Compact Cassette ~ General

The Compact Cassette, commonly known as the cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback¹. It was invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company Philips, and released in August 1963¹.

Compact Cassettes come in two forms:

• Prerecorded cassettes (Musicassette), which contain content like albums or audiobooks.
• Blank cassettes, which can be fully recorded and used for personal mixtapes or recordings.

The cassette consists of two miniature spools, between which a magnetically coated, polyester-type plastic film (magnetic tape) is passed and wound. These spools are housed within a protective plastic shell¹. The tape is commonly referred to as “eighth-inch” tape, but it’s actually slightly larger, at 0.15 inches (3.81 mm) wide¹.

Cassettes typically have a capacity of 30, 45, or 60 minutes per side (C60, C90, and C120), with two stereo pairs of tracks or two monaural audio tracks available on the tape. One stereo pair or one monophonic track is played or recorded when the tape is moving in one direction, and the second pair or track when moving in the other direction¹.

The reversal of the tape can be achieved either by manually flipping the cassette or by an auto-reverse mechanism in the player¹. This format was widely popular due to its portability, ease of use, and the ability to record and share personal music mixes.

If you’re interested in purchasing, there are various options available, such as Maxell Audio Cassette Tapes and Sony HF High Fidelity Normal Bias Cassettes, which are highly rated by consumers².