MA

  The MA itself was expensive in the early 80's but still widely used because of it's quality, and it received a great reputation. The price of MA went down significantly in the late 80's due to the cost of making them being less. 1988 to 1993 saw the best sales the MA ever received.

  Metal Bias cassettes were becoming too costly to make when more and more companies began using their resources for digital outlets and media. Most companies discontinued their metal tapes when they realized that Normal Bias and High Bias was good enough, and if they wanted better, burn it on a CD. TDK kept strong with the MA by still offering it to the open market. Especially for those who are analog freaks (like me, hehe) who enjoy the best cassettes have to offer.

  The MA is the best Metal cassette of all-time ranked by The BTG All-Time rankings.

  The TDK MA: 1979 - 2004 R.I.P.

The Gallery

   Here are some of the photos I have collected after so many years (well OK, months, and mostly from eBay). Not only do I have some of the most extensively detailed photos, not only to show detail, but to let you know a little bit about them with a discription.

	1979   The MA was TDK's attempt to create a high-end form of cassette that would duplicate sounds the same way it would be live. The MA wasn't as thick as D or SA, but would still be just as sturdy as the lower-end cassettes even after many, many playbacks. The price, though, was just a tad too high for the normal consumer, and availabilty wasn't high either.
	1982   This here is the 82 model. As tape recoring was beoming more the mainstream, people demanded better quality and more recording options. The MA was the type of cassette that would give true audiophilles the quality they wanted, and the sound they were looking for. Changes for the cassette was inspired by the design of the AD-X packaging. A more modern look was coming over TDK cassettes.
	1985   Again, the MA went with the flow with the SA series and became kinda of a "big brother" to the SA. The quality was still never compromised and the MA was still bought by audiophilles all over the US. Even adding a gold color made the tape seem more upper class. The MA at this time was sold in big name record stores and high-end studiop shops. The MA-X had its best ever sales in 1987 due to the new wave of designs that were coming out.
	1988   The MA was concidered the best ever, and with a new look, the MA sold more cassettes for TDK then ever in the Metal field. The tape design matched the SA (as well as the SA-X/MA-X), but the windown was tinted darker to make the cassette seem more "important" or intriguing. In 1988, TDK introduced odd minute styles that differed from 60, 90, and 120. While the SA had 100, MA went to a 110 format. Even at 110 minutes, the tape still held up to durability tests.
Pic coming soon	1990   Basically here, it was exactly the same as SA, but with a different placement of the colors, which made it a bit darker. By this time, MA's were selling off of shelves more-so from 1988 to 1990 than it did from 1982 to 1986 combined. They almost doubled in sales for Metal Bias cassettes.
pic coming soon	1993   Once again, when the new redesigns came out, MA had to look like the SA. Formulation wasn't changed on the mentality: "If it's broke, don't fix it." Sales at this point dwindled a bit.
	1996   The 1996 packaging, which once again matched the SA, was kept, even after the SA went through its most recent change. The MA still remained the most versitille Metal cassette in the open market that was available to most consumers. The MA didn't change from its 1988 era, and it was certain that it really didn't need to. Of course there was the usual thinness to the tape making it a little shotty, but the highs and lows were still well picked up.

The Future:
  It has finally happened, TDK has decided to pull the plug on the MA. If you look on the TDK website now, there is no info about the MA, not even a icon for it. So, I guess it's official, there are no more Metal Bias cassettes on the open market.

Pictures on this page are either borrowed directly from the official US TDK site or from some other source, like eBay auctions. The images are the sole right of TDK, 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 each tape can be found at TDK's US website.
Email me at chris@btgallery.com for questions, comments, contributions, or even your own Top 5 list.