Cassette tape resurgence ?
vwestlife
Super Member
And that's a misnomer. Have you ever actually tried using a pencil to wind a cassette? It barely works. What does work is a Bic pen.I am thinking the revival isn't about us, the enthusiasts. We're this type right here:
View attachment 1387976
Techmoan and LGR talked about it in this video:
RobRoy
It's just stuff - but fun
I have a bunch of NOS bricks but don't consider them to really be of much value. Any researgence of tape is due to "coat-tail" effect of two things: The economy is pretty good now so people are starting to collect stuff again. It's riding the coat tails of the vinyl resurgence, except it doesn't really bring enough to the table to stick. Tape is a lot more work than vinyl in many ways. For starters, you pretty much have to record your own tapes and that means you have to get blanks. You don't get these for the fifty cents you get records for at Goodwill. And pre-recorded tapes simply don't last like vinyl does. Don't get me wrong. It can be pretty good .I still have a lot of TDK SA tapes I recorded in the 70's and they are surprisingly good - for their age. But the vinyl I have from those days and the decades before sound EXACTLY like they did back in the day.
Cassette is a hipster curiosity. And it's cool to have an open reel, cassette and 8-track decks in your music room if only to show it off. Heck, I just got a 78 rpm stylus for my LP120 so now I can actually listen to that old stack of 78's I have. But for me it's just a curiosity.
Cassette is a hipster curiosity. And it's cool to have an open reel, cassette and 8-track decks in your music room if only to show it off. Heck, I just got a 78 rpm stylus for my LP120 so now I can actually listen to that old stack of 78's I have. But for me it's just a curiosity.
infullview
Super Member
Finally, someone tells it like it is.
Not sure I would agree with all of that...
RobRoy
It's just stuff - but fun
I've never had a record player eat a record.
I will say that some of what I said about cassette applies to the vinyl resurgence as well. Part of it. I also left out a lot of stuff and focused more on the high points.
RobRoy
It's just stuff - but fun
Then there is tape hiss. 'Course, now that I wear a hearing aid, that's not much of an issue.
I will say that the only players I've ever had eat a tape are car tape decks. I'm from the days where we played tapes a LOT. Getting even the good ones eaten was a reality, even with good car players kept really clean and demagnetized.
infullview
Super Member
A dropped sylus usually doesn't damage the record, records don't suffer from magnetic remanence decay or sticky shed syndrome. Cassettes don't have surface noise, but they make up for that with a lot of tape hiss.
RobRoy
It's just stuff - but fun
It is also quite common for a cassette, as it ages, to develop a weird sound where within the first minute or three of a side the high's fade in and out with each rotation of the take-up reel. This is especially true if they spent any time in a car.
I've got some books on tape that were digitally copied that have that so bad that it's hard to understand for the first few minutes.
infullview
Super Member
Oh ya! forgot about that one. That's usually caused by the plastic guide posts wearing unevenly which causes the tape to stretch. You can look at the tape and see a ruffled edge.
RobRoy
It's just stuff - but fun
Did you ever have a tape somehow twist, exposing the back side, instead of the front side, to the tape head? Really annoying.
By the number of replies to this new thread-I would say there is strong interest. However, it's mostly folks who hang here. It's not mainstream in any meaningful sense.
I understand a limited number of indie bands will put out small batches of cassettes. For small batches, it's cost effective and adds to their persona as off the beaten path, etc.
There is a small but steady market for cassettes, that has grown over the last decade. National Audio Company has been very successful serving this market. I would be shocked if it ever matched the vinyl revival.
I understand a limited number of indie bands will put out small batches of cassettes. For small batches, it's cost effective and adds to their persona as off the beaten path, etc.
There is a small but steady market for cassettes, that has grown over the last decade. National Audio Company has been very successful serving this market. I would be shocked if it ever matched the vinyl revival.
That's weird, I don't agree with any of it?
Demag is a myth, never heard of SSS with a cassette, tape hiss is why dolby was invented; there! Now get out there a make something of yourself!
MaxxVolume
Lunatic Member
I think too many folks are reading way too much into all this. I don`t really take the cassette movement all that seriously.... to me, it`s just a supplement to all my other old gear, and has just enough of that nostalgic, techie appeal to hold my interest. But I don`t think it will replace any other format, it`s just for noodling around and having fun. That being said, I AM surprised that it still works as well as it does. For non-critical listening, it works pretty well....
"I have a bunch of NOS bricks but don't consider them to really be of much value."
Well if you could send some of your better quality bricks over here I would be happy to pay ya.
Well if you could send some of your better quality bricks over here I would be happy to pay ya.
Perhaps, and call that one lucky, but it can and can also ruin the stylus and the cantilever. Are you telling me a LP can’t wear out? Please. Played enough the sound degrades. As I said earlier... different strokes.
infullview
Super Member
I say have fun with your cassettes MRL - just don't count on them to play well over the long haul. I had at least 50 albums (some of mine, some from friends) on cassette, and one by one I could start to hear the high end fade in and out rhythmically due to tape stretch. A 1/8 piece polyester tape made as thin as possible to allow 45 minutes of record time will fail over time due to stress. Ya, my records may wear over time, but honestly I got some albums I've played hundreds of times and they still sound damned good as long as you keep them clean, and track light with a decent elliptical stylus.
