Talk:Microcassette

Images
Here are two images I've put in the commons that could be used in this article.--Malcohol 18:27, 2 August 2005 (UTC)
 * These images are now available via the commons box in the article.--Malcohol 12:46, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

Recording time error in the article
There is clearly an error in the article, but I've got no idea the right figures to use.

"The original standard microcassette, the MC60, gives 30 minutes recording per side at its standard speed of 1.2 cm/s, and twice the time at 2.4 cm/s."

A cassette cannot record 30 minutes at 1.2 cm/s and 60 minutes at 2.4 cm/s. It should either be half the recording time (15 minutes at 2.4 cm/s) or half the tape speed (60 minutes at 0.6 cm/s). I've got no idea how it should be, and the last time I used a MC player was years ago.

Anyone knows the right figures?

201.213.16.47 21:55, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Good observation. I've changed it to the more logical "half", but will check for sure some later.--Malcohol 11:10, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, these are right figures. Microcassette speed is 2,4 cm/s, so at 1,2cm/s will be double the time (but not all recorders support half speed). P.S. Arctic Kangaroo is a penguin. 78.8.98.171 (talk) 18:30, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

I was given two GE Micro II microtapes, and was disappointed to learn they would NOT play in a modern micro-cassette tape recorder. They are 2 1/8" wide, and the modern tape player takes tapes 1 7/8" wide. Edspider (talk) 21:05, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Uncited material in need of citations
I am moving the following uncited material here until it can be properly supported with inline citations of reliable, secondary sources, per WP:V, WP:NOR, WP:CS, WP:NOR, WP:IRS, WP:PSTS, et al. This diff shows where it was in the article. Nightscream (talk) 16:39, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

LEDE SECTION
It has the same width of magnetic tape as the Compact Cassette 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
Microcassettes have mostly been used for recording voice. In particular, they are commonly used in dictation machines and answering machines. Microcassettes have also been used in computer data storage and to record music. For the latter purpose, devices for recording in stereo 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.

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
The microcassette was beaten to market by the mini-cassette, introduced by Philips 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 and JVC introduced the picocassette in 1985, which is half the size of the microcassette. In 1992, Sony released the NT memo recording system, which employs a small cassette for digital recording.