First It Was Vinyl Now Cassettes...

Thought I'd pass this along:

http://indie88.com/its-not-a-joke-cassette-tapes-are-experiencing-a-modern-revival/

Apologies if anyone has already posted this. ara:

Gerard

I'm still into cassettes, but now that the supply of high quality tape is dwindling the end does appear to be inevitable. I can still make fantastic recordings using cheap tape if I encode with dbx-II, but that really limits my playback options.

I have been picking up sealed cassettes from thrift stores for 20c for years, there's still plenty around.

Where are new quality decks? Where are brand new tapes other than low end Type 1 produced recently? Who's manufacturing them?

Not sure what kind of low-fi deck the author is using for him to bash the sound quality of tape. I beg to differ. Mine sounds darn good.

I still find sealed quality blanks in thrifts as well. And, I still find loads of prerecorded cassettes cheap in the same thrifts. I love listening to cassettes and recording my own. As others have said tape can sound very, very good. But will manufacturers make quality new decks? I'm doubtful.

Gerard

There are plenty of good decks floating around on the used market, as well as many NOS tapes from various manufacturers.
Why not take advantage of this situation, and have a little fun with it ? :thmbsp:

MaxxVolume said:

There are plenty of good decks floating around on the used market, as well as many NOS tapes from various manufacturers.
Why not take advantage of this situation, and have a little fun with it ? :thmbsp:

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Exactly!

Gerard

I still get good quality NOS sealed tapes in thrifts and at garage sales. Also still find plenty of used cassettes in great shape for next to nothing. Nothing is slowing down my tape addiction at this point.

jnicholson14 said:

I still get good quality NOS sealed tapes in thrifts and at garage sales. Also still find plenty of used cassettes in great shape for next to nothing. Nothing is slowing down my tape addiction at this point.

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Interestingly I've had issues with prerecorded tapes being jammed, stuck or with tape "glued" to itself but not thus far with NOS or even used blanks.

Gerard

Thanks for the article.

I was glad to read of an uptick in sales/popularity of the format. I don't buy the lo-fi statements so much, but maybe the bands are passing out rot gut tape.....

I used to find sealed quality Type II tapes in the thrifts. Mostly gone now.

NAC (no affiliation) markets new Type II tapes. I don't know who actually manufactures the pancakes for them, but some here have tried them and report good things.

I wonder what the author would say if he was played a good Type II tape with Dolby HX encoding/120us equalization, on a top shelf machine, without knowing or seeing the source device?

I would agree that cassettes will not attain the following of vinyl. Did not then, and not today. They may well again become an alternative to other physical formats, for a small number of users. For these folks, the mediocre new decks will be adequate.

.....and I just got rid of most of my cassettes......:tears:

They sure are good for driving cars. Use them everyday.

oldvinyldude said:

Thanks for the article.
I wonder what the author would say if he was played a good Type II tape with Dolby HX encoding/120us equalization, on a top shelf machine, without knowing or seeing the source device?

I would agree that cassettes will not attain the following of vinyl. Did not then, and not today. They may well again become an alternative to other physical formats, for a small number of users. For these folks, the mediocre new decks will be adequate.

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I've fooled people with my kit and while what I have is very good it is not TOTL by any means. So, yes, cassettes can sound wonderful.

I've seen indie bands sell cassettes that come with a digital download number. The cassette itself gives that oh so important tangible to the song buyer and for most of these buyers the low end decks now made will, as you said, suffice quite nicely.

Gerard

squirrelnest said:

.....and I just got rid of most of my cassettes......:tears:

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I did this very thing when CDs came out. Dumped 80% of my vinyl and 95% of my cassettes. Good news is tapes can still be found cheaply and in abundance though good NOS blanks are becoming harder to find. I now have more cassettes then I ever did back in the day (the 1980's). I have better vintage decks now too. :yes:

Gerard

Yes, NOS/used high quality blanks still exist, and good vintage decks as well, but you're forgetting one thing: When it's being revived, artists want to put their album on tape. Yet they can't simply buy NOS blanks and do it with that. The tape needs to be spliced to the right length, duplicated using professional gear (which might or might not exist anymore), need to be put in shells, printed and sold. The amount of high quality tape pancakes (the rolls they load tape shells with) is dwindling fast, and new one isn't produced. Most what is still available, if at all, is speech-grade. Where vinyl can be pressed nowadays, because it's just PVC (but, most pressing plants are old and can't keep up with the demand much either), tape factories closed down or don't get high quality oxide because the manufacturers of that quit a long time ago. And you can't convince those chemical companies to create new tapes because the interest isn't as high as vinyl. I'm sorry to sound pessimistic, but I think a "true" revival like vinyl will not be seen with cassette.

From what I read, there are several duplicators in North America. What I can't determine is the viability of the last of the tape stock manufacturers. I get the sense that they are just barely hanging in there. Availability of tape stock may be more the limiting factor.

I sense that cassettes will function more on the novelty level. It's different, so it appeals. They are also pretty rugged, so a band can have a few cases bang around in the van and still be playable. Vinyl is more sensitive to heat and pressure, besides, pressing plants are overwhelmed with demand-but this will improve over the next year or 2.

TheNLOwner said:

Yes, NOS/used high quality blanks still exist, and good vintage decks as well, but you're forgetting one thing: When it's being revived, artists want to put their album on tape. Yet they can't simply buy NOS blanks and do it with that. The tape needs to be spliced to the right length, duplicated using professional gear (which might or might not exist anymore), need to be put in shells, printed and sold. The amount of high quality tape pancakes (the rolls they load tape shells with) is dwindling fast, and new one isn't produced. Most what is still available, if at all, is speech-grade. Where vinyl can be pressed nowadays, because it's just PVC (but, most pressing plants are old and can't keep up with the demand much either), tape factories closed down or don't get high quality oxide because the manufacturers of that quit a long time ago. And you can't convince those chemical companies to create new tapes because the interest isn't as high as vinyl. I'm sorry to sound pessimistic, but I think a "true" revival like vinyl will not be seen with cassette.

Click to expand...

I agree. :yes:

Gerard

oldvinyldude said:

From what I read, there are several duplicators in North America. What I can't determine is the viability of the last of the tape stock manufacturers. I get the sense that they are just barely hanging in there. Availability of tape stock may be more the limiting factor.

I sense that cassettes will function more on the novelty level. It's different, so it appeals. They are also pretty rugged, so a band can have a few cases bang around in the van and still be playable. Vinyl is more sensitive to heat and pressure, besides, pressing plants are overwhelmed with demand-but this will improve over the next year or 2.

Click to expand...

I've seen a couple YT videos about small batch tape duplication. I don't recall any talk about tape availability but do recall talk of how inexpensive tape is in comparison to vinyl at least with small runs. And, yes, the cassettes I've seen from indie bands do seem to have novelty status with fans.

Gerard

I am happy with the 200 or so Cassettes I recorded in the early 80's along with about 40 or 50 pre-recorded tapes I used to listen to in the car long ago. I pop one in every once in a while in my Sanyo MicroProcessor Deck that I purchased in 81. Still a great deck and I still enjoy listening to them. I've probably got 20 TDK Chrome and 3 or 4 Maxell Chrome along with a few Metal blank tapes left from the 80's. That will be plenty as I really don't record on Cassette any longer.

I "Companded" every single one of them with an MRX Compander. I'm glad my Compander still works or I'd have to find another to expand the compression that the tapes were recorded with to dial down the hiss. 90 percent of them are Chrome, and about 10 percent are Metal. They have held up after all these years nicely, as I have kept them neatly tucked away in a custom tape box salvaged from a Library that was ridding themselves of the old Dewey Decimal Card Catalog cases. Solid Oak that I stained Cherry. They look Beautiful and are PERFECT size for the Cassettes in their boxes.

Glad they are making somewhat of a revival, but I agree with Oldvinyldude. It's the "Novelty" that has the resurgence powered.