#8 TRACK TAPE VS CASSETTE DRIVER#
#8 TRACK TAPE VS CASSETTE PLUS#

Values are generally in US dollars as this is where the biggest collecting community resides, and, where possible, the price is for Mint and complete examples.ġ FRANK SINATRA & ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM SinatraJobim (Reprise/W7 1028, 1969) $4,500- $5,000 In 1969, Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim recorded sessions for what was to become their second release together, SinatraJobim. In this feature, RC brings you a selection of the more interesting 8-track cartridges and players. Though widely considered a failure today, in its time the 8-track system was a major success and it left behind a range of collectables – some of which are exceptionally valuable. There was also a brief period of popularity in the UK during the early days of the system, but it was destined to remain relatively unknown in most European marketplaces. Over the next 15 years or so, 8-track tapes – and to a lesser extent 4-track cartridges – enjoyed significant success in the US, becoming the first tape format to achieve true national mass market penetration and enjoying a wide installation base in cars, workplaces, retail outlets and in the home.

#8 TRACK TAPE VS CASSETTE DRIVER#

The early Learjet Stereo 8 player was designed with simple controls, making it easy to play tapes in the car without the driver taking his or her eyes off the road.įord, in turn, got RCA Victor to commit to producing 175 titles from its current catalogue on Stereo 8 cartridges, immediately generating a massive selection of music for nearly every taste from classical to psychedelia, so early adopters had plenty of choice. A substantial 65,000 of the players were installed in the first year alone, all manufactured by the Motorola Corporation. Arguably even more importantly, Ford allowed their retail network to retrofit the system at dealerships nationwide, creating an aspirational demand for the 8-track. The following year, Ford rolled out the 8-track as an option right across its range of vehicles, making it the must-have accessory for new car buyers. Lear had a long association with the car manufacturer, going back to the 30s when he had been party to the founding of Motorola, which provided in-car entertainment systems for Ford. Having developed the new system, Bill Lear’s next move was to persuade the management at Ford US to factory fit his 8-track player to the 1966 range of Mustangs, Thunderbirds and Lincolns, introduced in September of 1965. There are even unique versions of songs on some 8-tracks, including an additional piano solo on Lou Reed’s Berlin and an extra guitar break on Pink Floyd’s Animals. Longer tracks were frequently split into two parts, shorter songs repeated or long passages of silence inserted into the running order. However, with most music designed to be listened to over two sides of an LP, the Stereo 8 cartridges often had to resort to tinkering with running orders and even dividing songs to make them fit the four-programme format.

#8 TRACK TAPE VS CASSETTE PLUS#

On the plus side, by using a short length of conductive foil at the splice joint on the tape, the Stereo 8 could switch between tracks automatically, a real benefit for in-car entertainment systems. The trade-off for this greater capacity inside a standard cartridge was a slight loss of sound quality and an increase in background noise from the narrower tape width. Kraus engineered the 8-track system, reducing the complexity and addressing reliability issues by incorporating a more efficient mechanism into the cartridge itself.īranded the Stereo 8 system, it meant that eight tracks could be recorded, usually in four programmes of two tracks each. However, Lear was unimpressed with the build quality and asked one of his team, Richard Kraus, to develop a more robust system. Having gained some success in his home state, Muntz expanded his operation, striking a deal with US entrepreneur Bill Lear to have his system fitted into his Learjets. This was seized upon by businessman Earl Muntz of Los Angeles, California, who introduced his Stereo- Pak 4-track CARtridge system, using licensed music from the major record companies. However, cartridges had one major benefit by being both compact and portable, meaning there was potential within the burgeoning post-war US automobile market. And when compared to the popular reel-to-reel systems of the day, quality and fidelity were found wanting.

Though 4-track systems were first to be developed, their wider adoption was hampered by numerous reliability problems that stopped the platform from really making any headway with music fans. Cartridge systems were developed in the 50s but really came to prominence during the following decade. Long before compact cassettes became popular, the mass-market alternatives to vinyl in the late 50s and 60s were 4-track and 8-track cartridge systems.

8 track tape vs cassette