What was the quality of these? Were they worse than casettes?
[Edited 1/22/09 19:38pm]
[Edited 1/22/09 20:59pm]

Can anyone help me out?

I don't have fond memories of the 8-track. The best thing I can say about them is they were portable. The players liked to eat the tapes. And with some tapes you had to stick a matchbook or something underneath them for them to play right. In almost all instances the songs on an album were resequenced. And 8-tracks were divided into 4 programs. So when a song was too long to fit on a single program, it would just fade out in the middle of the song. Then the player would click over to the next program and the song would fade back in where it was cut off. The 8-track served its purpose and we were grateful to have them. But they were a pain in the ass. The 8-track is not missed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo_8

I had one of these when I was a kid..




It's "eyes" were lights that flashed in time with the music.

As far as the 8-track tapes themselves...I don't recall ever having one that sounded good. The main appeal with them was the portability, which up till then was not possible (cassettes were not widely available as of yet).

They were NOT made to last a lifetime. Over time the tapes would commit seppuku, usually from the threading mechanism wearing out, or the glue connecting the tape giving out out. 8-track tapes were not ever "rewound", they would just play in a loop till the tape was removed from the deck. It was a pain in the ass if you wanted to play a recording from the beginning when someone else pulled the tape when it was midway thru

I still remember the last 8-track I ever bought, Def Leppard's Pyromania. It sounded HORRID (I bought it more as a novelty than anything)


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[Edited 1/22/09 23:00pm]

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

I noticed the resquencing on the 8 track I have

Someone I knew had that but I can't honestly remember the sound quality (too little) Can't be great. I wills ay Off The Wall on Vinyl sounds better and the sound is richer than any CD Quality or even the 2001 reissue if you ask me.

8-tracks are as bad as iPods.

Timmy84 said:

A lot of the quality is lost with it yeah, even Stevie said so in an interview, it's handy though, and people love things that are handy.

NMuzakNSoul said:

I have an iPod but I will be buying a turntable soon

I remember 8-track tapes In the late 70s,my parents had alot of them.The one annoying thing about them is....you'd be listening to a song and there would be a pause that lasted a minute or so.I guess the tape was changing over to a different side,or program?

I want one of those portable 8-track players...the ones that came in different colors (blue,yellow,red).Anyone remember those?

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

That's right! I remember how a song would just cut off,right in the middle of the song.It was so annoying.

SoulAlive said:

bboy87 said:

Post the sequence here.I'm curious to see how they re-arranged it.

SoulAlive said:

^^ that's interesting.

"Don't Stop Til You Get Enough (reprise)"?? I guess they split this song into two parts.

About 6 years ago,we had a poster here known as "seal99",she/he was obsessed with 8-track tapes Anyone remember seal99?

anyway,here's a good site for fans of 8-track tapes.... www.8trackheaven.com

That was when the tape was changing to another program. The rediculous thing is, they would fade the song out before it would switch, and then after it would switch, they would fade it back in. I don't know why they chose to do all that fading in and out because they didn't have to. I had an 8 Track recorder and when on my recordings, when it switched to the next program, the song never stopped. You just heard a little click when it switched and that was all.

As for the sound quality of 8 Tracks, I thought they sounded much better than cassettes. They didn't have that tape hiss that cassettes did (at least I never noticed any). The only pain in the ass was, having to wait for a song to end before you could hear the next one. In the later years though, when they made the 8 Track recorders, some of the more expensive ones had a fast forward button.

The best thing I liked about 8 Tracks over cassettes was that you could play 8 Tracks on the stereo through the big speakers and shake the damn walls. Most cassette players were portable ones and they sure weren't loud or powerful enough to shake any walls. They made cassette players on stereos back then but they were way too expensive to afford. That's why I wanted an 8 Track recorder so I could make my own recordings from the radio or records and play them on the stereo or in the car (cars did not have cassette players back then). My mother bought a few 8 Tracks but the only one I ever bought was Prince's "Controversy". I preferred vinyl because I found it rediculous to buy a tape when you could buy vinyl and record it onto a tape and have both for the price of one. I wanted an 8 Track recorder for years and my grandmother finally got me one when I started tenth grade back in 1982. I had a ball making recordings from the radio that year and playing them on the stereo (something I couldn't do with cassettes previously). But I be damned if the damn 8 Track players went out of style the very next year and cassettes took over. I was pissed because I had waited so long to get something and when I finally get it, it goes out of style.

Why was it called an 8 track? Did it only play 8 tracks? I definitely remember the big pause in the middle of a song when it was turning over or whatever. Crazy annoying.

My mom has a Stevie Wonder "Hotter Than July" 8 track I was thinking of selling on ebay...

ABeautifulOne said:

For how much? Because I'm thinking of selling my Off The Wall 8 track and I don't know how much I should put it for

I don't remember hearing 8 tracks where the song faded part way... I remember some "programs" had long pauses afterward though I guess because the songs on the other programs ran for longer.

SoulAlive said:

Yes i had a blue one. The last 8 track tape i had was the gap band 4.
I had it on lp as well. Just like you said it was annoying as hell to listen
to a song and right in the middle of it depending on the length of songs on
a track you would have to continue listening to a jammin song on the next track.
My mom had one that came with her stereo and when the track changed it was as
loud as a fart.

bboy87 said:

I really don't know lol since I'm not much of an online seller

I kind of want it!

I still have two 8 track tapes but no 8 track player.
I have Maze's southern girl album and mother finest's
mother factor. I have to locate where i put them. If i find
them i'll post a picture.

trueiopian said:

No you don't! 8 tracks don't even sound half as good as cassettes.

Cinnie said:

Yep...the only reason to want one is just to be able to say you have one, not to actually listen to it

Nikademus said:

I'm gonna go on ebay and buy one of those portable 8-track players and a few tapes,just for the nostalgia factor.