OT, but IMO really interesting living history: They still produce cassette tapes in Germany
3 Dec
2013
3 Dec
'13
8:42 p.m.
In Germany they still produce cassette tapes :). Quality control is done
with Studer tape recorders and RFT monitors. Some years ago I got two
RFT monitors for less than 50,- € at Ebay :). Seen on German television,
today at 18:31 kabel eins. I suspect the Studer studio tape recorders
are un-payable and impossible to maintain, so I suspect there will be no
long future for this technology. The same factory does produce records
too :).
The cassette tapes they produce are audio dramas, they didn't mention
music.
Regards,
Ralf
3 Dec
3 Dec
8:39 p.m.
On Tue, 2013-12-03 at 18:38 +0100, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
In Germany they still produce cassette tapes :).
Quality control is done
with Studer tape recorders and RFT monitors. Some years ago I got two
RFT monitors for less than 50,- € at Ebay :). Seen on German television,
today at 18:31 kabel eins. I suspect the Studer studio tape recorders
are un-payable and impossible to maintain, so I suspect there will be no
long future for this technology. The same factory does produce records
too :).
The cassette tapes they produce are audio dramas, they didn't mention
music.
One self-reply is allowed?
I forgot to mention that the coping tape recorders are second-hand from
the USA, don't know the vendor, but seemingly also end-of-range models.
10:52 p.m.
Thank you!!
I've forwarded the information to quite a few friends. Here in sweden,
audio cassette is having a revival since a couple of years back. What
used to be netlabels are now cassette labels producing limited edition
tapes... go figure.
I really like it thou: these FFWD>> an <<REW constraint is a pain that
sort of forces a listener into taking in an albums narrative thread,
which i have been missing in the quickskipping digital era we live :)
And with a a little bit of inventiveness for the cover art, one can sell
these tapes for very decent prices.
Have a good week,
Set
On 2013-12-03 20:39, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
On Tue, 2013-12-03 at 18:38 +0100, Ralf Mardorf
wrote:
--
Set Hallstrom
AKA Sakrecoer
http://sakrecoer.com
WARNING: Remember clear-text email is subject to mass surveillance
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Privacy is found under the cloaks.
In Germany they still produce cassette tapes :).
Quality control is done
with Studer tape recorders and RFT monitors. Some years ago I got two
RFT monitors for less than 50,- € at Ebay :). Seen on German television,
today at 18:31 kabel eins. I suspect the Studer studio tape recorders
are un-payable and impossible to maintain, so I suspect there will be no
long future for this technology. The same factory does produce records
too :).
The cassette tapes they produce are audio dramas, they didn't mention
music.
One self-reply is allowed?
I forgot to mention that the coping tape recorders are second-hand from
the USA, don't know the vendor, but seemingly also end-of-range models.
_______________________________________________
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Linux-audio-user(a)lists.linuxaudio.org
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11:01 p.m.
On 2013-12-03 22:52, Set Hallstrom wrote:
Thank you!!
I've forwarded the information to quite a few friends. Here in sweden,
audio cassette is having a revival since a couple of years back. What
used to be netlabels are now cassette labels producing limited edition
tapes... go figure.
I really like it thou: these FFWD>> an <<REW constraint is a pain that
sort of forces a listener into taking in an albums narrative thread,
which i have been missing in the quickskipping digital era we live :)
And with a a little bit of inventiveness for the cover art, one can sell
these tapes for very decent prices.
Have a good week,
Set
On 2013-12-03 20:39, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
Sorry for that top post. Here's a usefull link to anyone seeking to
publish a audio cassette to make it up:
http://tapeline.info/
A british company i believe, recomended by close friend of mine (what
ever that means to you guys :) )
Peace,
--
Set Hallstrom
AKA Sakrecoer
http://sakrecoer.com
WARNING: Remember clear-text email is subject to mass surveillance
systems. Alone this information is useless. Our summed communications
are worth humanity.
Please keep in mind Internet is a boulevard in a crowded virtual city.
Privacy is found under the cloaks.
On Tue, 2013-12-03 at 18:38 +0100, Ralf Mardorf
wrote:
In Germany they still produce cassette tapes :).
Quality control is done
with Studer tape recorders and RFT monitors. Some years ago I got two
RFT monitors for less than 50,- € at Ebay :). Seen on German television,
today at 18:31 kabel eins. I suspect the Studer studio tape recorders
are un-payable and impossible to maintain, so I suspect there will be no
long future for this technology. The same factory does produce records
too :).
The cassette tapes they produce are audio dramas, they didn't mention
music.
One self-reply is allowed?
I forgot to mention that the coping tape recorders are second-hand from
the USA, don't know the vendor, but seemingly also end-of-range models.
_______________________________________________
Linux-audio-user mailing list
Linux-audio-user(a)lists.linuxaudio.org
http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user
11:13 p.m.
On 3 December 2013 23:01, Set Hallstrom <sakrecoer(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Sorry for that top post. Here's a usefull link to
anyone seeking to
publish a audio cassette to make it up:
http://tapeline.info/
A british company i believe, recomended by close friend of mine (what
ever that means to you guys :) )
I've used these people several times for making a batch of cassette tapes.
Also
recommended :)
11:20 p.m.
On Tue, 2013-12-03 at 23:01 +0100, Set Hallstrom wrote:
Sorry for that top post. Here's a usefull link to
anyone seeking to
publish a audio cassette to make it up:
http://tapeline.info/
A british company i believe, recomended by close friend of mine (what
ever that means to you guys :) )
Peace,
That's great :)
I dislike the audio quality of tapes, but I like the way tapes are used.
Since the audio quality isn't that good, the quality of the compositions
is more important. Since copying, forwarding and rewinding is time
consuming, it's another way to record and to listen to a tape, than when
using modern medias.
I still own a demagnetiser and crappy radio-cassette-recorders, but no
high quality cassette recorder, it's a pity, but maintaining the last
good recorders became impossible for me. I guess there is no future for
music tapes. As already mentioned, the German company just copies radio
dramas, no music.
No DRM :).
Less good technology, but much better ethical background.
I would prefer a good (USB) tape recorder over a CD burner :), assumed
anybody would still own a tape recorder to play the tapes ;).
Regards,
Ralf
4 Dec
4 Dec
12:18 a.m.
On 2013-12-03 23:20, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
On Tue, 2013-12-03 at 23:01 +0100, Set Hallstrom
wrote:
The problem i have experienced is playback speed. It seems they always
have to start wobbling at some point :D
But it's worth pointing that audio tape is still a huge medium in
africa, hence a good market for chinese players. ;)
--
Set Hallstrom
AKA Sakrecoer
http://sakrecoer.com
Sorry for that top post. Here's a usefull
link to anyone seeking to
publish a audio cassette to make it up:
http://tapeline.info/
A british company i believe, recomended by close friend of mine (what
ever that means to you guys :) )
Peace,
That's great :)
I dislike the audio quality of tapes, but I like the way tapes are used.
Since the audio quality isn't that good, the quality of the compositions
is more important. Since copying, forwarding and rewinding is time
consuming, it's another way to record and to listen to a tape, than when
using modern medias.
I still own a demagnetiser and crappy radio-cassette-recorders, but no
high quality cassette recorder, it's a pity, but maintaining the last
good recorders became impossible for me. I guess there is no future for
music tapes. As already mentioned, the German company just copies radio
dramas, no music.
No DRM :).
Less good technology, but much better ethical background.
I would prefer a good (USB) tape recorder over a CD burner :), assumed
anybody would still own a tape recorder to play the tapes ;).
Regards,
Ralf
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12:53 a.m.
On Wed, 2013-12-04 at 00:18 +0100, Set Hallstrom wrote:
The problem i have experienced is playback speed. It
seems they always
have to start wobbling at some point :D
Good consumer and studio recorders don't have this issue. Sometimes the
audible waul is caused by bad bias and not by wow and flutter.
Maintaining such as demagnetizing and cleaning isn't hard to do, but
replacing a head is a serious issue, since there's the need to have a
special tape. I guess nowadays it's nearly impossible to get what's
needed to completely maintain a cassette recorder, resp. it for sure is
very expensive, since less needed nowadays.
But it's worth pointing that audio tape is still a
huge medium in
africa, hence a good market for chinese players. ;)
News for me, didn't know it. "Africa" does mean the poor areas on the
continent? I don't know any Chinese company, time for some research :).
1:07 a.m.
On 2013-12-04 00:53, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
:) I was refering to the continent. But i believe it to be pretty
wellspread in south america too. So keep us posted please. :) I have no
accurate contemporary reference. my experience with african tape release
was cover art for Jonas, a Rapper from Geneva with some big band from
Senegal. It had the Senegal national music corporation lazerstamp and
all. But it struck me, that 2005 is quite far away from now... :D
--
Set Hallstrom
AKA Sakrecoer
http://sakrecoer.com
But it's
worth pointing that audio tape is still a huge medium in
africa, hence a good market for chinese players. ;)
News for me, didn't know it. "Africa" does mean the poor areas on the
continent? I don't know any Chinese company, time for some research :).
1:25 a.m.
On Wed, 2013-12-04 at 01:07 +0100, Set Hallstrom wrote:
So keep us posted please.
I replied off-list, because I thought a long thread about tapes is too
off-topic. I'm interested to read more about tapes. I was surprised to
see that German company on television, without a cold I wouldn't have
watched television and then I was surprised by your reply, IOW that
tapes aren't that obsolet as I thought.
2005 is quasi a decade ago ;), so your information might not be true
anymore. Perhaps somebody from Africa and South America is able to
enlighten us.
Regards,
Ralf
2:38 a.m.
New subject: OT, but IMO really interesting living history: They still produce cassette tapes in Germany
On Tuesday 03 December 2013 20:34:50 Ralf Mardorf did opine:
In Germany they still produce cassette tapes :).
Quality control is done
with Studer tape recorders and RFT monitors. Some years ago I got two
RFT monitors for less than 50,- € at Ebay :). Seen on German
television, today at 18:31 kabel eins. I suspect the Studer studio tape
recorders are un-payable and impossible to maintain, so I suspect there
will be no long future for this technology. The same factory does
produce records too :).
The cassette tapes they produce are audio dramas, they didn't mention
music.
Regards,
Ralf
Studer/Revox? I spent 2 years, about 1980, keeping 3 of those spinning 14"
NAB reels running in an automation system feeding our FM station at KSUE.
Not a particularly friendly machine to work on, but sure worked nice. And
no, I wouldn't want to do it again since I don't have the manuals.
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Cheers, Gene
--
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soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
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dangerous than 200 million guns in the hands of
law-abiding citizens.
2:49 a.m.
On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 6:38 PM, Gene Heskett <gheskett(a)wdtv.com> wrote:
Studer/Revox? I spent 2 years, about 1980, keeping 3
of those spinning 14"
NAB reels running in an automation system feeding our FM station at KSUE.
Not a particularly friendly machine to work on, but sure worked nice. And
no, I wouldn't want to do it again since I don't have the manuals.
Manuals? You need manuals? Real men don't need manuals ... well, they
certainly don't use them :)
--
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EMAIL: bob(a)mellowood.ca
WWW: http://www.mellowood.ca
7:22 a.m.
On Tue, 2013-12-03 at 18:49 -0700, Bob van der Poel wrote:
On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 6:38 PM, Gene Heskett
<gheskett(a)wdtv.com> wrote:
JFTR Gene seems not to talk about an user manual, but a service manual.
The reason that most consumer 4 track cassette recorders did sound that
disgusting, wasn't the quality of the 4 track tape decks, it was missing
maintenance. From the many musicians I know, I'm the only one who bought
a service manual for the 4 track cassette recorder. It indeed seems to
be uncommon to take a look at a service manual when something doesn't
sound ok. This might be ok for home recording, since most people anyway
couldn't use a service manual, but for professional recording a service
manual is needed. You at least want an exploded diagram of the drive.
No service manuals needed for computer CD/DVD drives, they will go to
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=agbogbloshie+images :(, that was different for
consumer and studio analog gear.
Studer/Revox? I spent 2 years, about 1980,
keeping 3 of those spinning 14"
NAB reels running in an automation system feeding our FM station at KSUE.
Not a particularly friendly machine to work on, but sure worked nice. And
no, I wouldn't want to do it again since I don't have the manuals.
Manuals? You need manuals? Real men don't need manuals ... well, they
certainly don't use them :)
11:07 a.m.
New subject: OT, but IMO really interesting living history: They still produce cassette tapes in Germany
On Wednesday 04 December 2013 04:50:01 Ralf Mardorf did opine:
On Tue, 2013-12-03 at 18:49 -0700, Bob van der Poel
wrote:
Correct, such manuals are as often as not from 1cm to 5cm thick. And in
some cases, north of 100 USD and only available to authorized service
centers. Both Panasonic and Sony are infamous for gouging the hell out of
tv stations, saying we aren't qualified even if we've spent the $20,000 USD
on the tool kits that makes us qualified. To them, its just another cash
cow.
And your server bounced my PM back to you. Seems we are on spamcops damned
list again. Don't ever lets a salesman who thinks a vacation auto-
responder on his/her mailbox is a good idea, anywhere near your own local
in-house network. Unfortunately, they do not understand the ramifications
of something that might get them a sale they would otherwise miss. To them
it 'cool', they saved the sale and thats all that counts.
On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 6:38 PM, Gene Heskett
<gheskett(a)wdtv.com> wrote:
JFTR Gene seems not to talk about an user manual, but a service manual. Studer/Revox? I spent 2 years, about 1980,
keeping 3 of those
spinning 14" NAB reels running in an automation system feeding our
FM station at KSUE. Not a particularly friendly machine to work on,
but sure worked nice. And no, I wouldn't want to do it again since
I don't have the manuals.
Manuals? You need manuals? Real men don't need manuals ... well, they
certainly don't use them :) The reason that most consumer 4 track cassette
recorders did sound that
disgusting, wasn't the quality of the 4 track tape decks, it was missing
maintenance.
And some decks, from supposedly reputable makers are, despite their
disclaimers, junk. The same people that put drive bricking viri on the
music cd's and have never made anything but excuses, not even a public
apology. You know who they are just from that.
From the many musicians I know, I'm the only one
who bought
a service manual for the 4 track cassette recorder. It indeed seems to
be uncommon to take a look at a service manual when something doesn't
sound ok. This might be ok for home recording, since most people anyway
couldn't use a service manual, but for professional recording a service
manual is needed. You at least want an exploded diagram of the drive.
No service manuals needed for computer CD/DVD drives, they will go to
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=agbogbloshie+images :(, that was different for
consumer and studio analog gear.
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Cheers, Gene
--
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soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>
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14 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
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Arve Barsnes -
Bob van der Poel -
Gene Heskett -
Rafael Vega -
Ralf Mardorf -
Set Hallstrom