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Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

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Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#81

Post by kalleboo »

digi_owl wrote: post #69
yarrel wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love MiniDiscs. DAT is where it's at, though.

If only Sony Music had not been so copy adverse that they effectively gave the format concrete DRM boots...

Sony was still fighting copyright when they launched DAT (IIRC, the Japanese DAT players that launched before the US didn't have DRM), it was the US record industry that opposed it vehemently, bringing Sony to testify in front of congress. There's a scathing open letter you can find from the US recording industry basically calling the Japanese invaders trying to kill music.

After losing that battle, Sony said, if you can't beat em, join 'em, and acquired Colombia Records.

edit: found the open letter https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=oCQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT10&lpg...

Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#82

Post by darklajid »

maloney wrote: post #67
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only good thing about vinyl is the RIAA curve prevents loudness wars. If CDs were mastered correctly without intentional clipping it would be impossible for records to best them in quality.

I don't think that is true, given that digital will always be samples of the original. I worked at a mastering studio that had a laser record player, best sound I have heard.

Have you seen this video [1] and does that change your opinion? I suggest the full video, but your point is discussed starting at around 3:20

1: https://xiph.org/video/vid1.shtml

Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#83

Post by fbnlsr »

timthorn wrote: post #80
yarrel wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love MiniDiscs. DAT is where it's at, though.

Surely for this thread, Digital Compact Cassette is even better? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Compact_Cassette

For anyone interested in old music media types like these, I highly suggest Techmoan on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Techmoan

Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#84

Post by fbnlsr »

flycaliguy wrote: post #61
yarrel wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love MiniDiscs. DAT is where it's at, though.

Mini discs actually do have a unique playback feature among physical recordings. A random shuffle setting can be played without any gaps. Aphex Twin released a recording that took advantage of this. I love art and it's ability to interact with an audience on multiple levels.

> Aphex Twin released a recording that took advantage of this.

Did he? I remember Autechre did (under the name Gescom).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minidisc_(album)

Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#85

Post by kalleboo »

taeric wrote: post #49
maxxxxx wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point. That's probably like driving stick shift vs. automatic. Automatic may better but stick shift "feels" better. I have noticed that with writing software. I sometimes think it would be really nice to have something tangible you can touch as a result of my work.

Is automatic better nowdays? I thought the physics sided on manual. Granted, I also thought it was ultimately a wash.

The auto manufacturers have numbers showing an advantage to modern automatics. The jury is out on real-life results. My bet is it depends more on the driver than anything.

Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#86

Post by bravura »

RileyKyeden wrote: post #19

Is this a submarine? None of the music aficionados I know talk about cassette tapes. They're all about FLACs and vinyl.

No, it's not. They probably just aren't involved in the live music scenes where tape is a trend.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Records

'Get Bent in 2011 went on to say, "Burger’s played a crucial role in the revival of the cassette tape, as well as in the promotion of the thriving Orange County garage scene."'

Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#87

Post by stinos »

Nav_Panel wrote: post #22
everyone wrote: post #13

This word gets thrown around a lot but, hipsters! As others have attested there is nothing good about tapes. There are very good reasons why vinyl has survived (You can manipulate it with your hand when djing, and see the music on it, also its technically possible to get better sound quality than digital via high quality, high speed, vinyl and an all analog recording to stamping process) But tapes, no, they are shit.…

> The only reason to use them is some form of conspicuous consumption, signaling how cool and wacky u are Disagree. 1. Sometimes the sonic characteristics of tapes DO complement the music. Typically for genres other than popular music or symphonic/classical/orchestral music (where absolute fidelity is king). 2. Physical media as opposed to digital media is, for some/many, inherently gratifying. It is a more multiface…

inherently gratifying. It is a more multifaceted Thing, an object with a mass and volume and cover

Also not to forget: the buttons on tape players are real machanical things requiring some force to push them. I don't know why (I also like handtools and powertools, seems related) but something in pushing a nice hardware button satisfies me. Just like taking a tape and feeding it into the player. Something in my brain likes that. Just like limbing trees or scything grass. Sometimes I even do those for no practical reason, just the act alone is satisfying. And that has nothing to do with trying to make sure others know about any possible coolness or wackyness I might posess.

Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#88

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

zo7 wrote: post #55
RileyKyeden wrote: post #19

Is this a submarine? None of the music aficionados I know talk about cassette tapes. They're all about FLACs and vinyl.

Really? Every music aficionado I know collects cassette tapes.

From this corner of the world, tape looks like a local-ish hipster fad that's of interest in some micro-scenes.

But there's a general nostalgia thing happening all over, and tape and vinyl seem to be part of that.

When I switched from tape to vinyl in the 70s I noticed I enjoyed some of my collection less, even though I was hearing a lot more detail.

I've often wondered if there's a psychoacoustic effect which forces your brain to work harder to parse sound on cassette.

It's such a lofi medium I suspect your brain fills in the missing detail with what you'd like to hear. So it's more involving than (say) FLACl, which gives you all the detail you want - and then some.

Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#89

Post by AgentME »

woofyman wrote: post #23
everyone wrote: post #13

This word gets thrown around a lot but, hipsters! As others have attested there is nothing good about tapes. There are very good reasons why vinyl has survived (You can manipulate it with your hand when djing, and see the music on it, also its technically possible to get better sound quality than digital via high quality, high speed, vinyl and an all analog recording to stamping process) But tapes, no, they are shit.…

The problem with vinyl is it degrades every time you play it and you have to be very careful handling it so you don't get fingerprints on it.

Someone should make a media player that adds some noise to your MP3 files every time you play them. Or maybe it just lossily re-encodes it at the same bit rate.

Re: Music's weird cassette-tape revival is paying off

#90

Post by geon »

everyone wrote: post #13

This word gets thrown around a lot but, hipsters! As others have attested there is nothing good about tapes. There are very good reasons why vinyl has survived (You can manipulate it with your hand when djing, and see the music on it, also its technically possible to get better sound quality than digital via high quality, high speed, vinyl and an all analog recording to stamping process) But tapes, no, they are shit.…

High quality tapes sounded great.

https://youtu.be/jVoSQP2yUYA

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