Hi gang -

Just thought i'd throw out a recent experience to the community, in case anyone else has old unused media lying around. I recently came across a small stash (maybe 40-50 tapes) of old, 90s-era, unused audiocassettes in a closet somewhere. Before pitching them (who uses tapes anymore?), i decided to check eBay to see if any of my sorts of tapes had been sold recently. Much to my surprise, not only were they selling, but they were getting decent $$. A couple weeks later, i've sold all the tapes and made a small but tidy sum for my minimal efforts. Yes, PayPal and eBay take their pound of flesh for each transaction, but i went from worrying about how to recycle old tapes to making some bread! It helps when you have amazon boxes around to re-use for shipping! For whatever it matters, all packages shipped within the ConUS, at media mail rates (eBay/PayPal make buying market-rate postage simple), and it seems that many tapes are ultimately shipped to Ukraine/Russia. Who knew?

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

Hipsters...

Interesting. I think I have some still shrink-wrapped 10 packs of type II 90 minute tapes.

I've got some of those taking up space here.

I hadn't thought of the Media Mail deal either. Hmmmmmm.

FYI, blank tapes would not qualify for media mail rates. The regulations do permit sound recordings, so tapes that have been used/recorded to and would be recorded over by the buyer are ok, but blank tapes cannot go at media mail rates.

Gee, think they want my early Bowie cassettes?

Or the old shoebox full of eclectic mixtapes made by my eclectic friends? Hey, Ukrainian hipsters, they're one-of-a-kind!

did you say Ukrainian hipsters?

Probably the Flower Pot Guy. He'll look good adding blank cassettes to his pile of junk.

I've always lusted after a super high end reel to reel tape deck.

This bugs me. I put all my in the hall for scavenging 2 or 3 years ago. Somebody took 'em.

Quote
Catzilla
Hipsters...

Yep. I've got a few friends in bands in Portland OR who only release their music on cassette.
Hipsters.

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freeradical
I've always lusted after a super high end reel to reel tape deck.

eBay has a ton of 'em . . . [www.ebay.com]

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Bill
Flagler Beach, FL 32136

Carpe Vino!

Fermentation may have been a greater discovery than fire.
— David Rains Wallace

Hmph. I tossed a ton of old cassettes when we moved last summer. Don't think any of them were still 'brand-new,' though.

Ah, the days of buying SA-90's or XL-IIS cassettes by the case. How I miss Wisconsin Discount Stereo...

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Will Collier
Hmph. I tossed a ton of old cassettes when we moved last summer. Don't think any of them were still 'brand-new,' though.

Ah, the days of buying SA-90's or XL-IIS cassettes by the case. How I miss Wisconsin Discount Stereo...

+1, the WDS catalog was very dangerous for my wallet.

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FYI, blank tapes would not qualify for media mail rates.

This.


[ithe WDS catalog was very dangerous for my wallet..[/i]

Same here.


I always wanted one of these:




or this:




or even one of these:


All I got was:



As it turned out, I was ok with that.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

hmm. a cassette single "cassingle" of Metallica's ONE sold for over $10, plus shipping.

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decay probably already knows this ... but there are bands (and entire labels) that only release on cassette today.

There was an article I read last week or the week before, that old media is coming back with a vengeance. Sell Sell Sell! The article talked about sound quality of the cassettes and LP records people wanted to hear again.

Releasing something only on cassettes is kind of bogus.

IIRC, there was no noise reduction used on pre-recorded cassettes, and they eventually s-t-r-e-c-h-e-d.

Of course a copy of a cassette is monumentally awful with respect to the s/n ratio.

Quote
RAMd®d
FYI, blank tapes would not qualify for media mail rates.

This.


[ithe WDS catalog was very dangerous for my wallet..[/i]

Same here.


I always wanted one of these:




or this:




or even one of these:


All I got was:



As it turned out, I was ok with that.

I owned a TEAC 3340s. I made a few demo tapes with it, and then sold it for more than what I paid to a musician who was getting serious.
Those AKAIs were pretty good, in fact the heads were great, but _very_ prone to mechanical damage.
I worked on a few of those Revox'; like Tandberg, they were finicky and not as well made as they could be. The Ampex AX300 was a solid yet delicate deck. The heads weren't long lasting, and replacing all six was not only expensive, but a bear to align correctly.
My favorite for sheer geekery was the Dokorder 1040. A product of Denki Onkyo, it was a 4 channel recorder that rolled around on its own stand, and had provisions for adding all sorts of Gizmos.

To remember just how fun, (And just how expensive...), home recording was in 1976, this is a fun site:

[reel2reeltexas.com]

Eustace

I used to use two Sony RtoRs, bouncing tracks was a real pain. I eventually started using one as an echo unit ala Ritchie Blackmore. Later on, I had an amp with line in/out so I used both Sonys as a lo-fi version of Frippertronics.

The last 4-track I bought, a Yamaha MT-3X sounded pretty good, especially when I used an external mixer and good mics. Bought several blank type II tapes when local stores blew them out. I still have it, sometimes I drag it out just to see if it still works.

Plus the usual eclectic mix tapes.

I hear what you are saying.....!

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_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2013 08:38AM by NewtonMP2100.

Quote
freeradical
Releasing something only on cassettes is kind of bogus.

IIRC, there was no noise reduction used on pre-recorded cassettes, and they eventually s-t-r-e-c-h-e-d.

Of course a copy of a cassette is monumentally awful with respect to the s/n ratio.

Lots of recording studios licensed Dolby B reduction, and used it on released audio cassettes. Just look for the logo.