How to record music on a cassette
27/6/2023
Translation: Elicia Payne
Never recorded music on a cassette or haven’t done so in ages? With this guide, you can start from scratch.
Do I really need to explain how it works? When I was a child, I recorded on cassettes and found it easy. But back then everything was provided and already set up. Today, you have to start from scratch (again), first find cassettes and a tape recorder, then connect the devices and set up the recording. A lot can go wrong in the process too. So yes, there’s a lot to explain and its not just for Generation Z. In case it’s too much information, there’s a summary at the end of this article.
Get your cassettes
You can still buy new audio cassette tapes today. However, the selection is extremely limited compared to what was available in the past and is largely restricted to Type I cassettes. These are tapes that use iron oxide as the magnetisation layer. Type I is the cheapest but also the worst type.
Probably the best newly available cassette is the RTM Fox Tape. It’s also a type I. You can get it for example at Thomann.
There’s a new Type II cassette from ATR, but it performs lousily in tests. For Type II, you’re better off looking at online marketplaces. There, you can find cassettes from old production batches that are often unused and still in the original packaging. But tapes that have already been recorded on can also be interesting. They’re cheaper and the recording quality hardly suffers from overwriting.
Source: David Lee
Type II can also be recognised by the markings «high position» and «CrO2». With these kind of cassette tapes, the recording layer is made from chromium dioxide. They’re a little bit more expensive but hiss less. Prices vary a lot. There are collector’s items for enthusiasts at three-figure prices, but also Type II cassettes for well under 10 francs or euros.
It's worth tracking down old Type II cassettes, because they usually still sound good. However, short dropouts may occur, as heard here at 5,936 (36 secs). Otherwise the sound quality is really good for such an old medium. It’s a BASF CR-S II, presumably from 1985, and has already been dubbed at least once.
Type IV cassettes are even better and more expensive. Type III weren’t successful and are virtually non-existent. Type IV was always rare and is even more so today. Some sellers demand astronomical prices. I wouldn’t recommend them as a starting point. Not all devices can play and record type IV correctly. And even with these, you’re not immune to glitches.
The cheapest way to get a lot of cassettes is to inherit an old collection. This is because pre-recorded cassettes can also be re-recorded. To do this, you need to plug the holes on the top edges with tissue or cover them with tape. With prerecorded cassettes, however, you don't know how much capacity they have. And in terms of quality, they tend to be below average.
Get your tape recorder
For good sound, a tape recorder is even more important than the cassette. This applies to both the recording and the playback. But what is a good tape recorder? Instead of buying a portable device, buy a real tape recorder, i.e. a hi-fi component. Or borrow one from someone.
There are only a few new tape recorders out there. A high-class, second-hand recorder offers more anyway. However, it’s difficult for a beginner to assess whether a specific second-hand offer is actually good. For more on the topic of used versus new recorders, check out this review:
Some additional points:
- Make sure that the device isn’t sold as defective or untested. The rubber belts should’ve been replaced. They wear out over time, and replacing them is not always as easy as in my case.
- Auto-Reverse is indeed practical, because the cassette doesn’t have to be rotated for the B-side. However, this function makes the device susceptible to misaligned tape heads. This results in a very muffled sound.
- Three instead of two tape heads as well as Dolby S are things you don’t need, but are a sign that it’s a high-quality device.
Give the recorder a good clean
Before the first recording, you should clean the tape heads. For that, you need cotton buds and isopropanol. This is alcohol that leaves no residue. Clean the rest of the cassette box. However, you shouldn’t clean the rubber rollers with alcohol.
I have a special device to demagnetise tape heads and other metal pieces. For many cassette enthusiasts, demagnetising is part of the maintenance, but I’m not sure it’s necessary. I’ve never heard of any positive effects. On the other hand, the device doesn’t cost all that much.
Connect everything correctly
The traditional setup looks like this. The tape recorder is connected to a Hifi amplifier with two RCA cables. One cable plays the sound from the recorder to the amplifier to listen to music. The other is from the amplifier to the recorder to record music. These sockets are sometimes labelled «Rec» and «Play», sometimes «Line In» and «Line Out» respectively, depending on whether the sound is coming in or going out of the device.
Source: David Lee
Now you have to connect the source to the amplifier. In my case it’s the iPad. Here I connect the headphone output to the Line-in or Rec socket of the recorder. If your source has a line out, use that instead of the headphone output.
Source: David Lee
If you don’t have an amplifier with a Line Out you can connect the source directly to the tape recorder. You should still be able to listen to the music via the headphone output of the recorder.
Set up the recording
Since a cassette has a specific length, you should take this into consideration before you get started. Usually an empty cassette has a total capacity of 60 or 90 minutes. One side being at least 30 or 45 minutes. Often it’s one or two minutes longer.
If you want to record an album, you need to know its total length and make sure it fits the length of the cassettes. Playlists, for example in Spotify, are good for this. Of course, the length never fits exactly, but you can make it fit. One way you can do this is by leaving out a track that you don’t like. Or you just record a part of the track and fade it in or out. You can also re-record all or part of your favourite track to fill the gap at the end of the tape.
It’s a similar process for a mixtape. Check out the following post if you’re interested in mixtapes.
The right recording volume
Both too loud and too quiet recordings reduce the sound quality. A recording that’s too quiet produces more white noise than necessary, and one that’s too loud sounds distorted.
On your recorder you have a control, potentially two for left and right, to adjust the recording volume. If you press the record button, the recording is paused first. But by playing a sound at the source, you can now see how loud it’s recording. The level may swing into the red range, but shouldn’t be there permanently. Type IV cassettes can be recorded somewhat louder.
Source: David Lee
Dolby noise reduction
What’s important when your recording is whether the Dolby noise reduction is on or off. Many tape recorders offer the choice between Dolby B and C, rarely also Dolby S. All methods reduce the usual noise of a cassette.
If you’ve recorded with Dolby, you also have to play back with Dolby. With Dolby C, the playback device also has to be set to Dolby C. That’s why you have to write on the cassette and the sleeve if you recorded it with noise reduction and which one.
Simple playback devices don’t have a Dolby function at all or only Dolby B. Depending on the intended use, it’s therefore better to record without Dolby. Also, your recorder must be in pristine condition for Dolby to work really well. Especially with Dolby C and S, Dolby B is less prone to errors. Otherwise if the tape heads aren’t perfectly aligned you get pumping noises and other undesirable side effects. And even if the recording sounds okay on your device, it might sound wrong on another device.
So, as a rule of thumb I recommend using Dolby for your own recordings. It depends on your recorder which one you use. If you’re going to give someone a cassette I’d only record with Dolby B or without Dolby at all.
Recording!
If everything has been set up correctly, you wind the tape to the point where you want the recording to start. The different coloured part of the tape (which isn’t brown) can’t be recorded on. To be sure if the recording is starting on the correct part of the tape, you have two options. Either you know how long you have to wait and then start with the playback, or you wind the tape by hand to the correct part.
Source: David Lee
Set the counter to zero before you start recording. Then you know for the future where the recording starts in case you have to do it again.
Now it’s really a piece of cake: you press record (and then pause) on the cassette player and play on the source.
tl;dr For the casual tape enthusiasts
- Get some cassettes.
- Borrow a tape recorder.
- Clean the tape heads with cotton swabs and isopropanol.
- Connect your audio source (CD player, iPod, etc.) with a suitable cable.
- Press the Rec button on the recorder.
- Test the source and adjust the recording volume, then go back to the starting point.
- Press the Pause button on the recorder. This will start the recording.
- Play the source straightaway.
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
