First a vinyl revival, now a cassette comeback..

[matthewpianist]

Is R2R making a comeback?

Thorens TM 1600 Reel To Reel Tape Machine

Thorens TM 1600 reel to reel tape machine is a beautiful designed purist analogue playback addition to Thorens range. Principally designed as a half track quarter inch machine accomodating reels upto 10.5" in size at speeds of either 19 cm/s (7.5 in/s) or 38 cm/s (15 in/s). It includes...

www.audioaffair.co.uk

Can you buy music on this format and how would anyone be able to enjoy this very expensive device?

Probably Ken Kessler at the most...

 

[Al ears]

Is R2R making a comeback?

Thorens TM 1600 Reel To Reel Tape Machine

Thorens TM 1600 reel to reel tape machine is a beautiful designed purist analogue playback addition to Thorens range. Principally designed as a half track quarter inch machine accomodating reels upto 10.5" in size at speeds of either 19 cm/s (7.5 in/s) or 38 cm/s (15 in/s). It includes...

www.audioaffair.co.uk

Can you buy music on this format and how would anyone be able to enjoy this very expensive device?

yes, and easily assuming you still have the equipment.

 

[Noddy]

Posh git! I had a ZX81 and used a portable tape deck to save and possibly load games taking 15-20 minutes sometimes and often resulted in failure. A quick tweak of the Azimuth screw on the tape head usually sorted that.

Well that’s nowt, we were so poor I had to use black and white Smarties to represent binary 0 and 1 and run the program manually. Damned sister kept eating the zeroes.

Seriously though, I recall using punched cards. Perhap punched cards will make a comeback as the truly quirky music medium.

 

[podknocker]

I'm hoping to ditch my streaming amp and get me a 1970s Hanimex 8 track receiver, when 8 track makes a come back.

 

[Al ears]

I'm hoping to ditch my streaming amp and get me a 1970s Hanimex 8 track receiver, when 8 track makes a come back.

I had a dream.....

 

[podknocker]

My dad had a Hanimex HRC 5010 and I just realised it was stereo. I did sound sh*te though.

 

[matthewpianist]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the exclusive Fisher-Price maxi-groove plastic record system. No Inner Groove Distortion or tracking issues and no big set-up demands. Minimum wear and tear too!

 

[podknocker]

Clair De Lune on the cyan disc? Fab stuff. Hope it returns. I can't be doing with these new fangled FLAC files.

 

[matthewpianist]

Clair De Lune on the cyan disc? Fab stuff. Hope it returns. I can't be doing with these new fangled FLAC files.

We're on the same page, and I've just found them on Amazon sold as a 'Fisher Price Classic'! Even they're jumping on the heritage/nostalgia bandwagon!! IAG and Fyne Audio should be looking over their shoulders...

 

[manicm]

How on earth can a cassette copy be better than the LP? If a certain quality isn't there in the first place, surely cassette doesn't have any magic to put it back?

If a cassette deck had a very good tape head, then it could possibly be so, like some stylii sound better than others. From what memory serves, some copies just sounded that bit clearer.

Don't get me wrong, as I said good riddance to tape, but I just used it to make copies for my walkman.

And that's the thing Matthew, on my crappy walkmen, they sounded crap, but on the hifi, they sounded often great.

 

[plastic penguin]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the exclusive Fisher-Price maxi-groove plastic record system. No Inner Groove Distortion or tracking issues and no big set-up demands. Minimum wear and tear too!

Now you're talking my language....😋

 

[Noddy]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the exclusive Fisher-Price maxi-groove plastic record system. No Inner Groove Distortion or tracking issues and no big set-up demands. Minimum wear and tear too!

I sometimes think that is ideal for some users on another forum I shall not mention by name. They are discussing streamers, and seriously some of them own a £5,000 streamer.

 

[Gray]

I sometimes think that is ideal for some users on another forum I shall not mention by name. They are discussing streamers, and seriously some of them own a £5,000 streamer.

That's one of the reasons I have to stick mainly to this forum - people here generally seem more rational.

 

[Gray]

...I managed to cling onto that with a Denon DM-30DAB and matching SC-N50 speakers (the only thing I was allowed when we moved in together).
Post divorce....

No wonder you got divorced 👍

 

[AndrewF]

There was literally nothing good about cassettes, other than that they allowed you to steal music before stealing music was cool, and that there was always the hope that a good mixed tape might get you laid….

 

[matthewpianist]

Clair De Lune on the cyan disc? Fab stuff. Hope it returns. I can't be doing with these new fangled FLAC files.

I know, right? Why make something more complicated than it needs to be...

 

[manicm]

Fun fact: Cassettes never went away in poorer countries such as in Africa. Especially pre-recorded ones.

 

[podknocker]

I remember an entire wall of mini systems, cassette decks, with Dolby A/B/C in a shop, decades ago and the sound quality was OK to be honest. On a par with vinyl, but I preferred cassette because it was small and portable. Had a Sony Walkman and the sound was really good.

I had loads of blank 'chrome' BASF tapes and I used to love recording tunes onto them and they did sound OK. The full sized decks from Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer and AIWA sounded great. Most had great quality buttons and ergonomics, with the LED strip lights etc. I'm sure modern master tape technology could be fitted into a cassette sized format and be decent quality. It would be portable and have no vinyl noise or clicks etc.

DAT and other formats failed, so cassette will never make a comeback. Streaming is the future and modern DAPs sound superb. If you have lots of cassettes, then this can help you copy them to a modern format. I'm not sure if they will sell many and it is a small market for this stuff. I think it would be interesting having a listen.

Teac W1200 (Black)

Shop for Teac W1200 Black Twin Cassette Deck with Richer Sounds for expert advice and lowest prices guaranteed

www.richersounds.com

 

[matthewpianist]

It's interesting to see this @podknocker but like you I'd be surprised if they sell many. Anyone who is committed to cassette will know that there are better machines available for less on the second hand market.

The USB transfer facility may be useful for people with home recordings that need archiving in digital form, but I think their suggestion it works to CD quality is dubious, and for anything other than home recordings content is available in higher quality from multiple other sources.

 

[podknocker]

If Laserdisc and other optical formats had not arrived, it would have been interesting to see studio quality tape technology condensed into a portable format. It might have been a great sounding format, but obviously the investment is elsewhere now. Reel to reel components in a small player would sound fantastic. Cassette was never going to give this.

I've realised having a system with few, or zero moving parts, is the way forward. Mechanical stuff fails before electronic. That's my experience. Vinyl, cassette and CD spin, so they will let you down. A portable DAP, using FLAC and streaming will have no moving parts. Spinning things are never good, even in cars. Electric cars have fewer spinning things and should be more reliable.

 

[WayneKerr]

I've realised having a system with few, or zero moving parts, is the way forward. Mechanical stuff fails before electronic.

As long as continual updates to software doesn't render the kit obsolete before it's time... plenty of examples of that around... my TV for instance, started off smart went dumb after 8 years

 

[podknocker]

That's true and you can update firmware, but if the electronics are limited to an older format or spec, then you reach a dead end eventually and it needs recycling, unless you are happy with the current technology. I've not owned a TV for 3 years and I'm in no rush to get one, with the expense, bulk, enormous range of panel technologies and standards and issues with burn in and reliability. I watch stuff on my 34" Philips screen, supplied by work and it looks great.

There is a desire now to be retro, but that's fine if using modern materials and designs. That's why the Mission 770 are a great product. I don't know why many people still have vinyl and this cassette thing does confuse me. I love modern things, if they are genuinely useful and reliable.

I won't be looking at anything with 40 or even 50 year old technology. I've changed my mind about buying a new Leema amp, using new technology. I can't justify the expensive and have other financial priorities. Hopefully the kit I have now will last a few years. I might not replace it, if it does fail. I had become a slave to modern technology and I won't buy stuff now, unless I do need it.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

with the LED strip lights

The quantity of which being how one gauged audio quality at the time!

 

[podknocker]

I remember a £1500 Sony midi system in Debenhams, in 1985 and it was covered in buttons and lights, including the spectrum analyser and I used to watch this thing for hours, while listening to the newish CD format. It was like a Christmas tree and I couldn't afford one. It had a pair of APM22ES speakers and I was transfixed by this stuff.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

The pound had an average inflation rate of 3.63% per year between 1985 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 287.66%. This means that today's prices are 3.88 times as high as average prices since 1985, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

That makes it a £6k system now, give or take - assuming hifi prices rose in line with inflation. No idea on that one...