A nice read on how the cassette tape revolutionized our listening experience. I still have a box full of tapes, full albums by various bands and any number of mix tapes that required sitting with headphones on for hours, days it sometimes seemed, trying to capture that perfect groove on one side of the tape and then the other. Embracing Mother Nature and JD back then helped me get through all that. Still have a couple of boom boxes on hand along with a cassette deck. Never get rid of your old audio equipment, boys and girls, unless it is totally wasted.

[www.newyorker.com]

I have dozens of tapes still. Shoeboxes full of them, now neatly filed in a cabinet, and only a few of them have withered away to unplayable status after decades.
A few years ago there was a resurgence of cassette tapes apparently, but really, I never stopped playing them, so I'm both oldfashioned and trendy at the same time ha ha.

I have about 500 cassettes and listen daily and have a Panasonic reverse walkman for my racing bike rides!

I made mix tapes quite a bit, it was an 'event' for me on the weekend, where it'd take me 3 hours to curate a 90 minute tape.

I'd also record new albums to tape and listen to that exclusively, leaving the vinyl pristine (still is after all these years).

There were the annoyances ie tape hiss, tapes getting eaten in your car, the having to listen to each song in it's entirety while it recorded (let's call it a missed blessing, because presumably you did actually want to hear the song or you wouldn't be recording it).

Digital wiped all that away really quickly, first to mixed cd's and now just playlists. A fun era which I miss, but there isn't any going back. Still have a few dozen tapes (mostly home-made chrome tapes - who could afford metal?! Ha Ha!).

Keith Richards' Nine-Day Party

"I had so much to do, man. I wanted to make these tapes and I was writing a letter to somebody that never made it. Y'know, 'Dear Sir, duh duh duh duh.' All nuts stuff. Making tapes. Friends coming by.

"It was only afterwards that I realised how long I'd been going. I kind of gave up counting.

"How it ended was, I was making a copy of a cassette and writing down every track and I was perfectly OK, I pushed down the record and play, turned round and bang! I caught my head on the edge of a speaker.

"Must have been asleep for a third of a second. JBL speakers, man, beware that brand! There was claret (blood) everywhere.

"It was then that my friends said, 'Keith, I think you'd better go to bed.'"

i have hundreds of tapes and make recordings regularly from my vinyl records and some times 78's

also have hundred of 8-tracks but that's another story/related format

also was surprised the other day to find new blank tapes being sold at walmart

Maxell XL II-S 100's

I used cassettes mainly for the car stereo in the 80s and 90s because the radio programmes were unbearable. Nowadays I put my car driving music on a USB stick. After most cassettes could no longer be properly played I threw most of them away (they only contained stuff transferred from my LPs or CDs anyway). I only kept a few with special stuff. Also my cassette deck conked out a few years back and I can't get myself to buy a new one because I don't really need one any longer anyway.

ROCKMAN

I was listening to my recording of Fleetwood Mac`s "Rumours" one night this autumn. All of a sudden my A-103 TEAC stereo cassette deck exploded with a loud bang and a smell of burnt. There was even some smoke. I was sure it`s days were gone after that, but know what? It still works as nothing has happened...

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noughties
I was listening to my recording of Fleetwood Mac`s "Rumours" one night this autumn. All of a sudden my A-103 TEAC stereo cassette deck exploded with a loud bang and a smell of burnt. There was even some smoke. I was sure it`s days were gone after that, but know what? It still works as nothing has happened...

Wow, I don't recall Rumours to be such explosive music ...

Hidden stash behind the head ....



ROCKMAN

I remember this 1984 Rolling Stones compilation album on cassette called Rewind (no pun intended).

I was browsing discogs for the album, the track selection varied depending on which country the album was released in.

Then there's this video below.

I recorded all my vinyl (bootlegs most) onto tape on my 3 head Denon cassette.

I really like this one here!

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MrForeverMusicFan
Keith Richards' Nine-Day Party

"I had so much to do, man. I wanted to make these tapes and I was writing a letter to somebody that never made it. Y'know, 'Dear Sir, duh duh duh duh.' All nuts stuff. Making tapes. Friends coming by.

"It was only afterwards that I realised how long I'd been going. I kind of gave up counting.

"How it ended was, I was making a copy of a cassette and writing down every track and I was perfectly OK, I pushed down the record and play, turned round and bang! I caught my head on the edge of a speaker.

"Must have been asleep for a third of a second. JBL speakers, man, beware that brand! There was claret (blood) everywhere.

"It was then that my friends said, 'Keith, I think you'd better go to bed.'"

Such a good story. Heard it many times - should be a movie. Total keef moment.

Cassettes are still primary way when you want to do analog recording at home.
They are more durable than vinyl for playback.
It is a pity that the new albums are not released on cassettes or only in very limited editions (targeted at collectors' market).
It would be nice if also new decks are produced again.

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jumpingjackflash5

It would be nice if also new decks are produced again.

New mobile cassette players are available as 'Baladeur WE-001' - [www.WeAreRewind.com] , [www.Amazon.co.uk] .

Blank cassette tapes are available from ATR Magnetics - [www.ATRtape.com] - or RTM France - [Store.RecordingTheMasters.com] .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-11-22 15:05 by Irix.

I know that RTM produces new tapes, they are decent, I bought some.
But their player is only good for mobile application, not for serious (home) listening.

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MrForeverMusicFan
I remember this 1984 Rolling Stones compilation album on cassette called Rewind (no pun intended).

I was browsing discogs for the album, the track selection varied depending on which country the album was released in.

Then there's this video below.

Oh wow. Haven't watched that in quite a while. I think I still have a VHS of it somewhere. Maybe the album on vinyl but on (original US) CD for sure.

I remember the video comp quite well - and was amazed as what little snippets were presented (Midnight Rambler, Hey Negrita etc) but absolutely LOVING She Was Hot (even though I saw it on MTV prior to REWIND) and, of course, smartly done, She's So Cold right after!

And Bill... ha ha... the entire intro of him being there but no seen - brilliant!

It really needs to be reissued.

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Rockman

"People prefer a worse quality of sound out of nostalgia."

Finally someone sums up the ridiculous existence of IPA beer.

I think a proper tape deck and proper cassette tape can offer a pretty good sound quality.

What is IPA beer anyway

IPA ---- I Piss Anywhere ....



ROCKMAN

Remember when LP inner sleeves used to have "Home Taping is killing Music" printed on them ..

If only they'd known what threats to music the digital age would spawn !

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Rockman
IPA ---- I Piss Anywhere ....

HA HA HA HA HA HA

I about spit out my pasta reading that!!!

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SomeGuy
I think a proper tape deck and proper cassette tape can offer a pretty good sound quality.

What is IPA beer anyway

India Pale Ale. The name derives from the beer that the British brewers would ship to the serving military personnel in British India. They would add extra hops, so that the beer wouldn’t spoil during the long voyage. The beer evolved into becoming a style of its own.

A good IPA is a glorious drop. It ideally should have a higher abv. and be extra hoppy.

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SomeGuy
I think a proper tape deck and proper cassette tape can offer a pretty good sound quality.

So...if I read you correctly, what you're saying is that if everything is perfect, the result is "pretty good".

I don't plan on getting the Nakamichi Dragon any time soon, so I guess I'll stick with vinyl!

Tattoo You (40th Anniversary) (Red MC)

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treaclefingers

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SomeGuy
I think a proper tape deck and proper cassette tape can offer a pretty good sound quality.

So...if I read you correctly, what you're saying is that if everything is perfect, the result is "pretty good".

I don't plan on getting the Nakamichi Dragon any time soon, so I guess I'll stick with vinyl!

You don't need fancy equipment. My comment was only intended to express the opinion that the sound quality that cassette recordings offer isn't necessarily bad. I have a (then) $250 Technics tape deck (with Dolby C) of nigh forty years old, used to buy TDK and Maxell type II tapes (so not even the more expensive 'Metal' type IV ones) and I have never had any problem with that, provided the source of the recording is HiFi.

At the time I used the tapes for stuff that I recorded from radio broadcasts of live shows and other stuff that I didn't (yet) get on vinyl or cd. When I play them now I never once get the impression that I'm missing something qualitywise. In fact, if I were to play a cassette tape to people and maintain that it was a cd they were listening to, I'm pretty sure that no one would notice the difference.

But yes, on the whole, I think that vinyl and cd's offer the best quality, obviously. It's just that cassette tapes used to be a good alternative way to enjoy music, especially stuff that you didn't have on vinyl or cd.

CD offers 16/44.1 sound, which requires careful mastering, dithering and filtering to sound right.
Yes they are better in measurements than analog.
Vinyl is very good analog, but it is "read-only" and deteriorates faster with playing than cassettes.
Well adjusted deck with Dolby B/C/HXPRO gives a very nice sound on both playback and recording.
It would be nice to have new albums also on cassettes.

Or theoretically, design a new analog tape format that overcomes some of the limitations
of cassette (with wider tracks, e.g.), provide machines with dual decks (cassette/new) and agree on it with all major players on the market. Then the cassettes could be transferred/played back and the new format could catch up. If that ain't possible then cassettes can do a lot as they are defined.