Technical Problems with Soviet era Audio Cassettes?

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Technical Problems with Soviet era Audio Cassettes?

Postby Speakeasy » Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:09 pm

Technical Problems with Soviet era Audio Cassettes?
I am reopening the request for assistance that was originally posted under the "Russian for Everybody - V. Kostomarov (assistance with U.S.S.R. audio cassettes?)" discussion thread that I posted in the “Language Programs and Resources” sub form.

Aravinda and, later, Arnaud, provided much-appreciated, extensive information on this excellent series of instructional texts and audio recordings. Based on their information and with their able assistance, I ordered copies of the printed textbooks. I removed “(assistance with U.S.S.R. audio cassettes?)" from the above-named discussion thread so as to better focus on the original question, which was the difficulties that an Amazon Customer reported in playing the audio cassettes associated with the series (see below).

“The book is excellent. No problem there. The cassettes will not play. Was able to find a new cassette player but cannot make them work. Could be that (per their label) they were made in the USSR in 1984. Any ideas or helpful hints?”

Recently, I purchased a couple of Soviet era Russian language courses and had no difficulty playing the accompanying audio cassettes. Would anyone know what the problem might be plaguing the Amazon Customer and how it should be addressed?

EDITED:
Formatting.
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aravinda
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Re: Technical Problems with Soviet era Audio Cassettes?

Postby aravinda » Tue Jan 09, 2018 2:52 am

Reading your initial post again, I realise that I have totally neglected your original question. I am sorry but I was carried away by my enthusiasm for the course. Also, I missed the part on the possibility of cassettes of the American Version being actually recorded in the USSR.
Speakeasy wrote:...The cassettes will not play. Was able to find a new cassette player but cannot make them work. Could be that (per their label) they were made in the USSR in 1984. Any ideas or helpful hints?”[/i]

Recently, I purchased a couple of Soviet era Russian language courses and had no difficulty playing the accompanying audio cassettes. Would anyone know what the problem might be plaguing the Amazon Customer and how it should be addressed?

Honestly, I have no clue and I can't remember the last time I used a cassette. But what do they exactly mean when they say "the cassettes will not play"? If the tapes do not wind/rewind the issue is likely to be mechanical and might be fixed by carefully transferring the tapes to a new cassette (assuming there is no problem with the cassette player). On the other hand, if the tapes move without producing a sound it is likely that the tapes are damaged or erased. It is unlikely that for the US Version, they produced cassette tapes that are incompatible with the ordinary cassette players used in the US.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Technical Problems with Soviet era Audio Cassettes?

Postby Speakeasy » Tue Jan 09, 2018 4:17 am

Thank you, Aravinda, for your insight. As a quick aside, as the chief beneficiary of your enthusiasm, I would be hard put to complain about the information that you provided concerning the "Russian for Everybody" series.

The Amazon Customer was no more specific in his appeal for assistance than expressed in the quote above.

The Soviet Union and many other Eastern European countries exported audio recordings on cassettes for several decades. Given the simplicity of the technology and these countries' commerical success in the West, while it is possible that the problem truly lies with the cassettes, I wonder about the likelihood. As I reported above, I have a small collection of such cassettes and they work just fine.

It is apparent that the Soviet era engineers merely replicated the Western technology; doing otherwise would not have made much sense. As you can see from the image below, an audio cassette is a disarmingly simple, passive device; there is really not a lot that can wrong with it. Nevertheless, should the cause of the malfunction turn out to be mechanical, the individual could either repair the problem or simply disassemble the cassettes, remove the spools of tape, and insert them into undamaged cassettes.

It is also possible that the source of the problem is the cassette player itself. The Amazon Customer reported that he was "able to find a new cassette player." Numerous reviews on the Internet suggest that the very low-priced cassette players coming out of the Middle Kingdom are shoddily constructed, unreliable, and prone to failure.

There is also the question of the power source (Did he insert fresh batteries? Did he insert batteries at all?).

Thank you, once again, for your insight into the problem. Perhaps an audiophile or tech-geek will have a definitive answer to the Amazon Customer's question and, hopefully, will offer a solution.

EDITED:
Tinkering (OCD)
Autocorrect is evil!
Slight expansion of the text: an audio cassette is a disarmingly simple, passive device.

IMAGE:
Russian Audio Cassette (Wikicommons)
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Last edited by Speakeasy on Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Cainntear
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Re: Technical Problems with Soviet era Audio Cassettes?

Postby Cainntear » Tue Jan 09, 2018 4:05 pm

Speakeasy wrote:Perhaps an audiophile or tech-geek will have a definitive answer to the Amazon Customer's question and, hopefully, will offer a solution.

There simply isn't enough information in the comment for anyone to give a useful answer, sadly.

One possibility is that of head tracking or alignment. The whole tape is a strip of magnetised material, but the heads only record to narrow stripes of it.

A mono tape will have two "tracks": side A and side B.
A stereo tape has four: side A (left), side A (right), side B (left) and side B (right).
(You used to be able to buy 4-track cassette recorders that made your tape a single-sided thing for recording your band as a sort of cheap home studio.)

Most commercial cassettes were mastered with the write heads in a standard alignment, so that any well-aligned player could read them. However, it's possible that these were mastered incorrectly. But then that wouldn't be "they won't play", it would more likely be "they don't make a sound" or "you can hear strange noises" or something.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Technical Problems with Soviet era Audio Cassettes?

Postby Speakeasy » Tue Jan 09, 2018 4:54 pm

Cainntear, thank you very much for your insights into the possible causes of the problem, you’re much more of an audiophile or tech-geek than I ever was: scratched, dusty vinyl records; audio tapes left accumulating in the sun or on a radiator!

Cainntear wrote: There simply isn't enough information in the comment for anyone to give a useful answer, sadly...
Yes, it would have been helpful had the Amazon Customer reported his experiences playing other audio cassettes. Then again, it is possible that his collection of cassettes is limited to those that he purchased as part of the of the 1980’s Russian course. That is, he purchased the course, then purchased a cassette player, but has no other cassettes with which he might conduct a comparative test.

Cainntear wrote: One possibility is that of head tracking or alignment. The whole tape is a strip of magnetised material, but the heads only record to narrow stripes of it ... Most commercial cassettes were mastered with the write heads in a standard alignment, so that any well-aligned player could read them. However, it's possible that these were mastered incorrectly. But then that wouldn't be "they won't play", it would more likely be "they don't make a sound" or "you can hear strange noises" or something.
This is the "techy part" that I really appreciate. As I commented above, there are numerous complaints about the unreliability of some brands of cassette players manufactured in China (given the decline in the popularity of audio cassettes, no one else seems interested in producing these devices any more). I still have my Radio Shack cassette player that I purchased just over 50 years ago and it works fine! I suspect that the Amazon Customer would be better off purchasing a used model on eBay.

In any event, I will add your comments as a response to the customer’s question on Amazon. Hopefully, he checked the box which directs Amazon to send him an Email advising him of replies to his comments. Thank you, once again, for your valuable insight!

EDITED:
Typos, of course.
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Cainntear
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Re: Technical Problems with Soviet era Audio Cassettes?

Postby Cainntear » Wed Jan 10, 2018 7:39 pm

Speakeasy wrote:As I commented above, there are numerous complaints about the unreliability of some brands of cassette players manufactured in China (given the decline in the popularity of audio cassettes, no one else seems interested in producing these devices any more).

I'd put good money that none of them are aligned before leaving the factory, as that's probably the most labour-intensive part of the process these days.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Technical Problems with Soviet era Audio Cassettes?

Postby Speakeasy » Fri Jan 19, 2018 4:05 pm

I have not received a reply via Amazon from the customer who reported having problems playing the audio cassettes which acccompany the "Russian for Everybody" course. However, I found a used copy of these materials on eBay, ordered them, have just received delivery of the package, and can report that my copy plays just fine (see image below). So, as Cainntear surmised, the source of the Amazon customer's problem is most likely cassette player itself.

IMAGE
Russian for Everybody, Teacher's Manual and Recorded Supplement
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