They're a hipster affect. And at least the players are common enough that they can be played. When your 8-track machine fails, cannibalization of another unit is about your only option.
Where, besides the cheap crap on Ion decks? I seriously doubt a millennial is going to buy a used deck from a thrift store just to play two or three cassettes. On the other hand: they don't exactly care about the SQ, from what I understand. It's like the crackling on vinyl, they think lo-fi is what cassettes are all about. Gotta remember, most grew up in a world of only mp3, and maybe CDs.
Actually, I do think they'll get the cassette decks at the thrift store. Same place they hunt for "vinyls" and rotary phones.
I'm surprised by the number of people in this forum who can't figure out, or will not implement that simplest of all solutions.
This is absolutely correct. There's a record/vinyl shop near me that is filled with young people, has tons of used cassettes for sale and I whole rack of used cassette decks (and turntables and amps). I love vinyl and am happy it's making a come back even if for many it's just nostalgia or hipster cool. The return of cassette decks makes a lot less sense to me.
Me too. I don't quite have the patience I had even 10 years ago, especially since eBay probably has other copies. I did take time with my 8 track of Roy Ayers's He's Coming because it sounds great and I've never seen another copy.
I guess you've never seen what a cat can do to that pile of tape when you're trying to re-spool an 8-track!
This reminds of the documentary So Wrong, They're Right. It was a documentary from 2005 about people who collect and are devoted to 8-track tapes. One of the points mentioned is that 8-track is a very low-cost way of purchasing music (8-track tapes cost $0.25 at some stores). Here's the trailer:
There is kind of an underground collection movement going on with both 4 track and 8 track cartridge tapes. I have noticed in the last year or two that tapes going for $.25 all day long are now fetching $2.00 to $3.00. I still have about 50 or so that I keep as conversation pieces. I am not a serious collector. However, like vinyl, they are now starting to get the attention of younger music buyers. How do I know this? From conversations with vendors at swap meets and record shops who still sell them. The problem though with 8 tracks is that you have to know how to repair and restore them. For some that can be frustrating.
The main reason IMO is that the 8 tracks, compared to the vinyl records and compact cassettes (both formats dominated the market for decades, and left a mark to generations of music lovers all over the world) never being a big mainstream format, so there are not many people in this world that are nostalgic for the 8 tracks - most of the living people in this planet actually never heard or saw this format, and 8 track to be marketed anew for a new audience would be just insane.
RIAA’s Cara Duckworth Weiblinger denied any noticeable uptake in sales: "We regularly check with our music label members to see if they are reporting any change in the sales of cassettes, but there hasn’t been for quite some time. It’s such a small number it doesn’t meet the threshold of sales requirements for us to report it (we report sales by category on a scale of millions of dollars and cassettes just haven’t broken that threshold). So there has been no increase in sales of cassettes or a proactive effort to look into tracking this further." If it doesn't meet the threshold of reportable sales requirements, it's hardly "mainstream".
I just had a rather odd idea. Have a tape like an 8 track, but have the head follow the tape almost like a record, like a Tefifion. It could work using a small head and reel to reel like technology (maybe).
That would require the head to move. Given the need for pressure, and the chance for the head to drift out alignment is too great. I think a better idea would be for a laser to read/write on a tape.
"I heard my mama cry. I heard her pray the night........................................KERCHUNK........................................ Chicago died. Brother what a night it really was. Brother what a fight it really was.
Interesting. I'm surprised nobody tried that. Probably couldn't control the heads accurately enough to maintain a precise position. I also finally realized what the Tefifon reminded me of - the Dictabelt! My aunt had one of these - a late model from the '70s I assume - at her office from the mid-'70s thru the mid-80's. It was eventually replaced by a minicassette-based system.