Boom boom boom, come back to my room....Cassette Archaeology!

From HiFi Review 1980

 

From the same issue, Metal Tapes were getting hot around that time. Digital, super expensive, two-speed decks? Maybe.......

 

Hey people are reading this thread! Close to 15,000 views. I'm starting to see many more YouTube Videos on simlar subjects, feel free to plug our forum YouTubers!

 

I found a newer cool Japanese Website mostly geared towards R2R tape but there's some great manufacturer historical information on here.
English https://sairyu--dou-com.translate.g...tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc&_x_tr_sch=http
Original https://sairyu-dou.com/manufacturerlink.html

 

3M Metafine IV and hall effect tape heads from 1977 Audio Magazine

 

So I found this interesting article on ARS Technica https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/06/elcaset-large-cassettes/ It's about Elcaset (cuz one of the members just posted his portable Elcaset Player).

Unfortunately, Elcaset's arrival in 1976 coincided with the year that sales of several other innovations took off. One of these was the chromium oxide (CrO2) cassette, which, while not quite matching the finesse of the Elcaset, did greatly improve cassette sound and could crucially be used in any existing cassette player. The CrO2 cassette cost 40 percent more than a normal tape, but for the audiophile or the discerning pop fan, there was now a premium recording-cassette that didn’t require a whole new deck. The leading tape manufacturer, Sansui, eventually started to make Elcaset tapes after Sony belatedly brought out a chrome tape of its own for the new decks. But this was already too late.

Was Sansui the leading tape manufacturer? I didn't know they made tape, if you asked me I'd say Maxell, TDK or Sony were the big ones. Anybody know or have you seen a Sansui Branded Cassette Tape?

 

Sounds a little scratchy to me????

 

Audio 1973

 

From Electronics Australia 1971, the equipment looks very home-brewed.

 

My buddy in Tokyo sent me these photos of the TDK Museum

TDK was founded by Kenzo Saito on December 7, 1935, in Hirasawa-machi, Yuri-gun, Akita Prefecture (now Nikaho City) with the purpose of commercializing ferrite, a magnetic material that had been invented in Japan. TDK started off by building many production sites in Akita Prefecture, but today it has grown into a global enterprise with about 100 production sites and group companies in around 30 countries throughout the world.

Opened in 2005 in commemoration of TDK’s 70th anniversary, the TDK History Museum introduced the history of monozukuri craftsmanship at TDK. On the occasion of our 80th anniversary, the museum has undergone a complete renewal and a change of name to the TDK Museum so as to focus on the future as well as the past.

Through videos and practical demonstrations, the museum introduces how TDK’s products and technologies, centered on our strength in ferrite and “magnetism”, have played a role in the evolution of society and how TDK will be involved in the coming future society in an easy-to-understand, enjoyable, and experiential manner.

 

Found on a Japanese Blog, I guess this THAT's Cassette was designed by world famous Giorgetto Giugiaro who also designed that cool Sony Radio with his name on it.
https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/sony-d3000-cd-radio.8240/

http://designpro.blog12.fc2.com/?date=201001
It looks like the auther is a designer, there's some other audio related stuff on here. For some reason Google won't translate the website, sometimes the old frame structure won't translate.

Since I mentioned Giugiaro last time, I would like to talk a little more about this super-class designer.
Giorgetto Giugiaro is a genius industrial designer born in Italy.
It goes without saying that he is a leading card designer, and has designed many cars.
He also designs many things without being bound by the genre of design. In Japan, the Nikon F3 camera was a big shock.
What I would like to introduce this time is a cassette tape called "That's SUONO" released by Taiyo Yuden in the 1980s, when cassettes were still in use. There were quite a lot of cassette tapes on the market at the time, but due to the structure of inserting them into the deck, there were many restrictions and the design could not be changed much, so each manufacturer tried to differentiate themselves by putting a lot of effort into the sticker label, but "That's SUONO" designed by Giugiaro had a wonderful shape. I was shocked by this cassette tape at the time. It has a bold design that incorporates three-dimensional curves into a limited thickness. The circular design is said to be inspired by the Colosseum in Rome. Even the screws are designed in. The black body and red reel are just like George.

 

A Japanese Article on National Audio Company. I'm not sure what the loaders are but I worked with Otari's and they were a bear, a million solinoids and pistons that had to be dialed in perfectly. You'd think they'd be pretty basic machines but they're big and heavy with a ton of moving parts in the cabinet.
https://gigazine.net/news/20150903-last-audio-cassette-factory/

 

Klangbild 1980

 

Stereo Review 1994

 

From 1975, Radio Bulletin

 

Electronique Pour Vous 1972

 

Audio Magazine (Germany) 1979

 

TDK going for world domination! 1973, Buffalo Currier-Express.