Unpopular take: Type I cassettes sound better than Type II for most older portable players

I've been swapping tapes online for about 6 years now and everyone says Type II is the gold standard. But in my experience, if you're playing stuff on a Walkman from the 80s or a cheap boombox from the thrift store, Type I actually sounds fuller. Those old decks don't have the circuitry to properly handle the high bias on Type II, so it comes out harsh and tinny. I tested this last month with a Sony TPS-L2 and a 1984 Panasonic boombox. Put on a Boston bootleg I have on both types and the Type I had way more bottom end. Your mileage may vary depending on your gear though. Anybody else find the same thing or am I just lucky with my tapes?

2 comments

2 Comments

oscarcooper21d ago

Type I supremacy on a toaster-level deck, huh.

the_sean20d ago

lol "toaster-level deck" I'm stealing that @oscarcooper. I took a Type I pile to FNM last week and somehow went 3-1 against actual tuned modern decks. It felt so wrong but so right.