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Cassettes? Seriously?

Oh, there are lots of problems with 'modern' TDK tapes, i.e. post-1988. Extreme calendering (a sort of polishing) significantly reduced bias noise, but left the tapes mechanically vulnerable after time: cupping, railroading, scratching (from microdust/debris in the cassette or deck), ... Post-1991 Maxells same story in my experience, but to a lesser extent. These things were never designed for a 30 years+ life.

If the damage occurs after a recording has been made it is not really a problem. But once damaged, a tape no longer can be recorded on with consistent and high quality.

This applies to the high-performance tapes. Basic ferrics are near-invulnerable.
 
Interesting, and it has to be qualified most of my tapes are probably pre-88. I only ever used cassette for band demos etc, if I wanted ‘proper’ music I bought the record. As such until a little speculating a few years back buying some NOS sealed tapes of my childhood/teenage era, which are all still sealed (‘70s TDK D, AD, SA and some Sony Chrome) my tapes seem to have survived.

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Other than more NOS stuff that’s pretty much my tape collection, certainly more than half of it. I bought a couple of pre-recorded tapes out if a £1 bin after getting another Walkman Pro a couple of years ago (thread here), and they seem fine aside from one chrome (Sade Diamond Life) which has obvious sticky shed. Cassettes do strike me as a surprisingly reliable media, I have ancient band demos from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s on the ubiquitous TDK D which are absolutely fine. Everyone used those old grey-shell Ds back then (pack of three NOS pictured above). A great tape. In the early ‘90s I moved to That’s chrome or metal, and they still seem to play back fine. No idea why I made the change from SA, likely local availability/price.
 
deebster said:
What are you talking about? Rob's post says

'I had three, for some reason I can't remember, Sony DD33 Walkman (men?) and I was amazed to get the best part of £350 for them on eBay. I'm not too sure they even worked as I don't have any cassettes to try them out. I did point this out in the listing but that didn't stop the bids. They sold in hours which amazed me. I'm pretty sure I didn't pay that much when they were new. I had no idea that cassettes were a thing with the youth.'

so how the hell do you infer I bought one from him from that?
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Sense of humour failure?
 
Beobloke said:
Blimey - those Maxells are a bit spendy!

I've always wanted a TDK MA-XG just to own, really.
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I got sealed boxes (tapes) of these. Unfortunately they have suffered the white dusty, powdery, mold type problem making them un-playable.

Had I known about this problem sooner I would've unwrapped them all. So all I have is the few that I used which are ok. Anyhow tho' I prefer That's MRX-PRO Metal tapes. These are the bees knees.
 
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Tony L said:
That is an item I’d love to own! I’d not be afraid to play it unless it is known to be on ‘sticky-shed’ tape, I’ve got a fair few (blank) tapes from that era and they are all fine. Car cassette decks are always best avoided for a variety of reasons (often only one spool, varying humidity, temperature etc), but any decent hi-fi deck should be safe enough.
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As a playing copy of A Certain Ratio's "Graveyard & The Ballroom" I picked up the Factory linen style blue boxed cassette. While I was at it I picked up another ACR boxed cassette "The Old & The New".

For some inexplicable reason these collectable Factory Cassette editions got left in my parents Somerset retirement home loft...

...I spent a depressing afternoon trying to find them in the attic.

"Sorry son - I thought you were now a CD person - we dropped off all your cassettes at the local charity shop".

Thankfully the original green Factory pouch edition never left my side...

...I also have the Soul Jazz CD for listening today.

The first time I got to see ACR play live...

...was in 1987 - a Factory event in Finsbury Park - New Order, Happy Mondays, ACR and ahem the Railway Children.
 
My favourite ACR are the 1980 Factory 12” singles ‘Flight’ and ‘Du The Du (Casse)’. Those things just kick! Amazing records. I think the tracks are on Early, but whether they have anything like the punch I have no idea. The really extended 33rpm 12” of ‘Knife Slits Water’ is superb too.
 
I've a twin deck sony machine, took it out to try, and it doesn't work. I opened it up and I can see rubber belts have perished, you'd need a masters degree in figuring out where and how a new belt would fit in, and that's if you had a new belt.
 
Werner said:
Oh, there are lots of problems with 'modern' TDK tapes, i.e. post-1988. Extreme calendering (a sort of polishing) significantly reduced bias noise, but left the tapes mechanically vulnerable after time: cupping, railroading, scratching (from microdust/debris in the cassette or deck), ... Post-1991 Maxells same story in my experience, but to a lesser extent. These things were never designed for a 30 years+ life.

If the damage occurs after a recording has been made it is not really a problem. But once damaged, a tape no longer can be recorded on with consistent and high quality.

This applies to the high-performance tapes. Basic ferrics are near-invulnerable.
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Tony L said:
My favourite ACR are the 1980 Factory 12” singles ‘Flight’ and ‘Du The Du (Casse)’. Those things just kick! Amazing records. I think the tracks are on Early, but whether they have anything like the punch I have no idea. The really extended 33rpm 12” of ‘Knife Slits Water’ is superb too.
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Yeah in around 1982 I bought a second hand copy of the "Flight" 12" Single - flipside / hipside confusion from Cank Street Records Leicester...

..but my god the Hannett sound!!!!
 
theadmans said:
..but my god the Hannett sound!!!!
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I love that whole aesthetic. It defined that time period for me. I’d just left school onto the dole and Factory perfectly reflected the dank monchrome post-industrial wasteland of both Manchester and Liverpool. Also punctuated with the paranoid isolation of Gary Numan, the austerity of the first OMD album, The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds and Faith, Throbbing Gristle etc. All that music was just a perfect encapsulation of the time. So much of it, e.g. Magazine, PIL etc, plus all the dub reggae that was everywhere in clubs, Grace Jones etc. Those early ACR 12” singles were a big part of it. I wish the first album ‘To Each’ had that punch, it is great, but they famously screwed up the mix and it ended up a bit too ambient and levelled out. Sextet is great, but it was a different band by then.
 
Still have my Sony TC-FX150, have been trying to rebuild my original library of 40 Pre-recorded cassettes which I stupidly dumped in 2012 when I moved house. Well I'd not played them in about 15 years so saw no point in keeping them. Problem is its all Winifred Atwell, Max Bygraves or classical in the charity shops and I'm not paying fleabay prices so it's a slow process.
 
Tony L said:
I love that whole aesthetic. It defined that time period for me. I’d just left school onto the dole and Factory perfectly reflected the dank monchrome post-industrial wasteland of both Manchester and Liverpool. Also punctuated with the paranoid isolation of Gary Numan, the austerity of the first OMD album, The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds and Faith, Throbbing Gristle etc. All that music was just a perfect encapsulation of the time. So much of it, e.g. Magazine, PIL etc, plus all the dub reggae that was everywhere in clubs, Grace Jones etc. Those early ACR 12” singles were a big part of it. I wish the first album ‘To Each’ had that punch, it is great, but they famously screwed up the mix and it ended up a bit too ambient and levelled out. Sextet is great, but it was a different band by then.
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Another good Hannett production in this period was "The Presence" by the most excellently named Crispy Ambulance:-


I had a Betamax copies of Joy Division's "Here Are The Young Men" and "A Factory Video"...

...I waited patiently for LTM to re-release the Crispy Ambulance album on CD.

Later I purchased the original Factory vinyl of the album and also "Live On A Hot August Night" 12" Single...

...laughably "Live On A Hot August Night" was recorded on a snowy evening in the middle of winter in Rochdale!
 
I need to find a copy of that. I’ve got an original Factory Benelux pressing of The Plateau Phase, but that‘s all. I saw them live back in the mosts of time too, I think supporting someone, but I can’t recall who.

PS The 1st Section 25 album, Always Now, is a great Hannett production too. Excellent Peter Saville cover too.
 
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