The recent arrival of a Grundig C 100 (DC-International) cassette in the Greatbear studio has been an occasion to explore the early history of the compact cassette. The compact cassette has gained counter-cultural kudos in recent times, and more about that later, but once upon a time the format was the new kid on the… Continue reading Grundig C 100 and the early history of the Compact Cassette
Tag: audio cassette
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies Audio Cassette Transfer
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is widely heralded as a classic of 20th century English literature. The book adorns English Literature syllabuses throughout the UK, its provocative events continue to inspire debate about the nature of humanity and ‘civilisation.’ We recently transferred an audio cassette recording of the Nobel-prize winning author reading his famous novel.… Continue reading William Golding’s Lord of the Flies Audio Cassette Transfer
Audio Cassette Parallel Ingests
The scale of digitisation jobs we do at Greatbear often varies. We are asked by our customers to reformat single items to large quantities of tape and everything else inbetween. Reformatting magnetic tape-based media always takes time and care. Transfers have to be done in real time; if you want a good quality recording there… Continue reading Audio Cassette Parallel Ingests
Type IV Metal Cassettes and Robert Chenciner’s Daghestan Collection
We recently received a fascinating collection of tapes from the archive of Robert Chenciner, an ethnographer with over thirty years experience studying the cultures, human rights and current affairs of Daghestan. Daghestan is located in the north Caucasus region, its neighbouring countries are Azerbaijan, Chechnya and Georgia, while its eastern border is flanked by the… Continue reading Type IV Metal Cassettes and Robert Chenciner’s Daghestan Collection
Digitising & Restoring Personal Archives – 1/4 inch reel to reel audio tape
In today’s digital society most people have an archive. On personal computers, tablets and mobile devices we store, create and share vast amounts of information. We use archives to tell others about our lives, and the things that are important to us. Gone are the days when archives were dusty, dark places where experts went… Continue reading Digitising & Restoring Personal Archives – 1/4 inch reel to reel audio tape
Rare, cassette tape TDK MA-XG
Information Terminals M-300, cassette tape transport alignment gauge
The regular service of analogue machines which will involve the mechanical alignment then electrical alignment / calibration is really important if you’re attempting to get optimum transfers and reduce any risk of damaging the potentially fragile tape. While some of our machines are serviced by others we like to regularly check them and have gradually… Continue reading Information Terminals M-300, cassette tape transport alignment gauge
Microcassette Transfer to CD helps Crown Court case
We’ve recently been involved, with Mobray Woodwards Solicitors, in the audio transfer of important evidence in a local Crown Court case. Even given the poor quality or the recordings, made on the slowest tape speed of 1.2 cm/s we were able to make transfers to CD which were clear and understandable with CD track markings… Continue reading Microcassette Transfer to CD helps Crown Court case