Tape is NOT dead! Radio? Maybe.

[vcautokid]

The reality is making tape is dirty, and many ways hard to manage. Like film in some ways a boutique industry if you can call it that. But guess what? I will still use it till my end or its end because it is connection that I made years ago that I never made with digital in many ways. Don't get me wrong, I love playlists, my Aune s9c Pro and other DACs entertaining me no end. There is that quality, and involvement I get with tape I can't get from anything else. Not even Vinyl. I abandoned that years ago.

It goes back to that day my Dad brought home that Roberts nee....Akai that I was hooked. 5 years old, and mesmerized by the music those spinning reels made. Singing along with the songs. I was a happy boy.

I can't say I had never been happier. No stress, no BS, just the music, and that would go on with many great songs. My Dad had a great taste in music. Now in my 60s I still have that little boy in me every time I load that NAB 10.5 reel of tape on my TEAC A-7300. I think of my Dad, and others in my family that put aside the BS, and just listened to the music, and just for a little while, really love each other.

So if tape is going away so be it. I have times with it forever that will never go away.

[vcautokid]

[cwmcobra]

That even sounded good on my laptop with weak speakers! Nicely done!

[vcautokid]

Thank you Cwmcobra.

[actioneric]

Looks and sounds great! Love the music. Who is it that’s playing?

[vcautokid]

Song is Wishful Thinking by Earl Klugh.

[vcautokid]

Thank you actioneric

[vcautokid]

[405x5]

Tape is not “dead“ for me at least, so long as I can keep my 2002 Durango on the road…… Just tweak the exhaust system last week. It’s the only car I have left that still has a cassette deck in the dashboard.

I often take the truck when I go hiking, which I do a couple of times a week and will often take a fistful of my old cassettes to pop in the dashboard.

Like old movies that’s the draw for me nothing critical about the sound quality as long as the memories are well in place

[vcautokid]

To play itself is a memory of the good times gone by. Sometimes it is not even the music but that involvement. Commitment to a play list you made, and did that in real time, not cut and paste this genre in 2 seconds. Or binding that playlist to your phone or whatever. If a song was 4 minutes, it took 4 minutes to record it. It is a labor of joy, and accomplishment. Faithful as you can, and feeling part of the experience. Computers many times dilute that experience. When you did this, and did it well, the reward? Great music you made today.

[405x5]

May 22, 2024 19:26:52 GMT -5 405x5 said:

May 22, 2024 17:41:09 GMT -5 vcautokid said:

To play itself is a memory of the good times gone by. Sometimes it is not even the music but that involvement. Commitment to a play list you made, and did that in real time, not cut and paste this genre in 2 seconds. Or binding that playlist to your phone or whatever. If a song was 4 minutes, it took 4 minutes to record it. It is a labor of joy, and accomplishment. Faithful as you can, and feeling part of the experience. Computers many times dilute that experience. When you did this, and did it well, the reward? Great music you made today.

I had a blast, recording way way before the digital age and all kinds of stuff not just music……

I had microphones hanging out the windows for thunderstorms.

Crazy stuff like my buddies 454 Chevy jet boat with aluminum headers taking off from the beach Which I was a spoiled teenager and was able to tape that from my window lol.

Hours, and hours of recorded performances, jam, sessions, and rehearsals from my Tenure behind the drums. thanks to cassettes and my Durango. I got the bug to go through that stuff while I drive and during the last year or two I plowed through much of it in the car.

[405x5]

“Radio? Maybe.”

🤔…… I think this largely has to do with where you live, The geography and how far away you are from towers and so forth transmitters.

I live in a dead zone and pick up virtually nothing until I pull away from my driveway. I mean it’s that bad.
my first house was literally right up the road from where I’m at now and my new place is great…… Bigger and like a fortress compared to my first home but I’m just low enough in elevation where what little reception I was getting in the other house is now lost to me.

So today’s digital age has rescued a few stations. I enjoy listening to.

That being said I’m mostly talk radio guy and now I can once again listen static free thanks to the Internet, available apps and podcasts. It is static free information overload, and I’m quite pleased in that regard , no more fighting with electrical noise and interference

[vcautokid]

The last Foray into tape for me. The Harman Kardon CD491 is a good finale. Got this one completely gone through. Everything. New caps, full transport rebuild. Incredibly detailed sound. Unless someone does something stupid on a 2 track reel to reel, this is it.

[vcautokid]

Well it is a machine, and needs stuff. Advantage NAND recorders. No moving parts, no belts,Idlers, gears and so on. Analog though has soul. Plus I grew up more on the Analog side. So there.

[AudioHTIT]

You might inspire me to try and fix my Nakamichi BX-300. Years ago I just had to replace an idler wheel to get it going, but I think it needs more serious attention now.

[vcautokid]

Usual suspects are all the belts. Mode belt most suspect. Then idler which you did and capstan drive. Not the most best transport to service but not the worse.

[AudioHTIT]

Aug 5, 2024 9:18:35 GMT -5 vcautokid said:

Usual suspects are all the belts. Mode belt most suspect. Then idler which you did and capstan drive. Not the most best transport to service but not the worse.

I need to plug it in and remember what’s wrong, I think it’s stopped responding to the transport buttons, and remember reading about a relay or board replacement. There are a few videos I can watch, and several threads in various places, but need to narrow it down. So yes, by this point, belts and possibly another idler are probably in order (if I can get motivated).

[405x5]

“Tape is NOT dead! Radio? Maybe.”

The latter part of this thread title I have to say, and I nearly forgot that always, I’ve always enjoyed amplitude modulation (And not necessarily the stations on that band) but that I’ve always used it until recent years with the onset of the digital age to listen for thunderstorms moving in to the area. Luckily, I’m not so old that I forgot. I fished out a few of those old suckers just for fun and they still do a good job of finding thunder, LOL.
Oops, correction I should say lightning because that’s actually what it picks up. The boom comes later ha ha

[405x5]

my gifted Akai reel to reel….. I need to get busy with that restoration so I can go through my old tape collection. I have not been diligent regarding storage for that machine…… Hopefully it won’t end up like the tin man.

[vcautokid]

Depending on construct and storage. Typically stuck pinch roller and tape lift are typical. Dirty controls, switches, and belts that have perished are the norm. Mechanical is just that way. All tape machines are very much mechanical. Reel to Reel, or Cassette.