Super 8 Tracks?

[CHAS]

There was a great 'zine I used to collect in the '90s called "Eight-Track Mind"...
http://www.8trackheaven.com/sub.html

The creators' of this epic also put out a movie about 8-track collecting called "So Wrong They're Right" detailing their attempts to collect 8-tracks all across America...

http://www.8trackheaven.com/doc.html

James E., do you remember that great junk/collectibles store down the street from Powell's on that weird block that has a pizza shop and a zine store? they used to sell 8-tracks upstairs. I bought a few there for friends... is that where you got yours? last time I was in Portland the store wasn't there anymore.

[leadlike]

Just thought I'd jump in here to say a few words about tracking-

I started collecting these things because they show up for free at a lot of garage sales and the like. I had about 200 tapes at last count.

My last two cars ('01 malibu and a '99 Bonneville) both had 8 track players in them. I managed to cram an 8 track player in with the factory cd/cassette in the malibu, and eventually soldered in an ipod jack-it can play all auto audio formats now!

Most record stores that have been around for quite awhile still keep a pile of moldy 8 tracks in back, although most want too much for them. In Seattle down in ballard is a record shop that has maybe ten thousand 8 tracks. The shop owner quoted me at 'less than five bucks each' for them, but when I came up to the counter with a few choices, those prices changed to more like twenty dollars apiece. What a disappointment. 8 tracks just aren't worth anything, right?

I DID ebay a copy of Lou Reed's Berlin for five bucks (the most I have every paid for a single tape) as I wanted to hear the lost '8 track only' song on it. I would say it was worth it, but listening to Berlin on an endless loop is rather damaging to the psyche.

[super8man]

The shop owner quoted me at 'less than five bucks each' for them, but when I came up to the counter with a few choices, those prices changed to more like twenty dollars apiece. What a disappointment. 8 tracks just aren't worth anything, right?

The problem comes from the age-old principle that by measuring something, you changed its value.

There goes the joke about record collectors asking for a price - the seller looks over the record intently, checks a few books for reference then quotes some crazy price. The 8 tracker asks for price and is instantly told "50-cents!"

You could also swap that anecdote to 35mm caneras vs. super 8 cameras...

[James E]

Mike, I figured the whole collection to be worth no more than $20-$40 to someone who <i>really</i> wanted them. I'll have to get them out and see what kind of condition they're in. But as I recall they're in decent shape. You interested in them ? My wife would be thrilled if I got rid of them !
Cheers,

[super8man]

Email me a picture and we can talk offline, as Roger would say.

Cheers,
Mike

[David M. Leugers]

8-track was the "in" thing for car audio. My best friend purchased a cassette player for his car and everyone laughed at him. I even read articles at the time which foretold the demise of cassette players as they had not caught on... As the audio improved with cassette players, they soon took root and took over. The 8-track was a shooting star that fizzled fairly quickly. You can't say that about S-8mm. It had about a 15 year hay-day, but has continued on and is still a viable and popular format. When 8-track died, it fell off a cliff...


David M. Leugers

[BolexPlusX]

My wife's car came with a CD player that loops the disk until you get so fed up you eject it. With a kid in the household this sometimes means you find yourself alone in the car listening to Sesame Street songs if you aren't careful.

To me this was the most obnoxious feature of 8-track, that you could wind up listening to the same album all weekend until it was irritating enough to make you stop it.

What a shame they didn't remember this when they designed our CD player!

[super8man]

So how long did 8-tracks last??? Seems to me the last Columbia House 8-tracks were sometime in the mid-80s perhaps as late as 1988...but if we just stuck to a more reasonable finale, it would have to be say 1983, just before Michael Jackson's Thriller hit the scene.

So, when did it start? It would seem to be sometime in the late 1960's. To compare with super 8, super 8 stated in 1965 and died sometime in about 1981 when videotape became a reality for regular consumers (like those crazy folks on bicycles riding with a 40 pound recording deck slung over their shoulder!!!

Given these observations, 8-tracks lived a fairly healthy amount of time...perhaps not as long as super 8 but close enough really. Not quite the flash in the pan you imagine them to be. Memories are fallible. Facts are provable, there's a difference.

Cheers,
Mike

[Shanec8mm]

One format that has seen a surge of interest (like LP's) is Reel to Reel.
I own a Teac A2300S from the early 70's built like a tank with real wooden sides. All I can say is, if you haven't heard a good sounding reel to reel your mssing out on a chance to hear music the way it's suppose to sound.
Blank reels can still be purchased new. It's a lot like regular 8mm was in the 50's, great stability. If you wanted good sound and didn't mind threading the tape you were all set. Cassette came along but was first intended for voice, sure it's easy to use but the sound is no where near the sound of a good reel to reel. 8 tracks were similair to reel to reel, based on the size of the tape, however it was put into a cart and the stability factor was lost. Recording LP's today or even cd's to reel to reel at 7 1/2 ips gives impressive results and the best part is the analog sound !

[super8man]

I think by definition, recording CDs (even DDD ones) on to reel-to-reel will not improve upon the end result. Ultimately, EVERYTHING is analog - since your ears are not computers and hear the full range of sound, not sampled digital sound, which is what CDs are.

Reel to reel would be awesome to record a live concert - like a Grateful Dead concert!! It would be also excellent to record your own ability to play music (guitar, bands, etc).

I guess I like 8-tracks is because they were made from the original recordings just like records and cassettes were. I am tired of digital CDs and while yes they sound just fine for most purposes, I wanted to refresh my ears to what I used to hear: analog sounds from analog recordings.

Even a DDD CD has to playback through speakers and then to my ear - an analog process by definition.

Cheers,
Mike

[Jim Carlile]

I don't know how old anyone is, but 8-tracks were the universal and only car stereo medium from about 69 to 80 or 81. They were extremely popular and successful, at least in California. Nobody used them at home. It would have been laughable because the quality wasn't there.

Before that there were 4-tracks but they didn't last too long. Cassette players in the car were unheard of before about 79 or so because they wouldn't work right-- too unstable.

I never once saw a home unit-- saw one advertised, though. I never knew anybody who recorded their own 8-tracks-- it just didn't happen. It was exclusively a buyer's medium.

Go to car shows with those Beatles 8-tracks-- they are indeed worth money. Especially the White Album or Sgt. Pepper.

[Blue Audio Visual]

I think by definition, recording CDs (even DDD ones) on to reel-to-reel will not improve upon the end result.

People often perceive recordings on an open-reel recorder as sounding 'better' than the original, and as nearly all machines are 3-head it is very easy to compare the source input with the recorded material at a flick of a switch. This is probably simply due to miscalibration of bias & EQ on the recorded tape, making the copy sound brighter than in should be. Most people will perceive the brighter playback of a copy as sounding better than the less-trebley original.

Go to car shows with those Beatles 8-tracks-- they are indeed worth money. Especially the White Album or Sgt. Pepper.

The ebay evidence says otherwise.

White Album 2 x 8-Track Carts Sold for $7.99, Sold for $8.00, Sold for $10.28.

It's the same sort of story with Sgt. Pepper's, but that goes for even less.

Yes they existed in the UK but they weren't any where as near as common as they were in the states where they really did hit the big time.

If I search ebay.co.uk with the term 8 track tape (not in inverted commas) I get 235 current listings returned, many of which are for collections of carts, so with a quick tot-up/estimate there are over 600 separate carts for sale on ebay UK currently. Bearing in mind that they sell for low money (so there is little incentive to bother listing them), this would indicate to me that sales were pretty healthy in the UK in their 70's heyday. Not that ebay is the most trustworthy of yardsticks, but it is at least a pointer.

[Angus]

Ah reel to reel....I have an Akai 4000DB which is lovely. Bart may be correct that it is 'incorrect' bias settings that make the recording sound 'better' but I still think there's something to be said for recording a CD to open reel. I generally find CDs quite unlistenable, and that a magnetic recording tames them. That is probably 50/50 between the limits of the CD format and the awful production values one usually gets these days especially with pop or rock music.

As for 8 tracks, I honestly don't remember anyone I was aware of owning one...and its not like I grew up in an area where people couldn't afford them. I just don't think they ever penetrated the UK market like they did in the US...as several posters say, 8-track was considered the only way to go in America for quite some time. In the 60's and 70's most cars sold in Europe do not seem to have even had a radio as standard. I have a copy of the 1969 London Motor Show review where they go into in car audio in great detail with the latest from Philips, "Blue Point" (Blaupunkt) and so on....lots of funky features such as remote controls and 4 speakers but not a single 8 track mentioned...and only one cassette player.

I have to say if I put "8 track" into eBay UK I get a few carts and one player...but I also get "track rod end", "Hornby 8 lengths of track", "Man United track top 8 jacket"...various "8 track promo CDs" and that's just the first page.

[Angus]

From the wikipedia

"In the U.S., 8-track cartridges were phased out of retail stores by late 1982 (having disappeared from Europe about 4 years prior). Some titles were still available as 8-track tapes through record clubs until late 1988. "

[Blue Audio Visual]

I have to say if I put "8 track" into eBay UK I get a few carts and one player...but I also get "track rod end", "Hornby 8 lengths of track", "Man United track top 8 jacket"...various "8 track promo CDs" and that's just the first page.

This is the search that I used.