francini@argus.DEC (This Space Available for Rent or Lease) (08/24/85)
> Other warnings about the Alpine decks: one person reported that >his Alpine 7263 would not play about 1/3 of his pre-recorded tapes, >but played home-made tapes (i.e. Maxells, TDKs) with no problem. Another >person liked the Alpine decks, but has had three stolen from his car, >which has deterred him from buying Alpine since. Outside of some of the classical labels that take pains and time to make a good product, most commercial labels make cassettes using the cheapest materials they can lay their hands on. A couple of years ago, a friend gave me a copy of Alan Parsons' "Eye in the Sky" on cassette. I already owned an LP of the album, so I decided to do a little test. I made a copy of the album onto a TDK SA-90 using Dolby B noise reduction. (The prerecorded cassette also has Dolby B.) The TDK copy won hands down. The prerecorded tape had many defects: hiss, lack of high frequency response, poor dynamic range, and a low signal level. While I am aware that some companies are attempting to improve the quality of their prerecorded products, the vast majority of popular music cassettes these days are still made with little eye to quality. I refuse to buy prerecorded cassettes, preferring to buy either the CD or the LP of a work and copy it to cassette. Nobody asked... just my opinion. John Francini ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-argus!francini "You can't paint that lake -- that's MY lake!"
tommie@psivax.UUCP (Tom Levin) (08/29/85)
In article <140@decwrl.UUCP> francini@argus.DEC (This Space Available for Rent or Lease) writes: >While I am aware that some companies are attempting to improve the quality >of their prerecorded products, the vast majority of popular music cassettes >these days are still made with little eye to quality. I refuse to buy >prerecorded cassettes, preferring to buy either the CD or the LP of a work >and copy it to cassette. Most commercial cassettes are recorded at many times the speed of the master. Thus, you get a crappy sounding recording. A company called "MOBILE FIDELITY" makes 1/2 speed mastered records AND cassettes! Try one of their cassetes and you might be amazed! (I think they cost about $9.00). -- __________________________________________________________________ Tom Levin (Captain Fiduciary) {ttidca|sdcrdcf|logico|scgvaxd|bellcore}!psivax!tommie
mnw@trwrba.UUCP (Michael N. Washington) (09/13/85)
In article <140@decwrl.UUCP> francini@argus.DEC (This Space Available for Rent or Lease) writes: > >Outside of some of the classical labels that take pains and time to make a >good product, most commercial labels make cassettes using the cheapest >materials they can lay their hands on. A couple of years ago, a friend >gave me a copy of Alan Parsons' "Eye in the Sky" on cassette. I already >owned an LP of the album, so I decided to do a little test. I made a copy >of the album onto a TDK SA-90 using Dolby B noise reduction. (The >prerecorded cassette also has Dolby B.) The TDK copy won hands down. >The prerecorded tape had many defects: hiss, lack of high frequency >response, poor dynamic range, and a low signal level. > >While I am aware that some companies are attempting to improve the quality >of their prerecorded products, the vast majority of popular music cassettes >these days are still made with little eye to quality. I refuse to buy >prerecorded cassettes, preferring to buy either the CD or the LP of a work >and copy it to cassette. > >Nobody asked... just my opinion. > >John Francini > >...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-argus!francini > >"You can't paint that lake -- that's MY lake!" I also refuse to buy prerecorded cassettes also. I also either buy the CD or the album and record it on a cassette myself. From all of the prerecorded tapes that I have listened to, they just do not sound very good to me. I do not have super expensive equipment, but adequate and I can tell the difference between a prerecorded cassette and one recorded bye someone else. With the introduction of the CD, I do not think most companies will spend any more money to improve prerecorded cassettes. CD's will probably be the way of the future. I just hope that the companies do not get careless with the production of their CD's. Michael N. Washington TRW E & DS One Space Park, Redondo Beach, Calif. 90278 trwrb!trwrba!mnw
knf@druxo.UUCP (FricklasK) (09/18/85)
>>...ke cassettes using the cheapest >>materials they can lay their hands on. A couple of years ago, a friend >>gave me a copy of Alan Parsons' "Eye in the Sky" on cassette. I already >>owned an LP of the album, so I decided to do a little test. I made a copy >>of the album onto a TDK SA-90 using Dolby B noise reduction. (The >>prerecorded cassette also has Dolby B.) The TDK copy won hands down. >>The prerecorded tape had many defects: hiss, lack of high frequency >>response, poor dynamic range, and a low signal level. >> >>While I am aware that some companies are attempting to improve the quality >>of their prerecorded products, the vast majority of popular music cassettes >>prerecorded cassettes, preferring to buy either the CD or the LP of a work >>and copy it to cassette. >I also refuse to buy prerecorded cassettes also. I also either buy the CD >or the album and record it on a cassette myself. From all of the prerecorded >tapes that I have listened to, they just do not sound very good to me. I do >not have super expensive equipment, but adequate and I can tell the difference >between a prerecorded cassette and one recorded bye someone else. With the >introduction of the CD, I do not think most companies will spend any more >money to improve prerecorded cassettes. CD's will probably be the way of the >future. I just hope that the companies do not get careless with the production >of their CD's. > Two comments: first of all, the best prerecorded cassette I have ever heard is the Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms." Is recorded Dolby B/HX Pro and sounds great. Second, some companies are ALREADY careless- listen to "Crime of the Century" (I'm not sure what label) for example. It is fairly quiet, but doesn't even come close to the sound of the album ,especially not the MoFi's. '`'`' Ken '`'`'