My son bought a cassette deck!

[Joe Smith]

Late-production cassette releases on good tape stock, some with Dolby C encoding, can be very, very good. I still have the Advent CR70 classical cassettes that I went off to college with in '77 and they still sound great. Toughest thing about the format today is, just like vinyl, it is a lot more enjoyable to just settle back and play an album (or a side), skipping around (even with the decks that have the track search capability) is just not convenient. It's fun that the 20-somethings in bands are tracking down old working decks and using them to play their new releases - could lead to something, I suppose...but still hard to see a new era of deck production happening.

 

[EJ3]

Late-production cassette releases on good tape stock, some with Dolby C encoding, can be very, very good. I still have the Advent CR70 classical cassettes that I went off to college with in '77 and they still sound great. Toughest thing about the format today is, just like vinyl, it is a lot more enjoyable to just settle back and play an album (or a side), skipping around (even with the decks that have the track search capability) is just not convenient. It's fun that the 20-somethings in bands are tracking down old working decks and using them to play their new releases - could lead to something, I suppose...but still hard to see a new era of deck production happening.

The new decks need DOLBY (who no longer want to be associated with cassettes) or some other noise reduction scheme. Perhaps DBX?
I bought one of the new pre-recorded cassettes (from a MARVEL movie), tried it in my both ("works like it originally did") my KENWOOD & JVC decks. Due to the cassette not having any DOLBY compatibility, I was assaulted with awful (to me, anyway) sound. Wasted my money. But not much.
I can make a 20 Bit CD but cannot fix the new pre-recorded cassette sound.

 

[watchnerd]

Where are they getting blank cassettes?

The only place I know to get blank cassettes are the reel-to-reel tape makers, like RTM and ATR

 

[TheBatsEar]

I bought one of the new pre-recorded cassettes (from a MARVEL movie), tried it in my both ("works like it originally did") my KENWOOD & JVC decks. Due to the cassette not having any DOLBY compatibility, I was assaulted with awful (to me, anyway) sound. Wasted my money.

Sad, but it is what it is.
Get the digital format and record it over the tape, using Dolby B,C or S. This is what piracy is for.

 

[EJ3]

Sad, but it is what it is.
Get the digital format and record it over the tape, using Dolby B,C or S. This is what piracy is for.

I like that. But, since I bought the tape with the information on it, then I consider that I own that information. If I where to re-record the same tracks onto that very tape, in my mind, I do not see how that would be piracy. YMMV.

 

[ThatM1key]

Technically each version of a song is mastered differently.

 

[EJ3]

Technically each version of a song is mastered differently.

So: technically I would have to buy the digital version & record it (using my choice of DOLBY) onto one of my better blank cassette's to show how good that it "could" be in the cassette format to not be 'pirating'. Yes, it would not be as good as the digital copy but it would be quite a bit better than the pre-recorded cassette.

 

[Michel Forbes]

Using Daphile Paylist, Play from RAM, Rpi+Pirate Audio+Picoreplayer, JVC CD-1636C and TDK SA.
Lots of fun and the result is totally analog, with the punchy compressed bass and high frequency rolloff.

 

[Digby]

Using Daphile Paylist, Play from RAM, Rpi+Pirate Audio+Picoreplayer, JVC CD-1636C and TDK SA.
Lots of fun and the result is totally analog, with the punchy compressed bass and high frequency rolloff.

Interesting, can you elaborate further? Is the digital audio going through a constantly recording tape head or something, like those tape to CD adapters for cars in the 90s?

 

[Joe Smith]

Where are they getting blank cassettes?

The only place I know to get blank cassettes are the reel-to-reel tape makers, like RTM and ATR

NAC (National Audio Company) in Springfield, MO, is selling new Ferrite and Cobalt tapes in 60-minute lengths. Serviceable now, the early ones were not good but they have improved their coating process a bit. The new Cobalt ones are $42.70 for a 10-pack. These tapes are not as good as 90s TDK or Maxell but if used with Dolby or other noise reduction technology, can give decent results. So far, NAC has not cracked the 90 minute lengths, RTM Fox cassettes are available now but a bit pricey. I have only used the 60-minute ones, and I think the quality is better than NAC.

 

[Philbo King]

Growing up in the 80's my HiFi buddy and I would trek down to Tower Records in Honolulu (a one hour bus ride each direction by the way) and spend at least a couple of hours selecting LP's. Then back home we would dub the other's LP onto tape and therefore both obtain more material. It was a ritual. Clean the virgin LP (Disc Washer brush!), clean and demagnetize the heads (every single time!) "pack" the tape by fast forwarding the entire side, then rewinding so the deck sets the tension and removes slack, then finding the highest peak level on the LP to use to set recording levels.

Seems absurd now but back then it was a commitment to doing something right, enjoying the music was almost secondary. We were into the gear and the process and striving to produce recordings that sounded very good on our modest, teenager budget systems.

My buddies allowance was bigger than mine so he could afford to use TDK MA Metal tape while I had to settle with SA Chrome!
Even then we were audio snobs and never deigned to play these precious dubs on lowly boom boxes or car stereos. We made additional dubs using Normal or Chrome tape for those plebeian applications. I one upped him on the gear front though by having a 3 Head deck with adjustable bias (TEAC V-2RX). He had a base model 2 head deck.
We both dreamed of one day owning some model of Nakamichi.

Frankly I see cassette tape coming back today purely as a marketing gimmick. Something to differentiate oneself on the shelf.

I still have a 3-head cassette deck (Teac C3) from the 70s. Rack mount, built like a tank, still working perfectly. The only service it has needed was a new belt for the tape counter in the 90s. It doesn't get much action these days, but still does ballast duty in my rack to keep it from tipping easily.
Too lazy to take a photo, but looks like this:

TEAC C-3 Cassette Deck

TEAC,C-3 Cassette Deck,3 Heads,Dolby-B NR,Full Logic Control,Metal Tape,Single Capstan,Stereo,Analog Meters

www.cassettedeck.org

 

[mhardy6647]

Using Daphile Paylist, Play from RAM, Rpi+Pirate Audio+Picoreplayer, JVC CD-1636C and TDK SA.
Lots of fun and the result is totally analog, with the punchy compressed bass and high frequency rolloff.


View attachment 301511

That's a nice JVC portable recorder
That one would have JVC's "ANRS" NR system -- the story goes that JVC was loath to pay the license fees for Dolby NR and so just rolled their own: ANRS and Super-ANRS. Eventually, though, if memory serves, the capitulated and went Dolby like everyone else.

I had a couple of that deck's Sony cousins, which were also pretty respectable portables.

(can't easily find a photo of the other one, which was a slightly earlier model)
Gave 'em both away, long ago...

 

[mhardy6647]

Heh... for completeness (and reflecting my occasional bent towards obsessiveness), here's the other Sony I had. This is a TC-153SD. The one pictured in the previous post is a TC-158.

 

[Michel Forbes]

Interesting, can you elaborate further? Is the digital audio going through a constantly recording tape head or something, like those tape to CD adapters for cars in the 90s?

Daphile is the music server running on Linux on SBC computer ( Single Board Computer)
LMS Logitech Media Server is the player
The Rpi + DAC ( Pirate Audio) is the analog output (2V) and feed the JVC Tape Input
I make sure that the modulation don't go over OVU ( Peak at + 1.5 max)
Using old TDK SA Tape bought in the 1980, this tape respond very well when the modulation is high.

Using Play from RAM ( The playlist is converted to WAV and stored in the RAM) added an extra quality on the playback, subtle but noticaeble.
I could have used an external DAC or the LINE OUT of the motherboard running Daphile and get better results.
My CD are ripped into the server but a playlist from Qobuz or Tidal could do the same job.

 

[Michel Forbes]

I bought this one in 1979, I used it up to the 2003.
The Superscope CD-330
3 Heads
Running on Batteries
Built-in amplifier with Speaker Output
Use it to record music, shows, playback music between and after set and bring the unit in the hotel room to relax

 

[Joe Smith]

Heh... for completeness (and reflecting my occasional bent towards obsessiveness), here's the other Sony I had. This is a TC-153SD. The one pictured in the previous post is a TC-158.
View attachment 301533

This is the deck I had all through college days. Loved it! Very satisfying ka-thunk controls. Mine eventually gave up the ghost. Many fond memories.

 

[srrxr71]

I think "Type 0" tapes are more harder then the Metal tapes

Could you please explain what made these “hard” on playback heads?

 

[srrxr71]

Where are they getting blank cassettes?

The only place I know to get blank cassettes are the reel-to-reel tape makers, like RTM and ATR

Would not surprise that some Chinese factory is making them again. It also explains the quality of these new tapes.

 

[srrxr71]

Sad, but it is what it is.
Get the digital format and record it over the tape, using Dolby B,C or S. This is what piracy is for.

The tape’s probably not worth it. Better to get some old TDK SA or MA and put the stickers and artwork on those. Then use the case.

 

[mhardy6647]

Could you please explain what made these “hard” on playback heads?

Actually as I remember it from the 1970s, the type II (so-called "chrome" tapes, although most formulations ended up using cobalt compounds rather than chromium dioxide) were reputed to be more abrasive than type I (ferric) tapes. Over the years, tape formulations were improved in terms of the size, shape, and uniformity of particles and their coating onto the tape, and by the time of TDK SA and Maxell UD-XLII, I even the oxide side of the tape was amazingly smooth upon (visual) inspection.