounts of Cobolt though.
My 1992 recorded Tdk D90 cassette is still working with same clarity
💿 bought in 2010 have failed now
Legend.
ohh man i bought tons as a kid to record radio one and Kiss 100fm. Techno trance shows. Colin faver Dale. most of me mixes are up on YT now. I still have over 40 of these.
Congratulation from CHILE bueno el canal saludos y cuidence del covid19 happy
I don't remember the FE. It definitely wasn't common in Finland, and I would suspect it wasn't available very widely, if at all, here. TDK D was extremely commonplace here, though.
??? Never saw a TDK FE ever, not once.
i have a few of the fe's and only recorded on the one and on my twin deck and tbh i got a great recording and it sound great in my walkman complete with the hiss but that dont bother me as it is part and parcel of tapes
i remember buying the white ferric's back in 1988 from argos or woolworths i think it was in a 5 pack and i still have them to this day
I'm convinced that because it was exclusively sold in Supermarkets pretty much and also has the Tescos Value rectangle stripes thing on it's logo that it's one of their bigger Ferrics in a cheaper supermarket mass produced shell that was cheaper looking than your D's and laters but holding the same almost black high quality formula.
I would probbly say though that although it was a bigger range alreadily made for quality one in a cheaper shell that there was a little bit of Kolbolt added as well to maybe give even more bang to the buck compared to only being a D or higher in a cheap supermarket look shell.
Premium tape low price because of the cheaper bare bones look.
The thing is I actually sort of like the Purple blue like colour of some of the shells better than the pure clear of the 90s D. The cheap thing about the shell was the Tesco Value knockoff logo nothing else was cheap.
Edit: Ohh maybe the logo differered a bit to Tesco's stripes afterall. Maybe I remembered the logo wrong a bit?
Wow can't deny visual proof that there is some slightly different particules in there afterall. Thats probably the amounts of Cobolt though.
I fucking love these tapes
TDK Casseytea are always the best even D type also.I purchases somepre recorded cassettes from thrift markwy and tgwse cassettes rvrn after ten years neer gave any trouble.The cassette shell is alsi very beautiful.All my blank cassettes are akso free from any trouble, no oxide deposits on deck heads etc.
Always curious where TDK's ferric duplicators fall. I've seen them called "ZM" or "D-zm" with a very long code after. Always figured they were basically D's, or maybe a bit worse... although how cool would it be if they contained a D-SX formulation? 🤔
Now let's see a CD or SD card with a chunk of it broken off repeat that FE's performance!
MiniDiscs could have pulled that off :P
I had these cassettes in the 90s,i believe in 1997-1998
Rapid prototype and "low" cost desktop injection molding is now a thing. This could very well substantially reduce the cost of making a new walkman. It used to take million dollar equipment to create injection molding plastics. Right now you can buy the equipment to create the molds and do the actual injection on a desktop computer. Still too expensive for the hobbyist ($20k-30k total for both the CNC and the injection molding machine), but cheap enough to enable hobby plastic injection molding at low volumes because of the low capital costs of the people who do it. I'm not sure if the molds are compatible with full volume injection molding though.
You'd think there would be an attempt to create a decent new transport using 3D printing as a basis, but no... Tanashin still reigns supreme. 😔
TDK FE sounded good and cheaper than D.
It is ok for many people for daily use.
However, FE tape is little bit different and more hissing than D. I used them in the past and I saw that D performed very well on higher dynamic driven sound levels compared to the FE tape.
Obviously, TDK FE did drop “D” Dynamic part little bit on its FE tape, so people could still buy TDK cassettes for cheaper prices😂😂
This is why TDK FE’s are not available in the US, only the D, before that had the AD, AD-X, and OD which was a short lived tape from 1979-82. There was also the TDK Maverick which was a rare tape than the D, and its predecessor, the TDK C60 and C90 from the late 60’s and early 70’s.
MTN Productions Very true 😉😉🙏🙏👍🏻
I've found the FE to be very hardy. I came across a load on Freecycle (managed to score a sealed MA-X in that lot too) that had been stored badly (in a garage for countless years) yet they record perfectly.
In China we probably didn't get TDK Fe, or perhaps it wasn't common. I've only seen it once at the local flea market here in Guangzhou.
Hey Tony, what do you think about the TDK DS-X and the TDK SD? I got my hands on both(they should arrive soon.)
tony on attack on the fe90 :)
TDK FERRIC; Es de los mejores cassettes , Lo malo que no se encuentran seguido como la TDK D
I used to buy loads of these and never had any issues with them.
Maybe I'll buy some fe90 on your website, but I don't really have enough money for buying many NOS cassettes :(
Could you consider exploring the Sony EF and whether it's OK or subpar for a Sony tape? Is it based on the CFH as the shell might suggest? Is ist made of inferior HF cuts? I find that to be an interesting topic.
There are many versions, but I've don't a video on the low end Sony and a version is tested in there.
I have two used Nakamichi ZX-7s bought back in the day for pennies. Your ZX-9 is better!
The FE sounds to be a bit darker in the treble in your recording.
I feel soooo stupid.... back in 2006, when i often visited my local electronics store for blank TDK D120 and SA90 tapes i always saw these FE Type1 5er packs near the cashier area and always ditched them because i thought "Why would i need Type1 tapes? Got chromes, yo!!". And now you cannot see them anywhere anymore :/ So i never had any one of these. Would have been interesting to tinker around with that type.
Didn't we all. When I came back to cassettes, I thought they would still be everywhere...
Hey there, iam interested in buying a cassette from your website. But can you record a 3000 Hz tone on it so I can adjust my deck? Thx.
I had second type here in Ireland
I wonder whether the common or garden FE has the same tape as the 1986 D - the last paper-label D...
I compared with those too, personally, they're quite different.
I tried every brand of normal cassettes and nothing came close to TDK AD tapes.
Wanna know what's crazy? I just got the 2pac 2pacalypse cassette tape from amazon today. And what's the best part? It has type 2 Chrome tape!!
Now I'm curious as to the marketing decisions that went into NOT selling those here in the USA. Seems we missed out!
You'll have got them under another guise, maybe as J, A, T1, B...
I have one of these tapes
Are there no former employees of TDK available to interview? There must be someone who can explain what and why this and that.
Japanese and too old I'd imagine. I wouldn't know where to start looking...
I'm surprised. I always thought the FE was a nasty D but looks like I was wrong. TDK really did make good tapes. Looks like their only true stinker is the AE. Man, they're crap. Dull sounding and flat.
About the TDK logo with the explanation mark. Did that come in once TDK were bought out?
No, it was around in the early 90s from what I've seen but, apart from on that white FE, it seems it was only used in Japan.
The TDK japanese is much better than the us version
I always avoided these as a kid, I always got D90s or CDing if I could.
Hi ,,I recently messaged you .re the best solution on cleaning audio pinch roller ,but I can't find the message ,,would you be kind enough to remind me what you use to clean the rubber pinch roller of a cassette deck ,so I can buy it,,many thanks indeed
I personally use Servisol foam cleaner on a cotton bud.
Thanks Tony 👍
These tapes are my pal , I tried others but they're crap overpriced rubbish compared to these tapes. The new shite you get nowadays cost over a tenner for four, they hiss like hell . I buy my TDK tapes on line or if I'm lucky a charity shop.
Ebay shows this tape not in USA. TDK FE90 is way way over priced. Maybe okay in: Israel, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Greece, Serbia, Australia, etc. but not home USA.