Cassettes and related matters

[pastoralguy]

I’ve noticed that cassette tapes are turning up in charity shops as, like vinyl, collectors are realising there’s some money to be made. Some of the pop ones go for large sums of money such as a Stones tape I saw that was priced at £20!

I did put a couple of tapes on eBay 3 or 4 years ago but there was no interest. Might be worth trying again.

[teamsaint]

I happened to catch the Final of this year’s Counterpoint music quiz series on R4 (broadcast Monday 3.4.23)… and was surprised by the answer to a tie-break question:

195,000 cassette tapes were sold in the UK in 2022 (according to the BPI)

Not that I go to music shops much any more, but I didn’t know music cassettes were still sold anywhere.

(Presumably the figures can’t include second-hand… but may include online sales…)

Quite a lot of ( unsigned?) rock bands self produce them still I think.

[Bryn]

Quite a lot of ( unsigned?) rock bands self produce them still I think.

They have also become a bit trendy with some jazzers. How the production costs compare with the stamped CDs or burned CD-Rs, I have not investigated. The impression I get, however, is that, like the environmentally unfriendly vinyl LP, they are simply seen as fashionable, by some. Just waiting for the Mini-disc to make its comeback.

[Old Grumpy]

Just waiting for the Mini-disc to make its comeback.

Y, oh Y?
https://www.messynessychic.com/2023/...our-vol-iii-2/...

Not thinkin' 'bout my generation, then

[Bryn]

Y, oh Y?
https://www.messynessychic.com/2023/...our-vol-iii-2/...

Not thinkin' 'bout my generation, then

An experimental jazz and other improvised music enthusiast I know swears by his Mini-disc recorders. I have tried encouraging him to investigate solid-state pocket recorders which permit higher levels of resolution than even the top-of-the-range non-lossy Mini-disc recorders were incapable of matching, but so far, to no avail. Mini-disc is what he knows and they do tend to have the benefit of in-built editing facilities.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Just waiting for the Mini-disc to make its comeback.

How about the Elcassette?

In 2017, musician Jeremy Heiden released his album Blue Wicked on Elcaset, along with several other older formats, including MiniDisc, Digital Compact Cassette, and Compact Cassette.

[teamsaint]

Y, oh Y?
https://www.messynessychic.com/2023/...our-vol-iii-2/...

Not thinkin' 'bout my generation, then

Cloughie’s preferred format !!

I do fancy buying one for a bit of fun.

[Bryn]

Cloughie’s preferred format !!

I do fancy buying one for a bit of fun.

I have a good many Mini-discs of friends' concerts from over the years. My then top or range Sony Mini-disc deck stopped ejecting discs. I fiddled and faddled but to no avail. Eventually, I caved in and searched for the same model on eBay. Damn it, when I for the replacement home, I found it had the same problem and had a Mini-disc stuck within it. However, this time an Internet search revealed both short- and long-term solutions. It turned out, all I had to do for the moment was to lightly push the stuck disc back inside as I pressed the eject button. The problem with both decks was a stretched and weakened drive belt for the eject mechanism. Very fiddly to replace, but possible once the short-term method ceased to work (so far, so good). I thus now have two working top-of-the0rangel Minidisc decks with little to do but send the content of Minii-discs to my similarly ancient Alesis Masterlink 9600 hard disc/CD-R recorder via S/PDIF link for burning to CD-R or further copying to external drives.

[MickyD]

He'll be bringing it back once he's listened to it!

Actually, I think it was just the look of it that he liked! But I agree, even when I used it, the concentrated sound of tape hiss in the ears was unbearable for me. I was over the moon when CDs first appeared and have loved them ever since. Definitely the hi-fi invention of the 20th century for me.

[pastoralguy]

Actually, I think it was just the look of it that he liked! But I agree, even when I used it, the concentrated sound of tape hiss in the ears was unbearable for me. I was over the moon when CDs first appeared and have loved them ever since. Definitely the hi-fi invention of the 20th century for me.