Cassettes are back in

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by ganma, Oct 5, 2014.

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  1. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Really? Hmmmmm......

    Note zero DB topmost upper trace, with TDK MA and Dolby S my CT 93 cassette deck can hit 20k at less than down 1DB.
    And the fact is no music is going to have the high treble at that level, actual music recording will have that frequency range possessing much lower energy.

    The -20 DB trace shows even basic ferric tape near flat to 20k which is going to be closer to the energy range of those high frequencies on at typical music recording.


    [​IMG]
     
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  2. Sax-son

    Sax-son Forum Resident

    Location:
    Three Rivers, CA
    Were starting to split hairs in this thread now. I would say if you still have cassettes, feel free to play them. In their defense, they are analog and a lot of them sound very good. There is the issue of tape hiss, but I never used the Dolby settings even though I have a nice cassette deck. Tape hiss never bothered me.

    If you still like and prefer the sound of CD's, then by all means continue with those. Some people just like cassettes for various reasons and they are entitled to their preferences. I get irritated when people try to bash something because for some reason they feel threatened by others showing interest in something that is different than the norm.
     
  3. narkspud

    narkspud Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tustin, CA, USA
    Oh good. Yet another $700 cassette deck that, in the unlikely event it's performing to factory spec, comes within a few dB of a $20 CD Walkman. Provided you use no-longer-being-manufacturd metal tape. And don't mind dropouts, wow and flutter.

    I guess a cassette comeback was inevitable after all.
     
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  4. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun

    The only place the cassette is making a comeback is in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy were a mix-tape of great 70-s popmusic
    Otherwise the cassette is dead- with the eceptions of a few entusiasts who keeps the flag up. And a few other with nostalgic eyes and ears.
    But on the whole - there is not and will never be a rennaicanse for the cassete, There is no need for it
     
  5. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
  6. vinyl diehard

    vinyl diehard Two-Channel Forever

    But really is it an analog signal, even if the source was digital? A get that the tape is considered an analog
    Here we go again with the sterile sound of the CD.:sigh:
     
  7. Kevin j

    Kevin j The 5th 99

    Location:
    Seattle Area
    Go back and read the original post, then my reply. See what I did there?
     
  8. vinyl diehard

    vinyl diehard Two-Channel Forever

    Sorry, but I don't get the sterile sounding CD
     
  9. Kevin j

    Kevin j The 5th 99

    Location:
    Seattle Area
    Nevermind then
     
  10. Hamhead

    Hamhead The Bear From Delaware

    We can't keep cassette decks in stock where I work (Goodwill), every hipster wants one.

    I'm waiting for the resurrection of the Mini-Disc and Digital Compact Cassette.

    [​IMG]
     
    Peter Pyle likes this.
  11. Bryan

    Bryan Starman Jr.

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    They're actually releasing the "Awesome Mix Vol. 1" from Guardians of the Galaxy on cassette for Black Friday RSD this year. Kinda surprised they didn't do it for Cassette Store Day (yes, that's a real thing, look it up), which already passed this year.
     
  12. narkspud

    narkspud Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tustin, CA, USA
    Send 'em to Southern California. Some of our thrift stores have *dozens*.
     
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  13. vinyl diehard

    vinyl diehard Two-Channel Forever

    I will google it. Must be something on these sterile CDs.
     
  14. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

    Location:
    right here
    I am still utterly amazed that MiniDisc never caught on.
    I think it is perhaps because the blank media was overpriced.
    But it is by far the most convenient and desirable media I have used for music.
    And dependable.
     
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  15. Hamhead

    Hamhead The Bear From Delaware

    I agree even though it's lossy.
    When my DAT died, I wound up mixing everything to MiniDisc.
    And then I got a standalone CD recorder, that replaced the MD machine.
    If Sony invented a 16/44.1 lossless recordable like MD, it would be fantastic.
     
  16. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

    Location:
    right here
    Under most conditions I don't notice any difference between MDs and the CD I burn them from.
    I listen to music to enjoy, not to analyze, and MD is so much superior to the formats I grew up with that I cannot find fault with it.
    Also, when I master my music I still use a DAT machine I bought new when they first came out, and at first I was putting the stuff on MD too, and seriously the only difference I notice is the difference in how the DA/AD converters color the sound. And that is insignificant.
    The editing functions on MD machines are great. And easy to use.

    I have a couple of decks that play both CDs and MDs and dub MDs at 4X. They are identical Sony decks, I would be lost without them.
     
  17. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    The big box applicance stores still sell blank Type I's and Type II's.
     
  18. If I remember correctly, during the 1970s and 1980s a lot of TV shows featuring live music were broadcast on BBC FM radio at the same time as the TV broadcast... they used to call it a simulcast and viewers were told to turn off the sound on their TV and listen to the sound on FM radio through their Hi-Fi. This was because at the time there was no such thing as stereo television in the UK. Stereo television started here in 1989 but didn't really become popular until around 1993-1995. When national TV stations started broadcasting in stereo, it was only certain transmitters that were broadcasting it to start with, so it depended on where you lived.

    These music shows from the 1970s and 1980s that had an FM radio simulcast (usually either on BBC Radio 1 or BBC Radio 2) were always synced perfectly with the live TV broadcast. Certain shows that had a simulcast with FM radio were Sight & Sound In Concert (a weekly concert show), Top Of The Pops (which was a weekly music chart show) and coverage of the Live Aid event in July 1985 (hence why all of the DVD is in stereo) and other live events around that time. I guess a lot of shows like this were recorded on cassette and/or VHS/Betamax by the public.

    Our VHS recorder never had this feature, but I think some VHS recorders that played back stereo had an option of feeding in a separate stereo audio track to record when recording a TV show. People could record these live simulcasts in stereo on VHS/Betamax players by feeding in the FM stereo sound to the VHS/Betamax recorder and recording the picture from the TV broadcast. This would give you a stereo playback. Stereo VHS/Betamax players came along long before stereo TV in the UK. I don't know when stereo TV started in the US. I'm sure MTV America was in stereo right from the start in 1981, although I'm not 100% sure on that.

    Back to cassettes (which is what this thread is really about) and I know some people back then recorded these shows on VHS/Betamax and on cassette from the FM radio broadcast at the same time. In more recent times, with a PC and certain software, people have synced their VHS/Betamax recordings with the stereo audio captured on cassette. Led Zeppelin at Live Aid (which the band refused to allow on the Live Aid DVD) on YouTube is one example of this...


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6s5LMWI7Uk
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBk-iRihSUg

    I hope more simulcasts like this from the 1970s and 80s appear on YouTube soon, either by syncing a cassette with the video or from people who used the stereo feed-in (if they had that facility) on their VHS/Betamax player at the time. I suppose having the ability to record off the radio was a positive thing for the cassette at the time. For certain radio broadcasts, cassettes could record radio only concerts and BBC Radio sessions recorded by bands in the BBC Radio studios, as well as rare interviews. A lot of this material is probably still officially unreleased. I know of one official release where a cassette tape recorded by a fan was used as the source for one or two tracks. I'm sure there's more. These were recordings originally broadcast on the radio that the BBC had either lost or wiped. Anybody with a collection of old recordings off the radio should go through them... you never know what you might find.

    Whilst I think people should keep tapes that have rare recordings on them, I see no place for cassettes in 2014, for obvious reasons.
     
  19. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

    Location:
    right here
    They did the same thing in the states in the mid 70s.

    There was a kind of distortion that comes from FM that is like a warbling backround hiss of sorts.
    For a while receivers were coming with a button on them that I think was called a "90 ms delay" that was intended to defeat or at least detente that distortion some.
    This was back when receivers normally had a couple or 3 tape monitor buttons. I think it was specifically done for those who liked to tape from radio.
     
  20. narkspud

    narkspud Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tustin, CA, USA
    You mean the "MPX filter" button? That was to filter out the FM Stereo pilot tone, which could leak into the audio and screw up the Dolby tracking.
     
  21. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

    Location:
    right here
    I don't think it is the same thing.
    What I am talking about was a filter that was labeled "90" followed by the enlongated "u" microsecond symbol. It didn't catch on.
    I think my old Realistic STA-90 receiver has it.
     
  22. Smiths22

    Smiths22 Well-Known Member

    Talking about cassettes i remember my use your illusion 1 & 2 cassettes they were so so heavy that the tape got lost inside the player...ahh those were the times.
     
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  23. pronghorn

    pronghorn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Minnesota
    Have you learned nothing from this forum? The mastering is more important than the format. Some releases could sound better on cassette so I don't understand the haters. If the CD was brick-walled and the cassette version was not I'd prefer the cassette.

    To simply say "CD's are better than tapes so what's the point" is just plain ignorant.
     
    Sax-son likes this.
  24. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Nope, I have an STA-90, no such filter.
     
  25. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

    Location:
    right here
    It must have been a different one. I have had quite a few receivers over the years.
    Also, it might have been 75 microsecond. Both stick out in my mind for some reason.
     
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