Mini Cassette
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| Media type: | magnetic tape |
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| Encoding: | analog signal |
| Capacity: | 30 minutes |
| Read mechanism: | tape head |
| Write mechanism: | magnetic recording head |
| Developed by: | Philips |
| Usage: | dictation |
The Mini Cassette, often written minicassette, is a tape cassette format introduced by Philips in 1967. It is used primarily in dictation machines and was also employed as a data storage for the Philips P2000 home computer. Unlike the Compact Cassette, also designed by Philips, and the later Microcassette, introduced by Olympus, the minicassette does not use a capstan drive system; instead, the tape is propelled past the tape head by the reels.[1] This is mechanically simple and allows the cassette to be made smaller, but produces a system unsuited to any task other than voice recording, as the tape speed is not constant (averaging 2.4 cm/s) and prone to wow and flutter. However, the lack of a capstan means that the tape is well suited to being repeatedly rewound and fast-forwarded short distances, leading to the minicassette's continuing use in the niche markets of dictation and transcription, where fidelity is not critical, but robustness of storage is, and where analog media are still widely preferred.
A smaller version of the Mini Cassette was later introduced that could be used in a standard player using an adaptor; however, this did not become widespread.
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| Audio format | |
|---|---|
| Analog |
Phonograph cylinder (1870s) • Gramophone record (1895) • Wire recording (1898) • Reel-to-reel audio tape recording (1940s) • Vinyl record (1948) • Fidelipac (1959) • Stereo-Pak (1962) • Compact Cassette (1963) • Stereo 8 (1964) • PlayTape (1966) • Mini Cassette (1967) • Microcassette (1969) • Elcaset (1976) • Picocassette (1985) |
| Digital |
Compact Disc (1982) • Digital Audio Tape (1987) • ADAT (1991) • MiniDisc (1991) • Digital Compact Cassette (1992) • 5.1 Music Disc (1997) • Super Audio CD (1999) • DVD-Audio (2000) |
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