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Compact Cassette



A C2N Datassette recorder for Commodore computers
A C2N Datassette recorder for Commodore computers
German-made cassettes sold for computer data recording, circa 1980
German-made cassettes sold for computer data recording, circa 1980

The Hewlett Packard HP 9830 was one of the first desktop computers in the early 1970s to use automatically controlled cassette tapes for storage. It could save and find files by number, using a clear leader to detect the end of tape. These would be replaced by specialized cartridges such as the 3M DC-series. Many of the earliest microcomputers implemented the Kansas City standard for digital data storage. Most home computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s could use cassettes for data storage as a cheaper alternative to floppy disks, though users often had to manually stop and start a cassette recorder. Even the first version of the IBM PC of 1981 had a cassette port and a command in its ROM BASIC programming language to use it. However, this was seldom used, as even then floppy drives had become commonplace in high-end machines.

The typical encoding method for computer data was simple FSK which resulted in typical data rates of 500 to 2000 bit/s, although some games used special faster loading routines, up to around 4000-bit/s. A rate of 2000-bit/s equates to a capacity of around 660 kilobytes per side of a 90-minute tape.

Among home computers that primarily used data cassettes for storage in the late 1970s were Commodore PET (early models of which had a cassette drive built-in), TRS-80 and Apple II Plus, until the introduction of floppy disc drives and hard drives in the early 1980s made cassettes virtually obsolete for day-to-day use in the US. However, they remained in use on some portable systems such as the TRS-80 Model 100 line until the early 1990s. Due to the high price of disks, cassettes also remained the primary data storage medium for 8-bit computers in many countries (for example, the UK, where 8-bit software was mostly sold on cassette until that market disappeared altogether in the early 1990s.)

In some countries, including Scotland, Poland and the Netherlands, audio cassette data storage was so popular that some radio stations would broadcast computer programs that listeners could record onto cassette and then load into their computer.[21] See BASICODE.

The use of better modulation techniques like QPSK or those used in modern modems, combined with the improved bandwidth and signal to noise ratio of newer cassette tapes, allowed much greater capacities (up to 60 MB) and speeds (10–17 kB/s for data rate) on each cassette. These were typically used as hard disk backup for PCs in the late 1980s. They also found use during the 1980s in data loggers for scientific and industrial equipment.

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Successors

A Compact Cassette and a microcassette
A Compact Cassette and a microcassette

Technical development of the cassette effectively ceased when digital recordable media such as DAT and MiniDisc were introduced in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Anticipating the switch from analog to digital, major companies such as Sony shifted their focus to new media.[22] In 1992, Philips introduced the Digital Compact Cassette (DCC), a DAT-like tape in the same form factor as the compact audio cassette. It was aimed primarily at the consumer market. A DCC deck could play back both types of cassettes. Unlike DAT, which was accepted in professional usage because it could record without lossy compression effects, DCC failed in both home and mobile environments, and was discontinued in 1996.[23]

The microcassette has in many cases supplanted the full-sized audio cassette in situations where voice-level fidelity is all that is required, such as in dictation machines and answering machines. Even these, in turn, are starting to give way to digital recorders of various descriptions.[24] Since the rise of cheap CD-R discs, and flash memory-based digital audio players, the phenomenon of "home taping" has effectively switched to recording to Compact Disc or downloading from commercial or music sharing websites.[25]

Because of consumer demand, the cassette has remained influential on design over a decade after its decline as a media mainstay. As the Compact Disc grew in popularity, cassette-shaped audio adapters were developed to provide an economical and clear way to obtain CD functionality in vehicles equipped with cassette decks. A portable CD player would have its analog line-out connected to the adapter, which in turn fed the signal to the head of the cassette deck. These adapters continue to function with MP3 players as well, and are generally more reliable than the FM transmitters that must be used to adapt CD players to MP3s. MP3 players shaped as audio cassettes have also become available, which can be inserted into any tape player and communicate with the head as if they were normal cassettes.[26][27]

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Repair

Cassettes contain moving parts such as rollers which can become worn, leading to jamming or breakage of the magnetic tape itself. This need not spell the end of a valuable recording: one can extract the tape from the shell of its cartridge and transplant it into a new cartridge. "Eaten" tapes as described above can in many cases also be rescued after running the tapes' back side over a rounded surface such as a pen to re-flatten it as best as possible. A crude repair can even be performed on a severed tape by carefully aligning and reattaching the strand ends against a backing of special mylar splicing tape (normal adhesive tape should never be used on audio recording tape because the adhesive will "bleed" over time), then trimming excess on either side with scissors or a precision knife, enabling a basic playback such as for dubbing out to another recording device.

Better-made compact cassettes are held together by a number of screws, so that they may be disassembled and reassembled. It may be helpful to practice the procedure on blank cassettes first. Care should be taken to ensure that the tape follows the correct path through the cassette before reassembly, and that all of the small parts are in their proper places. If the original, worn cassette is glued together instead of held together by screws, it can be cracked progressively open by inserting a thin blade of metal (such as a screwdriver or knife blade) in the seam between the halves of the cassette shell, while exercising care not to gouge or damage the reels.

The spools upon which the tape is wound are often slotted so that the end of the tape may be freed from one spool and secured to a new spool.

Two other common problems with cassette tapes are: 1) the tape winds unevenly inside the plastic case over time which gives rise to jamming during playback or rewinding, and 2) the felt pressure pad that contacts the magnetic tape eventually falls off. Two solutions: 1) slap the cassette on a flat surface several times and then rewind the tape all the way through without pause (this may have to be tried several times). 2) replace the part composed of the copper and felt pressure pad unit from an unused cassette tape.

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See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

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References

  1. ^ a b Marvin Camras (ed.) (1985). Magnetic Tape Recording. Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 0-442-21774-9. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Eric D. Daniel, C. Dennis Mee, Mark H. Clark (1999). Magnetic Recording: The First 100 Years. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. ISBN 0-7803-4709-9. 
  3. ^ "Part 7: Cassette for commercial tape records and domestic use", International standard IEC 60094-7: Magnetic tape sound recording and reproducing systems. International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva. 
  4. ^ Leonard Copland, Robert Johns (November, 1966). "The Tape Cartridge Comes Of Age". Electronics World magazine. 
  5. ^ a b Paul du Gay, Stuart Hall, Linda Janes, Hugh Mackay, Keith Negus (1997). Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman. Sage Publications Ltd. ISBN 0-7619-5402-3. 
  6. ^ Robin James. Cassette Mythos. ISBN 0-936756-69-1. 
  7. ^ Peter Manuel. (1993). Cassette Culture: Popular Music and Technology in North India. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-50401-8. 
  8. ^ a b Not long left for cassette tapes. BBC (17 June 2005). Retrieved on 13 September 2006.
  9. ^ Record and prerecorded tape stores. Gale Encyclopedia of American Industries (2005). Retrieved on 20 September 2006.
  10. ^ Reelin' in the years: Cassette tapes still have their devotees. LA Times (9 Aug 2007).
  11. ^ a b Janine Stoll (2000). The Dynapak Difference. The Indie Voice. Retrieved on 19 September 2006.
  12. ^ TDK cassette spec sheet Retrieved on March 27, 2007
  13. ^ a b c The Blank Tape Gallery. Retrieved on 13 September 2006.
  14. ^ Werner Abelshauser, Wolfgang von Hippel, Jeffrey Allan Johnson, Raymond G. Stokes (2003). German Industry and Global Enterprise: BASF: The History of a Company. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82726-4. 
  15. ^ John Atkinson (November 2002). 40 years of Stereophile: The Hot 100 Products. Retrieved on 13 September 2006.
  16. ^ David Price (January 2000). Olde Worlde - Nakamichi CR-7E Cassette Deck. Retrieved on 13 September 2006.
  17. ^ Steve Fluker. Trends in Technology: Recording Sound. Retrieved on 14 September 2006.
  18. ^ VintageCassette.com. Retrieved on 13 September 2006.
  19. ^ CBS Songs v. Amstrad (1988)
  20. ^ CBS v. Ames (1982)
  21. ^ Lennart Benschop. BASICODE. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
  22. ^ Al Fasoldt. "Sony Unveils the Minidisc", The Syracuse Newspapers, 1991. 
  23. ^ Gijs Moes. "Successor of cassette failed: Philips stops production of DCC", Eindhovens Dagblad, 31 October 1996. 
  24. ^ Cassette vs. Digital. J&R Product Guide.
  25. ^ Phongraph records and prerecorded audio tapes and disks. Gale Encyclopedia of American Industries (2005). Retrieved on 20 September 2006.
  26. ^ Jer Davis (2000). The Rome MP3: Portable MP3 player—with a twist. The Tech Report. Retrieved on 18 September 2006.
  27. ^ C@MP CP-UF32/64 a New Portable Mp3-Player Review. Fastsite (2000). Retrieved on 18 September 2006.

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External links

v • d • e
Audio formats
Analog

Phonautograph (1857) · Phonograph cylinder (1877) · Gramophone record (1895) · Wire recording (1898) · Reel-to-reel tape (1940s) · SoundScriber (1945) · Gray Audograph (1945) · Dictabelt (1947) · LP record (1948) · 45 rpm record (1949) · RCA tape cartridge (1958) · Fidelipac (1959) · Stereo-Pak (1962) · Compact Cassette (1963) · Stereo 8 (1964) · PlayTape (1966) · Mini Cassette (1967) · Microcassette (1969) · Steno-Cassette (1971) · Elcaset (1976) · Cassette single (1982) · Picocassette (1985)
Digital

Soundstream (1976) · 3M (1979) · X80/ProDigi (1980) · DASH (1982) · Compact Disc (1982) · Digital Audio Tape (1987) · ADAT (1991) · MiniDisc (1991) · Digital Compact Cassette (1992) · Extended Resolution Compact Disc (1995) · High Definition Compatible Digital (1995) · 5.1 Music Disc (1997) · Super Audio CD (1999) · DVD-Audio (2000) · K2 High Definition (2007) · USB flash drive (as audio format, 2008)



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