i have seen some goofy audio tech, but this…

[solarbird]

Apparently, sometime in the 1980s, TEAC – a legitimate, major, respected maker of audio gear – thought it would be a great idea to combine reel-to-reel loading technology with audiocassette frames.

Yes, it’s a compact audiocassette where you load the reels individually. And you can swap them out! I AM NOT EVEN MAKING THIS UP LOOK AT IT THIS IS LUDICROUS:

"TEAC O'Casse Open Cassette - Reinventing the Reel" (Watch on YouTube)

The selling point was presumably size of the little mini-reels vs. size of an entire cassette frame. But… honestly, how did this ever make it to market? Particularly given what a pain in the ass it is to actually load into a cassette frame and use. Watch the video, it’s pretty much hilarious.

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Comments

[vatine]

My distinct memory of reel-to-reel tape is that it was an absolute joy to edit with. Only did a small amount of that, though. I think on the balance I've edited more audio by accident, splicing 35mm film for cinema projectors than I have on magnetic reel-to-reel tape.

[solarbird]

Oh, sure. But this isn't for that. I mean, you could, and I did repair cassette tape that way a few times, but really you shouldn't edit with it, just because it's too low-resolution a tape.

But real editing, absolutely. Can and have done. Editing blocks, ahoy, etc.

[oh6]

I had wondered why some (most? all?) cassette tapes were put together with screws.

[solarbird]

This isn't why!

But I did use that fact at least once to recover a tape damaged in a case that did not unscrew. I bought a screw-together case tape and transplanted the mended tape into that case.