Dr. AIX

Mark Waldrep, aka Dr. AIX, has been producing and engineering music for over 40 years. He learned electronics as a teenager from his HAM radio father while learning to play the guitar. Mark received the first doctorate in music composition from UCLA in 1986 for a "binaural" electronic music composition. Other advanced degrees include an MS in computer science, an MFA/MA in music, BM in music and a BA in art. As an engineer and producer, Mark has worked on projects for the Rolling Stones, 311, Tool, KISS, Blink 182, Blues Traveler, Britney Spears, the San Francisco Symphony, The Dover Quartet, Willie Nelson, Paul Williams, The Allman Brothers, Bad Company and many more. Dr. Waldrep has been an innovator when it comes to multimedia and music. He created the first enhanced CDs in the 90s, the first DVD-Videos released in the U.S., the first web-connected DVD, the first DVD-Audio title, the first music Blu-ray disc and the first 3D Music Album. Additionally, he launched the first High Definition Music Download site in 2007 called iTrax.com. A frequency speaker at audio events, author of numerous articles, Dr. Waldrep is currently writing a book on the production and reproduction of high-end music called, "High-End Audio: A Practical Guide to Production and Playback". The book should be completed in the fall of 2013.

14 thoughts on “The Return of the Cassette?

  • chris gossard

    actually, the movie’s hero has a mix tape that his mom made for him (and a Walkman) that he had with him when he was kidnapped from earth as a boy. He still has both as an adult. That’s why they are releasing it on a cassette.

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    • That makes it a natural promotional gag. Thanks for the info. I’m waiting for it to come to Netflix.

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  • Len Schneider

    Hey Mark,

    Don’t forget the Advent 200 (with its Nakamichi transport) and the later 201 sporting a Wollensack transport. And then remember that the Harman Kardon CAD4 and the Fisher RC80 (or was it RC80B?) were there pushing the format way past Philips’ original intentions. None of them surpassed the LP of course but the Advent 201 in particular sounded pretty good to me “back in the day.”

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    • I spent a lot of time with various cassette decks…including a Nakamichi.

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  • Craig Allison

    The reason both vinyl and now cassette are attaining” revered “audio status is because after the public has been saturated w/ awful compressed MP-3 128 files all these years, their ears greet ANY ANALOG source happily. It’s very simple Mark: some people prefer the distortions of analog, and others choose to adapt to the distortions inherent in all but high-quality digital audio. As the designer of one of the top tube brands in the world said to me years ago,” Everything has distortion; whose distortion sounds good?” That is not my own philosophy, but it does have relevancy. FYI , I find the interest in many vintage audio dogs unfathomable; oh yes, the wonders of that Pioneer SX-838 receiver-NOT. Best, Craig

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    • You’re right…distortions are part of the analog sound. Accuracy isn’t a requirement or a flavor that everyone appreciates.

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  • Think I’ll do a startup of direct to horn, wax cylinder recordings. The very best of true analog sound.

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    • If you transfer them to 96 kHz/24-bits or Double DSD, we can call them high-resolution audio.

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  • Chris B

    Vinyl will probably be around for some time to come: there are a lot of records out there, some of which aren’t available on current CD or download reissues. Most people will only bother to re-purchase or rip a few of those that they already own. And it can have a very appealing sound, if the condition of the record and quality of the equipment/setup are sufficiently good. Ensuring that all the conditions are met is obviously the problem!

    Cassettes are another matter—simply not Hi-Fi, or as you say, ‘a disaster’.

    However, I have less of a problem with this kind of one-off nostalgia promotion (almost interesting as a social experiment), than with major labels putting out new releases and digital remasters on vinyl, creating quasi-analog products with no advantages apart from the large format of the artwork.

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    • Vinyl LPs is at the core of the traditional audiophile…it’s going be a small niche for a very long time.

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  • David Gallup

    I still have a very nice 3 head home cassette recorder with Dolby C and all the bells and whistles. I also have hundreds of tapes I recorded, first from vinyl and later from CD’s. I even have a few dozen premium blank tapes. I don’t use any of it because I no longer have an automobile with a cassette deck, I sold the last one about 10 years ago. I don’t know why I keep it all, it’s just taking up space in a closet. I never listened to cassette tapes in my home stereo system, even the most carefully recorded premium cassettes were audibly inferior to vinyl and can’t hold a candle to CD’s.

    When cassettes were the best portable audio medium, far better than 8 tracks or FM, they were wonderful. Now they are an anachronism. Maybe 8 tracks will come back next.

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    • It’s hard to let go. I still have a cassette deck in my rack.

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  • Ray Turner

    Hi Mark,
    I appreciate the limitations of conventional analogue tape recorders, especially domestic models, but what about recordings that were made on 2 inch tape or 35 mm film stock, providing much more recording real estate. What was the best that they could achieve re dynamic range and frequency response?

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    • The usual 2″ tape had very narrow tracks because there were 24-tracks. These days some very esoteric machines have only two channels…and they are vastly more capable than the older decks. Highly impractical but lovely sound. 35 mm machines don’t have the speed thing nailed down…at least the run of the mill sprocket driven units.

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