MiniDisc, DAT.
Favorite obsolete formats.....
What are your favorite of these? I’m unsure if any stations broadcast in AM stereo nowadays. 8 track, Mini-disk, Cassette, VHS, CED, Beta, DAT, Reel to Reel, Am Stereo, Laserdisc, Quadraphonic, Dolby FM. Surely many formats have been overlooked.
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I forget the name. Tin cans and string. That one. No, wait! Smoke signals! Man I miss that one. Remember, the indians with the blanket? You just knew the settlers were in trouble. Oh! Oh! Never mind- beacons! Yeah! https://youtu.be/QhRFaY8A9cA?t=48 |
Whenever I think of 8 track I remember the rolls of tape used to splice them back together. But it was the first tape format to be in cars and I love driving with music playing. As far as tin can and string, that may be an upgrade in communication today, since no one under 40 can talk on a phone today but text instead. You know, kinda like the ancients who scrawled messages on cave walls.. Smoke signals have been modified today. No blankets necessary. Just set a city block on fire if you don't like things and don't get your way. Or if you win a league championship you set a building on fire. You tell the difference between joy and sadness by the size of the smoke. Little means fun. Big means run |
MiniDisc and Hi-MD. My dislike of certain magazine reviewers reached near pathological levels as I used to read one disparaging review after the next. It was that word 'lossy' that they all, to a man, latched onto. Yet I would bet that not a single one of them paid profiteering prejudiced shills could unsightedly distinguish between a MD recording and the CD/vinyl/ hi-res original. As a result of their unceasing negative propaganda we lost a wonderfully versatile recording / compilation medium. Instead of serving their readers many of these goons continually seek to exploit them. Worst of the current bunch? Darko and What Hi-Fi are the two that immediately spring to mind. Sorry, I got just a bit triggered there, but it still needs saying and repeating. |
cd3181 MiniDisc and Hi-MD. My dislike of certain magazine reviewers reached near pathological levels as I used to read one disparaging review after the next. It was that word ’lossy’ ... As a result of their unceasing negative propaganda we lost a wonderfully versatile recording / compilation medium.It’s not likely that a few online reviewers were responsible for the market failure of MD. It’s much more likely that the market was simply evolving beyond lossy formats, especially for recording. I think MQA’s future is also uncertain, and for much the same reason. |
"It’s not likely that a few online reviewers were responsible for the market failure of MD. It’s much more likely that the market was simply evolving beyond lossy formats, especially for recording." It was not because of "lossy". It was because of "physical". It was just about the time when mp3 and similar ideas sprung up. Of formats that never properly caught on, DCC (digital compact cassette). So archaic before it ever started. Decent sound, though. I could not decide between them so now I have DCC and Mini Disc. |
I love 45s first when that's all I could afford as a kid. Then 33s was worth saving for in my teens. Then cassettes were great in my working twenties. Nothing like listening to little feat live on my equalizer setup in my Ford Maverick while out for lunch with a quart of beer with my working buddies. Then back to collecting LPs in Boulder where my buddy Joe owned a record store and the rest is history... It was all great. |
My first music purchases were 7" 45 RPM singles. That format was what teenagers for the most part bought in the early-60’s. Most albums at that time were a hit song and a bunch of filler. The exception to that rule were the albums by The Ventures (and other instrumental---mostly Surf---bands), The Beach Boys, and Paul Revere & The Raisers. At least that was true in my Northern California San Jose-suburb of Cupertino. Of course, the British Invasion changed that, and we for the most part stopped buying singles, the album now being much more than a hit song and filler. I discovered Goldmine Record Collector’s magazine in late-’76, and learned that there had been a number of non-LP songs that were issued only on the "B" sides of singles. The 7" 45 RPM format became quite collectible in the late-70’s, especially in the genres of Punk, New Wave, and Power Pop. Singles with picture sleeves became commonplace, and added to the fun of collecting. The first 45 I bought specifically for the "B" side was The Band’s "Ain’t Got No Home". "Get Up Jake" was recorded during the sessions for what became their second, self titled "brown" album, but was not included on it, remaining unreleased until it was stuck on the aforementioned single from the Moondog Matinee album. Another very collectible single was a mis-pressing of Dylan’s "Positively 4th Street". Instead of that song appearing on the "A" side, in it’s place was an outtake of "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window". The outtake version is a different recording than the one later released as an "A" side, and remained unavailable anywhere else until the CD reissue craze of the 1990’s. I have a collection of somewhere around 750 singles, but playing them is a pita. It’s like eating a meal that took you two hours to cook in five minutes! |
8 Track tapes - flimsy construction but 1/4 inch tapes running at 3 3/4 ips sounded pretty good in my 69 Chevy Malibu. After that, TDK premium cassettes playing my homemade compilations sourced by my Dual 1215 turntable and Shure (?) cartridge and recorded on one of the first Nakamichi 1000 cassette decks with Dolby. Played on my then home system - Kenwood 5150 Receiver through KLH 17 speakers connected with zipcord - and in my cars with a Sony cassette player hooked into the cars' stereo systems and transferable between the two cars. One vehicle was a 1972 VW bus so I wore Beyerdynamic headphones (which I hooked up to the player myself) to drown out the engine and road noise. Wonderful memories as I played Pink Floyd's The Wall as I crossed the Golden Gate bridge every morning on my way to work or Moody Blues as I drove through the Jasper Provincial park in the VW when snowing in September. |
Worst of the current bunch? Darko and What Hi-Fi are the two that immediately spring to mind. Yep, Darko seems to be more concerned about appearing cool & hip. Reviewing equipment playing mainly electronic music...yeah, whatever. There are plenty of bands releasing albums on cassette & a few synth wave artists releasing albums on mini disc. |
Anyone remember this ball of fire? https://www.cassettedeck.org/bic/t-1 Or this one! https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/555840/highway-hi-fi-chrysler-car-record-player |
You guys beat me to the punch with Elcaset. I do remember listening to a really fabulous system (1980ish?) that had an Elcaset, it was actually excellent for the time. If memory serves it ran at double cassette speed, which would have been 3.25 ips. Can't say I miss it, but it really knocked me back at the time. Regards, barts |
Aside from the clumsy storage size; I miss Laser Disks. Mostly because after inserting them; they would just play. Minimal amount of superfluous warnings and ads. It’s frustrating when playing children’s DVD’s to have keep pressing buttons or be subjected to endless advertisements, year after year, for discs you’ve already purchased. It was also nice to be able to read librettos and linear notes without eye strain. |
In my hi-fi retail days I worked at Pacific Stereo, here in Southern California. That was from 1976 to 1982. I sold some L-Cassette decks and also some of those BIC T-1 decks, mentioned above. Both sounded remarkably good, for the day. I also watched them disappear from the market, and rather quickly. It's rather interesting to see how recorded music has evolved and gone from cylinders and early 78 RPM records, to early R2R, to 4-track and 8-track (nobody mentioned 4-track above), to high quality vinyl, to CD, to DAT, etc., and of course to i-Tunes and the such of compressed MP3 formats. And now, vinyl still seems to hold the attention of being the best in high end high-fidelity music playback. Though R2R is still king in the department of analog playback. And for the present we have added in streaming music. It can be very good, providing a high quality DAC. In my world, for the car I presently use CD and SXM. For the home I am strictly analog, with vinyl. I do plan on adding a streamer, a quality CD unit and DAC next year. Though I will likely maintain my analog preference, adding a digital front end to my system is probably a good idea for exploring more music and to enjoy my CD collection in the home. |
