Reel History
1920s: The reel-to-reel tape recorder was invented in Germany in the late 1920s. Tapes were made by binding ferrite oxide to a long paper strip that was then magnetized by a tape head. Early reel-to-reel tape was made of paper and later from plastic based strip, which is much more durable.
1950s: Early tape recorders were made with vacuum tubes and were mono (single channel). By the mid 1950s, two-channel (stereo) machines were produced. American crooner Bing Crosby invested into the Ampex Corporation, which was a key player in the development of high quality reel-to-reel tape decks. Early Ampex tube recorders are highly valued to this day, and refurbished studio machines can sell for top dollar.
Advancements in technology (solid state circuits, direct drive motors and other refinements) made reel-to-reel decks more reliable and the frequency response improved. Every professional recording made prior to the digital revolution in the 1980s was made on a form of reel-to-reel tape recorder, so the sound quality of RTR was excellent even in the 1950s.
1970s: Consumer reel-to-reel popularity was loosing favor to cheaper and more convenient cassette decks.
1980s: Most manufacturers discontinued reel-to-reel tape recorders as digital the digital revolution took over. Teac/Tascam and Otari are the last R2R brands standing.
2010s: The analog revival sees a huge resurgence in vintage stereo equipment, primarily with vinyl recordings. Reel-to-reels are, once again, the prized component of serious audiophiles. Musicians and recording technicians discover the subtle sound qualities available only through analog recording technologies and studio equipment, long neglected in corners and backrooms, is brought back into service.
2016: Horch House is set to launch a new line of consumer reel-to-reel tape decks.
The Analog Revival
But they said digital was the future! Sorry, no. That was 1985 and this is now – and analog is the future!
- That warm sound that cannot be recreated with a CD or MP3
- Digital splatter – that thing that happens when you exceed the headroom of a digital recording device – can ruin a digital recording
- Tape colors the recording sound you’re recording, which sounds so much better
- You simply can’t turn a digital recording into an analog playback
- Finally, let’s face it – there’s something really sexy about slow spinning reels, be it for a home stereo or in a studio.
Cassette History
The Dutch company Philips invented the first audio cassette, called a compact cassette. This format was introduced to a European audience in 1963 at the Berlin Radio Show and the following year made its debut in the U.S. market. Philips decided to license the format for free due to pressure from Sony, which inevitably led to the format’s popularity.
Although cassette tapes were originally designed for voice dictation use, prerecorded music cassettes were available commercially starting in 1965. As fidelity improved, audio cassette tapes became the second most popular format for prerecorded music after vinyl. Early audio cassettes featured a maximum playtime of 45 minutes per side, which was longer than LPs at that time. Following on the heels of the audio cassette in 1965, the 8-track tape was a less compact and somewhat clunky format that’s completely obsolete today.
Cassette Tapes Facts & Stats
- The Norelco Carry-Corder 150 by Philips was the first player available in the U.S. By 1966, more than a quarter-million had been sold in the U.S. alone.
- By 1968, Japan became the major producer of cassette recorders, with more than 2.4 million players sold by 85 different manufacturers.
- Audio cassette players became a standard dashboard feature in automobiles in the 1970s.
- The last new car to be factory-equipped with a cassette deck was a 2010 Lexus.
- In 1979, Sony released its first Walkman for $150. Measuring only slightly larger than a cassette tape, operating on AA batteries, and featuring a pair of portable, lightweight headphones, the Walkman was the first truly portable cassette player.
- Of the more than 400 million Walkman portable music players sold between 1979 and 2010, 200 million were cassette players.
- By 2001, cassettes had a market share of less than 5%.
- Music cassette tape sales in the U.S. grew by 23% from 178,000 units sold in 2017 to 219,000 in 2018.
How Does Cassette Tape Work?
Cassette tape is coated with magnetic particles composed of iron oxide or chromium oxide. Shaped like tiny needles, about 400 million of these microscopic particles are in each inch! The particles are mixed with a binder and transferred onto wide rolls of polyester plastic film. After the coating has dried and is smoothed and polished, the rolls are cut into 3.8mm-wide strips. The magnetic coating enables sound to be recorded and erased.
Recording sound onto tape is a fairly simple process. When a blank cassette is popped into a tape recorder, the tape passes around five magnetic heads in the recorder. The magnetic particles on the passing tape realign in patterns corresponding to the loudness and frequency (rate of vibration) of the incoming sounds.
Cassette Tape Features
Stereo cassettes feature two channels next to each other, so they can be played in stereo or mono players. All cassettes feature a write protection tab that can be broken off to prevent accidental erasing or rerecording. But you can cover the area where the tab was to enable recording new tracks.
If you owned audio cassettes, you likely experienced some of the pitfalls. The hissing was common and tapes could stretch and wear out, get mangled, wind around the guts of the drive mechanism, and melt in hot weather. No wonder other technology dethroned cassette tapes!
What Comes Around Goes Around
Although not on the same scale as the vinyl LP renaissance, cassette tapes have made a comeback of sorts! Cassette tapes don’t boast the superior audio quality of vinyl LPs, therefore, experts attribute the renewed interest to nostalgia and culture, including Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
