Anyone who still owns and plays an 8 track player gets Snood's vote!!!

[jimfisheye]

Metal formula cassettes with a decent 3 head deck worked really well. A vinyl rip to cassette on a high end system rivaled the DACs in the early generation CD players. Chrome cassettes were the 'cheap' versions most people used. Those weren't so great. The 'normal' type-1 were for voice dictation. I had friends that recorded onto those with their boombox. Sounded pretty altering.

Around 2000 - a good decade after the fact - I noticed affectionados on Ebay paying absurd prices for new old stock. Made quite a lot of money on the last case of Maxel MX-S I had stored in a closet! I'd gone digital and never looked back.

In the US, prerecorded cassettes were the epitome of cheapness. Not just poor quality tape and high speed dubbing. Sometimes they would even fade out a song on the longer side and fade it back in on the opposite side - omitting the faded out and faded in sections. Just so they didn't waste any extra tape with a blank section at the end of a side. THAT kind of cheapness. I think it was a different animal in the UK and some other places. The cassette was still the high end on this playing field though. The 8-track was the gas station copy and pure lo-fi. The quad versions being quite an outlier and often highly damaged from the lo-fi production. I don't think I even knew about the quad formats back then. Mom had an 8-track player. That was the "mom stereo" choice.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

And AFAIK no Dolby b noise reduction [hissssssssssy]

Well a lot of the newer novelty cassette players don't have a Dolby switch, so that's probably the reason why!

 

[4-earredwonder]

Well a lot of the newer novelty cassette players don't have a Dolby switch, so that's probably the reason why!

And 'novelty' is the operative word as most of these cassettes are priced at $16 and above and for that price one can buy a Dutton Vocalion QUAD SACD two~fer!

Oh, well!

 

[esimms86]

Metal formula cassettes with a decent 3 head deck worked really well. A vinyl rip to cassette on a high end system rivaled the DACs in the early generation CD players. Chrome cassettes were the 'cheap' versions most people used. Those weren't so great. The 'normal' type-1 were for voice dictation. I had friends that recorded onto those with their boombox. Sounded pretty altering.

Around 2000 - a good decade after the fact - I noticed affectionados on Ebay paying absurd prices for new old stock. Made quite a lot of money on the last case of Maxel MX-S I had stored in a closet! I'd gone digital and never looked back.

In the US, prerecorded cassettes were the epitome of cheapness. Not just poor quality tape and high speed dubbing. Sometimes they would even fade out a song on the longer side and fade it back in on the opposite side - omitting the faded out and faded in sections. Just so they didn't waste any extra tape with a blank section at the end of a side. THAT kind of cheapness. I think it was a different animal in the UK and some other places. The cassette was still the high end on this playing field though. The 8-track was the gas station copy and pure lo-fi. The quad versions being quite an outlier and often highly damaged from the lo-fi production. I don't think I even knew about the quad formats back then. Mom had an 8-track player. That was the "mom stereo" choice.

The resurgence of the cassette tape is all about the love of music in lo res.

Interestingly, in places like Russia and the African continent the cassette has long been the underground route to disseminating music that would otherwise be near impossible to find in said areas.

 

[jimfisheye]

How about the Russian recycled x-ray films used to press "vinyl" bootleg copies of western music? There was actually a reference to that in For All Mankind too.

I don't think there's any love of lo-fi or chasing after that. A lot comes across in the midrange band - as it should! People are simply doing the best they can. You're 100% right though that it's really about the music in these examples!

There's a madness that comes with making copies! Creation is easy. If it sounds right, it is right. As soon as we try to make a copy though... Does it sound the same? Does it sound exactly the same?! I think I heard something sounding not quite the same! Aw shit...

 

[esimms86]

How about the Russian recycled x-ray films used to press "vinyl" bootleg copies of western music? There was actually a reference to that in For All Mankind too.

I don't think there's any love of lo-fi or chasing after that. A lot comes across in the midrange band - as it should! People are simply doing the best they can. You're 100% right though that it's really about the music in these examples!

There's a madness that comes with making copies! Creation is easy. If it sounds right, it is right. As soon as we try to make a copy though... Does it sound the same? Does it sound exactly the same?! I think I heard something sounding not quite the same! Aw shit...

Is it live or is it Memorex? Watch as Ella Fitzgerald shatters the glass with her voice.

 

[4-earredwonder]

The resurgence of the cassette tape is all about the love of music in lo res.

Interestingly, in places like Russia and the African continent the cassette has long been the underground route to disseminating music that would otherwise be near impossible to find in said areas.

IMO, there's absolutely NOTHING sexy about lo fi music. And the same applies to 480p DVD Video with DD 5.1 soundtracks ..... and if you check Deep Discount, current DVDs are priced on par with blu ray and sometimes even 4K discs with LOSSLESS Dolby Atmos soundtracks!

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

IMO, there's absolutely NOTHING sexy about lo fi music. And the same applies to 480p DVD Video with DD 5.1 soundtracks ..... and if you check Deep Discount, current DVDs are priced on par with blu ray and sometimes even 4K discs with LOSSLESS Dolby Atmos soundtracks!

DVD? Okay, bro is living in the future.

I don't blame you if you don't believe me when I say VHS is all the rage.

 

[4-earredwonder]

BETAMAX, Baby!

DVD? Okay, bro is living in the future.

I don't blame you if you don't believe me when I say VHS is all the rage.

 

[esimms86]

IMO, there's absolutely NOTHING sexy about lo fi music. And the same applies to 480p DVD Video with DD 5.1 soundtracks ..... and if you check Deep Discount, current DVDs are priced on par with blu ray and sometimes even 4K discs with LOSSLESS Dolby Atmos soundtracks!

Face it Ralphie, you’ve never been a “retro” kind of guy when it comes to tech.

 

[par4ken]

I think that there is a bit of a cult surrounding 8 tracks. If there was not you couldn't find pads, rollers and spicing tape for sale. Most of those cultists would be into stereo 8 tracks which are more reliable than our beloved quads. The quad tapes require double the amount of tape and are more prone to jamming and tension issues.

I still use 8 tracks (Q8's) to make digital copies of titles not available in other formats. I would never use them on a regular basis for reliability and fidelity reasons.

I remember back in the day a lot of people thought that 8 tracks produced great sound. I guess compared to a scratched record played with a worn ceramic cartridge, or maybe AM radio. Actually tape running at 3 3/4 incher per second could produce great sound, theoretically better than cassette. Those gold cased Canadian United Artists Q8s actually sound very good!

As for DVD no problem there, with upscaling they still look very good, although I never understood the popularity of VHS. I guess the marginal quality was good enough for display on those old TV sets.

 

[Bill B]

I think that there is a bit of a cult surrounding 8 tracks. If there was not you couldn't find pads, rollers and spicing tape for sale. Most of those cultists would be into stereo 8 tracks which are more reliable than our beloved quads. The quad tapes require double the amount of tape and are more prone to jamming and tension issues.

I still use 8 tracks (Q8's) to make digital copies of titles not available in other formats. I would never use them on a regular basis for reliability and fidelity reasons.

I remember back in the day a lot of people thought that 8 tracks produced great sound. I guess compared to a scratched record played with a worn ceramic cartridge, or maybe AM radio. Actually tape running at 3 3/4 incher per second could produce great sound, theoretically better than cassette. Those gold cased Canadian United Artists Q8s actually sound very good!

As for DVD no problem there, with upscaling they still look very good, although I never understood the popularity of VHS. I guess the marginal quality was good enough for display on those old TV sets.

If you wanted affordable movies for home viewing and to be able to record TV programs, was there any other option? What more is there to understand?

 

[par4ken]

If you wanted affordable movies for home viewing and to be able to record TV programs, was there any other option? What more is there to understand?

Satellite television! Large dish and free movies! Damn I miss that!

I used a Beta HiFi VCR for recording for years. Marginally better than VHS.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Face it Ralphie, you’ve never been a “retro” kind of guy when it comes to tech.

But way back when I always made a point to buy quality like Nakamichi cassette tape decks and utilize all those exotic formulations like metal/chromium dioxide blanks, DBX NR and even switched from VHS HiFi to Beta HiFi for that itty bitty extra 'writing speed' then on to Laserdisc [still have hundreds of discs, mostly Japanese pressings, stashed away] and even had my Theta Laserdisc player upgraded to Dolby Digital for that extra discrete 'thrill' for a pretty penny. And of course, eschewed the common receiver by upgrading to separate components as far back as I can remember!

And when I switched to Perfect Sound Forever with the compact disc I must've switched players like underwear. Almost laughable how many high end hardware manufacturers came up with exotic designs like Krell's MD~1 top loader with their ridiculous [but GORGEOUS] solid plexiglas 'damped' dustcover which was $10K at the time ...... made from a solid block of brushed aluminum! Even had a substantial metal weight on top of the CD to 'keep it flat" [LOL!]

 

[mandrix]

Metal formula cassettes with a decent 3 head deck worked really well. A vinyl rip to cassette on a high end system rivaled the DACs in the early generation CD players. Chrome cassettes were the 'cheap' versions most people used. Those weren't so great. The 'normal' type-1 were for voice dictation. I had friends that recorded onto those with their boombox. Sounded pretty altering.

Around 2000 - a good decade after the fact - I noticed affectionados on Ebay paying absurd prices for new old stock. Made quite a lot of money on the last case of Maxel MX-S I had stored in a closet! I'd gone digital and never looked back.

In the US, prerecorded cassettes were the epitome of cheapness. Not just poor quality tape and high speed dubbing. Sometimes they would even fade out a song on the longer side and fade it back in on the opposite side - omitting the faded out and faded in sections. Just so they didn't waste any extra tape with a blank section at the end of a side. THAT kind of cheapness. I think it was a different animal in the UK and some other places. The cassette was still the high end on this playing field though. The 8-track was the gas station copy and pure lo-fi. The quad versions being quite an outlier and often highly damaged from the lo-fi production. I don't think I even knew about the quad formats back then. Mom had an 8-track player. That was the "mom stereo" choice.

I would not even know about today, other than I have a sealed pack of Maxell tapes...but in the 70's my goto was TDK Super Avilyn. Held up quite well for decades.

 

[ar surround]

I have a sealed pack of Maxell tapes...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2765111704...3+LKw7K8tX+5IisO6cHiPm94s=|tkp:Bk9SR9zp8LGrZA

Gasp!

 

[Bruce00]

I'll admit to being "one of those guys" that never throws anything away.
This talk about 8 tracks reminds me when I threw a box of 8tracks cartridges from the 70's, out. It hurt sooooo bad, especially when a friend bought an old Pontiac Catalina w/ factory 8 track. He was asking everyone if they had any old 8 tracks sitting in the basement.
That solidify my hoarding
Now I force myself to throw 1 thing a day away.
Thanks for the memories, Now back on topic

 

[ar surround]

That solidify my hoarding
Now I force myself to throw 1 thing a day away.

The surefire way of needing something next Tuesday is to have thrown it into the trash last Thursday. 'Tis best to mourn and just get on with it.

 

[Bruce00]

The surefire way of needing something next Tuesday is to have thrown it into the trash last Thursday. 'Tis best to mourn and just get on with it.

Words of Wisdom

 

[jimfisheye]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276511170442?_nkw=maxell+cassette+tapes+sealed&itmmeta=01J5DHW6K4PJ4QX48ADNASFSFM&hash=item4061599f8a:g:5mEAAOSw8yhmBkF~&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAABAHoV3kP08IDx+KZ9MfhVJKkKuCbb/2at9iYD2YdAmuovOktmyz+OTDhZnBIN4ubGBNGuGZL5YkAQ/tp3iT9kpy2e4Zro1g6BSI+JRmmt4LPGRhumATKrpcIdAKkVW4uJ0ESKZmeHOuJ8CBuZQ2MsWJzux8Gs7rMF2OaeYGvnwR3JOY/6/JSRVRaQy1O39LT1VFszKRF12AawYNA3iLtEePIjX0ZvYbd1n9Tm5KiMi2T4Oq85kOdAxKverQvF5iXSAeTRV9vK6S8O9VRiZJEu+COKvZWXCfgEiIapMZpQzVBP/6Q8UGlbgztrwfbgLh3+LKw7K8tX+5IisO6cHiPm94s=|tkp:Bk9SR9zp8LGrZA

Gasp!

Good god...
I remember those! The MX-S tape in a fancy more high falootin shell.
They were sold in the hi-fi stores back in the day for 2x or 3x the price of the MX-S.

I would have thought the aftermarket window was finally closed with this here in the digital age. Guess not!