Cassette Tapes. Does anyone still buy them?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I seem to remember a cassette tape of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' being roundly condemned by the Guide to Penguins as there was a side turn before the recapitulation of the 'Big Tune' in order 'to miserly save a few feet of tape!' An American company, iirc.

That happened also on the DECCA tape of the VPO/Maazel Sibelius #5. AND at the end of Act 2 of Bernstein's Tristan (PHILLIPS), where the three remaining minutes were on a different tape - after you'd had to fast-forward over four minutes left over tape on the cassette with the missing bit of Act Two!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dave2002]

A couple of years ago an audio store had what was supposed to have been a really good Sony Player back in the day, being sold for about the price of a dinner for two at a moderately priced restaurant, so I purchased it. I couldn't believe how poor these cassettes, both prerecorded and the ones that I had made from CDs in the early days of that medium, sounded. They made mp3 sound like high rez downloads in comparison. I returned the machine and got about 50% of my purchase price and the cassettes went in the recycle bin.

That sounds a bit of a shame - though probably some of the tapes I dumped recently were similar. My Sony deck which is/was their high end model with Dolby S etc, used to make tapes which were virtually indistiguishable on the equipment I was using (which wasn't terrible) from the original source or the CDs, but whether the tapes would still sound good now - really not sure. Most have now gone, anyway.

I did have, briefly, one other cassette deck which perhaps sounded even better, but that was given away as a present, and has long gone to hi-fi heaven I think.

[ardcarp]

You mention the Dolby noise-reduction system, Dave. I have some old cassettes of concerts recorded on very high quality equipment (using 'metal' tape and Dolby) but they sound appalling on the only 'ghetto blaster' we've got to play them on. Would it be best to get them transferred by an expert to CD?

[Bryn]

You mention the Dolby noise-reduction system, Dave. I have some old cassettes of concerts recorded on very high quality equipment (using 'metal' tape and Dolby) but they sound appalling on the only 'ghetto blaster' we've got to play them on. Would it be best to get them transferred by an expert to CD?

It would pretty certainly improve on what you get from a 'ghetto blaster'. The type of Dolby also makes a big difference. All versions required proper callibration for decent resits. Dolby C was notoriously sensitive to slight variations in tape speed. It was always best to play them back on the machine they were recorded on.

[MrGongGong]

It would pretty certainly improve on what you get from a 'ghetto blaster'. The type of Dolby also makes a big difference. All versions required proper callibration for decent resits. Dolby C was notoriously sensitive to slight variations in tape speed. It was always best to play them back on the machine they were recorded on.

Always better in "Dubbly"

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I found that many commercial cassettes deteriorated over time, and that this made them less attractive that LPs, despite the latter's obvious vulnerability to damage.

But it was remarkable how good they could sound, despite the very narrow tracks on the already narrow and thin tapes, and the very slow tape speed.

[richardfinegold]

I found that many commercial cassettes deteriorated over time, and that this made them less attractive that LPs, despite the latter's obvious vulnerability to damage.

But it was remarkable how good they could sound, despite the very narrow tracks on the already narrow and thin tapes, and the very slow tape speed.

I wonder if some deterioration had occurred with my cassettes. They went unplaced for over a decade, and for part of that time were stored in a garage, enduring Chicago winters and summers....they sounded pretty unnatural.
Perhaps OT, but I remember when my Father died about twenty years ago and discovering his collection of 78s. He had some real gems, such as Toscanini conducting Ravel Bolero, and a Bruno Walter led Flying Dutchman from the Met. I drove the collection from Detroit to Chicago over the strident objections of my ex wife, who didn’t want the musty old things taking up space in the car (I remember my then 13 year old daughter breaking a few of them when we were trying to configure space in the car for the drive back from the funeral) or in our home. At the time I didn’t have a turntable and it was a few months before I was able to persuade my Audio dealer to loan me a traded in tt for a weekend that would play 78s and a phono pre amp. They sounded just awful, one could barely discern any music under the roar of surface noise. The dealer also had a Keith Monks record cleaning machine and I payed to have the Bolero side cleaned, but it made no difference. I gave the lot to my barber, who frequents flea markets as a hobby.
Anyway, the cassettes didn’t sound that bad, but I do think that something analogous may have occurred.

[Stunsworth]

What are you going to play on them, or record on them...?
Or do you just want to watch the Big Wheels turning, and meditate...?

There's quite a market (ok, it's all relative) in releasing copies of master tapes on 10" 15ips reel to reel tapes. They're very expensive, but I'd love to hear some. For example...

https://store.acousticsounds.com/cat/397/Reel_to_Reel

[cloughie]

I wonder if some deterioration had occurred with my cassettes. They went unplaced for over a decade, and for part of that time were stored in a garage, enduring Chicago winters and summers....they sounded pretty unnatural.
Perhaps OT, but I remember when my Father died about twenty years ago and discovering his collection of 78s. He had some real gems, such as Toscanini conducting Ravel Bolero, and a Bruno Walter led Flying Dutchman from the Met. I drove the collection from Detroit to Chicago over the strident objections of my ex wife, who didn’t want the musty old things taking up space in the car (I remember my then 13 year old daughter breaking a few of them when we were trying to configure space in the car for the drive back from the funeral) or in our home. At the time I didn’t have a turntable and it was a few months before I was able to persuade my Audio dealer to loan me a traded in tt for a weekend that would play 78s and a phono pre amp. They sounded just awful, one could barely discern any music under the roar of surface noise. The dealer also had a Keith Monks record cleaning machine and I payed to have the Bolero side cleaned, but it made no difference. I gave the lot to my barber, who frequents flea markets as a hobby.
Anyway, the cassettes didn’t sound that bad, but I do think that something analagousmay have occurred.

Obviously you should have digitised them earlier.

[Dave2002]

You mention the Dolby noise-reduction system, Dave. I have some old cassettes of concerts recorded on very high quality equipment (using 'metal' tape and Dolby) but they sound appalling on the only 'ghetto blaster' we've got to play them on. Would it be best to get them transferred by an expert to CD?

Very possibly. If you really want to keep them, don't do what I did and dump them. It may well be possible to get good or at least acceptable results if the tapes were recorded well, and the tapes haven't deteriorated, but careful matching of the replay equipment to the tapes needs to be done.

I once had a Goodmans tape deck, on which some of my tapes were recorded. It was OK. However, I did lend one or two tapes to a friend who had significantly better equipment, and he commented on how good the recordings were. OTOH, if the tapes were then played back on some other kit they would/could indeed sound poor. There needs to be careful matching, and it's probably not worth it if the recorded material is only of moderate interest. Personal recordings (such as voices of family members) and recordings of really good musical performances are certainly worth saving.

78 rpm recordings on disc have also been mentioned. It is possible to get acceptable results with 78 records played on good equipment, but 78s may indeed sound really bad if played on poor equipment. Many years ago I knew people who used stereo cartridges to play 78s (in real time) and with a fairly simple circuit to remove the clicks while the records were being played. Background noise levels were then reported as low, and interestingly enough, some 78s also had a wide dynamic range. The frequency spectrum was of course sometimes compromised, but the overall effects have to be balanced against the importance of the musical content.

Some people are more interested in hearing (very) good performances by musicians of earlier eras rather than new ones which may be of less musical interest but possibly better recorded quality.

[Dave2002]

It would pretty certainly improve on what you get from a 'ghetto blaster'. The type of Dolby also makes a big difference. All versions required proper callibration for decent resits. Dolby C was notoriously sensitive to slight variations in tape speed. It was always best to play them back on the machine they were recorded on.

I would say this is generally true - even if the machine used to record wasn't of the highest quality. However, I would query the use of the word "always". With very good equipment it should be possible to optimise the replay - though it might take a lot of effort, and possibly specialist equipment and knowlege.

[jayne lee wilson]

There's quite a market (ok, it's all relative) in releasing copies of master tapes on 10" 15ips reel to reel tapes. They're very expensive, but I'd love to hear some. For example...

https://store.acousticsounds.com/cat/397/Reel_to_Reel

Yes, I know, but the state of those original tapes?
Many (sticky) open reel masters had to be baked before a one-last-chance transfer to a digital file....

A few years ago I bought a few open-reel-to-file downloads from HDTT... even on the 24/96 transfer, the signs of tape wear/prepostecho etc were obvious (wartsandall presented honestly as such by the vendor...)..... some were great, but despite some very promising material, I soon gave up...
Simple case of caveat emptor, really....

[MrGongGong]

Yes, I know, but the state of those original tapes?
Many (sticky) open reel masters had to be baked before a one-last-chance transfer to a digital file....

A few years ago I bought a few downloads from HDTT... even on the 24/96 transfer, the signs of tape wear were obvious (wartsandall presented honestly as such by the vendor...)..... some were great, but despite some very promising material, I soon gave up...
Simple case of caveat emptor, really....

I've just had a friend (who is a mastering engineer) "recover" some 1/4" tapes from the 1970's. These were recordings from when I was at Art College in the 1970's and found in a garage. Not only did they have to be baked but also the machine needed to be sterilised to avoid spores etc ... not a simple or cheap process at all.

[Dave2002]

I've just had a friend (who is a mastering engineer) "recover" some 1/4" tapes from the 1970's. These were recordings from when I was at Art College in the 1970's and found in a garage. Not only did they have to be baked but also the machine needed to be sterilised to avoid spores etc ... not a simple or cheap process at all.

Mmm. That's interesting, and suggests that recovery of tapes really is rather hard, but I'll now not know about the tapes which I dropped into the dump. Sometimes though, it might still be worthwhile.

[MrGongGong]

Mmm. That's interesting, and suggests that recovery of tapes really is rather hard, but I'll now not know about the tapes which I dropped into the dump. Sometimes though, it might still be worthwhile.

It is worthwhile
BUT can be tricky if there is mould etc