The Maxell Corporation
  Maxell was one of the top 3 major manufacturers of blank cassettes along with TDK and Fuji. Now that we are in the age of CD's and CD-RW's, there isn't a demand for cassettes anymore, and Maxell had decided to downsize their line. Maxell still makes tapes, but not in high volume or style, just the simple ones such as UR and XLII. There is also the UDII-CD cassette which is not selling well, and the XLII-S which still costs a lot, but is worth every penny. Maxell will probabaly fade out the rest of it's line by 2007, leaving only the UR and XLII-S (Hopefully). The XLII-S is still to this day concidered the most versitille cassette on the market. Major studios that still use tape can utilize these as a professional used item. It is uncertain as to where the other tapes will wind up in the future, but the XLII-S still remains the 3rd most bought blank tape in the US.

  Maxell also had a pretty extensive line in the early 80's. I would believe more so than TDK at one point. On this page, there are tapes that have been discontinued, older models, and so on, with brief histories about each cassette.

Check out the Maxell Gallery!
  Maxell doesn't have a lot to offer anymore. They got rid of their metal cassette which wasn't selling well in its last 2 years, the XLII-S is on the verge of being discontinued, their cases have still not slimed out, and the UR hasn't changed formulation since 1988, but has been thinner. Other than that, Maxell, one of the more promising tape companies, have moved on to digital, but they are not doing too well there either.

  Anyway, Maxell's current set includes these really good quality tapes. Below, you will find brief information about each cassette type, as well as a link to it's page. Just click on the picture or title.

Sidenotes:
  Maxell had 3 Metal cassettes. The MX was introduced in circa 1983, and went on to continue the tradition of the XLII-S in a Metal form. The MX was later evolved to the MX-S, which was the "real" answer to the XLII-S. The MX was not really good for certain recording. In recording, you had to compensate for the 0 dB level, by possibly recording at +2 to +4 dB levels, just to meet up with 0 dB playback. As for the MX-S, it was vastly improved and was Maxell's best Metal Bias cassette ever. There was one more that would be based on MX technology, the Metal Capsule. It was Maxell's "specialty" cassette, and was around the same price as an MX, and was slightly better.

Pictures on this page are borrowed directly from the official US Maxell site. They are the sole right of Hitachi Maxell, and in no way are these pictures intended to be abused or utilized for profit. All information within this section is for research and informational use only. Illegal use is strictly prohibited. Specs for their tapes can be found at Maxell's US website.
Email me at chris@btgallery.com for questions, comments, contributions, or even your own Top 5 list.