My son bought a cassette deck!

[Spirit84]

I was a teenager in the 1970's and if you borrowed a friend's album (nobody referred to them as vinyl is those days) and wanted a copy, you recorded the album to a cassette: "Is it Live or is it Memorex" - who can forget that teaser on the TV commercial!
My son is now 30 and he actually bought a used Technics cassette deck! He also wants to record some of his vinyl onto blank tape.
This really took me back to when I was young but what really shocked me is when he showed me newly released pre-recorded cassettes that he bought!!
Billi Eilish, The Weeknd, and others are now being manufactured and are for sale.
I don't know about you but I find that quite incredible. Who knew???

 

[Chrispy]

I find it very strange Even stranger than folk wanting to start over with most vinyl. While I liked making mix tapes back in the day when all you had was such for vinyl for portability....and you could use the tapes in your walkman, your car, give 'em to your friends, etc...got rid of cassettes early on in the digital era as did most. At first I made mixed cds, tho Lots easier ways to go about it now without the relatively poor performance of the older media let alone convenience factors.

No interest in Billie Eilish or The Weeknd myself but if they can make a few bucks selling their stuff on vinyl or tape I suppose the more power to 'em. I never liked pre-recorded cassettes much back in the day either, tho.

 

[Haflermichi]

Growing up in the 80's my HiFi buddy and I would trek down to Tower Records in Honolulu (a one hour bus ride each direction by the way) and spend at least a couple of hours selecting LP's. Then back home we would dub the other's LP onto tape and therefore both obtain more material. It was a ritual. Clean the virgin LP (Disc Washer brush!), clean and demagnetize the heads (every single time!) "pack" the tape by fast forwarding the entire side, then rewinding so the deck sets the tension and removes slack, then finding the highest peak level on the LP to use to set recording levels.

Seems absurd now but back then it was a commitment to doing something right, enjoying the music was almost secondary. We were into the gear and the process and striving to produce recordings that sounded very good on our modest, teenager budget systems.

My buddies allowance was bigger than mine so he could afford to use TDK MA Metal tape while I had to settle with SA Chrome!
Even then we were audio snobs and never deigned to play these precious dubs on lowly boom boxes or car stereos. We made additional dubs using Normal or Chrome tape for those plebeian applications. I one upped him on the gear front though by having a 3 Head deck with adjustable bias (TEAC V-2RX). He had a base model 2 head deck.
We both dreamed of one day owning some model of Nakamichi.

Frankly I see cassette tape coming back today purely as a marketing gimmick. Something to differentiate oneself on the shelf.

 

[carvin]

I did hear that cassettes were back a few years ago.
I still have a Pioneer deck! I actually use it to play tapes of rhythms to solo guitar over.
Weren't those metal tapes considered hard on the tape heads?

 

[JJB70]

The most maligned format in the history of audio in my opinion (even more than MP3). Many give chapter and verse on the formats technical limitations while ignoring just how transformational it was in letting anyone make their own recordings, make mix tapes, take music on the go etc.

 

[raif71]

I used to have a real walkman but now I have this nw-a100 and a cassette wallpaper to remind me of the 80s.

 

[Chrispy]

[Io999ooooooooooooooot5tr

??

 

[Katji]

I really liked that first line about...albums, records, and friends and the purpose of tapes...but...well, i think it's like "you don't go out much." Well, ok, just go to Bandcamp and browse around there a bit.

.....So yeh, I see them very often at Bandcamp - and they're usually [sold out] like the records - if it's not a pre-order situation, but i would never think of buying one. (Just not applicable, to me.)
Note: most of the vinyl/records are coloured, and the cassettes also come with artwork...and it apparently it helps them get money, and you'll see a [Merch] tab, with hoodies and t-shirts /whatever, and they sell.

 

[ThatM1key]

I did hear that cassettes were back a few years ago.
I still have a Pioneer deck! I actually use it to play tapes of rhythms to solo guitar over.
Weren't those metal tapes considered hard on the tape heads?

I think "Type 0" tapes are more harder then the Metal tapes

 

[TheBatsEar]

I have a few tapedecks i need to fix up. All of them have gooified belts:



Some i'll keep, some i'll sell.
I have yet to know someone that is not mesmerized by proper VU meters.

 

[TheBatsEar]

And my tapes.
Bit of music, rarely played these days.
Bit of reference and measurement signals.

 

[ThatM1key]

I have a few tapedecks i need to fix up. All of them have gooified belts:
View attachment 197155
View attachment 197156
View attachment 197157
Some i'll keep, some i'll sell.
I have yet to know someone that is not mesmerized by proper VU meters.

My eye spots a Yamaha A-S300/A-S500

 

[polmuaddib]

When I first heard of compact casette come back, I was sure we are living in the age of decadence. I suspected it with vinyl enthusiasts, but was not sure.
Nostalgia seems to be the main theme in modern music and movies. Very few original ideas...

 

[TheBatsEar]

My eye spots a Yamaha A-S300/A-S500

Indeed, a A-S300 in black. Will drive my tweeters in the Directivas i'm building. R-S700 for the woofer.

 

[TheBatsEar]

When I first heard of compact casette come back, I was sure we are living in the age of decadence. I suspected it with vinyl enthusiasts, but was not sure.
Nostalgia seems to be the main theme in modern music and movies. Very few original ideas...

I think you should count AVRs, bluetooth speakers, streaming and soundbars as original ideas.

 

[polmuaddib]

I think you should count AVRs, bluetooth speakers, streaming and soundbars as original ideas.

Right. I meant original ideas in movies, music...

 

[ThatM1key]

Right. I meant original ideas in movies, music...

There's good movies about modern stuff like Free Guy

 

[Katji]

I have a few tapedecks i need to fix up. All of them have gooified belts:

[...]

Some i'll keep, some i'll sell.
I have yet to know someone that is not mesmerized by proper VU meters.

I am not.
...But what i really wanted to say, I googled Snekfat [thinking of the words] and the result is interesting. Screenshots of Google Q&A --->new subfolder [snekfat ~ snake oil Google] for that image collection...

 

[thegeton]

gooified belts

Unreasonably accurate description...

 

[TheBatsEar]

I googled Snekfat [thinking of the words]

If it's something horrible, i didn't have it in mind. Just snek for snake and fat for oil.

I don't dare google stuff when people to tell me to google stuff.
I have been "goatse"d and "two girls one cup"'ed to many times.