Sanyo Memo-Scriber TRC9100 cassette player/recorder

 

Carrying on with sound technology and going from microphones to recorders and cassette players.

The recordings and ability to play sound is just as important to history preservation as camcorders (see Philips VKR6847 Explorer Camcorder post). From missed calls, music, meetings and film sound production, sound recordings have changed the way the world captures memories and abilities to enhance art work.

Even though the object I present in this post isn’t the ideal machine used to record music, dialogue or effects, in the end that doesn’t matter. It all depends on the situation and what the filmmaker, musician or photographer wants the listener/viewer to feel and experience. Because just like filmmakers and photographers, sound recordists are creating a new world and story that people can immerse themselves into.  

As Georgiev (2010) writes:

“Isn’t it true that every time when we are fully immersed in the world of music, we and the musical piece become one? Our every day’s life and its perception of time, space and causality are completely gone and overtaken by the musical event, in which we “actually” live for that particular moment. My philosophy is such that as an engineer I approach every recording as if I am participating in the creation of a real world. I can do this either as a photographer or a painter.”

And that “there is no such thing as the best technique or way to record a particular instrument or sound. On the contrary, I believe that there is always this or that unique recording situation and it is on the first place the music, then the player, the room and the instrument to make me dictate how the recording could be done. I follow this way of thinking not only as a recording, but as a mixing engineer and a producer too.  Every recording is an interpretation. Our experience in the concert hall during a performance is always unique, alive and temporary. As soon as the last sound fades away, it is the memory for that experience or its recording to remain.”

What it comes down to (just like your choice of camera or lens) is intent.

So this post will be looking at the Sanyo Memo-Scriber TRC9100 cassette player/recorder. An interesting piece of sound recording history.

 

Cassettes and cassette players go back to 1962. Invented by Lou Ottens for the Phillips company and became a standard for all audio equipment by the 1970’s (Cordovez 2023). The 1970s is also when Sanyo went international and started manufacturing home audio equipment (Annasha 2021).

But the first portable cassette player was the Sony Walkman (Cordovez 2023). That came out in 1979 (The Design Museum). The next step in the cassette player’s history is the invention of the Boombox, “A prominent feature of the boombox was the oversized speakers, which rivalled the technology of the home stereo system in the 1980s. The boombox's portability, ability to record, and deliver strong bass made it an integral part of Hip-Hop culture…” (Cordovez 2023).

But recording devices go even further back. In 1857, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville invented the phonautograph, that could record sound, but couldn’t play it back. Then in 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. A device that uses tin foil cylinders and a needle to record and playback sound. By 1887 Emile Berliner invented the first vinyl disc and in 1895 the gramophone was commercially available. (Acan 2022). This obviously improved and became better over time.

Then eventually replaced by the cassette player in 1970s, which was then replaced by the CD (Record Head). The CD was invented in 1979, released publicly 1982 (BBC 2019) and ultimately won in 2002 when the cassette was discontinued (Harlow 2023).    

Now the history of the cassette tape itself isn’t that long, but to briefly mention it here is an excerpt from Harlow’s (2023) article:

“The Compact Cassette was first introduced in 1963 at the Berlin Radio Show in Germany, to improve prior reel-to-reel formats, which were both expensive, bulky and complex to use. The tapes — a few inches wide, and about a half-inch thick — improved efficiency and noise and were drastically easier to transport. After first being released into the market, the cassette underwent quick evolution that focused on bettering its own sound quality. Mass production began in 1964 in Hanover, Germany, and one year later, pre-recorded music cassettes were launched all over Europe. By 1966, over a quarter million recorders were sold in the United States alone, and soon enough, they became a worldwide phenomenon. But the real traction of the cassette tape didn’t incur until the 1980s. The invention of the Sony Walkman contributed largely to the success of the cassette, since after it was created, consumers could listen to music recordings on-the-go. It was like having your own personal daily soundtrack with you wherever you went. The affordable pricing also made it so that anyone could take part — not just affluent folk. And that was a huge selling point to expanding cassette tape popularity.”

Cassette tapes come in four (five if you include the bootlegs) types.

These are, according to DiJiFi (2021):

Type I, also known as “ferric Type I tapes. These tapes, while they originally had low audio quality, eventually evolved enough to match the high quality of Type IV metal tapes at lower prices. Type I cassettes were excellent for low-frequency, bass-heavy music, though lacked fidelity at higher frequencies.”

Type II, which “were a direct upgrade from their predecessor. The secret to the smoother audio was the addition of chromium dioxide in the tape—giving them the nickname “chrome tapes.” However, the leading Japanese cassette tape manufacturers—Maxell, Sony, and TDK—wanted to get around the copyright on chromium dioxide tapes to mass produce their own product. Their solution was to add cobalt to the tape’s chemistry, creating the pseudochrome “ferricobalt.” These tapes became mainstream and worked well for video, audio, and data storage.”

Type III, that was created by Sony and that had a “double-layer ferrichrome that was a combination of the previous different types of cassette tapes. While they did have high-quality audio, they failed to take off in the market due to their high price tag.”

Type IV, the last one of the batch that “was the only metal tape of the four. These tapes were exclusive to professional recordings of high-quality music and not popular in the consumer market due to the price. They required high-end tape decks to perfectly reproduce every detail in their recordings.”

Type 0, the bootleg, unusable and low quality tapes. These tapes “referred to cassettes with reel-to-reel film in them and then later was the name for ferric tapes that didn’t pass the International Electrotechnical Commission’s standard for audio quality.”

And like most pieces of technology, the cassette tape also came in different sizes. The standard (macro) cassette, the micro cassette and the executive cassette and each had their own recording and player device, meaning that they aren’t interchangeable with one another.

Cassette tape size comparison. Image Source: https://www.transcriptionwave.com/blog/audio-cassette-tape/ 

Cassettes also have two recording formats, stereo and mono. (Transcriptionwave 2012).The difference between the two is:

“mono sound is limited to just one audio channel, stereo sound uses two audio channels: the left and the right.” (Sonos 2024).

Now this is where was mention the history of the company, but that is already done. If you want to read about the Sanyo company, please go to the Sanyo IMP 500Ω Dynamic Japan Microphone post.

There and as well as above is mentioned that Sanyo manufactures home audio equipment in the 1970s. So we can assume that this is when Sanyo went into the cassette business.

Now to look at the recorder itself. This is the Sanyo Memo-Scriber TRC9100 cassette player/recorder. It plays and records on cassette tapes and was mostly used in the recordings of meetings.

The year on this recorder could be around the 1990s. Evidence is from two listings. One from ExcellenceChuks, that is selling this exact model and states that it is from the 1990s and the second listing is for a Sanyo Memo-Scriber TRC9010, by HERCoutureResale, that states this was sold in stores in 1994.

The Sanyo Memo-Scriber TRC9100 originally came with a bunch of accessories, such as a foot control, headset, a Handset/Microphone/Remote and a Thrusmaster.

Foot control. Image Source: https://i.etsystatic.com/32211148/r/il/119c84/5925693787/il_794xN.5925693787_2b4n.jpg

Headset. Image Source: https://www.imagine41.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Sanyo-TRC-9100-5-355x266.jpg

Handset/Microphone/Remote and Thrustmaster. Image Source: https://i.etsystatic.com/32211148/r/il/fb5461/5877607860/il_794xN.5877607860_cx41.jpg

It has the ability to record and play cassette tapes, as well as let you dictate the tone, speed, volume and backspace of the recording.

Definition of each: 

Backspace: begins playback prior to where it last stopped, preventing lost dictation (Martel Electronics)

Volume: dictates the loudness

Tone: “Tone control allows listeners to adjust sound to their liking. It also enables them to compensate for recording deficiencies, hearing impairments, room acoustics or shortcomings with playback equipment.” (Wikipedia)

Speed: Dictates how fast the tape is played.

It has a built-in counter, to show how long the recording is and can be reset, if the user wants to carry on recording after a previous session on the same tape.

It has the basic, play, stop, record, fast forward, rewind as well as an erase buttons. There is also a button to switch between the microphone plug-in and speakers, a search button that “fast forwards looking for music, when it finds it, it stops, rewinds a touch, then plays” (ke4mcl 2022).

 

There is also a DICT/CONF switch. This is to switch between recording dictation (DICT) which is to speak directly into the recording device and the vox or conference recording (CONF) where a microphone is used to record.

Then there is the eject button to open the cassette tape compartment and the power button. The Sanyo Memo-Scriber TRC9100 has a three-point power plug, with a 230v and 115v power source switch. It also built-in speakers.

The Sanyo Memo-Scriber TRC9100 takes macro tapes. There were two variations, one was known as a Musicassette tape (already has music on it) and blank tapes (used for recordings and had nothing recorded on it). Although it doesn’t really matter seeing that both could be erased and recorded over.

The tape used as an example in this post is a Yashi Electric Company tape. 

Like all tapes is has two sides (A and B). Each side can be recorded on. The user can put the tape in, record and then take the tape out flip it over and reinsert it and carry on.

To know how long a tape can record for, is by looking at the C60 on the tape. The C stays the same, but the number can vary. The number represents the total minutes of record space. So in this example C60, means 60min in total, or in other words it means 30min for side A and 30min for side B. The number is split to determine how much space is on each individual side.

Now for an explanation on how a cassette recorder and tape work. The basic answer is through the use of magnets. But let’s start at the beginning:

The tape consists of a plastic base and a coating of ferric oxide that is bonded to it. This ferric oxide is mixed with a binder that bonds it to the plastic and a dry lubricant is added so that it doesn’t wear out the recorder. The use of the ferric oxide is important because it is ferromagnetic, which when exposed to a magnetic field it will be permanently magnetized. This allows it to: “…record anything you want instantly and the tape will remember what you recorded for playback at any time…” and “erase the tape and record something else on it anytime you like.” (Brain 2024)

The cassette tapes also have two spools and rollers, that the ferric oxide layers use to play and capture recordings. (Capture 2023)

Now the recorder itself is a bit more complicated, so to keep it simple and to the point here is an excerpt from Capture (2023):

“To record audio onto a blank cassette tape, the audio signals must be converted into magnetic particles and patterns. This can be done with a cassette recorder, which often also acts as a cassette player. The magnetic tape has a plastic coating with a thin layer of iron oxide particles that act as a magnetic powder. The recording head of a tape deck uses a C-shaped magnet to convert the incoming sound wave using a microphone. When the sound waves are converted into an electric signal, the tape moves past the recording head that magnetizes the iron oxide powder to carry the electronic signal converted from sound waves. Then, when you playback the tape, the tape head reproduces the electronic signals and re-converts them into audible sound waves through the loudspeaker or amplifier. Basically, the sound waves are etched as a code in the magnetic layer similar to how sound is etched as grooves into a vinyl record. Additionally, there is an erase head in a tape recorder machine that erases the signals on the magnetic field during playback.”

And to play the recording, Capture (2023):

“…the cassette tape playback mechanism reproduces the electronic signals of the recording on cassette tapes to record sound. Then, it plays them as sound waves through a speaker. This requires the use of a playback head instead of the recording head that’s used to record the audio in the first place. 

Additionally, the capstan, or the rotating spindle that moves the recording tape through the mechanism, has to run at the right time through the rubber wheels, called pinch rollers. At the right speed, the sound waves will be played as originally intended, but if it’s too fast or too slow they will be distorted. 

This technology is also used for rewinding and fast-forwarding cassette tapes. When you pause, play, stop, rewind, and fast-forward cassette tapes, the capstan and pinch rollers stop moving the magnetic tape or move it faster in one direction or the other.”

This post was probably the longest one yet, but as mentioned in the Sanyo IMP 500Ω Dynamic Japan Microphone post, this just proves that there goes as much passion and engineering into sound production as film and photography. Now the Sanyo Memo-Scriber TRC9100 isn’t exactly what people think of when someone mentions cassette player and recorder, but it is still a unique object that if used correctly can produce some interesting and impactful works of art.

Thank you for making it to the end and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did researching it.

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List of sources:

Acan, L. 2022. A Brief History of Sound Recording. https://pirate.com/en/blog/history-of-music-recording/

Anasha. 2021. Sanyo Electric – Story of a Japanese Company Which has Become a Subsidiary of Panasonic. https://www.yourtechstory.com/2021/09/01/sanyo-electric-story-of-a-japanese-company-which-has-become-a-subsidiary-of-panasonic/

BBC. 2019. History of the CD: 40 years of the compact disc. https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47441962

Brain, M. 2024. How Tape Recorders Work. https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/audio-music/cassette.htm

Capture. 2023. Understanding the Mechanics of How Cassette Tapes Work from Magnetic Patterns to Playback. https://www.capture.com/blogs/insights/how-do-cassette-tapes-work

Cordovez, D. 2023. The Rise and Renaissance of the Cassette Tape. https://www.nypl.org/blog/2023/06/12/rise-and-renaissance-cassette-tape

DiJiFi. 2021. The Different Types of Cassette Tapes. https://www.dijifi.com/blog/the-different-types-of-cassette-tapes

ExcellenceChuks. Vintage Sanyo TRC 9100 Memo Transcriber. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1689941728/vintage-sanyo-trc-9100-memo-transcriber?gpla=1&gao=1&

Georgiev, N. 2010. Recording Philosophy. https://georgievsound.com/recording-philosophy/

Harlow, O. 2023. WHEN DID THE CD REPLACE THE CASSETTE TAPE? https://southtree.com/blogs/artifact/when-did-the-cd-replace-the-cassette-tape#:~:text=Like%20most%20technology%2C%20the%20ways,taken%20over%20by%20digital%20formats.

HERCoutureResale. TRC-9010 Vintage Memo Scriber Audio Cassette Tape Transcribing System. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1596963409/sanyo-trc9010-vintage-memo-scriber-audio

ke4mcl. 2022. Intro to Cassette Recorder Operation, Maintenance, and Repair. https://www.instructables.com/Intro-to-Cassette-Recorder-Operation-Maintenance-a/

Martel Electronics. Tape Recorder Terms. https://martelelectronics.com/tape-recorder-terms

Record Head. 2024. Vinyl, Cassette and CD — What Are the Differences in Quality? https://recordhead.biz/vinyl-cassette-cd-what-are-the-differences-in-quality/#:~:text=Vinyl%20was%20the%20original%20vessel,for%20debate%20among%20music%20devotees.

Sonos. Mono vs. Stereo Sound: What's the Difference? https://www.sonos.com/en-us/blog/mono-vs-stereo-sound

The Design Museum. Sony Walkman. https://designmuseum.org/discover-design/all-design-objects/sony-walkman#:~:text=WHAT'S%20THE%20STORY%3F&text=The%20Walkman%20was%20first%20created,to%20be%20a%20huge%20hit.

Transcriptionwave. 2012. Information on Audio Cassette Tape Formats and Sizes. https://www.transcriptionwave.com/blog/audio-cassette-tape/

Wikipedia. Tone Control Circuit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_control_circuit#:~:text=Tone%20control%20allows%20listeners%20to,or%20shortcomings%20with%20playback%20equipment.