Talk:Audio tape specifications

Hello, the third external link "microcassette specification" doesn't seem to be valid any more. 84.162.14.177 (talk) 09:21, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

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I'm aware I have not been consistent in numbers and units in this article. Some of this is deliberate, and is motivated by historical and readability considerations.

In quoting reel sizes, I have always spelled them out, and quoted them in inches. This is historical.

In quoting tape speeds, I have used figures, and fraction characters where available. This is for readability. However, it would be greatly improved if someone can supply a character for 1/8 and 7/8.

AHA! I think I've found a way! Andrewa 14:13, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

In quoting tape widths, I have used inches for historical reasons. There is no good reason for choosing between words and figures for the numbers themselves, I have used figures not words but it could have gone either way.

In quoting tape speeds I have used imperial units. This is conventional. I have used figures not words for readability.

I've now departed from this with the microcassette, simply because that is what Olympus did when they specified it, and other manufacturers such as Sony followed their lead. Within the tolerances of the machines, they are actually using the conventional ips speeds, but they are quoted in metric units on the speed change switches and in the owners' manuals, so I think that should be the primary measurement in the article too. Andrewa 20:03, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

In quoting tape thicknesses, I have used figures and metric units. This is for readability and for historical reasons. However, in quoting tape lengths I have used figures and imperial units. In the case of the reel-to-reel tapes this is historical, and in the case of cassettes it is to allow comparisons. In both cases it also matches the figures used for tape speeds.

Feel free to try to improve the article, but please take account of these considerations. In particular, to blindly convert everything to metric would do violence both to the historical accuracy and the readability of the article IMO. Andrewa 12:59, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

Removed text

So for example, the Montgomery Ward catalogue of 1964 gives the playing time of 600', 900', 1200' and 1800' tapes as 2, 3, 4 and 6 hours respectively at 3³/4 ips.

And it does too (p1262) but it's very misleading. It appears on a page with four tape recorders, three of which are stereo recorders capable of recording and playing in quarter-track mono mode, which gives the playing times quoted there. They are twice the normal playing times. Andrewa 03:14, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

name change

I suggest renaming/moving this page to Audio tape specifications. Length and thickness are not the only interesting specs. -- Austin Murphy (talk) 17:24, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

In the absence of any objections, I'll do it. -- Austin Murphy (talk) 19:58, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Message tapes as long-distance telephone alternative?

I remember reading somewhere a while ago that the 3-inch-reel 1 7/8" ips speed "message tapes" mentioned in this article were popular in the 1950s and 1960s as an alternative to long-distance telephone calls, since the long-distance network of Ma Bell's (and other foreign phone cos.) yielded quite poor voice quality (due to the analog nature of the phone system at the time, and the now-crude technology used then to run it) at a much higher cost, compared to just sending a tape in the mail, which was much cheaper (and yielded a better quality of voice communication, although most definitely not in real time). Was this the the main reason for using message tapes? misternuvistor (talk) 13:22, 20 December 2012 (UTC)

Other magnetic tape formats?

Any reason why things like 8-track, 4-track, and Elcaset are not included on this page?

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Some facts

Why article is in past? All these R2R tape recorders and tapes are still in use and also some in production.

8 mm Cine centre / hub is well known as Trident (rarely as Tricorn), in Germany Dreizack.

The same Cine centre comes from Regular 8 or Normal 8 films [Super 8 or Single 8 is different (12 mm)].

Reel or spool sizes 3" (8 cm), 4" (10 cm), 4-1/4" (11 cm), 5" (13 cm), 5-3/4" (15 cm)[not in US, in Europe], 7" (18cm), 8-3/4" (22 cm)[not in US, in Europe], 10" (24 cm) [rare], 10-1/2" (26.5 cm or 27 cm) - other sizes are rare, some non standard sizes are 8 mm film reels used as tape spools (7.5 cm; 9.5 cm etc)

LauriKreen (talk) 07:32, 8 February 2022 (UTC)