…1990s saw the introduction of digital compact cassette (DCC) recorders, which were similar to DAT recorders but could play the older analog tape cassettes in addition to similarly shaped digital cassettes. See also sound recording.
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tape recorder, recording system that makes use of electromagnetic phenomena to record and reproduce sound waves. The tape consists of a plastic backing coated with a thin layer of tiny particles of magnetic powder. The recording head of the tape deck consists of a tiny C-shaped magnet with its gap adjacent to the moving tape. The incoming sound wave, having been converted by a microphone into an electrical signal, produces a time-varying magnetic field in the gap of the magnet. As the tape moves past the recording head, the powder is magnetized in such a way that the tape carries a record of the electric signal. On playing back the tape past the recording head, the signal is reproduced and then converted through a loudspeaker into the original sound wave.
