Inventor of the Audio Cassette has Run Out of Tape.

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Jan 30, 2020
2,354
7,774
New Jersey
There were definitely lessons learned during the transition from analog to digital since it's not forgiving at all when it comes to signal integrity. Some of the greatest listening experiences I've ever had though were albums that were tracked to tape and remixed decades later for the digital platform.

The Metallica black album mixed for 5.1 DVD Audio in 96khz/24bit and listened in a studio with a 5.1 Genelec system is my most memorable listening session ever. I had been listening to that album for near 15 years, and that remix brought out sounds in the album I had never heard before. The Sting - Field of Gold album was another I liked a lot with a similar transition to new technology.

Most recently I listened to an Atmos mix of Rocket Man back around late 2019 and it was fantastic. An entirely new experience of a classic recording done right.
 
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STP

Lifer
Sep 8, 2020
4,302
9,900
Northeast USA
There were definitely lessons learned during the transition from analog to digital since it's not forgiving at all when it comes to signal integrity. Some of the greatest listening experiences I've ever had though were albums that were tracked to tape and remixed decades later for the digital platform.

The Metallica black album mixed for 5.1 DVD Audio in 96khz/24bit and listened in a studio with a 5.1 Genelec system is my most memorable listening session ever. I had been listening to that album for near 15 years, and that remix brought out sounds in the album I had never heard before. The Sting - Field of Gold album was another I liked a lot with a similar transition to new technology.

Most recently I listened to an Atmos mix of Rocket Man back around late 2019 and it was fantastic. An entirely new experience of a classic recording done right.
A good pair of wired open-back audiophile headphones with a good DAC/amplifier and the sound is sublime ?
 
Jan 30, 2020
2,354
7,774
New Jersey
I've never gotten into the audiophile headphone world, but I thankfully still have access to professional listening environments (except now during COVID times). I know a few people who are real deep into the headphone/ear bud world though and they swear by it. I still prefer speakers in a studio for critical listening.
 
Jan 30, 2020
2,354
7,774
New Jersey
Dolby is doing very impressive things in the headphone/ear bud space with Atmos. The more I do listen to what they can achieve in that space, the more I'm impressed and I think it's an incredible platform for the future (even if you aren't mixing Atmos, the Dolby Digital Plus encode format is extremely flexible containing all of the down mixes in a single container).
 
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Peter Peachfuzz

Can't Leave
Nov 23, 2019
311
606
Central Ohio
I also miss big speakers. I have a Bose speaker for the TV and blue tooth, but it doesn't sound anything like BIG ass speakers that can move volumes of air in a room and you can feel it in your chest. Bose and the best speakers today are weak, IMO.
I still use a Pioneer SX9000 and CS88 receiver and speakers I bought in RVN.
 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,858
8,770
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
"I also miss big speakers. I have a Bose speaker for the TV "

Michael, I couldnt agree more. I have two one metre tall JBL floorstanders (with a slab of 15mm thick polished granite sat upon each for extra bass), a pair of Celestion UL6 (from the 70's) up on the wall and a pair of Onkyo rear speakers. I like to hear my music ?

"Oh, darn, forgot to mention VHS tapes! Thanks be to Heaven those are in the past."

John, were you aware that the Betamax system was way better than the VHS system? It was all down to money that VHS came out as the winner!

Regards,

Jay.?.
 
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irishearl

Lifer
Aug 2, 2016
2,292
4,136
Kansas
Vinyl records are making a comeback.
During the era of cassette tapes, I found the quality of pre-recorded tapes to be inferior. If I wanted something on tape for my car, I would buy the album and transfer it to quality blank tapes.
Still have a number of my 1970's vinyl LP's. I'm old enough to remember that, as a teen just getting into tooling around in a car with my buds, the it thing was to have an 8-track in your car.
 

RonB

Can't Leave
Jan 17, 2021
418
2,069
Southeast Pennsylvania
I also miss big speakers. I have a Bose speaker for the TV and blue tooth, but it doesn't sound anything like BIG ass speakers that can move volumes of air in a room and you can feel it in your chest. Bose and the best speakers today are weak, IMO.
I still have my audio speakers including two floorstanding ones in the living room which I listen to often. Millennials who see them think it is quaint - or worse - but the sound is vastly superior to what is mostly listened to today. (Too bad my hearing is starting to go.) My son recently hooked up his computer with his music collection to a receiver and good speakers and was amazed how good it sounded, as well as dumbfounded by how bad a lot of his compressed digital files sounded on them.
 

jpmcwjr

Lifer
May 12, 2015
26,264
30,360
Carmel Valley, CA
<< Snipped bits out >>

"Oh, darn, forgot to mention VHS tapes! Thanks be to Heaven those are in the past."

John, were you aware that the Betamax system was way better than the VHS system? It was all down to money that VHS came out as the winner!

Regards,

Jay.?.
Yes, I was painfully aware that Betamax was a far better system! But I waffled a bit, read and talked a bit, and was sad to realize I'd better go with VHS or I wouldn't have much content to enjoy. Did I mention, more than anything else, I am so glad for digital media, all the more when it came to video.
 

Zack Miller

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 13, 2020
646
1,961
Fort Worth, Texas
Still have a number of my 1970's vinyl LP's. I'm old enough to remember that, as a teen just getting into tooling around in a car with my buds, the it thing was to have an 8-track in your car.
Never had an 8 track. In high school I worked in a radio station. The quality of 8 tracks was awful, and frequently the tracks would change in the middle of a song (most annoying). Cassettes in the car. Reel to reel in the house.
 
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goldenmole

Can't Leave
Aug 4, 2019
344
3,383
Copenhagen DK
I am in the process of moving CD's out to the garage for storage. We are fully hooked up with Spotify in our home, with separate profiles for the kids. There are a couple of Sonos speakers now, but we still have the big ones, now also connected to streaming audio. For me personally the move to Spotify was opening up a world of music that I had never explored before. Either you were into music, reading up on latest records etc and KNEW what to buy, or you didn't. I didn't, and now use Spotify to find old favorites and explore new music in a way that is really fantastic! Another great development is podcasts. This broadened my intake of new ideas, conversations and knowledge like no other recent development.
 
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Jun 9, 2018
4,574
14,794
England
The invention of the audio cassette revolutionised home entertainment since matey came up with the idea in the 1960,s.

Oddly enough, I recently started throwing out my huge collection of audio cassettes simply because I no longer use them but over the years they have provided me with much joy.....except on those occasions where they mangled themselves in the mechanism.


Regards,

Jay.
At school if I was listening to my Walkman and wanted to rewind it I'd remove the tape, place a pencil through the spokes and spin it by hand in order to conserve the precious battery power✏️??.
 
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