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Thread: 50-Year Birthday of the Cassette

  1. #51
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brad to the Bone
    No, but I remember "Digital Compact Cassettes" in the late 80s or very early 90s. Never owned one, though.
    Quote Originally Posted by rapidfirerob View Post
    Never heard of the Elcaset before. Bigger is not always better. Hmm.
    Let's not forget mini-cassettes either, as featured in the movie "A Clockwork Orange."



  2. #52
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Fidelipac A-Cart & B-Cart, used in radio stations for carrying station announcements and ads, and the Fidelipac C-Cart, used by background music companies to carry 4 hours of monaural sound on an endless loop. For comparison, also an 8-track (with lid removed) - not to scale. As near as I can determine, most 8-Tracks ran between 9 and 11.5 minutes per "side", with four stereo sides per tape.
    Last edited by rcarlberg; 09-03-2013 at 08:03 PM.

  3. #53
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    I got into cassettes for live concert trading.

    - For you young'uns - Back in the day people snuck small reel to reel and cassette recorders into concerts. The shows were put on cassettes and sent thuough the US mail all over the world !!

    At one time I had an 8 track recorder. It would change tracks with no lowering of the music when switching. That shock was just less than a gunshot on the nerves. A metal strip contacting the playback head. The highpoint of technology .

  4. #54
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    1958

    Now this was a monster ! (I need one for my 'obsolete' collection..)

    http://archive.org/details/Revoluti1958

  5. #55
    Progdog ThomasKDye's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tom unbound View Post
    Haha! Thanks. Unitopia sampled a bit of that soundtrack for one of the songs off their "The Garden" album.

  6. #56
    Quote Originally Posted by tom unbound View Post
    At one time I had an 8 track recorder. It would change tracks with no lowering of the music when switching. That shock was just less than a gunshot on the nerves. A metal strip contacting the playback head. The highpoint of technology .
    The recorders never automatically lowered volumes for track changes, from what I understand. That would have been done during mastering. I had "Leftoverture" on 8-track, which switched in the middle of "The Wall." The record company never made any attempt to preserve the music, they just let it keep playing during the fade-out and lost about 15 seconds of the song. I also had Sgt. Pepper on 8-track, where not only did they change the order of the songs to fit better (sacrilege!!!), since they still had tape at the end of track four, they simply repeated the refrain at the end of the Sgt. Pepper reprise (which was, of course, now the final track).

  7. #57
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    The recorders never automatically lowered volumes for track changes, from what I understand. That would have been done during mastering. I had "Leftoverture" on 8-track, which switched in the middle of "The Wall." The record company never made any attempt to preserve the music, they just let it keep playing during the fade-out and lost about 15 seconds of the song. I also had Sgt. Pepper on 8-track, where not only did they change the order of the songs to fit better (sacrilege!!!), since they still had tape at the end of track four, they simply repeated the refrain at the end of the Sgt. Pepper reprise (which was, of course, now the final track).
    Yeah -- I always hated listening to my Electric Light Orchestra II 8-Track and having the song "Kuiama" (the best song on the album!) fade out in the middle of the violin solo -- ch-ching -- and pick back up again...This is in the early 80s, by the way: Many used cars had 8-Track players in them and mine (at the time) was no exception

  8. #58
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    Wow, excellent video. Also I didn't know that "I believe in Father Christmas" lifted another song!

  9. #59
    Member rapidfirerob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    Fidelipac A-Cart & B-Cart, used in radio stations for carrying station announcements and ads, and the Fidelipac C-Cart, used by background music companies to carry 4 hours of monaural sound on an endless loop. For comparison, also an 8-track (with lid removed) - not to scale. As near as I can determine, most 8-Tracks ran between 9 and 11.5 minutes per "side", with four stereo sides per tape.
    When you open your museum, I'm coming for a tour, no doubt!

  10. #60
    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    http://livingarchive.doncampau.com/a...ssette-culture

    Article about cassette culture,in particular,music that was "off the beaten path".
    Last edited by walt; 09-06-2013 at 07:26 AM.
    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

  11. #61
    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    My car is a 2000 Camry that has a tape player in it so I still play cassettes in it. My attitude with these things is "if it ain't broke then don't fix it."

  12. #62
    Quote Originally Posted by Digital_Man View Post
    My car is a 2000 Camry that has a tape player in it so I still play cassettes in it. My attitude with these things is "if it ain't broke then don't fix it."
    I have a 2001 and it has a tape player AND a CD player.

  13. #63
    Member Ten Thumbs's Avatar
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  14. #64
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    Originally Posted by Digital_Man

    My car is a 2000 Camry that has a tape player in it so I still play cassettes in it. My attitude with these things is "if it ain't broke then don't fix it."
    I have a 2001 and it has a tape player AND a CD player.
    Obviously, a built-in unit from the car manufacturer, because I've never seen a Sony, Kenwood or Clarion (or any other for that matter)doing both...
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  15. #65
    Member Big Ears's Avatar
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    I loved cassettes: whether by caressing the compact little box, handling the tape case, gazing at them perfectly arranged on a shelf or listening to them on a portable device over my shoulder. Making a compilation (usually from Alan Freeman's radio show), writing the tracklist and creating my own cover design was the embodiment of creativity. Yes, it was me that was killing music by hometaping. These days, cassettes compare unfavourably with digital recording, because there is no stretching or wow and flutter, but I still wear a little metal cassette around my neck as a reminder (silly I know).

    I remember picking up a Sony Elcaset brochure, but I do not think I ever saw one 'in the flesh'.

    There cannot be much among my home-taping, that I did not also buy on vinyl, pre-recorded musi-cassette or CD. Neil Young may be right that mp3s are the new radio programmes.
    Member since Wednesday 09.09.09

  16. #66
    Member Big Ears's Avatar
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    Although, according to Wiki, Cassettes date to the early sixties, I don't remember them until the early seventies. TDK Super Avelyns were my favourites, because they seemed to avoid the oxidisation problems.
    Member since Wednesday 09.09.09

  17. #67
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    Did any of you ever own one of these?



    I don't mean this specific brand or model, but you get the picture. In the early 70s before boom boxes and condensor mics I used a machine like this to record music off the radio or record albums from an old "console" stereo system. Yeah, I just sat there on my ass holding the microphone up to the speaker while the record played. Primitive as can be, but it was a labor of love. Today I get the same enjoyment from making mixed CDrs.

  18. #68
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    Now, one of the funny things I discovered about those portable cassette recorders (like the one pictured above) was that you could turn it into an amplifier. I'm not sure how I discovered that but it was completely by accident. I pushed down on all those buttons at the same time and they kinda got stuck in that down position, then I noticed feedback coming from the speaker. Then I spoke through the mic and I heard my distorted voice coming out of the cheap little speaker. So that little lightbulb on top o' me head lit up and I put the mic into the soundhole of an "el cheapo" plastic acoustic guitar I had with steal strings. Instant Jimi Hendrix. Feedback, distortion, and loads of fun. It's a true story.

  19. #69
    Quote Originally Posted by Vic2012 View Post
    Did any of you ever own one of these?
    Yep, and one of these too-


    I used to put tape over the erase head and record music on top of music to make psychedelic tapes when I was 6 *lol* Also, when you hit the fast-forward in record mode you could get the tape to speed up and the result was demonic slowed down music. Jiggling the pause button produced chipmunk effects. I was a master of screwing stuff up.

  20. #70
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    ^ I had something similar. In the late 70s I put together a nice, sorta "high end" system with a nice, powerful amp (no receiver/radio) and all the other components were mix and match. I forget waht brand of tape deck I had but it was one of those with all kinds of bells and whistles.

    I was a master of screwing stuff up.
    Have I got a story for you. That same tape deck that I turned into a guitar amp took further abuse. I lost the AC adapter, and the for whatever reason, either the batteries just wouldn't work, or I didn't have enough money to buy the batteries. So that light bulb illuminated again and I got this hairbrained idea. I'll take an old extension cord and solder the leads into the contacts for the battery compartment . Plugged the thing in the wall outlet, and .........POP! BANG! KABLEWY!!!

    True story. I swear. I'm surprised I didn't burn the aprtment down.

  21. #71
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    My first recording studio was on cassette


  22. #72
    Progdog ThomasKDye's Avatar
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    *sigh* You guys are going to have me all misty about my Tascam Porta05 and all the home recordings of (mostly awful) music I made with that... good times...

  23. #73
    ALL ACCESS Gruno's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    Obviously, a built-in unit from the car manufacturer, because I've never seen a Sony, Kenwood or Clarion (or any other for that matter)doing both...
    You must never have seen these:



    Sony detachable face XRC-5100 Car Cassette player, AM/FM tuner, 40 watts X 4, RCA outputs, RCA inputs, CD changer controller with its matching CDX-715 10 Disc magazine style changer.

    I had one similar to this in my old Pathfinder. It did not come with the car.

  24. #74
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    I remember when owning a Blaupunkt system meant you were an audiophile way back then.

  25. #75
    Member Big Ears's Avatar
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    I amplified my cassette recorder through a Hacker mono record player. I'm not sure how I failed to electrocute myself.
    Member since Wednesday 09.09.09

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