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Re: Cassettes [message #95468 is a reply to message #95460]

Sun, 03 April 2022 09:23

gofar99
Messages: 2015
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona

Illuminati (5th Degree)

Hi, Contrary to some thoughts...the plastic (or Mylar etc) portion of a tape is pretty durable. The oxide coating is not so durable. Heat and humidity will cause the binder to deteriorate. This leads to shedding of the oxide. No oxide equals no sound. Properly stored tape has an extremely long life. The last figures I saw for it was over 100 years and it was thought to actually be longer. The length of storage was not so much an issue as how it was first played after storage. Usually this entailed a gentle rewind followed by playing on a well maintained player at minimal tension. I personally have numerous reel to reel and cassette tapes that are over 50 years old and they play as good as they did back then. One thing to remember that except for commercial r-r tapes many made back then on home machines were rather marginal by modern standards. My favorite cassette recorder was an Harmon Kardon that would do as much as 75 db S/N and respond 30HZ-22K. At that time the individual machines were tested and signed off by Harmon engineers. To be sure you paid for the quality. Budget machines then were lucky to go 50-12k at 60db S/N. New budget machines are equally bad regardless of their hyped specs. So if you have old tapes that were stored well they could be just fine.

Good Listening
Bruce

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Re: Cassettes [message #95470 is a reply to message #90140]

Sun, 03 April 2022 09:46

Madison
Messages: 347
Registered: June 2017

Grand Master

That was a fascinating share, gofar99. I'm bookmarking your post for later. I like to watch How It's Made on the Science Channel, and your remarks reminded me of that.

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Re: Cassettes [message #95479 is a reply to message #95470]

Mon, 04 April 2022 08:51

Wayne Parham
Messages: 19001
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I'm with you on that, Bruce. Ever since the late 1970s, I've had a very good cassette deck, one capable of treble extension past 20kHz. I was amazed how many decks couldn't even reach 15kHz. But better decks were out there for a little more money. And not crazy money either, just a little more. Well worth it, in my opinion.

Even in the early 1980s - after I got a reel-to-reel deck - my cassette recordings were as crisp and high-quality as any other media I had. It was a bit surprising, given the difference in tape speeds. But with a good deck, one can make very high-quality cassettes.

I had an Onkyo three-head cassette deck in the 1980s. It made incredible-sounding tapes, many that I still enjoy today. Nakamichi also made great tape decks back then, and I considered getting one. But the Onkyo I had was superb, and so a Nakamichi purchase just wasn't justified.

Ten or twenty years ago, I bought a Sony three-head deck that is equally capable. Sony made cassette decks until very recently, so you can still buy 'em in good shape. Just make sure it's a three-head design and has adjustable bias.

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Re: Cassettes [message #99220 is a reply to message #90165]

Tue, 10 February 2026 02:14

Cole
Messages: 7
Registered: December 2025

Esquire

Kingfish wrote on Fri, 26 April 2019 11:01

Newjack wrote on Mon, 22 April 2019 23:56
Does the audio quality degrade over time?
Yes. This is the main selling point of all the advanced audio players and equipment that have made their way to us through the years. Streamed music will never degrade in quality.

I look at it this way though: Playing old music on old technology takes me back to that time. Elton John records on a turntable will transport me back to 1975, and that's a good feeling to have.

I totally agree with what you said here. The thing is that sometimes, it is about having that experience and not necessarily about the sound quality. Playing old songs on some older devices brings back those memories and that is what I would like to experience.

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