technology Does anyone collect audio tapes?

[Pentium100 2,136]

There's a topic about collecting records, but I did not find one for tapes, so, here it is :).

So, do you collect audio tapes, whether cassettes or reel to reel tapes? What tape decks do you use?

I do both, I have a few tape decks and, I would say, a lot of tapes. I sometimes buy pre-recorded cassettes (not everything was released on records, I guess cassettes were cheaper to produce), but I also record music to tapes (from records or whatever).

I have a few tape decks, but the ones I use the most are Technics RS-BX646 (cassette), Эпектроника 004 (reel to reel), Sony WM-DD11 (cassette walkman) and the cassette deck in my car (Clarion ARX8170R).

If you record tapes, what tapes do you use? 

[Fluttershyfan94 5,742]

No but I've been looking at getting myself a walkman cassette player and then of course cassettes as they to me are kind of like vinyl records. Essentially an experience a different experience listening to music, though while I do have the ability to listen to cassettes I've not begun collecting them. I believe that having a Walkman will encourage me to do so or rather they make the most sense to me being listened to on something like that.

[Brony Number 42 10,069]

Some record labels make new cassette tapes for new releases. I get them to collect but I also get the CD, because I like digital versions of the music. I find it odd because my favorite band has been around since 1984. Why do I buy their new cassette, but I won't buy a cassette from their 1990s albums? I don't know.

[Tom Gallagher 33,588]

I’d love to try that. I love listening to bootlegs of old concerts.

[Splashee 28,564]

Last time I used a tape recorder was in 1998! So no. I feel like the sound quality has always been a little muffled. And when using rewind too many times, it kinda started to destroy the start of the tape (after about 30+ so rewinds).

[SharpWit 2,682]

At a community garage sale in 2019, I came across this thing called a Grundig II. Its an AM/FM radio, with a flashlight, siren, and cassette player. I bought it as a replacement for the radio I used at my prior workplace since the antenna broke and batteries had leaked. That one I had gotten for free and this one was only a dollar. I'd always been invested in listening to tapes since I had a few when I was really little and figured it would be the closest thing to holotapes from fallout.

I've since acquired about 20 tapes? I've only listened through half of them so far so until I finish the rest I'm not buying anymore. I've mostly gone with tracks I'm familiar with or random ones that stand out, such as the 3rd of Three released by of all places, Victoria's Secret. The one I've listened to the most is the Album, Brothers in Arms by the Dire Straits.

The player does have a good amount of sound distortion, but I think that adds more of an aesthetic rather than taking away from the quality. We wouldn't choose to listen to tapes anymore if that weren't the case I think. My player was somewhat unique in that its playing slower than it should, and can slow down just by the angle in which you're holding it. So far I can't find the same model in better condition  so I temporarily opted for a cheap player off of Amazon but it's terrible.

The only tape I've directly sought after successfully so far is Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie, the son of Woody Guthrie, best known for the American classic, This Land is Your Land. I attempted to obtain Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest, but it looks like they may have only releases on 8 track which I've found to be far more limited.

[Pentium100 2,136]

Outside, I use either a cassette walkman or a MD walkman, though I do not have that many MDs.

Sound quality, as with any analog device, greatly depends on the device quality - there's more difference between cheap vs good cassette deck (or record player) than it is between cheap vs good CD player.

4 hours ago, SharpWit said:

My player was somewhat unique in that its playing slower than it should, and can slow down just by the angle in which you're holding it.

It could be a bad belt, though depending on how cheaply made it is, it may just be the way it is or something else wrong (a motor bearing or something like that).

[Northern Star 1,024]

Well like I said in the records one, my family goes "this is old, crappy technology, if you don't want it, throw it away"

So yes, compact cassette, 8 track, and a few reel to reels.