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Dutch inventor of the audio cassette tape dies aged 94
DutchNews.dl ^

Posted on 03/10/2021 7:29:37 PM PST by Lurkina.n.Learnin

Lou Ottens, inventor of the cassette tape and a CD pioneer died aged 94 at his home in Duizel in Brabant on Saturday, Dutch media report.

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

(Excerpt) Read more at dutchnews.nl ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; History
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin

My first Manufacturing Management Job was working for TDK Electronics in Irvine California. We manufactured up to 7 million blank Cassettes per month. I got an all expenses paid 10 day trip to Japan out of it. I left in 93 right about when recordable CDR’s started getting traction. Five years or so later that Plant was no more along with our 3.5” Floppy Disc Plant which was just down the street.


81 posted on 03/11/2021 2:30:33 AM PST by DAC21
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To: libh8er

“When I discovered CD’s, audio tapes got the boot. Then I discovered SACD and DVD-A and CD’s got the boot. Then came Blu-Ray Audio (BD-A) but I didn’t quite give SACD and DVD-A the boot. BD-A, SACD and DVD-A stay alongside in my music collection. I have no use for CD’s, audio cassettes or vinyl. But that’s just me”

Some of those DVD-A’s go for good money, well into the 100’s especially if in sealed Mint condition. I have about 25 and a few more SACD’s. 5.1 mixes of some of the Classic Rock LP’s are pretty cool.


82 posted on 03/11/2021 2:46:20 AM PST by DAC21
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
Ottens might have developed the small-format cassette (1/8" tape), but he took the idea from RCA who was there before them. RCA had a 1/4" tape cartridge on the market several years before the cassette in 1958. The cartridges and the machines that played them were expensive which limited their market, and they were obviously not suitable for portable or automotive applications.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_tape_cartridge


83 posted on 03/11/2021 3:08:09 AM PST by Fresh Wind (Joe Biden: The best president Chinese money can buy.)
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To: Larry Lucido

84 posted on 03/11/2021 3:18:05 AM PST by GreenLanternCorps (Hi! I'm the Dread Pirate Roberts! (TM) Atsk about franchise opportunities in your area.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

A few years ago I brought back from my mom’s house my Panasonic stereo with Thrusters speakers.
It has a built in 8track.
The 8track no longer works, but the radio still does.
It now sits on the bench in my garage with the speakers mounted on the walls.


85 posted on 03/11/2021 3:36:19 AM PST by woodbutcher1963
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To: Slyfox

One of the basic tenants of socialism is to keep information from the people. It can only “work” if the population doesn’t know what is going on. Therefore the cancelling of Trump by our ruling cabal.


86 posted on 03/11/2021 3:53:09 AM PST by Western Phil
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
I suffered through the awful 8 track days until cassettes came around. The sound quality was much better and they were so much easier to store. Before I knew it I had several crates of cassettes for all of my music. Then came CDs which was a much better product and the process repeated itself- I had many crates of CDs.

Now with many of the unlimited streaming services, I will never need to buy another CD, cassette or vinyl LP again. The sound is better and the speakers are better. Damn near every album I ever wanted is now on my phone or computer

87 posted on 03/11/2021 4:00:03 AM PST by Sir_Humphrey ( I wiIl not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own!)
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To: Gay State Conservative
I’ll take a CD over vinyl,tape or digital.

btw, CD is 16-bit digital

In sound quality - best to worse...

Studio master tape
24-bit digital file
Vinyl
CD
MP3 (8-bit)

I've heard studio master tape of Sinatra & Doobies - unbelievably lifelike and light years better than #2

I also have an acetate cut directly from the master tape using a $30k 300B vacuum tube amplifier - easily the version of vinyl I've ever heard.

Today's true, 24-bit/192/384khz digital files gets REALLY close to the studio master tape

88 posted on 03/11/2021 4:24:42 AM PST by newfreep (“Leftism, under all of its brand names, is a severe, violent & evil mental disorder.”)
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To: NWFree

I still use cassette tapes on road trips, most of the music I recorded was in the 70s and 80s,those tapes are 40 years old and work fine, my old jeep does not have CD and in the wide open spaces Pandora does not always work.


89 posted on 03/11/2021 4:36:52 AM PST by Jolla
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
Songs remastered to MP3 had blissful silence...

FYI...
CD is 16-bit
MP3 is 8-bit with information/detail chopped off vs CD

When albums are mastered/remastered and "noise reduction" is used, information/detail is ALWAYS chopped off.

When The Beatles catalogue was remastered by Giles Martin, "noise reduction processing" was used on only 5% ...and certainly one reason why the project received applause for the sound quality enhancement vs the original.

More recently, Giles' re-mixing/re-mastering of Pepper, White, AbbeyRoad in 24-bit/96Khz digital downloads sound even more amazing - esp when played thru a quality "computer transport" and DAC.

90 posted on 03/11/2021 4:37:03 AM PST by newfreep (“Leftism, under all of its brand names, is a severe, violent & evil mental disorder.”)
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin

Decades ago, I bought a back-to-back cassette (dual) tape deck to do some recording. I had an extensive album collection I wanted to record to cassettes. Never did much with the deck. Now, pretty much most of my music is on a micro-sd the size of my thumbnail. Can’t wait to get Bill Gates chip implanted in my head so I can move all of my music to the chip.


91 posted on 03/11/2021 5:36:51 AM PST by moovova (Yo GOP....we won't forget.)
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To: moovova
Can’t wait to get Bill Gates chip implanted in my head so I can move all of my music to the chip.

You won't be happy with the new Blue Screen of Death when it happens in your head.

92 posted on 03/11/2021 5:40:25 AM PST by Fresh Wind (Joe Biden: The best president Chinese money can buy.)
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To: Western Phil

Ya know, the 1980s had the cassette and we have email.


93 posted on 03/11/2021 6:59:21 AM PST by Slyfox (Not my circus, not my monkeys )
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin

Better to call it the tape audio cassette - magnetic tape for sound recording as such was invented in 1928 by one Fritz Pfleumer.


94 posted on 03/11/2021 8:56:57 AM PST by Moltke (Reasoning with a liberal is like watering a rock in the hope to grow a building.)
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To: mylife
Compared to CD .wav files, I can hear the difference in dynamic range and especially in the very high frequencies like the sizzle of a hi-hat. Still, I have library of mp3 music on my computer which I download to thumb drives for in car listening.

Try listening to Dire Straights "So Far Away From Me" on the Brothers in Arms CD. Then copy it as an mp3 - the difference is striking. Brothers in Arms was one of the first to be recorded in direct digital aimed at a CD release.

The best sound is remastered albums of your favorite music on CD's. Some just clean up the sound, while some change the sound level of certain instruments. I have many cd's of the Stones and the best is the Grrr remaster. It's double CD's has most every hit and is amazing in a good sound system or headphones. There are many remastered CD's.

95 posted on 03/11/2021 9:47:40 AM PST by A Navy Vet (Dems no longer patriots, no longer liberals, no longer socialists. Dems=communists.)
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To: DoodleBob
"Nothing beat the TDK-SA90."

That's what I used. Also cassette was a huge improvement over the noise and weak dynamic range of 8-track. Yes, they could jam in a cheap player, but if patient, usually you could get the tape out of the mechanism and just finger rewind.

CD's are the ticket with their .wav files, which recording studios still use along with AIFF. Both are lossless files unlike mp3 that compresses the original recording. Most people can't tell the difference between a .wav file and an mp3 file because they use small playback mechanisms that only play mp3. I can still hear the difference. That's why I still go to my CD's for serious listening in my cave. Plus, I have an amazing surround system with tower Definitive and Mirage speakers.

Yeah, I'm all that and a bag of chips :)

96 posted on 03/11/2021 10:11:27 AM PST by A Navy Vet (Dems no longer patriots, no longer liberals, no longer socialists. Dems=communists.)
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To: Signalman
"George Harrison said that his music sounded better on vinyl records than on digital media."

He's wrong. Unless you have new vinyl record with a top line turntable and pickup, maybe. However vinyl was prone to clicks and pops over just a few plays. CD's don't do that. I have CD's from the first days back in the 1980's and still sound like new. Of course, the sound of any recording depends on the studio engineer and his final mix. Some great - some not so.

As I said above, remastered albums on CD is the best sound you can get.

97 posted on 03/11/2021 10:25:13 AM PST by A Navy Vet (Dems no longer patriots, no longer liberals, no longer socialists. Dems=communists.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
"I HATED the hiss of tape."

I did also. However, if you had a top line home cassete player, they came with Dolby to reduce hiss. You could eliminate most of the hiss, but it would also cut out some of the higher frequencies.

That's why CD was a huge innovation. No hiss, huge dynamic range, no tangling, and pretty much lifelong. I still have 80's CD's that sound the same. Just keep them clean and free of scratches. Of course, the studio production values weren't as good as today. Still, listen to the original un-remastered Brothers in Arms of Dire Straits and you'll be surprised.

98 posted on 03/11/2021 10:37:14 AM PST by A Navy Vet (Dems no longer patriots, no longer liberals, no longer socialists. Dems=communists.)
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To: A Navy Vet

vinyl is still the best.

Neil Young said it best.. “live music is better, bumper stickers should be issued”


99 posted on 03/11/2021 11:24:32 AM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: newfreep

Exactly! MP3 is the lowest of low quality.


100 posted on 03/11/2021 11:30:01 AM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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