Tape Trail

Reel to reel, cassette and other analogue tape formats.

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RE: Vinyl is back with a vengance. Why not tape?

Posted by gordguide on January 13, 2017 at 13:57:44:
Pre-recorded cassette tapes never equalled a recording from vinyl made on a good machine, or even a marginal machine for that matter. The labels are notorious cheapskates and the grade of magnetic tape they used was low ... equivalent to a Maxell UD or TDK AD, not a Maxell XLII or TDK SA. No noise reduction was used (eg Dolby II).
Only non-audiophiles ever listened to pre-recorded cassettes at home. I would guess that 90% of pre-recorded tapes ever sold never left the car.
So the purpose of a home system with the cassette machine for most users was to make a home recording of music they had on vinyl to take in the car or the beach. The good blank cassette media isn't available anymore.
Open Reel pre-recorded music is high quality, but now we are talking expensive, large machines and collector-priced media. A modern reel to reel machine would list for who knows how much money ... they were amongst the most expensive components you could buy at the time. in 2017 dollars the ones that were available in the 70's are more than $10,000 a copy. Still interested?