TDK SA-X or Maxell XLII-S which is best?

Although I must agree with Shasta that cassette is long gone, back in the day I used TDK MA-X. The cost for type four tape was always worth it over type two.

Keep in mind that cassette speed is 1 7/8 ips, which leaves a LOT to be desired.

At this point in time, I'd go with the best ADC you can afford and run that into a decent CDR.

If you REALLY want to play around with analog tape, RTR at 30 ips would be the way to go, but that could be extremely expensive if you intend to use quality equipment and tape.

Didn't answer your question, did they. The housing construction is superior on the Maxell as is the tape structure. TDK is decent enough but will throw oxides onto the heads more readily.

Also, if you want to do this right have a tech internally tweak the machine for the exact tape formulation you choose and then run it without dolby. You will have some tape hiss but the trade off will be more dynamics, better detail and no phase shift. Good luck and don't listen to the nay sayers.

Maxell XL II-S is extreme for all but the very best machines such as the upper end Naks. You might just stick with XL II only as the performance return might be minimal.

Maxell is the stronger tape, TDK sounds better BUT!!!

This is assuming you have adjustable bias, consult the bias setting in your manual if the only bias controls you have is normal, High and Metal. The manual may have the answer to your question on which tape will be best for your machine.

Atleast I know I can rememebr things from 15 years ago.

It depends on which tape your player best matches regarding bias and EQ. Either is a very good tape.

A couple people did a very good job at addressing your question already, but I'd like to add that the "best" tape can be deck dependant. The calibration of a deck can favor one tape over the other, this was alluded to above.