What Are "Type 0" Blank Cassettes?

[@milfordcivic6755]

My mom used to buy us the cheap Certron blanks from Kmart and Bradlees. When I started making my own money, I bought Maxell XLII or TDK Type 2 blanks.

[@mchenrynick]

God, I remember having so many of those cheap cassettes in my childhood in the 80s. Not only was the sound quality low, but they tended to get "hard" easily and jam in the cassette deck.

[@dxer22000]

that's why I called them "Destruct-a-tapes"

[@wisteela]

I used to buy cheap cassettes and using them in computers. They worked fine, and I've still got them. Most likely they will still load without issues. I like how that one says 90 meters instead of 90 minutes. I've got one of those transparent neon green cassettes, or one very similar.

[@DarrellS54]

I used to use the old K Mart cassettes back in the day . To me they were ok for recording off the radio. Later on when I got into high school I started using Maxell high bias II.

[@mchenrynick]

As an adult, I strictly went with Maxell cassettes. I bought so many in the 90s, that I got several free ones in the mail from their "rewards" program =)

[@pancudowny]

So basically, you went to the gold standard from the "mold" standard...!😄

[@sird2333]

Maxell. With the head cleaning leader! I loved those things!

[@siouxmoux3]

There type iii In 1973, Sony introduced double-layer ferrichrome tapes having a five-micron ferric base coated with one micron of CrO2 pigment l. The new cassettes were advertised as 'the best of both worlds' - combining the good low-frequency MOL of microferric tapes with good high-frequency performance of chrome tapes.The novelty became part of the IEC standard, codenamed Type III; the Sony CS301 formulation became the IEC reference. However, the idea failed to attract followers. Apart from Sony, only BASF, Scotch and Agfa introduced their own ferrichrome cassette tapes.

[@nancy4don]

I never got those Type III tapes to sound right. If you recorded and played back at Type I position, they were so incredibly bright even Dolby B wouldn't make them sound dull. If you did R & P at Type 2, they sounded really dull. If you recorded at Type II and played back at Type I, they sounded pretty good, but they oversaturated really easily. After about a dozen tries, I gave up and stuck to Type II (usually TDK SA).

[@xaenon]

@@nancy4don Your recorder deck had to have a proper setting for FeCr to get the results you wanted - and most decks didn't implement that. Some offered a half-assed solution - set bias for 'standard' and EQ for 'chromium', but that still wasn't the best solution. The really big problem with FeCr, though, even if your deck properly supported it, was the cost. They were much more expensive than CrO2, but only offered a very small improvement overall.

[@nancy4don]

@ I remember that. I had a deck that could automatically set the bias by running some of the tape through and adjusting “on the fly,” and automatically setting the playback EQ based on the notches on top of the cassette (it was a 3-head deck). It lacked the FeCr switch, though, and the tapes never did sound right.

[@xaenon]

@@nancy4don Mine didn't either. I later bought a (used) deck that had proper FeCr support, but to my ear the difference between FeCr and CrO2 was so slight that it wasn't worth the extra expense of FeCr tapes, and by this time FeCr was already on its way out anyway.

[@Bob-1802]

I don't know if it is an urban myth but some of these tapes had the top layer (probably the CrO2) going off after a while, loosing trebles.

[@chrisnunya7171]

Yes, I remember those cheap-o 3 pack of cassette tapes. I got'em all the time. My grandparents used to record their bluegrass music off the radio with'em all the time back in the day. I just recently bought a type 2 Teac blank cassette, I'm saving up for something good!

[@jhonwask]

Back in the 1970's, I would use my Certron or Ampex (pink label) cassettes to tape Sci-Fi TV shows. They were really not that bad and to this day, still work fine. They were not the best quality and usually came in packs of 4 or 5. Some even came in a handy 5-pack box. My favorite types were type III and type IV. I was so happy to get a deck which could record these hot, new tapes. They didn't call them by "type" at that time, but by the formulation: Ferrichrome or Metal. By the way, the original Chrome tapes had an unusual odor, which was distinct, yet fascinating.

[@DriveInFreak]

Certron was the best of the best "type zero" by far..

[@CraiginOhioUSA]

I can PROUDLY say- I used a tape recorder leaning against a TV speaker to record the musical numbers from the Pink Lady and Jeff variety show in 1980. 🎉

[@chuckaluck123]

Currently collecting old cassettes including "type 0" i love em all. I don't record on type 0 but I still think they're cool to look upon.

[@dougbrowning82]

I remember when the only cassette choices were regular and "Low Noise", neither of which had a type number. We had a Phillips N-2205 portable, and the manual not only recommended using Low Noise, it even came with one. A factory sealed, blank Phillips C-60 Low Noise cassette was included with the accessories. Type numbers started when chrome tapes (type II) appeared. They had an index notch on the spine, beside the erase protect notch. Regular, ferric oxide tapes became type I, without the index notch. When metal tapes (type IV) came out, they had the index notch by the write protect notch, plus another closer to the middle. The notches were for automatic type detection, but I never had a machine that used them. Usually there was a tape type switch you had to set, although some high end decks had separate bias and EQ switches.

[@mertonnephake]

Some BIC tape decks had a low/normal/high bias switch. That low bias option was supposed to work well with “type 0” cassettes, but I doubt that even the “low bias” wording ever appeared on any cassette.

[@AxelStone]

your channel is underrated man

[@inglepropnoosegarm7801]

Let's not forget Type III, Ferrichrome. I don't think that Type 0 ever actually existed as a thing, but your definition seems about right.

[@nosville22]

I can confirm Type 3 casettes were on the market. I have no idea WHERE my father got one, but he did, and I wouldn't think it's a type 3 if it didn't state ferri-chrome on the cover AND contained all the write protect elements. That said. It does not say "Type 3" on it, or at least I didn't notice that.

[@jasejj]

I had an old Philips music centre from the 1970s as a kid, a hand-me-down when the main stereo was replaced. It had a defective cassette deck which recorded much louder on the left track than the right (in truth, it probably just needed adjustment but I didn't know about any of that as a ten year old!). These type zero tapes always had tape stock that was slightly narrower than the standard. The result of this was these tapes would generally have louder output on the right channel than the left. This meant that my stereo would actually record equal volume both sides, only on type zeroes, so that's what I used 😂

[@organfairy]

The cassettes I had was mostly by known brands such as Maxell, AGFA, or BASF - all type 1. I did have a few very cheap cassettes and I remember I had four LUMA cassettes where you could see right through the tape. I also had four GRAMMO tapes that I got for what I believe was my tenth birthday. But the worst tape I have ever met was branded SKOLEVÆSEN (Danish for School Branch or School Organisation) and it was a really cheap tape with an owl printed on the label. It was supplied to schools by who ever supplied them with pencils and paper and I have a suspecion that they were so bad simply to prevent that kids would steal them for home use. They were only for voice.

[@sjanzeir]

The last time I bought music recorded on a compact cassette was in 2005. When I was a kid in the 1980s, at a time when intellectual property rights laws were hardly a thing, record stores in my country rarely sold genuine copies of music recorded on compact cassettes; instead, they would buy one genuine copy - which they referred to as a "master" - from the distributor and made and sold copies of that, so those were the ones that I used to buy. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I discovered FujiFilm's CrCO2 (or was it 3?) cassettes and started having my copies and mix tapes recorded on those. I used to have dozens of them, from Boney M. to the Communards, from Berlin to Tears for Fears, and from Elvis Presley to ACDC. Those were the days.

[@nick_vee]

Tony Villa did some great videos back in the day about “Type 0” tapes. They’re archived in his “Cassette Comeback Archive” KZbin channel. He even tried recording on a bunch of different brands using a high quality deck with the same results “all garbage.” Some were full of dropouts or dead channels while others had the surface texture of fine sandpaper. And as far as I know, no tapes had the words “Type 0” on them. That was an unofficial nickname they were given based on dirt cheap prices and lousy performance

[@cdl0]

Yes, this is right; I saw the video. I never bought any of these tapes. I do have one, unused three-pack which came free with something, but they looked so awful that I was not going to risk putting them in any machine!

[@Abitibidoug]

Yes, I remember these cheap tapes well. There were different brands, one being Audio Magnetics and were sold as a 3 pack for 1 or 2 dollars. Once I started using better quality tapes I realized their low quality, but they had 2 good uses. One was they were fine for recording talk shows, and the other was they made good salvage cassettes if they came apart with screws.

[@mikebeckers802]

There's a brand that I remember vividly, and is also one of the brands that are pictured in the video. I bought a three pack of Certron tapes, and those were the worst tapes that I have ever used! Because of those tapes, I learned to avoid any tape that said "Low Noise" on the label, because I learned that it was an awful tape. Even larger brand names such as Scotch had tapes that were "low noise", and those sounded awful as well. One quick fun fact about the Certron tapes that I had was what I had recorded on them completely disappeared over several years. The tapes were completely blank after a while!

[@quantumleap359]

I have some very old RCA branded cassettes, they are printed with the description "cassette cartridge". I think RCA was still smarting from their failed huge cartridge tape they came out with in 1959. A very large cartridge that used quarter inch tape and ran at 3-3/4 ips. Pretty much a failed format. Interesting video, thanks for posting.

[@Fluteboy]

Here in the UK I used *Kaytape* and *Kingsonic* brands. My dad had quite a few *Happy Sound* cassettes, and they were anything but.

[@Defensive_Wounds]

Most of my Type 0 tapes are tapes of well known bands such as ABBA, Pink Floyd or David Bowie. They are just old, matte looking, sound average at best. I have similar styles of cheapo tapes like yours I also bought as a kid in the 80s as I was poor, some were WAY better than their price or how they looked some were trash. I went for the cheap but great ones! A brand called 'Goldstar' sold chrome type 2 tapes really cheap back in the early 90s, I stocked up on those!! They merged with a chemical brand called 'Lucky' so Lucky + Goldstar in the late 1990s became a brand called LG. Hence why those cheapo chrome tapes were cheap by soooo good in quality!!

[@JEEPSTR78]

I remember the 3 pack tapes well. Woolworth used to sell Silver Shadow recording tapes.

[@IvyANguyen]

IIRC Crown Magnetics used to sell all the types: 0, I, II, & IV. They marketed 0 as for voice specifically.

[@mikee2923]

I only remember the Certron and the tapes that had the rainbow on it. My first actual decent cassette deck was a Magnavox boombox that had detachable speakers and a phono input with a built in preamp for a moving magnet cartridge. This was in the early 80s. The deck had Dolby, adjustable record levels and could play and record normal, CR02 and Metal tapes. I bought Metal tapes and never used cheap tapes again. I mainly recorded records onto tapes. Pre recorded tapes just sounded horrible.

[@bobwigg761]

I bought a ton of these cheap cassettes to record tv audio back in the 70s. Some of the names I remember was Longines Symphonette and Pic-Pac from Two Guys discount department store.

[@ThisGuyFrritz]

Back in my 'teens, I can remember my dad buying those cheap cassette tapes. They have bad treble. I had used them to record the old Hi-Fi records in mono where the treble was exaggerated, which would be annoying. They turned out fine on such cheap tapes. Sometimes the left channel wouldn't be as loud as the right, which is why I made the left channel level a little bit higher than the right. I even used the Chrome setting to exaggerate the treble on some Hi-Fi stereo recordings so it wouldn't sound too muffled.. That's how I managed to make tape recordings with such cheap tapes.

[@hankw69]

I used those cheap cassettes quite a bit. All we had to record with was a Panasonic mono player, so sound quality wasn't a premium. When I bought a nice component stereo in the service I treated myself to metal tapes.

[@Drmcclung]

If I recall correctly my brother and I were using an Emerson cassette deck, the old school rectangular portable type, to mess around recording ourselves pretending to be local news. Whatever cassette mech was in it (absolutely could not tell you) made some pretty good verbal/spoken word audio on these cheap bargain basement tapes so long as we used our corded external mic. It was the only cassette recorder we ever had at home that made pretty decent use out of the cheapest tapes money could buy. And FWIW this is the kind of tape I remember buying on one of those "stop smoking" or "self-help" type audio tapes from Target discount bins for 50 cents when a new blank tape would cost you $5 or $6 at the least. So we'd get a bunch of those and record ourselves over them. They weren't good but they weren't awful either

[@JohnAranita]

Type II is for compact discs. An expert said that Type IV should not be used with Dolby noise reduction. I recorded the audio off my parents' TV from Scooby Doo, M*A*S*H, and Three's Company. I had to edit out commercials in real time.

[@xaenon]

Type 2 is Chromium Dioxide, and was around at least a decade before CD.. Type 3 was Ferrichrome (short-lived, combination of standard and CrO2, expensive, not well supported, obsolete by 1980). Type 4 didn't NEED Dolby. The whole point of it was it could saturate at a much higher level, virtually eliminating hiss without a noise reduction system. Technically, Chromium didn't need Dolby either. The way it worked was pretty much like Dolby anyway.

[@3Cr15w311]

The 3 pack K Mart tapes that you showed were used by me a lot when I was a kid when I had a plain cheap mono portable tape recorder. When I got my first high fidelity tape deck as part of a stereo system my parents got me December 1982, I immediately heard how bad they sounded compared to a good Type II tape like TDK SA or TDK SA-X . There was no comparison. The cheap K Mart tapes from the 3 packs had no high end and I'm not sure the 15K slider on the 5-band equalizer make any difference except for amplifying some hiss.

[@jamesslick4790]

I used MANY of the red labeled "K Mart" branded tapes (shown in this video) for recording shortwave radio comms, Sure you weren't gonna put them in your Nakamichi and record a live symphony, But for what they were (very likely "Type 0", they seemed to be better made than the REALLY "cheap-o" tapes you'd find at a DEEP discounter like "D&K Stores". At least they held up physically, I have many laying around that still play to this day. I would use Type I tapes from Radio Shack if I was casually recording AM/FM radio in a "boom box" For "serious" music use, Like copying and LP to tape, Type II always (TDK, Maxell, Memorex and, Yes even Radio Shack!)

[@xaenon]

We think alike. I used cheap tape for my car stereo, because the car (being a loud, obnoxious hot rod) meant audio quality of the stereo was actually secondary....lol. And tapes tended to disappear from the car... damned if I was going to feed the bandits my GOOD tapes. And yes, K-mart did seem to be a bit better than the rest for inexpensive blanks.

[@65CJ5]

I started out with those early on. I went to Maxell and TDK when I finally got better audio gear. Those old type "0" tapes tended to be head-cloggers!

[@matthewgatskie1287]

Recoton "High Perfomace" LOL

[@am74343]

"Type 0" is basically a retronym... They were basically 1970s/1980s tapes which were still using the 1950s/1960s cheapest iron oxide powder formulations available. Back then, a "good" tape might have cost $1.00, whereas a "Type 0" tape probably cost the equivalent of .50¢ cents. If you didn't need "high-fidelity" media to record something like dictation, then the cheaper, the better.

[@durrcodurr]

I still have some no-name tapes from the 1970ies / early 1980ies, with off-brands like "Silver Pon", "Mark II" and "Compact Cassette". I still remember that I bought Silver Pon as a kid in the beginning, because they were the most affordable, but was soon dissatisfied with them, and bought Mark II later, which were a lot better. After that, I bought mostly AGFA and BASF tapes. One interesting thing is the price, they seem to have been much more affordable in Germany than in the US (the cheapest ones being 1-2 DM each, $2 would have been 8 DM at that time). BTW, while I used the tapes for music, the other thing I used them for was as computer storage (for my VIC-20 and, later, Amstrad CPC-464 computers).

[@jamesslick4790]

"Compact Cassette" is the actual, official and proper name for the "cassette" format itself. (As named by Phillips). There was a distinct logo for "Compact Cassette" seen on MOST brands of cassette tapes, in the '69's and '70s. (some even later). Much like the "Compact Disc- Digital audio" logo seen on CDs. (Phillips created the Compact Cassette AND with Sony, created the Compact Disc.) I'm guessing the logo faded as the patents began expiring.

[@marqsee7948]

'Normal bias' tape really brings up the noise floor. I'm surprised it doesn't scare cats.

[@MrSlipstreem]

That's where Dolby C comes in. Not only is it an amazing noise reduction system, but it also linearises the performance of all tape types using a technique called spectral skewing. The most benefit in this respect comes from using it with Type I tapes making them perform very similarly to expensive Type IV tapes. I have two cassette decks here that are flat within 1dB from 20Hz to 20kHz with a signal-to-noise ratio approaching 80dB when using Dolby C with a cheap TDK FE Type I tape.

[@guycampbell1290]

Recorded on cheap cassettes tons of tv audio. Brands like Audio Magnetics, Tracs, Bicentenial 76. Cetron, Audition, Fliptape. in the 70's and 80. Often today have to reconnected back on leader and pads behind tape. Most had no scews. Been posting on line over 20 years. Some super rare reordings like ABC Suspense Movie, at the the time ABC Sunday Night Movie.

[@Cr4z3d]

The closest thing I know to a "Type 0" that exists in the present day is the blank cassettes that Wal-Mart distributed, under the ONN brand.

[@stevejohnson1321]

My late father continually echoed that memorex were the "very best" cassette tape. He had never heard any other brand. The tapes functioned and were priced competitively, but the reproduction was nothing special. I tried the brand once and went back to Maxell.

[@landsfadern]

I had some cheap tapes branded ”ACME”, which is kind of a comedic brand name.

[@f.demascio1857]

My mom was a court stenographer and did medical transcription at home. Those were always done on crap cassettes. I tried recording music from the radio on them. Worst. The Worst.

[@vidtech2630]

I guess the original Phillips cassettes without the write protect notches, could also be described as type 0 , although for different reasons, that the name , type 0 is used .

[@yonkieponkie]

i have a certron cassette somewhere

[@larryshaver3568]

i used SO many cheap tapes even after i got a cassette deck which i laterhooked a teac an60 dolby up to and they didn't sound bad

[@Bob-1802]

Even a cheap tape. on a high-end deck with correct bias and what have you, can sound surprisingly good. It may have less dynamic range and more noise but Dolby C/S and HXPro could compensate some.

[@drsysop]

I had Type III Ferrichrome cassettes & was not popular. -Cheers!

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

Mi sono passate tra le mani un discreto numero di cassette type0,ma mai una che riportasse la dicitura type0,la si riconosce perche non indica il type,invece sulle type1,2,3,4 vi e' sempre scritto..

[@monetfaversham6703]

If the compact cassette was introduced in 1963 on what equipment would you play these type 0 cassettes ? I think you have got your dates wrong or are referring to something completely different. I think this video is pure invention on your part.

[@surferbri5346]

We were poor growing up we would steal the crappy books to tape cassetes from the library tape over the popped out tab on the top and record over it

[@corgiverse9550]

i have some concertape and it doesn't seem that bad but i don't have a great deck working yet so.. idk.

[@jimmiesmith5811]

Walgreens had tonemaster

[@xaenon]

Ughhhh... I remember those.

[@DriveInFreak]

Those were the worst of all time. I remember seeing one that literally had cut down video tape in it. Just awful..

[@Aceiolix]

those type 0 are the one that lasts and recording on them since nobody cares about them due to low quality thus recording on them usually are there even today for you to listen

[@BlueNeon81]

Type 0 cassettes are basically all cassettes, which cannot be calibrated on higher grade cassette decks, no matter if they are ferrooxide, or chromedioxide (yeah, I own some old cheap low grade Cro2 cassettes, which are Type 0).

[@xaenon]

The earliest cassettes were all effectively 'type 0', though they never called them that. When the cassette was being developed, there was NO thought at all for it ever being used for music. It was strictly for voice work. Better formulations (aka 'type 1') were the first efforts at improving the format for music, and became the default in terms of compatibility. Type 2 (CrO2) was the second effort at improving the format - better frequency response, and less tape noise. fun fact: It had actually been first developed before before the cassette - 3M/Wollensak had a system called the Revere that used 1/4 inch tape at 1-7/8 inches per second (sound familiar?), that was a commercial flop. But they had develped the formulation for better sound quality because their system WAS intended for music, and the better formulation dropped neatly into the cassette system. Basically the difference between type 0 and type 1 is the size of the magnetic media particles on the tape. Type 1 uses a smaller particle size than the original spec.

[@bryede]

@@xaenon Type 1 just refers to standard ferric-oxide tape (the same kind used by reel-to-reel for ages) and it's associated bias and EQ settings. There is no type 0, except as a cheeky way to refer to low quality type 1 cassettes.

[@Michael.Werker]

I'm making reworks of known cassettes. I can create various Type 0 versions for you. Maybe a TDK CR-AP ?

[@stupendous9896]

WE ALL USED THOSE CRAPPY TAPES! And most of them got swallowed up by our crappy players!🤣

[@MrSlipstreem]

Not all of us. I grew up with 3 older brothers who knew better and passed on the message to avoid them like the plague.

[@TomSherwood-z5l]

Yea what kind of tapes were used for commercial prerecorded music cassettes? I cannot imagine that the mass producers wanting to sell millions of their music spent any more money that necessary for their high speed dupes. Always noticed that turning on Dolby resulted in dull sound in many cases. Usually inferior to what you could make yourself with a quality deck. I still have a cassette deck and it is just there to have the ability to exploit all different sorts of media. For instance I have some old commercial tapes and some sound pretty good. I don't care that they are not super digital fidelity. It is the cheap music I want otherwise I would buy digital media. Going to garage sales and getting 50 cent music tapes is kinda fun. And I suppose retro thrills for kids.

[@pukalo]

I miss Zellers.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Certron, Justen' are very poor quality cassettes. Lots of dropouts. I have a few. And what I used to do is use the cassette halves and put good tapes in them that came from a defective case. I did use those cheapos. Wasn't pleased. They do not say Type 0.

[@johnmiller0000]

I bet they sound better than the appalling BASF chromdioxid rubbish. In the 70s in the UK, I bought cheapo "Fliptapes".

[@xamian2]

I used blue cased "Scotch" tapes. They were *so* bad ... man, so bad!

[@HelloKittyFanMan]

How would you record a song _off of_ the radio... like deleting it from the radio while recording it, TRG? And why would anyone even want to do that instead of just recording songs FROM the radio?

[@DonnyHooterHoot]

Now I use Type 69, USB memory key. Peace!

[@chuckmaddison2924]

I just bought standard Hitachi 60 minute mostly. Amazing I do still have a TDK still in plastic wrap. It's a 90 minute. Has a big " B " on the front and says Normal position Type 1 low noise high output high precision cassette mechanism. Bar code 4 902030 026264

[@thedancingalien7766]

Recording Arrest Him😮😮😮

[@coatsiecoates1576]

I actually pronounce Recoton “Recoton”

[@Aranimda]

*Records Type-O-Negative to it.

[@bob-s-bit-s]

hi was lucky my dad had bad ears so all the tv's we had there had to be a audio out put in the 80's he used to turn it up big time till mum got head phones you could hear the sound coming out of them they were so poor i used to record alot of audio out of that audio out put i am so care about audio levels now i am a audio tec i let the software do it all my mates had cassette decks sorry they were bad and very poor and the heads used to wear down me i had a low range 4 track mono reel to reel there was only some place's you could buy cassette tandy maplins tandy went as the MD came in 90's about i used to get alot of used tapes bad misstake why the levels are all over the places from make to make CASSETTE tapes i got in to them 5 years ago because tapeline was around and i could get dubbing one's all the same as you know setting up recorders is a right pain i DON'T recorded on cassette decks i record 1/8 tape on my otari mtr12 i am finding the tape cassette are not working right i have had alot note cassettes are a right pain when the 1/8 tape speed hit's 3 3/4 ip you can't get better i have done test's at 7 1/2 ips my tascam 238 works ace at 3 3/4 it will do 7 1/2 with a 4000rpm motor as a tec i can jazz my orari mrr 12 tenson on the motors and use the new 1/8 head block and rollers i am planning a audio vog with pic's for next year

[@anonamouse5917]

Sounds like these are really type 1 (ferric oxide) but garbage quality.

[@Mr.1.i]

Memorex were the best B.A.S.F and then TDK

[@brenthays6539]

As a teen in the 80s I had a dual cassette deck on my stereo, and my friend and I would use cheap tapes to record our garage band. With the dual cassette feature we could bounce tracks from one cassette to the other and overdub voices, guitars, keyboards, etc. We even figured out that if you took the spools out of the cassette and twisted it you could cause the playback to be reversed if you got the twist just right.

[@OffendingTheOffendable]

Considering 0 isn't actually a number, its a place holder

[@DriveInFreak]

"Low noise" = "type zero".

[@2167PhillipM]

I also use to tape the audio of tv shows on to cassette. But I never heard or used type zero cassettes. I use to use the TDK 180 min cassette, type I normal bias. The tape was so thin and the sound quality so bad even for voice.