PLANET OF THE TAPES
Welcome to Planet O Da Tapes.
Please take a seat and relax, for here you can forget the digital domain
and the ghastly files of iTunes and play a real audio format with real music. That format is the compact cassette!
Born in the early 60s, cassettes were pretty crude quality but they offered the portability that the vinyl LP didn't have. In the 70s tape decks got better and companies like TDK and Maxell started offering tapes manufactured with Chromium dioxide and Metal particles. These shone brightly in comparison to 'normal' tape and when the Sony Walkman came along in '79, you had a hi-fi in your pocket.
All through the 80s blank tapes were going strong and by the end of that 'personal stereo' decade manufacturers were producing tapes that were now looking more high tech than the bright new star of hi-fi, the Compact Disc which was also gaining ground on a mission to conquer not just pre-recorded tapes but the vinyl LP itself. But if the vinyl LP and pre-recorded tapes were consigned to the audio format dustbin so what, blank tapes would still be used for copying CD for use in the car, and the new slimline Walkmans that were now at their zenith. A Discman was bulky in comparison and gobbled batteries! Tapes were now sexier than ever, sounding great but by the mid 90s the good old compact cassette was heading for the graveyard. CD, had it seemed won the race, but it's victory would be short lived as the world was now ready for downloading music from online vendors. This is the end of music as we know it!
But cheer up, you have finally reached Planet O Da Tapes and I hope you enjoy this blog. These are tapes from my own collection I have kept over the years and also from donations from friends I have pestered. I am still collecting today and have a path worn to local flea markets and thrift shops!
Personally, from years of recording experience and playback, I am 'biased' (no pun intended) on high end Chromes and Metal as Type I's always lack that high end fizz and I think the early 80s to the early 90s is my favourite era for tapes. The engineering was superb by the major players but in the mid 90s quality began to slip as shells were glued together so you could not open them any longer. The shells felt brittle and the packaging tacky, with pictures of CDs and loud graphics and text. The golden age was over, but the collection lives on.
All through the 80s blank tapes were going strong and by the end of that 'personal stereo' decade manufacturers were producing tapes that were now looking more high tech than the bright new star of hi-fi, the Compact Disc which was also gaining ground on a mission to conquer not just pre-recorded tapes but the vinyl LP itself. But if the vinyl LP and pre-recorded tapes were consigned to the audio format dustbin so what, blank tapes would still be used for copying CD for use in the car, and the new slimline Walkmans that were now at their zenith. A Discman was bulky in comparison and gobbled batteries! Tapes were now sexier than ever, sounding great but by the mid 90s the good old compact cassette was heading for the graveyard. CD, had it seemed won the race, but it's victory would be short lived as the world was now ready for downloading music from online vendors. This is the end of music as we know it!
TDK MA-X 90 (Type IV)
A great tape and an unbelievable find at a flea market!
But cheer up, you have finally reached Planet O Da Tapes and I hope you enjoy this blog. These are tapes from my own collection I have kept over the years and also from donations from friends I have pestered. I am still collecting today and have a path worn to local flea markets and thrift shops!
Personally, from years of recording experience and playback, I am 'biased' (no pun intended) on high end Chromes and Metal as Type I's always lack that high end fizz and I think the early 80s to the early 90s is my favourite era for tapes. The engineering was superb by the major players but in the mid 90s quality began to slip as shells were glued together so you could not open them any longer. The shells felt brittle and the packaging tacky, with pictures of CDs and loud graphics and text. The golden age was over, but the collection lives on.
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