[net.audio] cassette quality

brent@itm.UUCP (01/18/84)

    Since I used to be the director of the third largest cassette
duplication house in Atlanta, may I respond to the question of
cassette tape quality? (rhetorical question?)  Pre-recorded music
tapes are now selling in quantities almost equal to LPs.  This
is brought about largely by the Sony Walkman and its clones.  When
you take into account the volume of spoken word (non-musical) cassettes
produced, the volume is larger than LPs.
    As with LPs, the quality of the product is determined by the
quality of the materials, the type of production machinery, and
most importantly, by the care of the engineer in charge.  Tapes may
either be recorded after the tape is in the shell (in-cassette) or
before it is wound in (pancake duplication).  I'll relate one test
I tried of in-cassette machines we used.  I used good quality ferric
oxide tape (Agfa PE611) and recorded in real time from a reel-to-reel
master tape played on an Ampex 700 onto a cassette in a Nak 480.  I then
recorded the same program material reel to cassette at high speed
(cassette tape going 20ips) on our Infonics duplicators.  I then
played the two tapes back on the Nak.  The test was double-blind.  I
had the tapes marked on the back as to which was which.  The result:
I could hear some differences, but couldn't tell which was which.
With good material and care, high-speed duplicated tapes can't be
distinguished from real-time tapes even in exacting environments.
    There is one short-run duplicator I know of on the West Coast
who has a showroom full of Teac cassette decks.  He advertises
real-time duplication.  As soon as the customer is out of sight, he
takes the tape into the back room where he runs them at high speed
on the Infonics machines.  The room full of Teacs is pure eyewash.
No one is any the wiser.
    If there is any interest, I could post articles on the nuts
and bolts of the cassette industry: equipment, materials, volume,
costs, etc.  Let me know.

    Happy Listening,

            Brent Laminack   (akgua!itm!brent)