Tomorrow, August 30. Remember "Home Taping Is Killing Music?"
Tomorrow, August 30. Remember "Home Taping Is Killing Music?"
I had a dream!
I remember I had a couple of cassettes that came with little plastic nubs you put into the two holes, to keep the tape from shifting around or whatever. Also had a couple of cassettes (prerecorded albums) that came in little cardboard boxes.
the best medium ever.
I still have my many hundreds of cassettes, which get played in my car only, alternating with my CDs. The two holes in cassettes, when blocked, usually by tape, enabled you to re record over what was on there. When the holes were evident,
you could not record, only play. There you have it.
Remember the Elcaset? I don’t, my friend who used to write for a hi-fi stereo magazine had to tell me about it. A major “oopsie” by Sony.
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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")
"'Thin Thighs For Your Man.' But I don't *like* men with thin thighs" --Daria
N.P.:“Comme un sage”-Harmonium/En tournée
I loved cassettes. I was still buying cassette albums, usually in bargain bins, into the early 2000s. The pre-recorded cassette albums really had some punch. But CDrs blow cassettes away.
They were certainly an improvement over the 8 track system for the car. In 1985 as a wedding gift a friend of mine gave me 2 cases of TDK cassettes (which came to about 40 albums) that containd many of my favorite albums recorded on his top of line system that included a Nakamichi tape deck. I still have them today although I have no way to listen to them.
Hated the damned things ! You could never skip a track without pressing the fast fwd button & when released you were 1/2 thru' the next track . At least you could visially place the needle between tracks on vinyl . Secondly they fucked up so many of my car radio cassettes or oppositly the cassetes got chewed up it cost me money I couldn't afford to lose !
Maxell XLIIs' were great for making custom mix tapes for long car rides, or giving a friend a gift.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
I didn't mind cassettes so much even though my preferred format was vinyl. I never bought an 8-Track, ever. I could see that was shit from the get-go.
My first cassette album was Focus' Moving Waves, which I purchased in a small record store in New Orleans in 1972, at the same time that I bought Focus III on vinyl, since they didn't have wax copy of MW. It was prior to the norelco boxes and the artwork was glued onto a plastic slipcase with one open end. I still have the danged thing somewhere.
The first pre-recorded, cassette album I ever bought was "So Far" by CSN&Y.
I never bought those either. For one, I didn't have a car, and I wasn't gonna buy one of those portable 8-track players. I had a friend who had an 8-track system in his Mustang. We're going back 40 years here. We're listening to a song and in the middle of the song it makes this loud "kathunk" noise while it changes to another "track." I'm thinking, "you've got to be kidding."I never bought an 8-Track, ever. I could see that was shit from the get-go.
Easier to repair than 8-tracks.
Much easier to repair than CDs.
Originally Posted by JKL2000
Just so it's clear, I wasn't talking about those tabs in my post above. I was talking about the two tape spools - I had a couple of cassettes that came with little round plugs to put in them to hold the spools still because the case didn't have the plastic pieces that fit into them. These may have been cassettes that came in paper boxes instead of plastic cases, can't remember.I still have my many hundreds of cassettes, which get played in my car only, alternating with my CDs. The two holes in cassettes, when blocked, usually by tape, enabled you to re record over what was on there. When the holes were evident,
you could not record, only play. There you have it.
I got some mileage out of them in the early 80s. Loved to make mixed tapes for parties. I preferred the cassette Walkman over the CD Walkman!
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
A friend of mine just bought a used truck in excellent condition. It has a cassette player only, but he has none. He was thrilled to learn that I had about 900 he can choose from.
Never was a fan of the pre-recorded cassette. However, I was HUGE into making cassettes. I had a great setup and used to make kick ass tapes for myself, for friends, and select women. I miss those days.
You can do the same with CD-Rs
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
Quick, top ten rules for making a mix tape Rob. Go.
The audio quality of Type I cassettes (the brown tape) was horrible. Type II (Chrome) was acceptable and I would argue that the latest ones from the era could rival CD on many aspects. I preferred Type IV (Metal) - these were the best for audio quality - but they were actually harsh on tape heads and certain players could not handle them
There were cassette players that could "sense" the gap between tracks; you could fast forward and they would automatically find and play the next track. I had one of those. Not as convenient as a CD, but easier than a phonograph. My main problem with cassettes was that they'd deteriorate after time and the treble would fade in and out.
Ha! I just discovered not too long ago that the movie "High Fidelity" was based on a book of the same title, which I read. The movie is pretty faithful, except the book was written by a Brit and takes place in London while the film takes place in Chicago.
I think out of about 900 tapes, I might have three or four factory tapes (they were all gifts). Crappy material, ridiculously high levels and normal bias (lots of hiss). Probably the worst factory music products ever made.
Yet, there are people who still collect them. At least 8-tracks had some charm.
Absolutely, and it's a lot easier. However, what I liked about recording cassettes is that you could easily adjust the levels, I could create my own fade ins or fade outs. I'm sure there are programs to do that when burning tracks to a CDR, but I don't know how.
In 1986 ,my friend made me a copy of Chick Corea's Elektric Band from Vinyl to a Maxell metal cassette.
I listened to it constantly.
A few months later , I bought the same album on CD.
I hated the sound, and went back to listening to the cassette.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
Yeah, but the best tracks on that album were the "bonus" ones that were only on the manufactured cassette, iirc. And the CD, of course.
Nick Hornby's book is excellent. The movie is surprisingly faithful in some respects, surprisingly different in others. Both are worth experiencing -- especially for music lovers like us.
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