Will Magnetic Tape Eventually Go Full Circle

I was born in 1959. I have seen many technologies go full circle. In the late 1960s/early 1970s, tubes were pretty much pronounced dead. In the mid 1980s turntables were a thing of the past. Reel to reel tape was replaced by cassettes.

In pro sound, acoustic pianos were replaced by electric pianos. Hammond organs became too "big and bulky" and could be purchased for less than a thousand dollars or, were literally given away. Synthesizers took the place of Rhodes and Hohner pianos promising "one keyboard can do it all". Studer and Wollensack "consoles" were replaced by 64 track digital mixdown boards.

Now? Tube amps are some of the most highly sought after amongst audiophiles. There are now more manufacturers of turntables, tonarms, cartridges and analog "tweaks" than ever before.

Hammond organs in fully restored condition are selling in excess of $10,000. The most respected Rhodes pianos are the 1966 tube amp models now selling for $2500+. And, both Hammonds and Rhodes pianos are in extremely high demand and highly sought after. Hell, even Steely Dan recorded their latest release insisting on analog tape, and they had to search high and low to find studios still skilled and capable of using such technology.

Will tape eventually find it's way back? Don't laugh. If I told some of you older audiophiles back in the mid 1980s that by the year 2000 turntables would experience a major regain in popularity, would you had believed me?

Let's consider a few things: You can record ANY two channel format onto magnetic tape, analog or digital. Copy protection? Would become an irrelevant point. Near the tail end of cassette recorders being produced, some extremely impressive machines were available. 65db dynamic range, 20hz-20,000hz frequency reponses, Dolby B,C,DBX, and HX (headroom expansion) noise reduction systems were regularly installed on the higher end recorders. Signal to noise ratios were far superior to ANY analog rig.

My last cassette recorder, a Sony ES TC-K870 (which I still own), would actually calibrate, bias and EQ, (automatically!) to any tape being used on that particular recording. It even had "CD direct" inputs and would make tapes almost indistinguishable from the original recordings.

And the funny part about all this? "Music piracy" was unheard of back then. Music companies focused no efforts on "copyright protection", because then, it was not an issue.

O.K. So tapes only lasted about 10, 15, 20 years before sonic degradation set in. That would be about the only fallshort I could think of. Cassettes were small, at least smaller than a CD. They played in portable players, car players and home systems. Blank cassettes, even the best (remember TDK "MARs" with their "aluminum laboratory reference tape mechanisms") were very inexpensive to purchase.

Is this whole thread THAT far fetched? Will music companies eventually find ways to incorporate copy protection onto LPs also?(shudder) Is Buscis2 off on another crazy ass rant?

In 2010 will we all be raving over the latest Tascam 3 head, dual capstan, auto reversing, outboard power supply, self calibrating cassette machines? Stranger things have happened.

What are your views?