Topic: Zero bit recording

[goodcooker]

I know the title of this thread is goofy but with all the talk of 32 bit and all of it's cures for our ills (which is perfectly true in our use case and being able to set and forget) I find myself heading in the opposite direction. I recently got a Nakamichi 500 cassette deck at Goodwill. I got it home and gave it a thorough cleaning and it turns out that all of the functions work as they should. This deck has all the same features as the 550 (employed by Mike the Mic and many others) the only difference is that it is AC power only.

3 mic inputs - left, right and blend (center) on TRS jacks
stereo line inputs and outputs
VU meters (that have extended range compared to most consumer decks at the time -40 to +5)
limiter
Dolby
faders for all inputs and the summed output plus a headphone socket

The plan is to use a set of the Nak 300 mics which a taper in MN was nice enough to sell me for a fair price straight into the mic pres on the unit and record the Blues Traveler - Big Head Todd double bill in a few weeks at my home base outdoor venue. I'm friendly with the stage manager FOH and light guys so I can make arrangements for them to bring in my stuff ahead of time to skip drama at the door.

Kinda looking forward to using media that spins again! Got a NOS 5 pack of Maxell XLii 90s 

[beatkilla]

That’s awesome….cant wait to hear it!

[Gutbucket]

Sweet!  I can almost smell those XLII's.

Savor the build up of internal drama in anticipation of the retro tape flip!

[grawk]

If I had a reliable source of good cassettes I’d consider running a pmd-430 again. I pulled some heat on that deck back in the day.

[goodcooker]

Sweet!  I can almost smell those XLII's.

Savor the build up of internal drama in anticipation of the retro tape flip!

I am weirdly anxious about this already and the show is three weeks away.
I might do the tape 1 side A + tape 2 side A for band 1 and side B for band 2. That way you don't have to furiously rewind and restart tape 1 side B you swap instead of flip. Rewind side B at set break if needed.

But yeah, I'm going to be nervous about it and my GF will find no end of poking fun at me for it. Running the A10 off the line out as a backup/patch source in case I run out of tape or screw up.

If I had a reliable source of good cassettes I’d consider running a pmd-430 again. I pulled some heat on that deck back in the day.

I buy used once cassettes at the local record store for $1 each for fooling around with. For NOS there's always ebay and Reverb if you don't mind paying $4-5 each. I bought the 5 pack of Maxells for $18 and $5 shipping.

[detroit lightning]

love this.

As someone who started taping in '02, and trading "tapes" a few years earlier...I missed the analog era. Part of me immediately thinks like "well how do you back things up...what about degradation...etc." and the other part of me is like "fuck it, just listen to the tapes...it'll be fine, and someday they'll disintegrate" (though that would take a lot of listening).

Of course you can always just back it up digitally.

Anyway, big into the idea of a more analog lifestyle...

[Gil]

Wait, you're telling me there's a market for recorded-once cassettes? I've got about 80 assorted 90-100 minute high bias tapes (mostly XLIIs, some SAs, XLIISs, etc.) I would love to get the eff out of my closet.

[EmRR]

Yes there’s a market!

[goodcooker]

Wait, you're telling me there's a market for recorded-once cassettes? I've got about 80 assorted 90-100 minute high bias tapes (mostly XLIIs, some SAs, XLIISs, etc.) I would love to get the eff out of my closet.

For sure. Cassettes have had a resurgence in popularity and with the scarcity of New Old Stock people are using used once high bias tapes like Maxell XLii instead. Call down to your local independent record store first and see if they are interested in a bulk buy. If not Reverb or ebay.

[Chanher]

I find this very appealing and I really can’t explain why. The first live recording I ever made was on a cassette deck. I was 16 and my parents hired my friends band to play their Millenium New Years Eve party. The day of the party I saw that our living room cassette deck had a 1/4 input, so I borrowed an old crappy mic (probably Radio Shack) from my friend and hung it from the ceiling fan that was over and in front of the band (unbeknownst to me as the sweet spot). 1st and only live analog recording I ever made as I got a minidisc recorder a little later on. Still have the master!

I’ve been listening to a bunch of Mike Millard recordings and one of my first thoughts was how much time and energy we spend discussing, studying, criticizing, and even arguing about these (increasingly) complicated (and potentially excessive) modern digital formats. And here’s Mike almost 50 years ago, using only 2 (1970’s) condensor microphones and a cassette recorder, making some smokin recordings by GETTING IN THE RIGHT SPOT IN THE VENUE. Inspiration and a lesson in there for all of us.

[Ozpeter]

I started in the days of negative bit recordings.  My first portable recorder made by EMI had valves and a 7 minute battery life.  Anyway, when I finally stopped using cassettes for any kind of recording purpose, I had quite a pile of wrapped new cassettes left over which are still stored away here.  Sell now, or wait till they become even more in demand?  I guess I will refer to them specifically in my will.  Meanwhile however I still have a two track and a four track cassette decks set up in my permanent transcription-to-digital rack.  And one day I will start the task!

[AbbyTaper]

Great fun!  I used to record frequently in a club in Vancouver where I had full access to the soundboard, power, etc.  I always wanted to take a reel to reel deck there to record, but sadly never did.

[ero3030]

Low-fi is still low-fi.

[grawk]

Low-fi is still low-fi.

Say you've never heard a good cassette rig without saying you've never heard a good cassette rig.

[unidentified]

I made a lot of great recordings with my great little cassette rig in the 1980s. That said, I so wish I had the gear I have now to record many of the shows I saw then.  If nothing else (and there are a lot of reasons why), I no longer have to live through shows on a 45 minute cycle of wondering if the tape will run out at the wrong moment and then stealthily swap and stow cassettes in the dark.