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posted by cmn32480 on Monday November 13 2017, @06:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the what's-old-is-still-old-but-they-are-making-more dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

National Audio Co. is the only company in the U.S. that produces cassette tape. Now, as cassette tapes enjoy a resurgence in popularity, National Audio has less than a year's supply left of the stuff, The Wall Street Journal reports.

For the last 15 years, National Audio's co-owner and president Steve Stepp has been clinging to his company's dwindling supply of music-quality magnetic tape. In 2014, National Audio's South Korean supplier stopped making the material, so Stepp bought out their remaining stock before they shuttered — and has been left with a shrinking stockpile ever since.

Although the demand for tape has increased in recent years, the quality and supply has not; National Audio has long relied on outdated gear that Stepp jokes is "the finest equipment the 1960s has to offer." That's why the company — which makes cassettes for everyone from indie bands to Metallica — is planning to build the U.S.'s first high-grade tape manufacturing line in decades.

Crap! Where am I going to store my TRS-80 programs now?

Source: https://theweek.com/speedreads/735269/america-running-cassette-tape


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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Monday November 13 2017, @09:15PM (3 children)

    by frojack (1554) on Monday November 13 2017, @09:15PM (#596465) Journal

    The small run cost of professionally packaged tapes is (ballpark) $2 each.

    No its much closer to $10 for small runs (say 100). Ant that's one sided, plus one sided art work on the tape box insert and generic printing on the cassette itself.

    The only thing you can get for $2 is unlabled tapes, one-sided, case is extra, quality extremely questionable.

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  • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Monday November 13 2017, @09:23PM

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 13 2017, @09:23PM (#596467)
    ronaldrecords.limitedrun.com/ordertapes

    store.crypticcarousel.com/collections/cassette-manufacturing/products/100-duplicated-cassette-tapes-with-j-cards-shell-print-or-labels-cases

    www.audiogeography.com/tapes/

    Just a few quick google searches. Did you go out of your way to find the most expensive options to make your point?
  • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Monday November 13 2017, @09:32PM

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 13 2017, @09:32PM (#596477)
    Or here: http://www.duplication.ca/quotes/canada/english/cassette-packages.php [duplication.ca]

    Dual side, 24 min per side, pad printed both sides (white print, standard art, single hit), j-card, shrink wrapped. 100 for $301 USD or $3.01 per cassette. Far cry from $10.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 13 2017, @10:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 13 2017, @10:13PM (#596512)

    Wow, you're surely skipping a decimal place there.

    But you know what? It's cool. If you'll pay that for tapes I'll gladly handle all the administrivia for you, and do it at a good bulk rate. What say, $8 each? You'll love that 20% discount!