Magnetic Tapes, Discs and Wires

NAB Cartridge (Audiopak A-2 )

The NAB Cartridge (e.g. Audiopak, Fidelipac, Scotchcart etc.), was an endless-loop magnetic tape cartridge widely used by radio stations for commercials, jingles, station identifications and music. The Audiopak A-2 shown here is the compact A-size version, designed for quick and reliable playback in broadcasting.

8-Track

The 8-Track cartridge was one of the most popular magnetic tape formats for music, especially in cars in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. Its eight parallel tracks were played in pairs, with the playback head mechanically switching between programs as the endless tape loop continued running.

Elcaset

Elcaset was a large-format audio cassette introduced by Sony in 1976 as a high-quality alternative to the Compact Cassette. It used wider 6.35 mm tape running at higher speed, but its large size, expensive equipment and the rapid improvement of Compact Cassette technology caused the format to disappear after only a few years.

Compact Cassette

The Compact Cassette is probably the most successful magnetic audio tape format ever made. Introduced by Philips in 1963, it became a worldwide standard for music, voice recording and later computer data, surviving for several decades despite many attempts to replace it.

Microcassette

The Microcassette was introduced by Olympus in 1969 as a much smaller alternative to the Compact Cassette. It became particularly popular in dictation machines, answering machines and portable voice recorders, where compact size was more important than high audio quality.

NT - Digital Micro Tape

Sony NT was an exceptionally small digital magnetic tape cassette developed for portable voice recorders. The NT-1 cassette measured only about 30 × 21 × 5 mm and could store up to 120 minutes of digitally recorded audio, making it probably the smallest digital tape format ever produced.

DAT - Digital Audio Tape

DAT was a professional digital audio tape format introduced by Sony and Philips in the late 1980s. It offered high-quality digital recording and became important in professional studios, broadcasting and mastering, although it never achieved the success of the Compact Cassette or Compact Disc among consumers.

Pre-recorded DAT with music

Although DAT was mainly used for recording, a limited number of commercially pre-recorded music albums were also released on DAT. These tapes provided a digital alternative to CDs and were particularly attractive to audio enthusiasts, but their relatively high price kept the format highly specialised.

DCC - Digital Compact Cassette

Digital Compact Cassette was Philips' attempt to combine the convenience of the traditional cassette with digital recording. Introduced in 1992, DCC players could also play conventional analogue Compact Cassettes, but the format was discontinued only a few years later after losing the battle against MiniDisc and recordable CDs.

DC International

DC International was a short-lived cassette format developed by Grundig and introduced in 1965 as a competitor to the Compact Cassette. It used a two-reel cassette and was available with both pre-recorded music and blank tapes, but the format disappeared after only about two years.

Endless Cassette Tape

Endless-loop magnetic tape cartridges were designed to provide continuous playback without rewinding or changing sides. They were used for applications ranging from background music and advertising to children's audio products and various specialised recording systems.

ADAT

ADAT was a digital multitrack recording system introduced by Alesis in 1991 that used Super VHS tapes as its recording medium. A single machine could record eight digital audio tracks, making it an important and relatively affordable alternative to expensive professional digital tape recorders in the 1990s.

Bandai Micro Cartridge

The Bandai Micro Cartridge was a tiny endless-loop magnetic tape cartridge used in children's and portable audio products. Its extremely small size made it an interesting example of how magnetic tape technology could be miniaturised far beyond the dimensions of a conventional cassette.

Pocket Rockers

Pocket Rockers were tiny proprietary music cartridges released by Fisher-Price from 1988 to 1991 for children. Each cartridge contained two pre-recorded songs in mono and could even be clipped to clothing like a fashion accessory, making the format as much a toy and collectible as a music medium.

Grundig EN7 (DeJUR Mini-Memo)

The Grundig EN 7 was a remarkably small dictation system introduced around 1968, also sold as the DeJUR Mini-Memo in some markets. Its miniature cassette used ⅛-inch magnetic tape and was pulled past the recording head directly by the reels rather than by a capstan.

Minicassette

The Philips Minicassette was introduced in 1967 as a compact voice-recording medium for dictation machines and other portable equipment. Unlike the Compact Cassette, it had no capstan drive — the tape was pulled directly by the reels, which made the mechanism simpler but limited recording quality. It was even used as a data medium in the Philips P2000 home computer.

Grundig Steno Cassette

The Grundig Steno-Cassette was introduced in 1971 specifically for office dictation and became particularly popular in Germany. One of its most distinctive features is the integrated tape-length indicator, while the format itself was later standardised as DIN 32750.

Grundig Cassette 543

The Grundig Stenorette 543 belongs to the family of specialised magnetic dictation cassettes developed for office use. Unlike the much more familiar Compact Cassette, these tapes were designed primarily for speech recording and transcription rather than music.

Philips EL 3581

The Philips EL 3581 represents the early generation of specialised magnetic recording media used in compact dictation and voice-recording equipment. These early Philips systems illustrate how cassette-like formats developed rapidly in the 1960s, before the Compact Cassette became the dominant standard.

Grundig EN3

The Grundig EN3 was a compact dictation system from the 1960s, designed for portable voice recording. It belongs to the same early generation of miniature magnetic recording formats that preceded the later, more standardised Steno-Cassette.

Grundig Stenorette

Grundig's Stenorette systems were designed primarily for professional dictation and transcription. Several generations were produced, using different magnetic recording media over the years, and the name became closely associated with office dictation equipment in Germany.

Stenomatic

The Stenomatic was an early Grundig dictation system that used a magnetic sheet rather than conventional magnetic tape. The sheet could be recorded, erased and reused, and its unusual flat form makes it one of the more exotic magnetic audio media in this collection.

IBM Magnabelt (3-inch and 4-inch)

IBM's Magnabelt system used a wide, endless loop of magnetic tape in a belt-like form rather than a conventional reel or cassette. The early systems used 4-inch belts, while later versions used 3-inch belts, with recordings made by a head that moved progressively across the width of the belt.

Stenocord

Stenocord was a specialised magnetic belt recording system used for dictation. Instead of storing the recording on a conventional reel of tape, the medium used an endless magnetic belt, making it possible to build compact and relatively simple office dictation machines.

AGA Agavox

The AGA Agavox was an unusual magnetic-disc recording system introduced in the 1950s. Instead of tape, it stored speech on a rotating magnetic disc, making it one of many fascinating attempts to find an alternative to conventional magnetic tape for dictation.

Assmann Astromag

The Assmann Astromag was another early magnetic-disc recording system, introduced around 1948 and used primarily for dictation. Its magnetic disc could be erased and reused, offering an unusual alternative to both paper-based recording and magnetic tape.

IBM 6:5

IBM 6:5 was a rather extraordinary dictation system introduced in 1975 that used magnetic discs instead of tape. Each removable cartridge contained 25 small discs, each capable of storing six minutes of speech; two cartridges could be stored in the dictation machine and provide up to five hours of recording, which explains the name “6:5”.

Recording Wire

Magnetic wire recording was one of the earliest practical forms of magnetic sound recording, appearing around the beginning of the 20th century. Instead of magnetic tape, the audio signal was recorded onto a very thin stainless steel wire — a surprisingly effective technology that remained in use for decades before magnetic tape eventually replaced it.

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