[fidelis]

First vinyl records, and now cassette tapes are making a comeback. What in the name of TDK is going on here?? Next thing you know, people will have dang 8-tracks in their cars again.

[fidelis]

Oops, sorry: the writers of this article should read “ Ryan Dezember and Anne Steele,” not yours truly.

[SamAdams76]

I have cardboard boxes full of cassette tapes in my basement. I keep saying I’m going to get around to digitalizing them, but I never get around to digitalizing them.

[Dr. Pritchett]

I was just cleaning out my office and I’m at that crossroads of just throwing out hundreds of music CDs. So hard to do...

[Disambiguator]

First vinyl records, and now cassette tapes are making a comeback. What in the name of TDK is going on here?? Next thing you know, people will have dang 8-tracks in their cars again.

TDK?

[Snickering Hound]

https://youtu.be/Uk_vV-JRZ6E
Kids react to a Walkman.

[TomServo]

Gimme a good ol’ reel-to-reel anyday.

[TomServo]

Gimme a good ol’ reel-to-reel anyday.

[PCPOET7]

his is just a guess of mine

older music from before the 70 were recorded in analog form. when you convert to the digital format flaws in the recording become obvious when converted to digital.
so the best quality or this music is analog

[Sam_Damon]

Here’s one of the biggest problems with tape (besides everything else): it deteriorates over time.

Over time, magnetic tape’s base loses the plasticizers that hold the oxide combination to the tape. When you run that old tape past the heads, some of the oxide comes off. Worse, because the plasticizers go, the tape itself becomes more brittle, and tends to break much much easier. At some point, it becomes extremely difficult to pull the recorded material from the tape, whether it goes through your speakers, or onto a computer to digitize it.

So here’s free advise. Store tapes “tails out.” By that, I mean you store them so have to rewind them before you play them. (With cassettes, fast forward & immediately rewind before you play them.) It’s the exact opposite of the philosophy of the video store, “Be kind, please rewind.”

The idea behind this addresses two different issues. First, by rewinding the tape before playing it, any oxide that’s going to come loose will come loose before you try to play the recording. Second, rewinding the tape tensions the tape itself to the individual tape machine’s mechanism, minimizing the chance the tape will break as you play it.

One last thing. Never ever “scroll” an old tape. Use only the “Fast Forward” or “Rewind” on the machine. “Scrolling” runs the tape in continuous contact with the heads, greatly increasing the wear on the tape, and greatly raising the possibility of the tape breaking in the machine.

It’s my understanding video archivists want to use Blu-Ray for long-term physical copies, as hard drives end up with unavailable interfaces and bearings that seize.

[Charles Martel]

Here's a bit of classic 1970s advertising:

It was used for years in magazine ads, printed in poster size formats and people displayed it like art. It was an iconic image back then - and still is.

I'll admit - I'm a bit pleased that vinyl has made a comeback and I think that cassettes still have a place in the equipment rack. As for the forces driving the lingering interest, I think certain facets of pop culture keep it alive. Movie franchises such as the Guardians of the Galaxy films are offering up soundtracks that are like '70s music primers for Millennials.

[cableguymn]

again? I never removed mine.

[Sam_Damon]

One other thing I forgot to mention.

All that hoarded tape from 15 years ago? It deteriorates also. It really won’t hold up that well today. You also gotta wonder about the machines, and where to find heads for them when they wear out. And I haven’t even started on replacement parts for things like capstans and rollers.

Once upon a time I could tell who made tape by the smell of the plasticizers in it. Cheaper Korean brands usually had an odor that came pretty close to cat urine scent.

[LegendHasIt]

I have noticed a similar shortage of buggy whips .

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

I have boxes of old cassette tapes from the 70’s and 80’s that still play just fine (at least the ones I recorded myself on high quality tapes do. The factory recorded tapes are mostly squeal machines now). So they do last a long time. I have converted them to digital files now. Biggest problem is the glue on the leaders has dried out and the leader separates from the tape when you hit the end. I had to buy splicing tape on the internet to fix them. Also the glue on the little sponges is dried out and I had to reglue a bunch of them.

[Seruzawa]

Whoa there! Even antifa isn’t dumb enough to go back to 8tracks.

[ADemocratNoMore]

I have managed to accumulate hundreds of real to real and cassette tapes over the decades in every flavor from 2400’ Olson $1.00 el cheapo reels to Maxell UD-XL mastering tape on 10” reels. Most are somewhere around 35 years old, some are older. I’ve had little to no problem playing them back, although the last time I did so was a few years ago.

There is a BIG problem with the old hardware, however, and its not the heads. Three of my reel to real decks have become unusable due to the lubricants turning into glue over the course of decades. Short of a complete teardown and rebuild the only solution is, if you have a deck that is working mechanically, let it run for a few minutes every week, it might prolong its usable life.

The second worst failure issue is rubber literately rotting over time and either disintegrating or turning into goo. Foam rot is also a common problem with old speakers but at least with those the fix is relatively easy.

One last thought about old tape. Our classical music station WCLV, the home of the Cleveland Orchestra has been replaying tapes from George Szell’s private archive, some of which date to the late 1940’s. With the exception of somewhat limited dynamics they sound like they could have been recorded last week. Not bad at all for nearly 70 year old tape !

[Davy Crocket]

well Amazon has tons of the cassette tapes.. TDK Maxell, sony..

[glorgau]

Analog is king, digital is for people that can’t handle reality!

[ExGeeEye]

It’s been a while since I found the ad for new-manufacture “his master’s voice” style crank-wound phonographs, but...I do know where I can find new steel styli in case I want to fire up my 109-year-old cabinet “Pathephone” (convertible for use on RCA-style records or, with the sapphire ball stylus, the Pathe “hill-and-dale” records).

[DAC21]

Was a manger at a TDK plant in Irvine CA. from 1986 to 1993. During peak demand we made as many as 7.5 million cassette tapes a month. Ahhh the good old days...good paying Manufacturing jobs in California.