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Why does nobody talk about how much cassette tapes changed between 1985 and 1995?
I found my old Walkman last week and popped in a mix tape I made in 8th grade. The sound quality was way better on my 1994 tapes compared to the early ones because they started using different tape formulas around 1990. Anyone else notice that jump in clarity or was it just me?
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blair_gibson781mo ago
My tapes from 94 sound better mostly because I finally stopped recording off the radio.
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sarah_hart1mo ago
Blair, did you ever read that article from a few years ago about how tapes from the mid-90s had a warmer sound because of the tape formulations changing? I think 94 was right around when Maxell and TDK switched to different oxide coatings. Your comment about getting off radio recordings makes sense - I remember my early mixes always had that fuzzy static underneath from the FM signal, and once I started buying albums and making copies from CDs everything just sounded cleaner and fuller.
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