Lou Ottens

[morrow]

Not a household name , however ...

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/10/975598869/lou-ottens-inventor-of-the-cassette-tape-has-died?fbclid=IwAR1tFBRy9VvvNz37xFZNPB1jFzMcViN2S0Fo43WMTBzOVfiZ1E0dna9YnqQ

[Dave W]

Interesting. I had no idea that cassettes were making a comeback.

[westen44]

I had also read in an article from several months ago that unsigned bands tend to use cassettes.  It's something most people might not hear about because most unsigned bands are never going to be known, needless to say. 

[gearHed289]

Interesting. I had no idea that cassettes were making a comeback.

I wouldn't have either if I didn't have a teenager in the house. But yeah, like westen said, there are indie artists putting out cassettes now.

[uwe]

BASF Chromdioxyd C-90 - accept no substitute.

I must have had hundreds of them. All my CD buying nowadays is just a vain attempt to escape burning in hell for the numerous copyright breaches of my despicable youth.

[Pilgrim]

My conscience is pretty comfy with the cassettes I toted around. Most were purchased, and the signals on the ones I recorded came from CDs or LPs.

For that matter, I do have a bit of heartburn over CDs of music from the 60's and 70's that are priced at more than $10.  Those recordings were paid for long ago, and as long as the artists get their spiff, I don't see the point of the music industry charging a lot for those CDs that have been in production for 40+ years.

I tend to buy CDs and DVDs used. The disc is the property of the owner, and I have no hesitation to spend a couple of bucks for them.

[uwe]

Spotify does nothing for me. I buy at least 15 to 20 CDs a week and spend hours analyzing those little booklets. That's where all my trivia knowledge about connections between bands comes from.

My last act of madness was buying everything from Elton John - and that is a lot! Soundtracks - Gnomeo & Juliet anyone?  -,



one-off projects, collaborations, all studio and live albums. It taught me a lot about his music, Taupin's lyrics, the impact of his musicians (not just the great original Elton John Band, but also people like David Paton, bassist and lead singer of Pilot and the Alan Parsons Project), Dudgeon's productions through the decades, etc. And even on his weakest, usually derided 80ies output there are always two or three songs on every CD that really stand out (usually not the hits). It's an amazing body of work, all Eltonesque outrageousness that more often than not detracted from the music aside.

Yes, I even have this ... Johnny B. Disco ... 



This otoh I found interesting ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asf23rVKnV4&list=RDasf23rVKnV4&start_radio=1

[Basvarken]

BASF Chromdioxyd C-90 - accept no substitute.

I must have had hundreds of them.

TDK SA 90 in my case.
Still have them.
Unfortunately I don't have a working cassette deck anymore...

[uwe]

I bought a real fancy one, expensive as hell, with adjustable heads and speed - shortly before I switched to CDs in the early 90ies. But when I heard bass drum work on CD by Ian Paice for the first time that I hadn't heard on early Purple albums whose vinyl I had heard a hundred times over, knowing every note, I became an immediate CD convert (and the CD remaster of that particular album wasn't even good - it was DP's third, eponymous one, commonly referred to as "April" because of that track filling most of side two) . Anyway, that expensive state of the (dying) art tape recorder never saw more than a few hours of use, I gave it away for free two decades later.

To my ears and to this day, bass frequencies on CD are unbeatable by any other popular and widely available medium. It's like a solid state bass amp vs. a tube one, the latter cannot compete re the sub-lows. I know, my crucifixion here will now be swift, you're not allowed to say that solid state albums do anything better than the holy tube ones. Just like vinyl is better than CD. 

When I hear cassettes today, I'm amazed at the amount of wow and flutter that seemingly escaped my ears 55 years ago. Maybe today's tape decks are better, but I have no desire to go back. The recurring popularity probably has more to do with Guardians of the Galaxy than anything else.



BTW: In the Asia and Pacific region, Black Africa too, cassettes consistently outsold vinyl in the 70ies - vinyl just wasn't made for hot climates.

[Basvarken]

Oh yes, they didn't sound half as good as a CD.
But I'd love to hear what's on those cassettes that I still have in the attic. They have dozens of live gigs, demo recordings and rehearsals on them. Basically the first twenty years years of my musical career on tape.

[Pilgrim]

TDK SA 90 in my case.
Still have them.
Unfortunately I don't have a working cassette deck anymore...

As it happens, I have two dual decks.  And a S-VHS deck, an Ion turntable, and a Pioneer laser disc player that doesn't require flipping the discs.

All connected to a PC so I can capture the signals.

And a TEAC reel to reel in the next room.  I can capture audio from reels direct to a laptop.

I bought a real fancy one, expensive as hell, with adjustable heads and speed - shortly before I switched to CDs in the early 90ies. But when I heard bass drum work on CD by Ian Paice for the first time that I hadn't heard on early Purple albums whose vinyl I had heard a hundred times over, knowing every note, I became an immediate CD convert (and the CD remaster of that particular album wasn't even good - it was DP's third, eponymous one, commonly referred to as "April" because of that track filling most of side two) .

To my ears and to this day, bass frequencies on CD are unbeatable by any other popular and widely available medium. It's like a solid state bass amp vs. a tube one, the latter cannot compete re the sub-lows. I know, my crucifixion here will now be swift, you're not allowed to say that solid state albums do anything better than the holy tube ones. Just like vinyl is better than CD. 

I quite agree. I have never understood the disdain some people have for CDs. I understand that some of the early CDs were poorly EQ'd because engineers didn't understand the medium yet, but as far as I can tell I haven't heard any of them.

IMO CDs are VASTLY superior to vinyl. They last essentially forever, capture sound in high quality, don't degrade by being played or especially by being cued up, don't warp in warm weather or under physical pressure, and take less storage space than LPs.

IMO about the only thing CDs don't do better than an LP is provide space for artwork.

[Highlander]

I still have a working double tape deck and a single tape deck...
Quite a few old tapes too...
A couple of Hitachi VHS to DVD recorders
I even have a commercial VHS player (might be Sony? presently under a lot of stuff) that will time-lapse a 3hr tape to 6/12/24 hour recordings... cctv nonsense...
hisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss... 

[uwe]

"IMO about the only thing CDs don't do better than an LP is provide space for artwork."

Amen, that's a drag.

[Basvarken]

The entire package design of the CD is terrible.
The jewel box was designed by Peter Doodson.
One of the worst industrial designs ever.

The brackets of the lid always go first. Too vulnerable.
The rosette of teeth in the middle of the inlay that are supposed to hold the disc in place, also break too easily.
The little domes (or ridges) at the edge of the lid make it virtually impossible to get a booklet out without damaging it.
And the four lips in the lid make it impossible to get the booklet back in without damaging it.

I have hated this horrible design since the day it was introduced. And it has always surprised me that so little efforts were made to come up with a better design.

Funny the name Doodson is very similar to the Dutch word doodzonde, which translates as deadly sin.
Which it truly is in my point of view.

[uwe]

Also true. Plus cheap quality jewel cases see their plastic shrink and lose its elasticity over time. I prefer digipacks though these have drawbacks too.

The sustainability of  the contained data is a huge practical factor in favor of CDs. My oldest CDs are now about 45 years old, some of them I've heard hundreds of times, they still sound like on the first day - vinyl can't compare with that.