25 years old cassettes unusable?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Vinny123, Nov 26, 2021.

  1. JakeMcD

    JakeMcD Forum Resident

    Location:
    So Central FL
    I recorded these from my long-gone Nak CR-7A 35 years ago. I kept them for posterity and haven't played them in over 30 years. I wonder how they sound.

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. Rodant Kapoor

    Rodant Kapoor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    They probably sound fantastic, those SA-X TDK's are one of their best cassettes.
     
  3. soundboy

    soundboy Senior Member

    Back in the late 80s and early 90s, I would recording hour long radio dramas (i.e. Joe Frank shows) and broadcasts of "Hearts of Space" episodes from my local public radio station. I mostly used Maxell UR C-120 (60 mins. per side) for such recordings (recorded with Dolby B), but on occasions, I have used TDK D, Sony HF, and Radio Shack Supertape XR (all C-120s). None of these C-120s ever failed and the tapes still play fine today on my Aiwa portable cassette player.
     
  4. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I been messing with tapes all my life till today. But been using 90 minutes till 2 years go, I got hooked up with 120 minutes tapes. I think its really important for some tapes especially if you haven't ran if for over 5 years. running it a full fast forward and rewind before you play or record.
    2 days ago, I was recording into a brand new 1985 Fuji 110 minute tape and almost at the end of the tape it stopped. Ive encountered a few of these symptoms from time to time and every time it does just toss it in my bin box and put another new one, and restart. This time, my recorder didn't start. It slowly burned the direct drive playback circuit of my Nakamichi BX-300. This trouble is probably been there little by little throughout the years and triggered it the last time. Its a good thing I have another BX-300. I just hope it doesn't happen again or early enough till I get my other deck up and running again so I have a backup.
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2022
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  5. markreed

    markreed Forum Resident

    Location:
    Imber
    Good advice : if you haven't played a tape for 5 years, do a full ffwd>rewind of the whole tape at least once to bring the tension back to the tape.
     
  6. ti-triodes

    ti-triodes Senior Member

    Location:
    Paz Chin-in
    If the tape was recorded and stored well it should still sound great. Tapes I recorded decades ago on my Nak still sound excellent after a ff/rew tension. There have been reports, however of some TDK stuff getting mold issues but mine are all still fine.
     
  7. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Yes and true. Basically my recordings done in 1982 I have no problem for they are stored correctly. The ones that are locking on me are the few new sealed tapes that I bought from sellers that who know what and where they came from....
     
  8. harby

    harby Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    Better advice: Don't pack a tape with fast forward or rewind. The tape pancake will pack unevenly, with edges sticking out, that will crumple and curl in storage. Better to play the whole tape through the capstan at normal speed (or double speed on a dubbing deck). You'll see the difference through the cassette window - a smooth winding.
     
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  9. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Innocent Bystander

    My oldest cassettes are Maxell UD from the early '70s. Still play just fine. The only old tapes that have deteriorated are a few BASF Professional II that sound all funky.

    My collection includes TDK, Maxell, Scotch and a LOT of Fuji Type I stuff that still holds up OK. Only the BASF are on the edge of perishing.
     
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  10. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Since I moved, i've uncovered boxes of old cassette tapes i've had since the 70s, and they play and sound great, even some of the prerecorded ones. I'm having fun! I found a brand new Scotch professional and some new TDK metal tapes. I have no reason to record them except to have some nostalgic fun. Uh, not using Dolby this time! I plan to dub some digital files.
     
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  11. Vinny123

    Vinny123 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Florida
    As a side note, I had a nice Sony 615s w Dolby S and three heads. It sounded really nice until it crapped out. I ended up buying an entry level Sony Minidisc recorder. The thing sounded excellent! It also eventually died. Too bad, it really impressed me. I’ve never heard a great tape deck but it blew away the Sony 615s that I had.
     
    Grant likes this.
  12. jusbe

    jusbe Modern Melomaniac

    Location:
    Auckland, NZ.
    Sounds reasonable. Until one encounters a tape or tape mechanism/reels/etc that stick and cause things to unspool or jam.

    I guess if you FF/REW first and then play, that approach may give reassurance all around. :cool:
     
  13. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    That's the same experience I had with my Sony TC-K6116 Dolby S deck. It sounded like a dream until it crapped out too.
     
    Vinny123 likes this.
  14. carrolls

    carrolls Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin
    I always went with Maxell XL-II C90 Chrome tapes. HMV always had special offers on these Maxell Chrome tapes like 20 for the price of 10 bundled together in the 90's. Then they would be discounted even more in the sales. The result is today I still have about 50 of these sealed.
    They make perfect copies of CD's on my Technics RS-AZ6 deck.
    Best tape deck for recording ever because of the auto calibration feature and amorphic head.
    And recordings made 30 years ago are still indistinguishable from CD.
     
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  15. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    If I want to keep what I am listening to "all analog", I will take a two pre-1980's records and record one on each side of a cassette.
    Then, when I listen to the albums, I do not have to flip from side one to side two, like I would have to playing them on a turntable.
    And, the sound quality is subjectively the same as playing the record. If I do some eq while recording the albums to tape,
    the tape can actually sound better than the vinyl. There are good reasons for playing tape, but I would not go out and buy
    a deck (and have to find good quality tape,) if I did not already have them.
     
  16. MassHysteria

    MassHysteria Music Lover

    Location:
    Minnesota
    We use tapes for the same reason others use other formats. Just happens to be one we enjoy still.
     
  17. carrolls

    carrolls Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin
    Change the pinch roller, probably hard as a rock.
     
  18. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    Allow me to once again promote the use of a dehydrator to bake your tapes. I just bought 4, 30 year old pre-recorded cassettes and 3 were unplayable due to stickiness. 8 hours in the food dehydrator at 130 F and perfection achieved in playback!

    Phew!
     
  19. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    Those Maxells are the best! My go-to!
     
  20. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    8? why so long for I only do 4.
    Well 4 to cook and 4 to cool it off.. so I guess youre right. :targettiphat:
    [​IMG]
     
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  21. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I snagged this car stereo at the auction. I tried it on a power supply, speakers and it works. Planning to take it a local car stereo place this weekend and have it install to my grocery getter. I have thousands of home recorded tapes ready to pop and play.. So excited! :cheers:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  22. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    8 was the first recipe I tried and it worked great, so I just kept it going!
     
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  23. audiodefiled

    audiodefiled Forum Resident

    Location:
    canada
    SOP back in the day!
     
  24. audiodefiled

    audiodefiled Forum Resident

    Location:
    canada
    I have used a lot of TDKsa tapes and never had a problem with them. I think I preferred them because they were a bit cheaper than maxell xls. I'm pretty sure I have some that are well over 30 years old and still sound and play great. I wonder if its climate related. I still have a pair of old late 80s pioneer 5 way car speakers with the square tweeters and the rubber is still soft and pliable.
     
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  25. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I thought TDK was more money in the US.. at that time.:laugh:
     
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