Best explanation video on RUclips straight to the point and demonstrated perfectly. Unlike some audio snobs on tapeheads who just bore you to death with oscilloscope readings watching their music instead of actually listening to it.
mind you the spotify version is the 2003 remaster and is more compressed. the tape version is a little brighter but thiner in the low mids which is to be expected from chrome tape. but cassettes always add that analog bit of lofi sound so that's good!
There are a lot of amazing pre-recorded tapes from the late 80's onward. One thing of note - most pre-recorded tapes were made from hi-res sources. A low end Nakamichi deck from ebay and a little tinkering and you have yourself a fun system to play around with. It's true that there are many amazing sounding tapes out there! The media is fun and interesting.
@@omahahnful For me, they’re just the cheapest way to listen to music in my truck xD. I’m not huge on sound quality, I just like the music lol. I have Spotify, but use tapes more.
Azimuth is the main thing that affects audio tape playback quality. A quarter turn of the screw can mean the difference between near-cd quality or low quality mp3/AM radio sound.
The assumption that people make about Dolby B losing the highs is a misconception. When you play a Dolby B encoded tape without the Dolby B button engaged, what you’re hearing is the Dolby B encoding not being decoded, which is a compressed signal. You will get artificially boosted high frequencies because Dolby B, while encoding, boosts certain frequencies, then when you engage the Dolby button, it’s in decode mode which brings the high frequencies back to where they originally were but eliminated some of the hiss. I think it was some like 6 to 10 db hiss reduction for Dolby B while Dolby C was basically Dolby B doubled or something or another giving an even better signal to noise ratio with like 20 db reduction. The problems with muffled highs with Dolby is usefully from misaligned azimuth, but sometimes and especially nowadays since tapes are decades old is that the signal is slowing fading. With that in mind, your best bet is to use what’s call the play trim feature, which sadly isn’t available on all decks, that boosts the signal some BEFORE it hits the Dolby processor, which can help it during the decoding process and help with Dolby tracking. Another thing to note is that not all Dolby circuitry was created equal back then between manufacturers. If azimuth or play trim doesn’t help with Dolby tracking then it most likely means that the tape has reached the end of its lifespan and is just plain worn out or has slowly demagnetized itself, whether from being stored around magnetic objects, weather, etc. I understand why the frustration with Dolby because I used to HATE it, until I learned to understand it properly and how it works. Now I never go without it. If at the end of the day you like the artificial boost of highs and the added hiss along with it which is also boosted, then have at it, but just know that it’s not being played back as intended.
I used to play almost any kind of cassettes with the Dolby switch on but lamenting how many highs were lost. The azimuth plays a fundamental role indeed. Another thing that kills a good sounding cassette is a magnetized head. What I always hated about those chrome pre-recorded tapes was the pre-echo, especially when I was listening to the tape via earphones.
Chrome prerecorded music cassettes were quite good recorded in Dolby HX Pro and Dolby B NR, as they had brighter sound and extended dynamic range which made for pleasant listening.
A very interesting and lucid explanation, well done. During the 1970's I recorded my own tapes. Story was that prerecorded tapes used cheaper quality tape, copied at high speed and cassette shell quality sucked. Limiters were used too in the process which dulled the sound a bit. Home taping offered the ability to "ride the gain". I was a TDK/Maxell guy. Tape deck manufactures used to have a suggested brand to use on their decks. I saved a bundle taping friends NEW LP's onto cassette. One of my decks, Yamaha KX-260 has the Play Trim feature and it does help older tapes. Out of the several hundred cassette tapes I have only two are prerecorded. My current favorite cassette deck is my Denon DRM-800A, it's boss. For open reel I have a Teac X-3 purchased in 1982. Some really swell comments here.
That was a great video. I wish I had a deck with azimuth and bias controls! I got my first stereo component cassette deck (a Sharp RT-1155) in 1978 so I taped off most of my LP's back then. I didn't have a lot of money living off my parents allowence so I bought a lot of TDK D's. A TDK D with Dolby B could sound better than any pre-recorded tape back then. It wasn't until around 1983 (when that Police cassette was released) that record companies started improving the quality of their tapes with BASF Chrome tape or using digital duplication like Capitol/EMI's XDR.
Difference is when I turn up a cassette in my car it doesn’t sound like shit and distort or hurt my ears. Always clear as day. Cd has high notes that can give you a headache and distort badly even at half volume.
You never mentioned the fact, even as good as your example sounds, that Musicassettes are duplicated in a very high speed duplication process (reason for the azymuth to be so off?), so from the master that got into the factory to the copies there's a lot of signal lost (there's here somewhere an explanation on how Musicassettes are made, a little like "high-speed dubbing" but much worse). When you record from a good source (vinyl, open reel tape or CD) to a cassette, the quality is much higher than you can get from any Mussicassette. But then you reader might ask -"why I'd bother to record a cassette if I already have the CD/vinyl/etc.?"- well, MIXTAPES!. A Mixtape is a thousand times better than picking songs from CDs anyway. That's how we all did it in the 80s and 90s. Also on a side note, the 2020s equivalent to recording radio to type I tapes to create mixtapes is recording Spotify or RUclips playlists in the high-quality setting to tape. Super fun and highly rewarding. The feeling of powering up the amp and deck, pulling a cassette from the shelf and hitting 'Play' is priceless. 45 minutes of continuous awesome background music for tidying up the house, having lunch, taking care of the kids, reading or lounging browsing in the phone.
The problem of the cassette, is that materials are very sensitive to elongation, light, corrosion... Most regular produced cassettes were after a lot of hours of playing in not so good calibrated machines badly affected. Very few people cleaned headers, had an idea of technical details and qualities of the tapes, etc...
This is a good illustration of just how dependent analogue is on everything being set up correctly to sound good. Digital by comparison is far less fussy and will sound quite good even on cheap equipment. Personally, I prefer analogue simply because it requires more involvement from me, but I'm not daft enough to suggest that it is inherently superior to digital. My 30 year old, fully serviced, 3-head, Dolby S, HX Pro cassette deck makes recordings on chrome or metal tape that are essentially indistinguishable from the source, but the same cannot be said of even the best pre-recorded cassettes I've heard.
Cassttes are awesome all they need is a good deck but everything depends on the recording how good it is i record on Maxells UR normal position and the recordings are super now guys you can imaging if tou record a cassette in a studio from the 2Ch master tapes directly to cassette deck for full analog orgasm :-)
This is an excellent demonstration! I’m glad you covered azimuth here, since getting this adjustment right is absolutely critical to getting the higher frequencies off the tape. When you hit play, I could tell right off the bat that azimuth was off, which in my experience is very common with cassettes unless the recoding was made using the same deck you’re playing it on. If you really want to hear the effects of bad azimuth, sum the left and right outputs to mono. The phase cancellation that results will practically hit you in the face. I think this is why Dolby NR got such a bad reputation among audiophiles. Not only do you have to use it correctly, if the azimuth is just even slightly off, it will really throw Dolby out of wack and cause the “pumping” sound that we’re familiar with. All that said, I am questioning this Synchronicity tape - specifically the labeling. It claims to be chrome Type II tape, but how come it appears to be missing the notches on the top? All I see is the “write protect” holes, but I don’t see any signaling holes next to those that are supposed to be on a Type II cassette. Or maybe it is Type II but they used the wrong shell?
You deserves more attention! Simply because your videos are short, friendly for newbies and have ton of useful information. I had bad experience of using B NR that was meant to be on pre-recorded 90s tapes (written on cassette shell) on my Pioneer CT676. It is also was a problem without decision to switch on chrome type tape because there wasn't manual buttons on my deck to chose, cassette shell had tabs out only for normal type without screws. Is it ok to play pre-recorded chrome tape as normal?
Know it’s a year later, but to answer your question, yes it is ok. That was the intended effect was to have the benefits of better formulation, while using the normal 120 uf standard eq.
@@dreadpirateroberts7269 thanks! For the past year I have learned that for older pre-recorded tapes with Dolby B label adviced to switch off noise reduction because of signal degradation on Chrome tapes. There are not so many tape decks that manually can switch type of tape, especially equalization , especially azimuth, so I came across one tape deck that people adviced is really good for all these features for it's price called NAD 6300 that also comes with trim that ads +2 db to high freqs that is must have for pre-recorded tape decks. But the best decision to play pre-recorded tapes adviced Nakamichi 1000 as some tape deck collectors said the best playback on pre-recorded tapes will be the deck where this tape was recorded and on tapeheads forum I found info many factories recorded tapes on Nakamichi 1000 and Tandberg high-end tape deck, probably those that were Chrome B NR 120us labeled. I'm not really sure is this info is accurate, mostly I'm getting pre-recorded tapes recorded in 90s by Disc Makers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ney York, Canada those that helped many indie artists with very good audio quality and remarkable polygraphy of j-cards.
Great video! I have a Nak BX-2 into a NAD 3020i amp. What I’ve learned is that - like everything - it’s all down to the mastering. My 90’a cassettes (Springsteen/Petty/Pink Floyd/George Michael) sound incredible. A real warmth with a nice definition in the bass, also.
Interesting to see that the notches on the pre recorded CrO2 tape tell the deck to play it on the Ferro/normal setting. The best way to find the azimuth sweet spot is to listen in mono.
That's because The Police tape was part of a brief push by A&M Records where they released Type II pre-recorded tapes biased for Type I tapes. It was an effort to improve the sound quality of pre-recorded tapes.
More people need to see this video, cassettes can sound really good, especially if you make recordings on chrome and metal tapes on a high end or professional tape deck, but remember you also need a high end or professional deck to play back, this does not mean just buy any name brand player because most of them were average and awful
The moment the music started, as I was laid-back... listening through a set of JBL wireless headphones (NC on)... my hands automatically twitched into following the guitar. ;)
Very informative video 😃😃👍🏻!! Nicely done. Here are few things that can help improve listening vastly. *If you are playing cassettes with Dolby B/C on , it cuts off some of cassette’s high frequencies, resulting some muffled dull sound. To avoid that , You can use an extra equalizer between deck and amp to improve sound balancing. So you can add some extra high and low end frequencies from the equalizer. I use an equalizer like akai EA-G80(very good) . Have a look for EA-G80 equalizer guys, it is a nice equalizer with wide frequencies spectrum for each band , gives proper understanding about sound levels before you record something on to a cassette or while doing a playback. **Second method ( as you had shown) is that you have to use a YAMAHA or any other cassette deck which has playback trim ( boosting highs) so you can compensate the high frequency cutoff from Dolby b/c. I do own a Yamaha deck and having the trim is a great option for playback cassettes with an akai Eq next to it. 😍😍😍👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 **Extra information about pre recorded cassette production back in 90s** *Most of main master tapes used some kind of noise reduction systems(Dolby/Dbx) to improve SNR so it sounded great. However, when it comes to mastering to cassette duplication process then they didn’t use Dolby encoding on pre recorded cassettes much. ( according to our country) What they actually did? They used Dolby/dbx master tape ‘s playback (output )sounds passed into cassette duplication machine with good bias adjustments...Since the source sounded so great , which resulting duplicated pre recorded cassette sounded much much better although cassette didn’t have Dolby encoding on them. This why “Dolby system or the Dolby logo” mentioned on the cassette shell without mentioning B or C coz technically master tape used to playback in Dolby, not the pre recorded cassette. So consumers don’t have to worry about Dolby on their car stereo system or hifi systems. Above method of duplication process , which made pre recorded cassettes sounded very good and preserved higher sound level for type1 pre recorded cassettes in our country ( Sri Lanka 🇱🇰) . I think many countries did same type of process coz sounded great on cheaper tapes. *one quick note: If they mentioned “Specifically Dolby B” on pre recorded cassette shell then they had used encoded Dolby B on that pre recorded cassettes so that you have to use dolby b on while playing the cassette back on your deck )
Thanks Sid for your long comment. Using an EQ to correct the lack of treble is an option, and I have used it, but it will never be like fine tuning Dolby decoding. Correcting with EQ is a patch, while fine tuning Dolby is a direct solution to the real problem. Regarding what you say about Dolby without mentioning B or C, I don't believe that. MAny tapes in my collection have 'Dolby system' and inside the J-card they state you have to use dolby B to decode it, so they are indeed dolby-encoded. In some asian countries, probably like yours, there were many bootleg tapes that stated Dolby and even dbx but they weren't encoded at all. It was a fake. But that's the exception, not the rule. Regards,
TheWalkmanArchive Thanks 👍🏻😉, Keep up the good work mate 🙏🙏👍🏻 Basically, if pre recorded tape used any type of Dolby encoding when it was recording , it does boosts high frequencies a lot (these will be recorded on tape) . So if you are listening to the same tape on a cassette deck without Dolby, you would be hearing extreme amount of tape hiss and very brighter harsh sounding. This can be confirmed by ear or if you had a high end equalizer with spectrum analyzer with LED lights which like to stay on at high frequencies side 8KHz-16KHz) So as I said earlier, I did not hear any extra tape noise without Dolby or didn’t see any unusual brightening of sound on our local market pre recorded cassettes and they sounded really good with just being normal type 01s.😍😍👍🏻 I do agree that yeah, if cassette j cards mentioned about which Dolby system is used then it is true that they used Dolby encoding on them. As I said earlier , our markets didn’t use it. Coz main master tape ( analog/digital)source was sounding so good didn’t have to use actual Dolby on pre recorded or record label cassettes. They only mentioned Dolby logo or Dolby system coz of master tape had it. Cheers 👍🏻👍🏻😉
Hello! You can use the Nakamichi NR-200 Dolby B & C encoder/decoder, too. With this device, plus CR-7 playback azimuth adjust, it is possible to adjust the playback level for the best reprodution of pre-recorded tapes!
Now all I need is $3500 for a sweet Nakamichi CR-7 and a proper dolby decoder to compete with a $200 CD player. ;) Kidding aside, this was a really fun video that was right up my alley. Kudos on having all that nice gear! I have a couple Nakamichi BX-150 units (and some other cool decks in the garage). I used to have the BX-300 but sold it during one of my moves. That was a mistake! One tip I have for anyone making digital copies of cassettes - put a Schiit Loki equalizer between your cassette deck and your digital recorder. You can adjust the treble and bass and capture the great sound.
@@albertocabezas282 Yes, I know. Lossless is Tidal or other alternatives. Anyway I find it a great app, even though it's limited quality. Saludos desde España
@@TheWalkmanArchive Soon there will be Spotify "Hi-Fi" to be launched in 2021.. They say it features be will higher-quality, lossless audio streams.. Time will tell...
It's unfortunate more decks don't offer easy azimuth adjustment. That Spotify remastered version sounds so crap lol. Why remaster a song if you're not going to make it sound better?
It will be amazing if you'll add English subtitles (even automatic ones) to your videos because it's something hard to understand what you're saying but besides that - it's amazing video! Although, wonder if it have sense to buy prerecorded type 1 cassettes for example from 90s? Even late 90s? I have some titles that I've been interested in buying but you haven't showed them so I assume you don't recommend buying used type 1 prerecorded tapes? I wonder if it's not better to record those songs onto tapes from wav. (Phone) via 3.5 mm cable. I hope I'll get my answer.
If I know how to add those automatic subtitles I definitely would add them. I know my english is not good but I try my best. Regarding prerecorded tapes, each one is a different story, and I could not say late 90s are good or bad, I think it must be tested. In my experience, best ones are those from USA, Germany and Japan and worst ones usually are from hard rock bands. Sadly to me (I love hard rock), most are oversaturated and sound bad. Pop, disco, blues usually sound very well. Sometimes it's better to record the album to get a better result, but using a phone does not look like a good solution to me. I'd go for a decent DAC/sound card in the computer, but definitely from a good vinyl will outperform.
I have a Pioneer changer deck that does this azimuth adjustment automatically but in a solid state digital processed sound shaping way. It makes a huge improvement.
The FLEX system does not adjust azimuth at all, I think you misunderstood it. FLEX stands for Frequency Level EXpander, and it's just a dynamic EQ curve that compensates treble loss automatically. (read from a Pioneer catalogue, btw)
@@TheWalkmanArchive I know what the FLEX system is and know it does not adjust the azimuth. The system is active measuring the sound all the time during a whole tape play and is always making adjustments. You see and hear this between tracks where it becomes quiet. The flex indicator flashes and stays steady once measured. It still makes a difference on tapes that have been recorded with a poor azimuth alignment. It's not like adding a dynamic EQ to the line output. It's slightly different as I hear it when switched on when compared what a dynamic EQ can do.There is some clarity involved in the sound and does not sound over bright in the highs. I also have a Pioneer model that has digital NR with the same FLEX system. There is some very mild artifacts in the quiet passages of music like fade outs from the NR.
@@stvlu733 It's an interesting development, but I don't think I'd buy a deck with it. Specially after reading this: www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=59361
That Police album should have been recorded using 70us equalisation instead of Type I / Ferric 120us ... this would have cut hiss which is already lower on true CrO2 tapes even further, without needing dolby B ...
I mentioned this in another post for this video but I'll mention it here. That tape was part of an effort A&M Record made to improve the sound quality of their cassette tapes. The album was recorded on Type II tape but it was biased for Type I tape, which gave you better sound quality. I had that tape and it did sound very good.
Another great video. Wow! the cassette tape sounded better than spotify. Dolby sounds like putting the whole mix through a heavy compression setting that causes 'pumping'. not good in any case. Never use it. Once a track starts who cares about a little hiss?
I'm with you. I've never liked the sound after using the Dolby settings. They always sounded muffled to me. I always leave it turned off. Just my personal taste.
@@NeedleDropRules Turns out is bad encoding/decoding. Having a dedicated decoder makes a world of difference. With the integrated encoders/decoders though, I'm a 100% with you.
Shop; bought tapes can sound so so good on proper period correct equipment, have a listen to a good tape on an optonica 3838 tape deck, it blew my mind
The pre-recording CHROME tape has some delay sound when the music was play finished to the end, but it didn't happen it if you using major brand of blank cassette tape for recording the music
I have a lot of Maxwell ur position iec type l.normal the man that repaired my tape decks said that these tapes can wear out the cassette motors what do you think?
Doesn't sound to bad for an old pre recorded tape. But the spotify version is also the 2003 remaster so there is also going to be some difference there as well. Good upload! 😁
Do you know if adjusting the play trim knob after recording to a blank tape would help keep the treble correct? For example I have a pioneer deck. When I record to tape from vinyl using dolby c, some of the high are of course still lost? Would the play trim knob correct this post recording? Thanks
it depends on one´s cassette deck head azimuth if the same tunning they sound amazing good at least some i have that i was never a fan of pre-recorded cassettes also with time the tapes start to be in bad condition even if the sound seems perfect, if one records cassettes always tried to find good cassettes no matter the type but in late 90´s the only one´s who were good in all senses were Sony and TDK, the maxell UR or UL sold in the 80´s or till mid 80´s are still today in perfect condition ,before i used to record a lot of BASF cassettes but in 1985 i started to notice not a decrease in the quality, not of the tape but it´s casing started to show some problems who are related with the strenght a cassette deck does to roll at perfect speed the cassette, the tape is the same importance of the cassette casing itself not only one factor is important
Play trim is only a TONE control . the Dragon is best with no screwdriver . I never use Dolby or any other compression . HX PRO is the one that has a usefull affect on most decks , it taks nothing away .
Not sure what is your point with that comment. But I'll reply you: 1- PlayTrim is NOT a tone control. Read Yamaha documentation and learn. 2- WTF?? 3- Whatever is fine for you. But Dolby is NOT a compression. HX-Pro is NOT a noise reduction system. Read tech documentation and learn.
@@TheWalkmanArchive The YAMAHA dose not move the head like the Dragon dose I see here . the head needs to move for the real affect . I have 2 YAMAHA decks here . I use another deck & line the heads to another older set of tapes or else its a mess. HX PRO ? I know its not , its the opposite it helps the tape to breath un like Dolby . Sorry about the delay , I have no internet at home now so I have to use public ones now .
@@shaun9107 I don't understand what's your point. You came to only criticize but you fail to understand what those systems do. Not only my and your Yamaha DO move the head to adjust the azimuth when you rotate the azimuth screw. EVERY single deck does. HX-Pro is a system that dynamically adjust the bias in real time during recording, to improve headroom and lower the treble distortion. Hence the "Headroom eXtension". It does nothing to the noise of the tape, nor breath or pumping or anything related to noise. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_noise-reduction_system#Dolby_HX_Pro Please stop bothering with silly questions. If you have anything interesting to say, or a helpful critizism, please tell; otherwise stop.
hi cassette i had them as well never had one's with music on as i was a reel to reel man in the 80's CASSETTE'S pre recorded are bad new's i will be doing this in a video on my new channel all deep real info no lie's i know there will be a lot watching no come back lies
Recordings with MPX and DBX play on Tapedecks there have this Noise Reduction Systems. Dolby B Tapes Play on all Tapedecks there have this Dolby Systems. Dolby C Tapes Play on Tapedecks with Dolby C. The MPX and DBX System is not a Good Noise Reduction Systems. Dolby B Have the Problem the Music play not Clear and have a Pulsating Bass and Cut High Tones, When you Play a Dolby B Tape without Dolby B on a Tapedeck you can Here the Noise in the Background its BAD. Recordings with Dolby C Tapes can Play on all Filters and without Filters. Its the Best Noise Reduction System. Warning Dont use a Screwdriver on a Head on a Tapedeck. When you have not a Oszilloskop. You Kill your Tapes when you Play Tapes in this Tapedecks. The Sides of the Tapes become Damage. I Recording my Tapes on Dolby C and 99,9 % Azimuth all Technics Tapedecks. All Tapes from me works Fine on all other Tapedecks.on the Market. I Friends Like 1:1 Copys from my Tapedecks and Say its 100% Sound from the Source LP/MC/CD. Thx for this Video.
@@PięknoŻyje Yes, but the only difference is that in lower decks it will sound a bit less wide but almost as good. The real difference between (good) decks is in the recording, not the playing
photos.app.goo.gl/ZLmoZDcyMChp9TCUA i think dolby b can't break 14khz barrier no matter how and on what you make the recording, it always removes MOST of hifreq. and that sounds bad. other file (in images) is some torrent author says he made from lp record. that sounds like it should, it actually has hifreq. content. (no-dolby file from here has some hifreq., but it's so "tiny" and accentuated it's rather bad) dolby b is crap that made it's way into cassettes because early tapes/machines were crap and because dolby existed ie timelines of dolby and cassette system match rather well. i think it would be better dolby never existed. esp. dolby b, for better or worse. this way noise was removed as much as hifreq.
Best explanation video on RUclips straight to the point and demonstrated perfectly. Unlike some audio snobs on tapeheads who just bore you to death with oscilloscope readings watching their music instead of actually listening to it.
The tape sounded more full than the spotify version
Tape version sound better indeed, though I hear the dynamics are pumping a bit. But the version on spotify sounds dry and dead in comparison.
mind you the spotify version is the 2003 remaster and is more compressed. the tape version is a little brighter but thiner in the low mids which is to be expected from chrome tape. but cassettes always add that analog bit of lofi sound so that's good!
There are a lot of amazing pre-recorded tapes from the late 80's onward. One thing of note - most pre-recorded tapes were made from hi-res sources. A low end Nakamichi deck from ebay and a little tinkering and you have yourself a fun system to play around with. It's true that there are many amazing sounding tapes out there! The media is fun and interesting.
@@omahahnful For me, they’re just the cheapest way to listen to music in my truck xD. I’m not huge on sound quality, I just like the music lol. I have Spotify, but use tapes more.
That's some really valuable information thank you.
Azimuth is the main thing that affects audio tape playback quality. A quarter turn of the screw can mean the difference between near-cd quality or low quality mp3/AM radio sound.
The assumption that people make about Dolby B losing the highs is a misconception. When you play a Dolby B encoded tape without the Dolby B button engaged, what you’re hearing is the Dolby B encoding not being decoded, which is a compressed signal. You will get artificially boosted high frequencies because Dolby B, while encoding, boosts certain frequencies, then when you engage the Dolby button, it’s in decode mode which brings the high frequencies back to where they originally were but eliminated some of the hiss. I think it was some like 6 to 10 db hiss reduction for Dolby B while Dolby C was basically Dolby B doubled or something or another giving an even better signal to noise ratio with like 20 db reduction.
The problems with muffled highs with Dolby is usefully from misaligned azimuth, but sometimes and especially nowadays since tapes are decades old is that the signal is slowing fading. With that in mind, your best bet is to use what’s call the play trim feature, which sadly isn’t available on all decks, that boosts the signal some BEFORE it hits the Dolby processor, which can help it during the decoding process and help with Dolby tracking. Another thing to note is that not all Dolby circuitry was created equal back then between manufacturers. If azimuth or play trim doesn’t help with Dolby tracking then it most likely means that the tape has reached the end of its lifespan and is just plain worn out or has slowly demagnetized itself, whether from being stored around magnetic objects, weather, etc.
I understand why the frustration with Dolby because I used to HATE it, until I learned to understand it properly and how it works. Now I never go without it. If at the end of the day you like the artificial boost of highs and the added hiss along with it which is also boosted, then have at it, but just know that it’s not being played back as intended.
I used to play almost any kind of cassettes with the Dolby switch on but lamenting how many highs were lost. The azimuth plays a fundamental role indeed. Another thing that kills a good sounding cassette is a magnetized head. What I always hated about those chrome pre-recorded tapes was the pre-echo, especially when I was listening to the tape via earphones.
3:52 when you turned the Azimuth my jaw dropped.
the deck i have i modified it so i can just rotate a knob and you can change the azimuth . makes a big difference
Yup shit sounds amazing.
Aah, thanks! I was waiting for the English version of this video :)
Chrome prerecorded music cassettes were quite good recorded in Dolby HX Pro and Dolby B NR, as they had brighter sound and extended dynamic range which made for pleasant listening.
Tape sounded much better than remastered.
A very interesting and lucid explanation, well done. During the 1970's I recorded my own tapes. Story was that prerecorded tapes used cheaper quality tape, copied at high speed and cassette shell quality sucked. Limiters were used too in the process which dulled the sound a bit. Home taping offered the ability to "ride the gain". I was a TDK/Maxell guy. Tape deck manufactures used to have a suggested brand to use on their decks. I saved a bundle taping friends NEW LP's onto cassette. One of my decks, Yamaha KX-260 has the Play Trim feature and it does help older tapes. Out of the several hundred cassette tapes I have only two are prerecorded. My current favorite cassette deck is my Denon DRM-800A, it's boss. For open reel I have a Teac X-3 purchased in 1982.
Some really swell comments here.
man id kill for that CR-7E. such a nice deck
That was a great video. I wish I had a deck with azimuth and bias controls! I got my first stereo component cassette deck (a Sharp RT-1155) in 1978 so I taped off most of my LP's back then. I didn't have a lot of money living off my parents allowence so I bought a lot of TDK D's. A TDK D with Dolby B could sound better than any pre-recorded tape back then. It wasn't until around 1983 (when that Police cassette was released) that record companies started improving the quality of their tapes with BASF Chrome tape or using digital duplication like Capitol/EMI's XDR.
This is amazing. I can’t believe the last comparison with Spotify. His voice sounds so natural on the tape
Difference is when I turn up a cassette in my car it doesn’t sound like shit and distort or hurt my ears. Always clear as day.
Cd has high notes that can give you a headache and distort badly even at half volume.
but you lose those notes of your music with tape, a better cd player and speakers would not distort anything and you get a full sound...
You never mentioned the fact, even as good as your example sounds, that Musicassettes are duplicated in a very high speed duplication process (reason for the azymuth to be so off?), so from the master that got into the factory to the copies there's a lot of signal lost (there's here somewhere an explanation on how Musicassettes are made, a little like "high-speed dubbing" but much worse). When you record from a good source (vinyl, open reel tape or CD) to a cassette, the quality is much higher than you can get from any Mussicassette. But then you reader might ask -"why I'd bother to record a cassette if I already have the CD/vinyl/etc.?"- well, MIXTAPES!. A Mixtape is a thousand times better than picking songs from CDs anyway. That's how we all did it in the 80s and 90s. Also on a side note, the 2020s equivalent to recording radio to type I tapes to create mixtapes is recording Spotify or RUclips playlists in the high-quality setting to tape. Super fun and highly rewarding. The feeling of powering up the amp and deck, pulling a cassette from the shelf and hitting 'Play' is priceless. 45 minutes of continuous awesome background music for tidying up the house, having lunch, taking care of the kids, reading or lounging browsing in the phone.
The problem of the cassette, is that materials are very sensitive to elongation, light, corrosion... Most regular produced cassettes were after a lot of hours of playing in not so good calibrated machines badly affected. Very few people cleaned headers, had an idea of technical details and qualities of the tapes, etc...
I love your voice, it's so pleasant and relaxing. Super interesting video, thank you, I learned a lot.
This is a good illustration of just how dependent analogue is on everything being set up correctly to sound good. Digital by comparison is far less fussy and will sound quite good even on cheap equipment. Personally, I prefer analogue simply because it requires more involvement from me, but I'm not daft enough to suggest that it is inherently superior to digital. My 30 year old, fully serviced, 3-head, Dolby S, HX Pro cassette deck makes recordings on chrome or metal tape that are essentially indistinguishable from the source, but the same cannot be said of even the best pre-recorded cassettes I've heard.
Cassttes are awesome all they need is a good deck
but everything depends on the recording how good it is
i record on Maxells UR normal position and the recordings are super
now guys you can imaging if tou record a cassette in a studio from the 2Ch master tapes directly to cassette deck for full analog orgasm :-)
Absolutely true. Cassettes can go as far as you go. The better deck you use, the better result you get. and so on...
That's EXCACTLY
This is an excellent demonstration! I’m glad you covered azimuth here, since getting this adjustment right is absolutely critical to getting the higher frequencies off the tape. When you hit play, I could tell right off the bat that azimuth was off, which in my experience is very common with cassettes unless the recoding was made using the same deck you’re playing it on. If you really want to hear the effects of bad azimuth, sum the left and right outputs to mono. The phase cancellation that results will practically hit you in the face.
I think this is why Dolby NR got such a bad reputation among audiophiles. Not only do you have to use it correctly, if the azimuth is just even slightly off, it will really throw Dolby out of wack and cause the “pumping” sound that we’re familiar with.
All that said, I am questioning this Synchronicity tape - specifically the labeling. It claims to be chrome Type II tape, but how come it appears to be missing the notches on the top? All I see is the “write protect” holes, but I don’t see any signaling holes next to those that are supposed to be on a Type II cassette.
Or maybe it is Type II but they used the wrong shell?
They would use chrome tape but have it recorded with 120 uf eq standard meant for type I, which I think does give nice results.
And yes, it was chrome tape in a type I shell.
I have a pioneer 603rs and even if I adjust it right I still can't really get into dolby b and I always use the flex feature which boosts the highs
You deserves more attention! Simply because your videos are short, friendly for newbies and have ton of useful information. I had bad experience of using B NR that was meant to be on pre-recorded 90s tapes (written on cassette shell) on my Pioneer CT676.
It is also was a problem without decision to switch on chrome type tape because there wasn't manual buttons on my deck to chose, cassette shell had tabs out only for normal type without screws. Is it ok to play pre-recorded chrome tape as normal?
Know it’s a year later, but to answer your question, yes it is ok. That was the intended effect was to have the benefits of better formulation, while using the normal 120 uf standard eq.
@@dreadpirateroberts7269 thanks! For the past year I have learned that for older pre-recorded tapes with Dolby B label adviced to switch off noise reduction because of signal degradation on Chrome tapes. There are not so many tape decks that manually can switch type of tape, especially equalization , especially azimuth, so I came across one tape deck that people adviced is really good for all these features for it's price called NAD 6300 that also comes with trim that ads +2 db to high freqs that is must have for pre-recorded tape decks. But the best decision to play pre-recorded tapes adviced Nakamichi 1000 as some tape deck collectors said the best playback on pre-recorded tapes will be the deck where this tape was recorded and on tapeheads forum I found info many factories recorded tapes on Nakamichi 1000 and Tandberg high-end tape deck, probably those that were Chrome B NR 120us labeled. I'm not really sure is this info is accurate, mostly I'm getting pre-recorded tapes recorded in 90s by Disc Makers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ney York, Canada those that helped many indie artists with very good audio quality and remarkable polygraphy of j-cards.
Great video! I have a Nak BX-2 into a NAD 3020i amp.
What I’ve learned is that - like everything - it’s all down to the mastering. My 90’a cassettes (Springsteen/Petty/Pink Floyd/George Michael) sound incredible. A real warmth with a nice definition in the bass, also.
Great comparison, awesome gears too.
Interesting to see that the notches on the pre recorded CrO2 tape tell the deck to play it on the Ferro/normal setting.
The best way to find the azimuth sweet spot is to listen in mono.
That's because The Police tape was part of a brief push by A&M Records where they released Type II pre-recorded tapes biased for Type I tapes. It was an effort to improve the sound quality of pre-recorded tapes.
More people need to see this video, cassettes can sound really good, especially if you make recordings on chrome and metal tapes on a high end or professional tape deck, but remember you also need a high end or professional deck to play back, this does not mean just buy any name brand player because most of them were average and awful
The moment the music started, as I was laid-back... listening through a set of JBL wireless headphones (NC on)... my hands automatically twitched into following the guitar. ;)
Very informative video 😃😃👍🏻!! Nicely done.
Here are few things that can help improve listening vastly.
*If you are playing cassettes with Dolby B/C on , it cuts off some of cassette’s high frequencies, resulting some muffled dull sound. To avoid that , You can use an extra equalizer between deck and amp to improve sound balancing. So you can add some extra high and low end frequencies from the equalizer. I use an equalizer like akai EA-G80(very good) . Have a look for EA-G80 equalizer guys, it is a nice equalizer with wide frequencies spectrum for each band , gives proper understanding about sound levels before you record something on to a cassette or while doing a playback.
**Second method ( as you had shown) is that you have to use a YAMAHA or any other cassette deck which has playback trim ( boosting highs) so you can compensate the high frequency cutoff from Dolby b/c.
I do own a Yamaha deck and having the trim is a great option for playback cassettes with an akai Eq next to it. 😍😍😍👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
**Extra information about pre recorded cassette production back in 90s**
*Most of main master tapes used some kind of noise reduction systems(Dolby/Dbx) to improve SNR so it sounded great.
However, when it comes to mastering to cassette duplication process then they didn’t use Dolby encoding on pre recorded cassettes much. ( according to our country)
What they actually did?
They used Dolby/dbx master tape ‘s playback (output )sounds passed into cassette duplication machine with good bias adjustments...Since the source sounded so great , which resulting duplicated pre recorded cassette sounded much much better although cassette didn’t have Dolby encoding on them.
This why “Dolby system or the Dolby logo” mentioned on the cassette shell without mentioning B or C coz technically master tape used to playback in Dolby, not the pre recorded cassette. So consumers don’t have to worry about Dolby on their car stereo system or hifi systems.
Above method of duplication process , which made pre recorded cassettes sounded very good and preserved higher sound level for type1 pre recorded cassettes in our country ( Sri Lanka 🇱🇰) . I think many countries did same type of process coz sounded great on cheaper tapes.
*one quick note:
If they mentioned “Specifically Dolby B” on pre recorded cassette shell then they had used encoded Dolby B on that pre recorded cassettes so that you have to use dolby b on while playing the cassette back on your deck )
Thanks Sid for your long comment.
Using an EQ to correct the lack of treble is an option, and I have used it, but it will never be like fine tuning Dolby decoding. Correcting with EQ is a patch, while fine tuning Dolby is a direct solution to the real problem.
Regarding what you say about Dolby without mentioning B or C, I don't believe that. MAny tapes in my collection have 'Dolby system' and inside the J-card they state you have to use dolby B to decode it, so they are indeed dolby-encoded.
In some asian countries, probably like yours, there were many bootleg tapes that stated Dolby and even dbx but they weren't encoded at all. It was a fake. But that's the exception, not the rule.
Regards,
TheWalkmanArchive Thanks 👍🏻😉, Keep up the good work mate 🙏🙏👍🏻
Basically, if pre recorded tape used any type of Dolby encoding when it was recording , it does boosts high frequencies a lot (these will be recorded on tape) . So if you are listening to the same tape on a cassette deck without Dolby, you would be hearing extreme amount of tape hiss and very brighter harsh sounding. This can be confirmed by ear or if you had a high end equalizer with spectrum analyzer with LED lights which like to stay on at high frequencies side 8KHz-16KHz)
So as I said earlier, I did not hear any extra tape noise without Dolby or didn’t see any unusual brightening of sound on our local market pre recorded cassettes and they sounded really good with just being normal type 01s.😍😍👍🏻
I do agree that yeah, if cassette j cards mentioned about which Dolby system is used then it is true that they used Dolby encoding on them.
As I said earlier , our markets didn’t use it. Coz main master tape ( analog/digital)source was sounding so good didn’t have to use actual Dolby on pre recorded or record label cassettes. They only mentioned Dolby logo or Dolby system coz of master tape had it.
Cheers 👍🏻👍🏻😉
what an amazing video! Didn't realise just how good Dolby could be! Thanks
Hello!
You can use the Nakamichi NR-200 Dolby B & C encoder/decoder, too.
With this device, plus CR-7 playback azimuth adjust, it is possible to adjust the playback level for the best reprodution of pre-recorded tapes!
You're right. I've used the NR200 too but I prefer the JVC. Anyway, a top deck, an azimuth adjustment and dolby external decoding is unbeatable.
@@TheWalkmanArchive I don't know the JVC decoder. What's the model of it? Is it a Dolby B & C decoder or ANRS?
Now all I need is $3500 for a sweet Nakamichi CR-7 and a proper dolby decoder to compete with a $200 CD player. ;) Kidding aside, this was a really fun video that was right up my alley. Kudos on having all that nice gear! I have a couple Nakamichi BX-150 units (and some other cool decks in the garage). I used to have the BX-300 but sold it during one of my moves. That was a mistake! One tip I have for anyone making digital copies of cassettes - put a Schiit Loki equalizer between your cassette deck and your digital recorder. You can adjust the treble and bass and capture the great sound.
That's the Headtape alignment.
In my opinion the tape sounds better than spotify, it has more treble!
And that's after cutting them down a bit due to Dolby. Not only that. Spotify (premium, BTW) sounds a bit lifeless compared to
@@TheWalkmanArchive Spotify premium is not lossless, anyway. Crappy application.
@@albertocabezas282 Yes, I know. Lossless is Tidal or other alternatives. Anyway I find it a great app, even though it's limited quality.
Saludos desde España
@@TheWalkmanArchive Soon there will be Spotify "Hi-Fi" to be launched in 2021.. They say it features be will higher-quality, lossless audio streams.. Time will tell...
I'm an expert in the cassette field and this stunned me
It's unfortunate more decks don't offer easy azimuth adjustment. That Spotify remastered version sounds so crap lol. Why remaster a song if you're not going to make it sound better?
To make it LOUDER
It will be amazing if you'll add English subtitles (even automatic ones) to your videos because it's something hard to understand what you're saying but besides that - it's amazing video! Although, wonder if it have sense to buy prerecorded type 1 cassettes for example from 90s? Even late 90s? I have some titles that I've been interested in buying but you haven't showed them so I assume you don't recommend buying used type 1 prerecorded tapes? I wonder if it's not better to record those songs onto tapes from wav. (Phone) via 3.5 mm cable. I hope I'll get my answer.
If I know how to add those automatic subtitles I definitely would add them. I know my english is not good but I try my best.
Regarding prerecorded tapes, each one is a different story, and I could not say late 90s are good or bad, I think it must be tested. In my experience, best ones are those from USA, Germany and Japan and worst ones usually are from hard rock bands. Sadly to me (I love hard rock), most are oversaturated and sound bad. Pop, disco, blues usually sound very well.
Sometimes it's better to record the album to get a better result, but using a phone does not look like a good solution to me. I'd go for a decent DAC/sound card in the computer, but definitely from a good vinyl will outperform.
Try again...
I have a Pioneer changer deck that does this azimuth adjustment automatically but in a solid state digital processed sound shaping way. It makes a huge improvement.
What model is that?
@@TheWalkmanArchive Pioneer CT-WM62R
The FLEX system does not adjust azimuth at all, I think you misunderstood it. FLEX stands for Frequency Level EXpander, and it's just a dynamic EQ curve that compensates treble loss automatically. (read from a Pioneer catalogue, btw)
@@TheWalkmanArchive I know what the FLEX system is and know it does not adjust the azimuth. The system is active measuring the sound all the time during a whole tape play and is always making adjustments. You see and hear this between tracks where it becomes quiet. The flex indicator flashes and stays steady once measured. It still makes a difference on tapes that have been recorded with a poor azimuth alignment. It's not like adding a dynamic EQ to the line output. It's slightly different as I hear it when switched on when compared what a dynamic EQ can do.There is some clarity involved in the sound and does not sound over bright in the highs. I also have a Pioneer model that has digital NR with the same FLEX system. There is some very mild artifacts in the quiet passages of music like fade outs from the NR.
@@stvlu733 It's an interesting development, but I don't think I'd buy a deck with it. Specially after reading this: www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=59361
That Police album should have been recorded using 70us equalisation instead of Type I / Ferric 120us ... this would have cut hiss which is already lower on true CrO2 tapes even further, without needing dolby B ...
Dude that chromium version of the Police sounds fucking stellar get out of here lol. At least the version I have. I always have Dolby turned off tho
I mentioned this in another post for this video but I'll mention it here. That tape was part of an effort A&M Record made to improve the sound quality of their cassette tapes. The album was recorded on Type II tape but it was biased for Type I tape, which gave you better sound quality. I had that tape and it did sound very good.
Brilliant video, thank you.
Video eccellente,ottime prove di comparazione,il CR-7,MITICO
Always adjust my Sony double cassette deck for best dubbing those day :)
Another great video. Wow! the cassette tape sounded better than spotify. Dolby sounds like putting the whole mix through a heavy compression setting that causes 'pumping'. not good in any case. Never use it. Once a track starts who cares about a little hiss?
I'm with you. I've never liked the sound after using the Dolby settings. They always sounded muffled to me. I always leave it turned off. Just my personal taste.
@@NeedleDropRules Turns out is bad encoding/decoding. Having a dedicated decoder makes a world of difference. With the integrated encoders/decoders though, I'm a 100% with you.
Thanks for the video! When can we expect more? ^^
Shop; bought tapes can sound so so good on proper period correct equipment, have a listen to a good tape on an optonica 3838 tape deck, it blew my mind
The pre-recording CHROME tape has some delay sound when the music was play finished to the end, but it didn't happen it if you using major brand of blank cassette tape for recording the music
Excellent video.
Please can you do dbx noise reduction demo with type 2 tape? With some rock music and classical with piano.
Have you done any reviews on the Sony Walkman WM-109 on your website? Is it any good?
Thanks for this. The azimuth adjust was very interesting to me tho Dolby sucks the life out of a tape making it sound too clean and CD like.
Dolby C actually brings back some of the highs unlike Dolby B&S 😊
I have a lot of Maxwell ur position iec type l.normal the man that repaired my tape decks said that these tapes can wear out the cassette motors what do you think?
Doesn't sound to bad for an old pre recorded tape. But the spotify version is also the 2003 remaster so there is also going to be some difference there as well. Good upload! 😁
Wow; amazing video
Do you know if adjusting the play trim knob after recording to a blank tape would help keep the treble correct? For example I have a pioneer deck. When I record to tape from vinyl using dolby c, some of the high are of course still lost? Would the play trim knob correct this post recording? Thanks
Pencils at the ready to stick in the holes!!! Sellotape over the gap and away you go!!!! Lol
it depends on one´s cassette deck head azimuth if the same tunning they sound amazing good at least some i have that i was never a fan of pre-recorded cassettes also with time the tapes start to be in bad condition even if the sound seems perfect, if one records cassettes always tried to find good cassettes no matter the type but in late 90´s the only one´s who were good in all senses were Sony and TDK, the maxell UR or UL sold in the 80´s or till mid 80´s are still today in perfect condition ,before i used to record a lot of BASF cassettes but in 1985 i started to notice not a decrease in the quality, not of the tape but it´s casing started to show some problems who are related with the strenght a cassette deck does to roll at perfect speed the cassette, the tape is the same importance of the cassette casing itself not only one factor is important
Nice video!
Hello my question is can I re record on a already used tape and have a good quality
what kinda language do you speak ?? i don not understand a thing though..
9:00 when all else fails, transform your data set!
short answer, yes
Stay away from those old EMI cassettes (crappy tan colour) as they did not age well. Most are DOA even the ones still wrapped in original plastic.
DO YOU KNOW ÍF THE TAPE IS ALREADY RECORDED. WHEN THE TAPE IS PUTTED IN THE CASSETTE ?.
Dolby cuts off the aftersound so unpleasantly
They actually sound awesome compared to the New Pre Recorded tapes, the Tape Quality of New Cassettes is terrible
FOR BEST SOUND. CLEAN THE HEADS. CAPSTAN AS. AND RUBBER ROLLER. BY EVERY RECORDING. AND DEGMATISEER THE HEADS TO. TIME AFTHER TIME
I did not believe that cassette sounded better than the Spotify version, now cassette has my respect. Thanks for sharing!
It just sounds more natural.
New cassettes sound terrible, why?
Play trim is only a TONE control . the Dragon is best with no screwdriver .
I never use Dolby or any other compression .
HX PRO is the one that has a usefull affect on most decks , it taks nothing away .
Not sure what is your point with that comment. But I'll reply you:
1- PlayTrim is NOT a tone control. Read Yamaha documentation and learn.
2- WTF??
3- Whatever is fine for you. But Dolby is NOT a compression.
HX-Pro is NOT a noise reduction system. Read tech documentation and learn.
@@TheWalkmanArchive The YAMAHA dose not move the head like the Dragon dose I see here . the head needs to move for the real affect .
I have 2 YAMAHA decks here .
I use another deck & line the heads to another older set of tapes or else its a mess.
HX PRO ? I know its not , its the opposite it helps the tape to breath un like Dolby .
Sorry about the delay , I have no internet at home now so I have to use public ones now .
@@shaun9107 I don't understand what's your point. You came to only criticize but you fail to understand what those systems do.
Not only my and your Yamaha DO move the head to adjust the azimuth when you rotate the azimuth screw. EVERY single deck does.
HX-Pro is a system that dynamically adjust the bias in real time during recording, to improve headroom and lower the treble distortion. Hence the "Headroom eXtension". It does nothing to the noise of the tape, nor breath or pumping or anything related to noise.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_noise-reduction_system#Dolby_HX_Pro
Please stop bothering with silly questions. If you have anything interesting to say, or a helpful critizism, please tell; otherwise stop.
@@TheWalkmanArchive there was no questions but never mind .
@@shaun9107 *there were, *useful, *effect, *does
👍👍👍
hi cassette i had them as well never had one's with music on as i was a reel to reel man in the 80's
CASSETTE'S pre recorded are bad new's i will be doing this in a video on my new channel all deep real info no lie's
i know there will be a lot watching no come back lies
Recordings with MPX and DBX play on Tapedecks there have this Noise Reduction Systems. Dolby B Tapes Play on all Tapedecks there have this Dolby Systems. Dolby C Tapes Play on Tapedecks with Dolby C. The MPX and DBX System is not a Good Noise Reduction Systems. Dolby B Have the Problem the Music play not Clear and have a Pulsating Bass and Cut High Tones, When you Play a Dolby B Tape without Dolby B on a Tapedeck you can Here the Noise in the Background its BAD. Recordings with Dolby C Tapes can Play on all Filters and without Filters. Its the Best Noise Reduction System. Warning Dont use a Screwdriver on a Head on a Tapedeck. When you have not a Oszilloskop. You Kill your Tapes when you Play Tapes in this Tapedecks. The Sides of the Tapes become Damage. I Recording my Tapes on Dolby C and 99,9 % Azimuth all Technics Tapedecks. All Tapes from me works Fine on all other Tapedecks.on the Market. I Friends Like 1:1 Copys from my Tapedecks and Say its 100% Sound from the Source LP/MC/CD. Thx for this Video.
Not on a nakimichi deck
what?
TheWalkmanArchive
He’s saying that a Nakamichi deck can always make a cassette sound good.
While not everybody has one
@@MitchellHang Ah, ok. Well, that's not true, there are other decks that also sound as good as on Naks.
@@PięknoŻyje Yes, but the only difference is that in lower decks it will sound a bit less wide but almost as good. The real difference between (good) decks is in the recording, not the playing
photos.app.goo.gl/ZLmoZDcyMChp9TCUA
i think dolby b can't break 14khz barrier no matter how and on what you make the recording, it always removes MOST of hifreq.
and that sounds bad.
other file (in images) is some torrent author says he made from lp record. that sounds like it should, it actually has hifreq. content.
(no-dolby file from here has some hifreq., but it's so "tiny" and accentuated it's rather bad)
dolby b is crap that made it's way into cassettes because early tapes/machines were crap and because dolby existed ie timelines of dolby and cassette system match rather well.
i think it would be better dolby never existed. esp. dolby b, for better or worse.
this way noise was removed as much as hifreq.
Find a native English speaker to translate the video's title.
could you be more specific?
"Do Music Cassettes Sound So Bad?" should be your title.
@@Bungle Aha, thanks. Or should it be 'pre-recorded cassettes'?
Excellent title!
@@Bungle "Musicassette" is actually the correct name for the format.