Cassettes

SteveFord · « **on:** 2 Feb 2013, 10:36 pm »

Is anyone still playing cassette tapes?
Other than me, that is.
I picked up a Carver cassette player for the wife's system and it sounds great.
I can't help but wonder if that isn't another medium we threw away because Sony/Phillips convinced us it was old junk.

Rclark · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Feb 2013, 10:47 pm »

What are you saying, albums should still be released on cassette? It was a horrible medium, prone to wear on every part. And hiss all day long.

JerryM · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Feb 2013, 10:53 pm »

Relationships our children will never know:

Rclark · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Feb 2013, 11:10 pm »

Ff. Stop. Play. Nope. Ff. Stop. Play. Nope. Hang on almost there. Ff. Stop. Play. Wait I think it's on the other side.

Flip. Awww damn it ate the tape!

JerryM · « **Reply #4 on:** 2 Feb 2013, 11:14 pm »

6 hour drive.

2 hours in.

Tape puking out of the dash.

SteveFord · « **Reply #5 on:** 2 Feb 2013, 11:20 pm »

It IS on the other side!
These old tapes sound surprisingly good - I used to buy a record, record it onto a cassette tape and then never used the album.
Later on I did the same thing with CD-Rs.
Most of my albums have only been played twice and they've really held up great over the decades. I was afraid they'd all be warped when I finally bought another turntable but nope.

I really missed listening to tapes.
Where's a good source for blank cassettes these days? I'm looking for Maxell XLII-S or comparable.

Car cassette decks, well, that's another kettle of fish.

Phil A · « **Reply #6 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 12:15 am »

I have a deck but have not played anything in probably 5 years on it. I have it in the secondary basement system along with a dBX 224. I used to do the same thing with albums when I had them. I only had about 40 albums in nice shape (e.g. MoFis) as much of the collection was old and played on primitive equipment. Got rid of the turntable over 30 years ago and gave the Nakamichi 680 to someone who really wanted it when I moved 16 years back and kept the cheapo Onkyo cassette deck. Was not using it cassettes much at the time anyway.

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #7 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 12:26 am »

I have a few blanks for my Nakamichi :

I just made two tape last week. It's fun!

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 12:29 am »

Got a few TDKs too ......

underdawg · « **Reply #9 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 12:37 am »

wow cassettes still survive

SteveFord · « **Reply #10 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 12:49 am »

I'll have to poke around and see if I can't find a stash of new cassette tapes somewhere.
RClark asked if I wanted albums released on cassette - no, not really.
I would prefer reel to reel as that will give you the best sound of anything.
It's just surprising how such skinny tape can sound so good.
Yeah, making tapes is fun, no two ways about it.
PhilA, maybe give them a whirl to see how your tapes held up over the years.

I found an article earlier today and cassettes are making a comeback with the kids just like AVNerdguy said.
I guess it's more special to give your sweetie a cassette tape than it is a download!
Actually, if you do a search you'll find dozens of articles on the mini-comeback.
Here's one of them:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/5261963/Rewind-to-the-1980s-as-the-cassette-tape-makes-a-comeback.html

PRELUDE · « **Reply #11 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 01:08 am »

Quote from: SteveFord on 3 Feb 2013, 12:49 am

I'll have to poke around and see if I can't find a stash of new cassette tapes somewhere.
RClark asked if I wanted albums released on cassette - no, not really.
I would prefer reel to reel as that will give you the best sound of anything.
It's just surprising how such skinny tape can sound so good.
Yeah, making tapes is fun, no two ways about it.
PhilA, maybe give them a whirl to see how your tapes held up over the years.

I found an article earlier today and cassettes are making a comeback with the kids just like AVNerdguy said.
I guess it's more special to give your sweetie a cassette tape than it is a download!
Actually, if you do a search you'll find dozens of articles on the mini-comeback.
Here's one of them:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/5261963/Rewind-to-the-1980s-as-the-cassette-tape-makes-a-comeback.html

http://www.totalmedia.com/store/audio-1/cassettes-1233/

SteveFord · « **Reply #12 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 01:13 am »

Thanks!

medium jim · « **Reply #13 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 01:37 am »

Damn it Steve, now I will have to pull out my trusty cassette player and give it a whirl. I still have about 50 tapes that I recorded from both albums and the radio...King Biscuit and such. I liked Maxell and BASF metal. A good deck and there is no or minimal hiss...

I had a nice Tandberg Reel to Reel that I foolishly sold some 20 years ago along with about 200 albums worth of tape. I figured cd's was the medium of the future.

Jim

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #14 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 01:42 am »

Cassetes was a fronzen format, Philips dont allow use cassetes at a higher rpm than the specified by the big dutch company.
Which led Sony to release his competitor format in 1976: Elcaset, that also was a failure.

SteveFord · « **Reply #15 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 01:50 am »

Shame on you with the Tandberg.
I was given an Otari RTR when a radio station switched over to digital.
Right now it's a very large paperweight as it stopped reading tapes and won't spin the reels.
I'll have to get it going again as it sure sounded nice.

The Carver cassette players were just rebadged units sold at a considerable mark up.
This would be mine:
http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/aiwa_stereo_cassette_deck_ad_f_5.html

Yeah, the DAT was a short lived phenomenon.

Phil A · « **Reply #16 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 01:55 am »

I believe Philips sued Nakamichi over the half speed cassette decks like my old 680 for infringing on their patent. At half speed, it was about as good as an ordinary cassette deck and back in the day (the dark ages) came in handy if one were to tape a radio concert.

medium jim · « **Reply #17 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 01:56 am »

Quote from: SteveFord on 3 Feb 2013, 01:50 am

Shame on you with the Tandberg.
I was given an Otari RTR when a radio station switched over to digital.
Right now it's a very large paperweight as it stopped reading tapes and won't spin the reels.
I'll have to get it going again as it sure sounded nice.

The Carver cassette players were just rebadged units sold at a considerable mark up.
This would be mine:
http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/aiwa_stereo_cassette_deck_ad_f_5.html

Yeah, the DAT was a short lived phenomenon.

Steve:

Don't rub it in....it was pretty foolish of me, but at the same time, it was getting increasingly difficult to source reel to reel tape that was affordable, DAT be the truth.

Jim

SET Man · « **Reply #18 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 02:54 am »

Quote from: JerryM on 2 Feb 2013, 10:53 pm

Relationships our children will never know:

Hey!

Yeah, I remembered doing that back then.

Take care,
Buddy

G Georgopoulos · « **Reply #19 on:** 3 Feb 2013, 03:03 am »

All my music before cd was cassettes,when cd came I switched to cd,now I want a cassette player/recorder to record music,and I cant find one,I know the s/n ratio is around 50db but now I dont care...