Welcome to a "tips of the trade" page!

  What brands of tapes or CDRs are best?

OK, now this is a highly subjective question.  Personally, I feel that most High Bias Chrome (Type II) blank tapes can more than do the job in most instances.  If  you are sure that you will have only one shot in getting the material in a trade, or if it is a low generation master, you may want to ask the person you are trading with to use a tape with a very high quality shell and mechanism.  Prime examples of these are Maxell XLII-S and TDK-SAX and some of the BASF Series 535 Studio blanks.

Avoid using Low Noise (LN) cassettes like the TDK-D unless you are obtaining a spoken word tape.  In that instance, the LN type may actually be a better choice, because of the frequency capabilities of the tape being in line with the frequency spectrum that you will be capturing.

Bulk blanks (tapes cut from a spool that some traders purchase in bulk) can be of extremely good quality.  If you are dealing with a collector with a massive list who wants to exchange what he claims are Type II bulk tapes, you can assume that he or she is on the level.  After all, they probably didn't amass a great collection by lying to folks!

Also, if you have made a major purchase of, say 200 Fuji blanks that you find to be sufficient, you can always ask the person that you are trading with if they are acceptable.  Even if the words "Maxell only" appear on a trader's page, they may still be flexible.  The most important thing is to communicate and to ASK QUESTIONS!

Oh, and some tapes to avoid, in my experience, are Memorex, Irish, Certron, Sentry (basically anything made in Taiwan).

Now as for CDRS ... they are another story.  Every trader that I am dealing with these days has a different take.  You have the "Well, if it burns without an error than it must be OK" group. Then you have the folks who say "I will trade only for Kodak/Nashua/Matsui/fill in the blank"(you get the picture). These folks do, of course, have the right to accept trades only on the brands of their choice.  If you can find that brand in your neighborhood or on line (where you can find most brands of CDR) ... you're in business.  Usually, however, folks choose a popular brand like Fuji, Sony, TDK or Maxell. Truth is that these companies have built fine reputations in the world of blank media, so their products are usually quite good.  You can trust them.  Just don't buy blank TDK DATs, but that's another story.  You can often find these pieces at "bulk buy" places like Costco and Price Club.  You may also want to try a site like shoppinglist.com to find sales at the local brick-and-mortar stores in your area. Subtract what you'll get back if you remember to send in for the rebates and you can get a great deal. It's always worthwhile to buy in bulk - spindles of 50 or 100 - as opposed to buting 5- or 10-packs. Most traders don't send jewel cases, but use sleeves, which can usually be purchased at your local computer store, as well as online. And if you can find a distributor with cheap jewel cases for your home storage, these spindles can be very worthwhile, indeed.

There are some fairly reliable store brand CDRs (like Comp USA, Staples), but if you're going to buy them in bulk, assume that you'll be using them to make masters for yourself - many folks are not necessarily psyched to receive them in trade.

I have had great luck with many brands. I use aPC running at 550 MHz with two Lite-On brand burners. And I also have my little Smart & Friendly burner, coupled with a PowerMac 7300 that has done very well for me. And yeah, in fits of desperation, and for converting from analog sources, there are my Philips 775 (all I have to say about that particular unit is "aaaaargh") and my Classic CD-R 200 (a cheap little bugger that really works well!). 

I used to have warning here about avoiding the Kingston brand of CD-R, which are found in this area in the computer store Micro Center. Recently, I was told by some friendly folks at the store that Kingston had changed their formulation. Indeed, the new ones don't look like the old ones, and they track, burn and sound just fine. So they are officially OFF of my ... um ... "*hit* list.

BUT the "neon" colored Imation discs definitely begin to show signs of cracking and flaking from the top (a fatal problem!) fairly quickly. BEWARE!!!