For the meaning of cassette in genetics, see cassette (genetics). Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ= give birth) is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. ... A cassette is a genetics term used to describe certain vectors that are normally used to confer a selectable marker on an organism. ...

Typical audio Compact Cassette.

The compact audio cassette audio storage medium was introduced by Philips in 1963. It originally consisted of a length of magnetic tape from BASF inside a protective plastic shell. Four tracks are available on the tape, giving two stereo tracks – one for playing with the cassette inserted with its 'A' side up, and the other with the 'B' side up, thus mimicking gramophone records. There were other magnetic tape cartridge systems at the time, but the compact cassette succeeded through Philips' backing. The mass production of compact audio cassettes began in 1965 in Hanover, Germany, as did commercial sales of prerecorded music cassettes, known as musicassettes or MC for short. typical Audio Cassette - File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... typical Audio Cassette - File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Audio storage refers to techniques and formats used to store audio with the goal to reproduce the audio later using audio signal processing to something that resembles the original. ... Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Dutch Philips Electronics Ltd. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rewind redirects here. ... BASF-Hochhaus position in Germany BASF AG is a German chemical company. ... A gramophone record, (also phonograph record - often simply record) is an analog sound recording medium: a flat disc rotating at a constant angular velocity, with inscribed spiral grooves in which a stylus or needle rides. ... See also: 1964 in music, other events of 1965, 1966 in music, 1960s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 4 - Fender Guitars is sold to CBS for $13 million. ... Map of Germany showing Hanover Hanover (German: Hannover [haˈnoːfɐ]), on the river Leine, is the capital of the state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany. ...

Features of the cassette

The cassette was a great step forward in convenience from reel-to-reel audio tape recording, though because of the limitations of the cassette's size and speed, it compared poorly in quality. Unlike the open reel format, the two stereo tracks lie adjacent to each other rather than a 1/3 and 2/4 arrangement. This permitted monaural cassette players to play stereo recordings "summed" as mono tracks and permitted stereo players to play mono recordings through both speakers. The tape is ¹/8 inch (3.175 mm) wide, with each stereo track being ¹/32 inch (0.79 mm) wide and moves at 1⁷/8 inches per second (47.625 mm/s). For comparison, the typical open reel format was ¼ inch (6.35 mm) wide, each stereo track being ¹/16 inch (1.5875 mm) wide, and running at either 3¾ or 7½ inches per second (95.25 or 190.5 mm/s). Some machines did use 1⁷/8 inches per second (47.625 mm/s) but the quality was poor. A Sony TC-630 reel-to-reel recorder, once a common household object. ...

Three types of cassette. Clockwise from top: Metal (Position IV), Chrome (Position II) and Normal (Position I).

The original magnetic material was based on ferrite (Fe₂O₃), but then chromium dioxide (CrO₂) and more exotic materials were used in order to improve sound quality to try to approach that of vinyl records. Cobalt doped ferrite was introduced by TDK and proved very successful. Sony tried a dual layer tape with both ferrite and chrome dioxide. Finally pure metal particles as opposed to oxide formulations were used. These each had different bias and equalization requirements requiring specialized settings. Ferrite tapes use 120 μS equalization (known as Type 1), while chrome and cobalt doped tape types require 70 μS equalization (Type 2). In practice the cassette shell was modified with indents to automatically select the proper bias and equalization on compatible cassette decks. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2440x1452, 1780 KB) Description: A photograph showing three types of compact audio cassette. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2440x1452, 1780 KB) Description: A photograph showing three types of compact audio cassette. ... Ferrite may refer to: (1) ferromagnetic ceramic materials, used in magnetic applications; (2) iron or iron alloys with a body centred cubic crystal structure. ... 33â…“ LP vinyl record album The vinyl record is a type of gramophone record, most popular from the 1950s to the 1990s, that was most commonly used for mass-produced recordings of music. ... This article is on the periodic element. ... TDK Corporation is a global company headquartered in Japan. ... Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), (NYSE: SNE) is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... Tape bias is a high-frequency signal (generally from 40 to 150 kHz) added to the audio signal recorded on an analog tape recorder. ... In audio processing, equalization (EQ) is the process of modifying the frequency envelope of a sound. ... A cassette deck is a type of tape deck for playing or recording compact audio cassettes. ...

A variety of noise reduction schemes are used to increase fidelity, Dolby B being almost universal for both prerecorded tapes and home recording. By the late 1980s, sound fidelity on equipment by the top manufacturers far surpassed the levels expected of the medium by early detractors and on suitable audio equipment could produce a very pleasant listening experience. The best home decks could achieve 20-20kHz frequency response with wow and flutter below 0.05%, better than records and close to CD. Noise reduction is the process of removing noise from a signal. ... Dolby NR is a noise reduction system developed by Dolby Laboratories for use in analogue magnetic tape recording. ... Frequency response is the measure of any systems response to frequency, but is usually used in connection with electronic amplifiers and similar systems, particularly in relation to audio signals. ... Wow is a (once-per-revolution pitch variation) occurring when playing a Gramophone record which could result from warp, or from a spindle hole that was not precisely centered. ... Flutter: In electronics, rapid variation of signal parameters, such as amplitude, phase, and frequency. ...

Tape length is usually measured in minutes total playing time, and the most popular varieties are C46 (23 minutes per side), C60 (30 minutes per side), C90, and C120 (usually thinner tape, more likely to be destroyed in use). Some vendors are more generous than others, providing 132 meters or 135 meters rather than 129 meters of tape for a C90 cassette. C180 and even C240 tapes were available at one time, but these were extremely thin and fragile and suffered badly from effects such as print-through which made them unsuitable for general use. Other lengths are (or were) also available from some vendors, including C50, C70, C74, C80, C100 and C110. Except for C74 and C100, such non-standard lengths have always been hard to find, and tend to be more expensive than the more popular lengths. Home taping enthusiasts may have found them useful for fitting an album neatly on one or both sides of a tape. For instance, the initial maximum playback time of compact discs was 74 minutes, explaining the relative popularity of C74 cassettes. See also audio tape length and thickness. Print-through is a generally undesirable effect that arises in the use of magnetic tape for storing analogue information, in particular music. ... Since the widespread adoption of reel-to-reel audio tape recording in the 1950s, audio tapes and tape cassettes have been available in many formats. ...

All cassettes include a mechanism to prevent re-recording and accidental erasure of important program material. Each side of the tape cassette has a plastic tab on the top that may be broken off, leaving a small indentation in the shell. This allows space for the entry of a sensing lever which prevents the operation of the recording function when the cassette is inserted into a cassette deck. If later needed, a piece of tape can be placed over the indention to record over the "protected" material, or on some decks, the lever can be manually depressed to record on a protected tape.

Applications

Audio

The compact cassette was originally intended for use in dictation machines. In this capacity, some later-model casette-based dictation machines could also run the tape at half speed (15/16 IPS) as playback quality was not critical. The Compact Cassette soon became, and remained into the early 2000s, a popular medium for distributing prerecorded music – initially through Philips's record company, PolyGram. Starting in 1979, Sony's Walkman helped the format become widely used and popular. In 2005, one finds cassettes used for a variety of purposes such as journalism, oral history, meeting and interview transcripts and so on, however, they are starting to give way to compact disc and numerous compression systems, such as MP3. Speech recognition technologies allow computers equipped with a source of sound input, such as a microphone, to interpret human speech, e. ... Saddam Hussein shortly after his capture Major controversy over U.S. presidential election, 2000 September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on New Yorks World Trade Center and Virginias Pentagon killing almost 3000 people. ... PolyGram was the name from 1972 of the major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. ... Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), (NYSE: SNE) is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... SONY Recorder Walkman (TCM-S68V) MD Walkman Sony Walkman SRF-S84 transistor radio (released 2001) The Sony Walkman personal stereo was a transistorized miniature portable cassette tape player invented by Akio Morita, Masaru Ibuka, and Kozo Ohsone, manufactured by Sony Corporation. ... Journalism is a discipline of collecting, verifying, analyzing and presenting information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people. ...

Home studio

In the 1980s, Tascam introduced the Portastudio line of four and eight-track cassette recorders for home studio use, allowing ameteur musicians (and some professionals) to overdub themselves easily. To increase audio quality in these recorders, the tape speed is doubled in comparison to the standard, and, in addition, DBX noise reduction provides compression which yields increased dynamic range). Multi-track cassette recorders with built-in mixer and signal routing features provide a wide range of features and benefits from easy to use beginner units up to professional level recording systems. // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... TASCAM is credited as the company that invented the affordable home recording studio. ... The TASCAM Portastudio is a type of cassette recorder which records four or eight tracks of audio on a CrO2 audio cassette. ... Les Paul, a pioneer of multi-track recording. ... DBX is a noise reduction system for tape recording. ... Audio level compression, also called compression or limiting, is a process that manipulates the dynamic range of an audio signal. ... Dynamic range is a term used frequently in numerous fields to describe the ratio between the smallest and largest possible values of a changeable quantity. ... In telecommunications a mixer is a frequency mixer. ...

Home dubbing

Most cassettes were sold blank and used for recording (dubbing) the owner's records (as backup or to make compilations), their friends' records or music from the radio. This practice was condemned by the music industry with such slogans as "Home taping is killing music". However, many claimed that the medium was ideal for spreading new music and would increase sales, and strongly defended at least their right to copy their own records onto tape. In the late 1970s, Sony brought out the Walkman, a small portable cassette player, which greatly increased the consumption of music in this manner. Cassettes were also a boon to people wishing to make bootlegs (unauthorized concert recordings) for sale or trade, a practice tacitly or overtly encouraged by many bands with a more counterculture bent such as the Grateful Dead. In sound recording, dubbing is the transfer of recorded audio material from one medium to another of the same or a different type. ... Home taping is killing music was the slogan of a 1980s anti-piracy campaign by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), a British music industry trade group. ... Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), (NYSE: SNE) is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ... SONY Recorder Walkman (TCM-S68V) MD Walkman Sony Walkman SRF-S84 transistor radio (released 2001) The Sony Walkman personal stereo was a transistorized miniature portable cassette tape player invented by Akio Morita, Masaru Ibuka, and Kozo Ohsone, manufactured by Sony Corporation. ... As a noun, bootleg means the top part of a boot, the part that is around the leg instead of the foot. ... The Grateful Dead in the late 1970s: (from left) Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir The Grateful Dead, often referred to as The Dead, was an American psychedelia-influenced jam band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco from the remnants of another band, Mother...

Various legal cases arose surrounding the dubbing of cassettes. In the UK, in the case of CBS Songs vs Amstrad (1988), the House of Lords found in favour of Amstrad that producing equipment that facilitated the dubbing of cassettes, in this case a twin cassette deck that allowed one cassette to be copied directly onto another, did not authorise the infrigement of copyright. Amstrad Consumer Electronics plc, usually known as Amstrad, is a company formed in 1968 by Sir Alan Michael Sugar in the UK, and based in Brentwood in Essex, England. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... Amstrad Consumer Electronics plc, usually known as Amstrad, is a company formed in 1968 by Sir Alan Michael Sugar in the UK, and based in Brentwood in Essex, England. ...

Data recording

Many early home computers of the 1970s and early 1980s, notably the TRS-80, Commodore PET, VIC-20, Commodore 64, TI-99/4a, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Coleco Adam and BBC Micro, could use cassettes as a cheap alternative to floppy disks as a storage medium for programs and data. The typical encoding method was simple FSK which resulted typical data rates 500 to 2000 bit/s, although some games used special faster loading routines, up to around 4000 bit/s. A rate of 2000 bit/s equates to a capacity of around 660 kilobytes per side of a 90 minute tape. The home computer is a consumer-friendly word for the second generation of microcomputers (the technical term that was previously used), entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... TRS-80 Model I with Radio Shack graphic (non-standard monitor). ... The PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) was a home-/personal computer produced by Commodore starting in the late 1970s. ... VIC-20 with accessories. ... The Commodore 64 (C64, CBM 64) was a popular home computer of the 1980s. ... Texas Instruments TI-99/4A - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was a small home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research. ... Amstrad CPC 464, with CTM644 colour monitor The Amstrad CPC was an 8-bit home computer produced by Amstrad in the 1980s. ... Memory console and keyboard for Coleco Adam computer expansion for the Colecovision The Coleco Adam was a home computer, an attempt in the early 1980s by American toy manufacturer Coleco to follow on the success of its Colecovision game console. ... The BBC Micro, affectionately known as the Beeb, was an early home computer. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a circular piece of thin, flexible (i. ... Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is frequency modulation in which the modulating signal shifts the output frequency between predetermined values. ... In telecommunications and computing, bit rate (sometimes written bitrate) is the frequency at which bits are passing a given (physical or metaphorical) point. It is quantified using the bit per second (bit/s) unit. ... A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix kilo-) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 1024 or 1000 bytes. ...

The usage of both audio channels, better modulation techniques like QPSK or those used in modern modems, combined with the greater bandwidth and Signal to noise ratio of cassette tapes compared to a PSTN telephone line could have been used for achieving much greater capacities and speeds (several kBytes/s for data rate, and several MBytes on each cassette), but such a solution wasn't adopted since it would require much more expensive decoding/encoding circuitry on the computers or on dedicated "datacorders", apart from good quality tapes and recorders with constant performance. Quadrature phase-shift keying (quadriphase, quaternary phase-shift keying) is a form of modulation in which a carrier is sent in four phases, 45, 135, 225, and 315 degrees, and the change in phase from one symbol to the next encodes two bits per symbol. ... A modem (a portmanteau word constructed from modulator and demodulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal (sound), to encode digital information, and that also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ... // Analog For analog signals, bandwidth is the width, usually measured in hertz, of a frequency band f2 − f1. ... The phrase signal-to-noise ratio, often abbreviated SNR or S/N, is an engineering term for the ratio between the magnitude of a signal (meaningful information) and the magnitude of background noise. ... The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the concatenation of the worlds public circuit-switched telephone networks, in much the same way that the Internet is the concatenation of the worlds public IP-based packet-switched networks. ...

Cassette equipment

Cassettes can be played on a wide variety of different types of device. Early recorders tended to be small battery-powered portable devices, in keeping with the intention of the medium for dictation, reportage and similar low-level recording duties, but by the mid 1970s, the cassette deck became a commonplace component of home high fidelity systems, largely superseding the reel-to-reel recorder for home use. Another key element of the cassette's success was its use in in-car entertainment systems, where the small size of the tape was significantly more convenient than the competing 8-track cartridge system. Cassette players in cars and for home use were often integrated with a radio receiver, and the term "casseiver" was occasionally used for combination units for home use. In-car cassette players were the first to adopt the idea of automatic reversal ("auto-reverse") of the tape at each end, allowing a cassette to be played endlessly without manual intervention. Home cassette decks soon followed this practice as well. This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... A cassette deck is a type of tape deck for playing or recording compact audio cassettes. ... High Fidelity is also the title of a book by Nick Hornby and a film directed by Stephen Frears, based upon Hornbys book. ... The 8-track cartridge is a now-obsolete audio storage magnetic tape cartridge technology, popular during the 1960s and 1970s. ... For the device which is a tuner (radio) and a amplifier and/or loudspeaker, see receiver (home stereo). ...

Successors to the cassette

Technical development of the cassette effectively ceased when digital recordable media such as DAT and MiniDisc were introduced in 1992. Philips introduced the Digital Compact Cassette — a DAT-like tape in the same form factor as the compact audio cassette — but this attempt failed in the market. Since the rise of cheap CD-R discs, the phenomenon of "home taping" has effectively switched to compact disc. The microcassette has in many cases supplanted the full-sized audio cassette in situations where voice-level fidelity is all that is required, such as in dictation machines and answering machines. Even these, in turn, are starting to give way to digital recorders of various descriptions. However, there are also some mp3 players shaped as audio cassettes available, which can actually be used as if it is a normal cassette in any audio cassette player. A 90-minute DAT cartridge, size compared to an AAA(LR03) battery. ... The Sony MZ1 MiniDisc player, the first to hit the market in 1992. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Digital Compact Cassette (DCC) was a short-lived audio format created by Philips in the early 1990s. ... A 90-minute DAT cartridge, size compared to an AAA(LR03) battery. ... A CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) is a thin (1. ... Interference colors. ... Categories: Stub | Audio storage ... An answering machine, also known as an answer machine (especially in UK and British commonwealth countries), ansafone (tradename [1]), ansaphone (tradename [2]), answerphone or telephone answering device (TAD), is a device for automatically answering telephone calls and recording messages left by callers. ... 4th Generation Grayscale Apple iPod Creative Zen Micro A digital audio player (DAP) is a device that stores, organizes and plays digital music files. ...

Present and future of the compact cassette

Despite the wide availability of higher-fidelity media, audio cassettes are still being produced and marketed in many countries and are still popular in some applications such as car audio and other difficult environments, because they tend to be more rugged and more resistant to dust, heat and shocks than most digital media (especially CDs) and their lower fidelity is not a very serious drawback inside the typically noisy interior of most automobiles. CD players as of late have had "shock proof" technology which stores an amount of information in a memory buffer in case of a skip. Storing some portion of the audio in a memory buffer allows the player to recover more easily from shocks. Most people use the term car audio to describe the sound system in an automobile, though the term also refers more broadly to the field of mobile entertainment and is becoming a sport at large. ...

Cassettes (often in the form of microcassettes) are also used in business and educational settings as adjuncts or substitutes for note-taking. While digital voice recorders are becoming available, tape recorders tend to be universally cheaper and of sufficient quality to do the job. Categories: Stub | Audio storage ...

Also, cassettes and related equipment are still popular in many parts of the world, where digital audio technology has not yet caught on.

Cassettes and related equipment will probably be manufactured until 2010 or 2015, after which the fate of the audio cassette will likely be similar to that of vinyl records or rather, of the common photographic film (limited, niche market production). As of 2005 it is common for otherwise-complete audio systems to be sold with only a single cassette tape deck instead of two, with playback-only decks, or even with no cassette deck at all. Many cars are now being equipped with CD rather than cassette as standard, and many new cars come with integrated entertainment units with no space to add or even connect external cassette players, with little complaint from auto users. 2010 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2015 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 33â…“ LP vinyl record album The vinyl record is a type of gramophone record, most popular from the 1950s to the 1990s, that was most commonly used for mass-produced recordings of music. ... Photographic film a sheet of plastic (polyester, celluloid (nitrocellulose) or cellulose acetate) coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts (bonded by gelatin) with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity or resolution of the film. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

Cassette in other languages

In French and in Catalan the word "cassette" is abbreviated as "K7" (ka-sept); the "K7" shorthand also works in Portuguese: cá-sete. In Spanish it is known by the letters KCT (pronounced "ka-cé-te"). Catalan (Català, Valencià) is a Romance language understood by as many as 12 million people in portions of Spain, France, Andorra and Italy, although the majority of active Catalan speakers are in Spain. ...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has more media related to:

Compact audio cassette

• Cassette culture
• Cassingle
• Cassette single
• Digital cassettes
• Elcaset
• Electronic journalism
• List of audio formats
• Microcassette
• Mix tape
• PXL-2000 - A toy camcorder that used compact audio cassette to store video.

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Cassette culture was in part an offshoot of the mail art movement of the 1970s and1980s, and in both the United States and the United Kingdom it owed a lot to the DIY ethic of punk. ... A cassingle is a single released on a prerecorded cassette, or musicassette (MC). ... Insert from the Winter cassette single by Tori Amos The cassette single was a music recording format that debuted in the 80s. ... Digital audio casette formats introduced to the audio professionals and consumer markets: Digital Audio Tape known more commonly as just DAT which had some success as a audio storage format among professionals before the prices of hard drives dropped and the capacities soared in the late 90s. ... Elcaset was a short-lived audio format created by Sony in 1976. ... Electronic journalism, known as EJ or ENG for electronic news gathering is most associated with broadcast news where producers, reporters and editors make use of electronic recording devices for gathering and presenting information in telecasts and radio transmissions reaching the public. ... This is a list of audio formats, used for the distribution of recordings of music and other audio information. ... Categories: Stub | Audio storage ... The compact audio cassette brought homemade mixes of pop songs within the reach of the casual music fan. ... The Fisher-Price PXL-2000 (also known as the PixelVision by Fisher-Price, and the KiddieCorder by some of its fans) was a toy black-and-white camcorder produced in 1987 that used an ordinary compact audio cassette as its recording medium. ... 8mm Camcorder mini-DV Camcorder Sony DV Handycam A camcorder is a portable electronic device (generally a digital camera) for recording video images and audio onto a storage device. ...

External links

• An interesting look at the cassette vs the Ipod