IEC IV / TYPE IV METAL BIAS 70us EQ

I ditched the last of mine about a year ago, no regrets really as I'd stopped using them when my last car with a cassette player went. I don't feel any attachment to the physical items - the stuff I still want, I just buy on CD, usually used for a couple of quid, then I rip it and shove it in the loft. 

I never liked them, they were even more irritating to store than CDs and I never really liked the sound compared to other mediums.  Having said that I have always lusted after a Nakamichi Dragon and I'm glad my amp doesn't have a tape out because I could well scratch that itch for a lot less money than they once cost. 

My 682ZX has gone for a service. I must be the only one who still gets a kick from playing (with) them.

Cassette tape is fun. There is skill in getting a tape tuned in and a recording just right. And making just the right mix tape for a special person was a task to relish - a true labour of love that's just not the same in this digital age.  Even the inserts and labelling was  a chance to show of your artistic skills.  I still have a number of mix tapes from school, Uni, received from old girlfriends of my youth that are just so good and obviously curated and pieced together with great thought and perhaps a fair bit of love too.  

Those were the days, Richard. 

Aye, nostalgia's not what it used to be. 

My father-in-law's tape deck died recently. I remembered that about 14 years ago I put my old twin Technics tape deck in the shed. I pulled it out to give  him if it still worked and after a few days 'resting' in the house I found a bunch of my old tapes (about 50). I switched it on and it lurched to life (wow), then I played a tape and it worked (wow!), then I played the 2nd drive and that worked (wow!!). Then it coughed and spluttered a bit with a couple of tapes but overall it just works and sounds OK (WOW!).

And playing my old tapes is a blast!

Frank.

I still love recording on cassette and recordings can be almost identical to the source if you are using a good 3 head machine.As Richard says mix tapes are great fun doing.Although it can drive you mad getting the right tracks on and running order.I often think I have done a perfect compilation mix tape then a couple of months later I realize it wasn't as great.Dont like streaming give me vinyl and f.m and a cassette deck and I am happy.

Some (very) vintage blanks:

A Mix (of) Tape:

kev,

Seeing the TDK D C 60 box in your pics has got me seriously nostalgic.When I was 12 I used to tape albums from my Dads JVC tape Deck and always remember going on a family holiday with a little ITT mono player I think it was 1 watt !

Anyway I had a box of 10 TDK D s  of Zeppelin and Genesis albums.Seeing that box made me smile......the rose tinted glasses are definitely on ! 1978...... good holiday and music.Loving your new Goldfrapp avatar.Funny I was watching her do Train at Glastonbury 2014 the other night on YouTube .You have probably seen it but if you haven't its brilliant.Well worth checking out.God can Alison sing...wow what a voice and lovely face.

Hope all is well with you.Cheers Ian

I named one of my mixtapes 'Souled Out' (Maxell XL II circa 1982)

c'mon time to admit yours 

Tabby cat posted:

kev,

Seeing the TDK D C 60 box in your pics has got me seriously nostalgic.When I was 12 I used to tape albums from my Dads JVC tape Deck and always remember going on a family holiday with a little ITT mono player I think it was 1 watt !

Anyway I had a box of 10 TDK D s  of Zeppelin and Genesis albums.Seeing that box made me smile......the rose tinted glasses are definitely on ! 1978...... good holiday and music.Loving your new Goldfrapp avatar.Funny I was watching her do Train at Glastonbury 2014 the other night on YouTube .You have probably seen it but if you haven't its brilliant.Well worth checking out.God can Alison sing...wow what a voice and lovely face.

Hope all is well with you.Cheers Ian

 

All good - I think - with me thanks Ian.

Yep, love that Frapp clip. Amazingly, she was 48 when that was recorded. You should google "Goldfrapp 2014 Albert Hall" - that was a stunning gig. I've seen the 'Frapp 26 times and that was the best one ever.

A highlight was when John Grant came on and they did "Some Velvet Morning":

My mum used to work for ITT back in the 70s and I had a little mono cassette recorder as well! I then graduated to a Hitachi boombox in '79 - I used to tape heaps of stuff from john Peel. Great days. I have several hundred cassettes, maybe more.

Sounds of the Seventies:

Here's my Nak Dragon, which still gets a fair bit of use (once a week maybe?), mostly for playback, though I still like to record for fun. Only last week, a musician friend wanted a Bobbie Gentry compilation, but didn't want a CD or a USB stick so I recorded some tracks from vinyl onto a TDK SA90... 

Sorry i ditched most of my tapes,but recently had my tandberg tcd-340 revived. Foolish as all i can do is play back on my system(yes i can record also if i run more wires) but since no off-site place to play them,why bother. I still remember buying the deck (2nd hand but almost new) at stereo exchange. Still have pride in ownership- beautiful to look at and operate. One of my "dream systems" from the past- by looks only would surely be tandberg based. Also the tandberg had both headphone socket and l/r mic inputs.

More of the Dragon:

Tony2011 posted:

My 682ZX has gone for a service. I must be the only one who still gets a kick from playing (with) them.

Nah I love cassette decks Tony. Still get a kick out of mine. The 682ZX was a good machine IIRC - wasn't it a rack-mount jobbie?

Kevin-W posted:

Tony2011 posted:

My 682ZX has gone for a service. I must be the only one who still gets a kick from playing (with) them.

Nah I love cassette decks Tony. Still get a kick out of mine. The 682ZX was a good machine IIRC - wasn't it a rack-mount jobbie?

Yes, Kev. It does have the rack mount but I have kept them before sending it off to B&W for the full service  and asked them to fit the side plates to it. It looks much nicer. Average waiting time is 10 weeks. Looking forward to getting it back. I will never complain about Naim's service waiting times. 

A few memories in the photos back there, especially the memorex tapes - I loved the cases although the tape itself was rubbish. I always used TDK after a few bad purchases, including EMI, BASF and aforementioned memorex. I'm in between house moves at the moment so all my cassettes are packed away, along with my vinyl and minidiscs. Much to my wife's displeasure I never throw anything out. I'm looking forward to getting to know them all over again when we find a place.

Yes Redmires, those Memorexes were very cool, although the quality was utter shite. The coolest tape has to be TDK MA-R, with a metal shell. They go for a fortune now... £70 for a sealed one on a well-known auction site

kev

Thanks for the YouTube link myself watched it.Really beautiful cover and not as fast as the original Primal Scream Kate Moss video more tension and air.Still like the Scream video any video with Kate Moss in it is good in my eyes  !

I have probably 1000 tapes indoors and still tape regularly off Radio 3 and the Blues programme on radio 2 on Monday night.Also taking my Sony Walkman Pro on train journeys......I pods what are they !  Loved taping Andy Kershaw back in the day and Kiss f.m with Colin Dale.

Great having a small enclave of cassette users on the forum.

Streaming is souless and sterile just my opinion but give me something to hold and look at on the shelf's.All this I ve got 4000 albums on  a 2 T.B server is for people who don't want clutter.

AndyL posted:

I named one of my mixtapes 'Souled Out' (Maxell XL II circa 1982)

c'mon time to admit yours 

 

Excellent. One of my favourites; "Mixie Rabbit" - thanks Amanda..

Richard Dane posted:

AndyL posted:

I named one of my mixtapes 'Souled Out' (Maxell XL II circa 1982)

c'mon time to admit yours 

 

Excellent. One of my favourites; "Mixie Rabbit" - thanks Amanda..

I made one for a former girlfriend (another Amanda) - "Planet of the Tapes".... and its follow-up, "Return to the Planet of the Tapes".

Also the "Mighty Reel" series and "Hubs and Hisses".

And of course there was the legendary "Bella's Generic 1987 Mixtape Vol. 23,653".

OOohhh!! What nice times. I remember spending a lot of money on TDK metal type cassettes! Their sound was not so bad (comparing from other sources that I had arround in my school days) ;-)

Snif...snif... :-(

...Javi