How many feet/meters of tape are found in a 60-minute audio cassette tape?

The emblematic C60 cassette, wide celebrated successful nan audio cassette era, provided 30 minutes of playback per broadside astatine nan modular playback velocity of 1.875 inches per 2nd (4.76 cm/s). To execute this, each C60 cassette housed astir 281.25 feet (85.73 meters) of magnetic tape, which measured 1/8 inch (3.81 mm) wide and 16 µm (0.0006 inches aliases 0.0159 mm) thick.

This thickness balanced sound value and durability, making nan C60 a modular prime for mundane signaling and playback. However, immoderate manufacturers, specified arsenic Maxell, offered C60 cassettes pinch somewhat longer tape, up to 295 feet (90 meters), to widen signaling clip somewhat beyond nan modular 30 minutes per side. This insignificant variety allowed for a spot of other playback time, though it did not importantly effect nan cassette's modular playback experience.

In comparison, C90 cassettes, which offered 45 minutes per side, utilized a thinner portion measuring astir 10 – 11 µm. This simplification successful thickness allowed C90 cassettes to clasp astir 426 feet (130 meters) of portion wrong nan aforesaid compact cassette housing, frankincense accommodating nan extended playback duration. However, this thinner portion came pinch a trade-off.

While nan C90's accrued signaling capacity was convenient, nan reduced portion thickness made it much susceptible to wear, stretching, and imaginable degradation successful audio value complete time. The thinner portion besides accrued nan consequence of "print-through" echo, wherever sounds from 1 furniture of portion imprint faintly onto adjacent layers, creating ghostly echoes during playback.

Extending portion magnitude further, C180 cassettes were developed, offering up to 90 minutes of signaling per side. To fresh this extended long into a compact cassette, nan portion was made moreover thinner than nan C90 standard. However, nan fragility of this ultra-thin portion made it impractical for astir applications. The C180 cassette's portion was prone to breaking, tangling, and experiencing precocious levels of print-through echo. These issues yet constricted its usage to specific, low-demand situations, arsenic it was deemed excessively unreliable for regular signaling aliases playback.

Interestingly, C74 cassettes were produced pinch a unsocial purpose: they were specifically designed to grounds nan 74-minute long of a modular audio CD, allowing for seamless CD-to-cassette transfers. This format gained fame among consumers who wished to create cassette copies of their favourite CDs for portable aliases car audio systems without nan request to divided tracks crossed aggregate tapes.