What's so bad about 8 track tapes?

8-Track tapes have one reel with tape around it. It pulls the tape from the center of the reel and winds it back around the outside. What could possibly go wrong?

 

Who doesnt like a good infinite tape loop?

 

I've had a few 8-track units. IMO, the deck isn't the problem. In fact, after a motor/mechanism cleaning and re-lubing, I've found them to be quite reliable.

It's the TAPES that have the problems for me. It seems the little metal tab that activates the automatic changing of the track seems to come apart in that area quite often. If it wasn't for this, I'd probably be looking for more tapes.

To me, the sound quality and fading in and out in the middle of the songs with the KLUNK is just part of the charm.

 

I agree about the splice foil breaking off 100%. That to me is the most annoying part. I mean, granted, most of those tapes are over 40 years old but thats bound to happen. Its very annoying when you have a 8 track tape thats almost impossible to get into without destroying everything to fix that. I do not mind the KLUNK as well! Haha.

 

I have seen a few of those for sale on ebay!
I don't have memories of having a portable 8 track player in my car but I have the memory of first discovering 8 tracks!
when I was about 17 years old my grandfather didn't want his 1979 Lincoln Town Car anymore so I said I wanted it and I got it from him. When I went to drive this giant land yacht and seen the "weird" radio with a giant slot to put something in it, I asked him what this old thing was and he just looked at me with a stare and said its an 8 track player! I just thought it was just some archaic radio they had back in the day so I didn't pay any mind to it. It wasn't I kept looking at it while I was driving wondering what it was. So I looked online and bought Journey or Foreigner 8 track tape. I plopped it in and feel in love with such a forgotten piece of music history.

 

They also try to watch one by jamming it into the vcr.

 

Exactly.

I personally have fond memories of riding around in a friend's Z-28 cranking Black Sabbath on the 8-track. I wanted one of the colored, portable 8-track players with the big plunger on top in the worst way. These tapes were a great stepping stone on the road to portable audio.

But saying, "Things can go wrong with other formats too..." ignores the fact that these other formats don't have wear designed into them. Cassette tape will eventually wear from friction on heads, but doesn't have friction designed into the mechanics of the cassette itself. LPs will eventually wear from stylus friction. But in both cases (cassettes and LPs) this wear is very minimal with even halfway decent components. Even if one wants to argue that 8-tracks sound just as good as other formats, no other format wears itself out like 8-tracks did.

Put an 8-track in the most expensive player on earth, and the tape will still wear itself out, by design.

P.S. And I can't imagine someone not caring that a song fades out... CLUNK ...then fades back in. Maybe that's just me. Must be...

 

In the mid 1970s my friend owned a big white Oldsmobile. You couldn’t really sit in the back seat. He had three large cardboard boxes filled with 8 track tapes. God, what a pain in the ass those things were. I remember that we would unscrew the plastic cases trying to repair torn tapes. I don’t miss that particular technology at all.

 

That's part of their charm!

 

As a kid I had a JCPenney phonograph/radio/8-track unit - listened to my first music on that thing. The 8-tracks were always a pain. My father had a huge collection, incl. a car player and a Sony tabletop deck. As said above, they had no redeeming qualities. Odd interruptions of the tracks, re-ordered tracks...we had some that even melted and I recall the tape smudging all over the cartridge. Good riddance!

 

I love audio technology discussion!! I'm in!

 

In my garage, taken today!

 

This Illinois man has the largest 8-track collection in the world

Love of music leads to 8-track collection

Inside the Oh Sees’ year-long effort to put their albums on 8-track box sets

http://www.katestrackshack.com/

 

That guy's collection of 93,000 tapes is incredible - as is his collection of machines.

 

I see you have Fleetwood Mac Rumors. One of their best albums!

 

My first music collection was 8 tracks! Lots of titles, Moody Blues, Zeppelin, The Hollies (Distant Light.. great album) Elton John, even the Beatles sounded fine on the Capitol 8 tracks. They were for the car, mostly, but did have an Electra 8 track player and Lafayette headphones for home listening! When these were new, they played without issue, no eaten tapes, no gummed up heads, and didn't sound bad at all. (the earlier tapes were mastered better) Being that I had one of the better sounding systems in my GTO, I did a demo for my co-workers at a job site, a rare day I had driven my car to the site.

Impressed by the sound and loudness from my Craig amp (the first car stereo amp) One of my younger colleagues asked what I have for home listening? Embarrassed and feeling cornered by that question, I admitted to the Electra unit, and headphones.. "Nah Man" he quipped, "You gotta have something better than that". I asked for suggestions. He invited me over to listen to his system, which he played "Who's Next" on his Sansui setup. I was astounded a record could sound "like that" (my young ears good to 16kHz plus) saved my money, purchased Pioneer gear and an AR turntable and that was that... no more 8 tracks for home listening.

 

You had quite the collection sir! I feel like most people exaggerate the problems when they were BRAND NEW but I am much younger(millennial) so I wasn't born then to try them out brand new.

I don't have any issues with vinyl. Right now the "vinyl revolution" is happening within my age group. The only quip I have with this is when they come up to me and start counseling me on how I should start a collection. They sometimes say how its better than MP3 or CD then I draw the line and say No. Plus you can't play them in the car something CD, Cassette, and 8 track have over them. Just my beef.

I also wanted to ask if you still have this GTO?

 

Sigh, I have two decks and about 35 tapes and none of it works right. Half the tapes are warbly or seized or won't open, and deck 1(Panasonic RS805) lost its alignment and is making a loud screeching sound when I turn the level meters over half.

Deck 2(Realistic TR700) has no belt and will not change programs. Very sad...

 

No kidding. I used broadcast carts (NAB type and similar to 8-tracks) in college radio and they were bad enough for sound and reliability for 30 sec bits and keeping them running.

The whole concept of infinite loop = bad idea to rub the tape face mechanically.

between 8-tracks, NAB carts, and infinite loop cassettes used for telephone answering machines, you actually see the tape wear after each time it comes out.

 

8 tracks can be very high maintence and aggravating but when they arent THEY ARE GOREGOUS

 

Meanwhile my dad's 8 track tapes were in a shed for 20+ years and a few of them still sounded close to new. I have no idea how they held up under extreme heat, cold, and humidity. I've only had one that was seized up, but the first play after it became unseized, the foil broke.

 

That's where SACD and Audio-DVD formats really dropped the ball. The formats could have added so much more loyalty from buyers by steadily releasing old Quad titles.

 

The worst formate ever, imo.

 

8 track pre-recorded tapes were not cheap, people. Pre-Recorded tapes cost $1-$2 extra for Stereo. And seldom discounted in many areas. LP discs then were discounted to varying degrees often. Facts, the cheapest LP discs in the city I grew up in could be $3.99 ($5.99 list price). The same title on tape was $6.99-$7.99 and you usually paid close to list price, when the tape was available. Bear this in mind.

 

Why. Didn't catch on in Germany then, too proprietary. Too few record labels supported it. All the PITA of tape, and no advantages. Tefifon is an antique.