See why TDK sounds better.
It's the little things you can't see that make a big difference in the way it sounds.
At first glance different brands of tape look pretty much alike. But if you look closely, you'll find there are many subtle differences. And it is these differences that make one tape stand out above all others.
Now you might not spend a lot of time looking closely at tape. But we have to--that's our business. At TDK we're committed to constantly improving our products. For years, our SA cassette has been the High bias reference standard for almost all quality cassette deck manufacturers.
Yet we've incorporated improvement after improvement into SA's tape and mechanism since its introduction as the first non-chrome High bias cassette in 1975. These advances mean better quality sound for you. TDK makes this possible, by continuous attention to the little things you can't see.
The Particles
The lifeblood of recording tape is microscopic magnetic particles that can be arranged in patterns to store and reproduce sound. At best, they are as small as possible, uniform in size and shape; they are long and narrow (the greater the ratio of length to width, the better); and they are tightly, uniformly packed together, with no gaps or clumps.
Over 40 years of experience in magnetic ferrite technology and 25 years in developing and manufacturing recording tape, bring the TDK SA and AD cassette particle formulations as close to these ideals as current technology will allow.
The TDK SA particle is a cobalt gamma ferric oxide compound made highly stable by our proprietary cobalt-ion adsorption process. The SA particle possesses one of the greatest length/width ratios of any particle used in audio cassette recording: an amazing 11:1. These little wonders are truly "state-of-the art," and mean higher maximum output level (MOL), higher signal-to noise and lower noise.
The particle in TDK AD is pure gamma ferric oxide; it has been developed specifically for use in Normal bias decks-in the home, car, in portables. With a length/width ratio of 10:1, the AD particle can deliver what most conventional cassettes lack: an extended, hot high end, to capture all the elusive highs in music, from classical crescendo to raging rock and roll. It is the logical successor to the world's first high fidelity cassette tape particle, TDK SD, introduced in 1968.
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above: TDK SA tape surface (left) enlarged 30,000 times. TDK Super Avilyn particles (right) enlarged 20,000 times. ---- Tape layers: coating (top); backing. -----The TDK high tolerance tape/leader splice. ---The TDK double clamp system.
The Coating
To best attach the particles to the film used for backing, it's necessary to coat that film evenly, with neither clumps nor gaps of oxide build-up.
So we suspend our particles in a unique new binding, and we're fanatic about the way we do it. TDK engineers and craftsmen wear surgically clean robes and caps, and we vacuum the air to eliminate contaminating foreign matter and disruptive static charges.
The high packing density that results means that the tape is prepared to handle high input level musical peaks gracefully, and without distortion.
The Base Film
We coat our oxides on broad rolls of supremely flexible, but nearly stretch-proof polyester film, to make sure TDK cassettes don't tangle or intro duce wow and flutter.
The Polishing
After each roll is coated, it goes through a polishing process called "calendering." Any oxide is removed, and the surface is smoothed to reduce tape head wear and oxide shedding. Reduced friction across the tape heads means lower noise.
The Edge
If you look closely at the edges of TDK's tape, you'll find that they are uniformly straight and parallel to a tolerance of one micron. That's because we slit our tape by pulling it across an array of precisely-positioned, surgically-sharp knives. That means the tape movement is unimpeded; and mis-tracking that could result in garbled stereo is eliminated.
The Hub/Clamp Assembly
TDK has met a major challenge which has always faced cassette manufacturers: anchoring the tape to the hub without causing mechanical problems. We use a unique double clamp system we pioneered. It practically eliminates wow and flutter, distortion, drop outs and other problems related to poor winding. Some manufacturers use plastic pins jammed into notches on the edge of the hub. This system can lead to uneven winding, which causes the edges to feather, the tape to bulk unevenly, and occasionally, to snap at the anchor.
The Cleaning
Like most leader tape, ours is designed to protect the recording surface from stress, and to provide a firm anchor to the hub. Unlike most leader tape, TDK's cleans your recorder heads as it passes by.
The Splice
Our splices are firm, with leader and tape lined up exactly. Our splicing tape is specially designed not to bleed adhesive into the cassette mechanism, which could gum up the works.
The Inspection
Before any of our tape is loaded into cassette shells, it must pass a series of inspections to see if it matches up to our own rigorous standards. If it doesn't pass, it's discarded. We never compromise on quality.
The Music and the Machine
We go to more trouble than most companies do, when we manufacture our cassettes. We see to all the little details, so you can hear more of your music. Our super precision cassette mechanism delivers the tape to your heads precisely, without introducing friction, wow and flutter and other problems in the process.. And we back that mechanism, and the tape within it, with high fidelity's original full lifetime warranty, a measure of the value we have placed in our cassettes, for over 10 years.
So next time you buy cassettes, look closely at TDK, and think of all the little things you can't see that make our cassettes just that much better. TDK Electronics Corp., Garden City, NY 11530. In Canada: Superior Electronics Ind., Ltd.
*In the unlikely event that any TDK audio cassette ever tails to perform due to a defect in materials or workmanship, simply return it to your local dealer or to TDK for a free replacement.
TDK: The machine for your machine.
(Adapted from Audio magazine, Nov. 1978 )
Also see:
TDK Electronics -- blank audio cassette tape (Aug. 1980)
TDK's Working Guide to Better Recording (ad, Jan. 1985)
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