The Microcassette (often written generically as microcassette) is an
audio storage
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of ...
medium, introduced by
Olympus
Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to:
Mountains
In antiquity
Greece
* Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology
* Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Les ...
in 1969.
It has the same width of
magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magne ...
as the
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...
but in a cassette roughly one quarter the size. By using thinner tape and half or a quarter the tape speed, microcassettes can offer comparable recording time to the compact cassette but in a smaller package.
History
![MicrocassetteEquipment](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/MicrocassetteEquipment.jpg)
Microcassettes have mostly been used for recording
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
. In particular, they are commonly used in
dictation machine
A dictation machine is a sound recording device most commonly used to record speech for playback or to be typed into print. It includes digital voice recorders and tape recorder.
The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark of the company of the same n ...
s and
answering machine
An answering machine, answerphone or message machine, also known as telephone messaging machine (or TAM) in the UK and some Commonwealth countries, ansaphone or ansafone (from a trade name), or telephone answering device (TAD), was used for a ...
s. Microcassettes have also been used in
computer data storage
Computer data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and Data storage, recording media that are used to retain digital data (computing), data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers.
The central pro ...
and to record
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
. For the latter purpose, devices for recording in
stereo
Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
were produced in 1982 and, for
higher fidelity, microcassettes using Type IV ("metal", i.e. coated with pure metal particles rather than oxide) tape were sold. This was an attempt by Olympus to cash in on the burgeoning Walkman market; one model, the Olympus SR-11, had a built-in radio and offered a stereo tie-clip microphone as an accessory, which made the unit somewhat popular with concert-goers who wanted to record the concerts they attended without drawing attention to themselves with larger, bulkier full-sized cassette recorders.
Both of these "high-fidelity" microcassette recorders and the special Type IV blanks they required were relatively expensive and of limited availability, so the system was not widely adopted and Olympus phased them out after two years on the market. (Battery life also was a problem, because the high bias currents required by Type IV tape, combined with the state of battery technology at the time, meant that brand-new alkaline batteries might give out in two hours when the unit was in recording mode.) "Standard" microcassettes are still used in the
underground-music circuits for recording and distributing
experimental music
Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...
and
field recording
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibra ...
s/
sound collage
In music, montage (literally "putting together") or sound collage ("gluing together") is a technique where newly branded sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage. This is often done throug ...
, mostly because of their
lo-fi
Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...
qualities. As of August 2021, Ohm Electric still produces microcassette tapes.
Specifications
The original standard microcassette, the MC60, gives 30 minutes recording per side at its standard speed of 2.4 cm/s, and double that duration at 1.2 cm/s; an MC90, giving 45 minutes per side @ 2.4 cm/s, is also available from a few manufacturers. Unlike the Compact Cassette, a choice of recording speeds was provided on the original recorders and many others; the tape also spools in the opposite direction, from right to left. For transcription purposes, continuously variable speed was provided on many players. Microcassettes equalisation time constant: Type I (Ferric) at 200μs and Type IV (Metal) at 120μs.
Competitors
![Micro mini cassette](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Micro_mini_cassette.jpg)
The microcassette was beaten to market by the
mini-cassette
The Mini-Cassette, often written minicassette, is a magnetic tape audio cassette format introduced by Philips in 1967.
It is used primarily in dictation machines and was also employed as a data storage for the Philips P2000 home computer. As of ...
, introduced by
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
in 1967. The mini-cassette is almost identical in appearance and dimensions to the microcassette, however it has thicker cogs for its reels and a slightly wider cassette. The mini-cassette, despite making it to market first, was less successful than the microcassette.
A couple of products were created to compete with the microcassette.
Dictaphone
Dictaphone was an American company founded by Alexander Graham Bell
that produced dictation machines. It is now a division of Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, Massachusetts.
Although the name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, it has bec ...
and
JVC
JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...
introduced the
picocassette
Picocassette is an audio storage medium introduced by Dictaphone in collaboration with JVC in 1985.
The Picocassette was introduced to compete with the Microcassette, introduced by Olympus, and the Mini-Cassette, by Philips.
Size
It is appro ...
in 1985, which is half the size of the microcassette. In 1992,
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
released the
NT memo recording system, which employs a small cassette for
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
recording.
See also
*
inches per second
The inch per second is a unit of speed or velocity. It expresses the distance in inches (''in'') traveled or displaced, divided by time in seconds (''s'', or ''sec''). The equivalent SI unit is the metre per second.
Abbreviations include in/s, ...
and
audio tape length and thickness
Since the widespread adoption of reel-to-reel audio tape recording in the 1950s, audio tapes and tape cassettes have been available in many formats. This article describes the length, tape thickness and playing times of some of the most common on ...
for comparisons with other media.
*
Mini-Cassette
The Mini-Cassette, often written minicassette, is a magnetic tape audio cassette format introduced by Philips in 1967.
It is used primarily in dictation machines and was also employed as a data storage for the Philips P2000 home computer. As of ...
*
Picocassette
Picocassette is an audio storage medium introduced by Dictaphone in collaboration with JVC in 1985.
The Picocassette was introduced to compete with the Microcassette, introduced by Olympus, and the Mini-Cassette, by Philips.
Size
It is appro ...
*
NT (cassette)
NT is a digital memo recording system introduced by Sony in 1992, sometimes marketed under the name Scoopman.
The NT system was introduced to compete with the Microcassette, introduced by Olympus, and the Mini-Cassette, by Philips.
Descrip ...
Notes
External links and references
Olympus History (includes reference to first microcassette recorder)Tech Flashback: The Microcasette – Part 1: The Tapes - Gough's Tech ZoneTech Flashback: The Microcasette – Part 2: The Recorders - Gough's Tech Zone
{{Audio format
Audiovisual introductions in 1969
Audio storage
Tape recording
1969 in music
1969 in technology
Products introduced in 1969