Am I the only one still listening to tape?

I love cassettes - I've got a Nak Dragon which needs servicing but they're a great format - I'm with you Tony!

Hi Tony.

Recently got my old 80s Trio cassette deck up and running . Found some old Bob Harris radio show tapes I made in the 90s which have some fabulous music on. However not played any pre- recorded stuff for a long time. 

Regards Graham.

Yep I still listen to them. Recently purchased a Nak CR7A which had been serviced by ES Labs in Connecticut, sounds wonderful.

Tim

I still think Cassettes give digital more than a run for its money. I have a Dolby S Cassette Deck which still fines very good to me whenever I decide to use it. Problem is that since I stuck all my music on a box from the vortex I tend to use that when not spinning vinyl - so many formats, so little time. 

NAK CR7A ... wow that should sound superb - you are a lucky man. 

In my experience Cassette recordings - if done on a quality machine, using a a quality tape such as the TDK SA 90 without Dolby - give a replay in many cases as fine as CDs themselves ...

Of course the transfer from tape must be done on a machine that has no discernible fluctuation of speed [and therefore pitch], but this was a highly developed analogue system, and generally better than vintage vinyl, if the tape was made from a live broadcast relay.

Nowadays it would be easy to make a direct digital recording, which avoids the need to bias correctly for the tape type concerned ...

I have many tapes, now archived in digital, and these still yield huge pleasure.

But to go through the analogue method was simply a historical necessity, and there are better methods today ...

ATB from George

The development of the high-fidelity cassette deck was quite something, when one considers the humble beginnings of the format.

I'm glad I had the sense to keep my self-recorded cassettes from the mid 70's to the mid 80's. Made on a variety of good quality decks from a Rega 3 or LP12, they still sound astonishingly good.

If you're anything like me Tony, those recordings have a resonance of my youth, and memories of the satisfaction of getting an LP I liked onto tape when I couldn't afford to buy all the albums I wanted on vinyl. Compilation tapes of various artistes and tracks are also treasured - sparking off many a happy memory when listened to.

John.

Hi Tony

I have a Yamaha kx 580 se, it's a cracking little budget deck that still gives great performances when recording from fm, I also have a couple of hundred prerecorded cassettes that sadly don't get played often enough but when they do, it always surprises me how good it sounds especially rock music and in particular "Van Halen" "Van Halen", Ain't talkin bout love,,thunders through the room like a runaway train. I love the format and have always hankered for a big nak but cannot afford one.

Regards

Donald

My Sony gave up the ghost recently but I managed to find an unopened Denon 555 - basic but excellent deck which (partly because it's new) sounds amazing, with my collection of private recordings/studio demos etc from the 70s and 80s.

I'd given away a lot of tapes recorded on an LP12 around 1990 - now wish I hadn't!

It's good to know I'm not alone and not time to retire my humble NK CR3 just yet.

Thank you all.

KR

Tony

I still have tapes of the first LIve Aid Concert, along with three of those boxes which go under the bed full,including recordings of the John Peel sessions.

Tony,

tape gets a regular play here.  I have a few hundred prerecorded 7 1/2ips 4 track stereo reels, which are mostly all from the US.  Many of them sound fantastic.  It's just a great shame that they're much harder to source here in the UK.

Richard, 

Just like running that prized classic car and taking it for a spin  every now and then. You know it costs to maintain it  but the thrill and feel you get from it makes it worth.

Just don't mention breakdowns

KR

Tony

Have any off you noticed a drop in quality on your 30/20 year old cassette tapes??

I cant get  good sounds on the few quality ones i have left.

The 8 track carts still sound good though.

The vhs tapes i recorded music only on have so much fall out they are binned.

Stu.

Stu, some of my late 80s/early 90s tapes still sound good, if memory serves. Haven't listened to the Nak in about a year as the belts have gone and I can't afford to get it serviced by B&W at the mo'! But the 1995 prerecorded EMI XDR tape of "Pulse" always sounded fantastic  on the Dragon. As good as, if not better, than the CD in many ways.

I get the impression many people packed their old tape collections into cardboard boxes or carrier bags and dumped them up in the loft where it can get too hot in the summer, or worse in the garage or garden shed where it's far too cold and damp for most of the year, and far too hot in the summer... so the tapes deteriorates rapidly.

Fortunately, my tape collection, which spans from the late 70’s to early 90’s, has always remained on a shelf somewhere in a warm and cosy home environment.

Most of the music i have on them is also on my cd or vinyl collection, but by far not all.

Occasionally some old tapes get played out of a sense of purvy nostalgia, often to reflect upon the taste of music I liked when younger but wouldn’t want to replace them with cd or vinyl.

Just played my old 'ELO - New World Record'  on TDK SA90 which gives over to 'the sound' of my first LP12 (with Ittok + K9) into Nakamichi ‘cassette deck one’, and it sounds really fantastic, ...if one ignores the hiss, rumbles and crackle  : )

Debs

Stu,

storage conditions are critical for tape.  Some of the most advanced tapes are the most finicky here.  For example many of the super-duper reel formulations from the '70s and '80s have binder issues and can shed, break or worst of all, both shed and go gooey - these can clog up the gaps in heads and ruin them.  The premium formulations of Ampex reel tape are notoriously bad here - and a huge shame that so many great recordings from the '70s and '80s used just this tape.  It could explain why going back to the original tapes for a remaster isn't quite the panacea it seems.  Careful restoration is usually required but once information is lost, it's gone forever.  There are one or two formulations that would lose a bit of top end after a few plays - to compensate, engineers would go a bit hotter in the treble - which hardly bodes well for long term prospects.  Ironically, one of the most reliable and stable tapes for long term use is also an Ampex, the cooking variety they used (thankfully) for pre-recorded duplication.

Of cassettes, I have had some issues with some of my early '80s Maxell MXs where the tape has broken during a wind through - weird because all the UDs, XL1s, XL2s etc.. are fine.  Memorex tapes are perhaps the least stable for long term storage, but I've also had some issues with TDK SAs from the late '80s and early '90s.

I did try a couple of cassettes in our "new" car, with pretty bad results, I suspect it may be the car unit. Perhaps I'll get the old Denon CP out and see if any of my cassettes have survived.

Only a few home made ones in the van.

This reminds me though, I bought some Hawkwind stuff on cassette in the charity shop a few weeks past,must give them a whirl. Got a couple of cheapo players knocking about.

The best tape deck I ever owned was a Sony DAT. I used it mostly to record BBC live concerts from a properly set up Marantz receiver. The sound reproduction was astounding. I would guess that the dynamic range is far superior to that of CDs. It got put to one side because I moved several times but I guess it's still up in the attic. So finding it is my job for this weekend. How am I going to plug it into a Uniti?