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The typical C60 cassette, widely popular in the audio cassette era, provided 30 minutes of playback per side at the standard playback speed of 1.875 inches per second (4.76 cm/s). To achieve this, each C60 cassette housed approximately 281.25 feet (85.73 meters) of magnetic tape, which measured 1/8 inch (3.81 mm) wide and 16 µm (0.0006 inches or 0.0159 mm) thick.
This thickness balanced sound quality and durability, making the C60 a standard choice for everyday recording and playback. However, some manufacturers, such as Maxell, offered C60 cassettes with slightly longer tape, up to 295 feet (90 meters), to extend recording time slightly beyond the standard 30 minutes per side. This minor variation allowed for a bit of extra playback time, though it did not significantly impact the cassette’s standard playback experience.
In comparison, C90 cassettes, which offered 45 minutes per side, used a thinner tape measuring approximately 10 – 11 µm. This reduction in thickness allowed C90 cassettes to hold around 426 feet (130 meters) of tape within the same compact cassette housing, thus accommodating the extended playback duration. However, this thinner tape came with a trade-off.
While the C90’s increased recording capacity was convenient, the reduced tape thickness made it more susceptible to wear, stretching, and potential degradation in audio quality over time. The thinner tape also increased the risk of “print-through” echo, where sounds from one layer of tape imprint faintly onto adjacent layers, creating ghostly echoes during playback.
Extending tape length further, C180 cassettes were developed, offering up to 90 minutes of recording per side. To fit this extended duration into a compact cassette, the tape was made even thinner than the C90 standard. However, the fragility of this ultra-thin tape made it impractical for most applications. The C180 cassette’s tape was prone to breaking, tangling, and experiencing high levels of print-through echo. These issues ultimately limited its use to specific, low-demand situations, as it was deemed too unreliable for regular recording or playback.
Interestingly, C74 cassettes were produced with a unique purpose: they were specifically designed to record the 74-minute duration of a standard audio CD, allowing for seamless CD-to-cassette transfers. This format gained popularity among consumers who wished to create cassette copies of their favorite CDs for portable or car audio systems without the need to split tracks across multiple tapes.