Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Stuzzi Memocord Mini has a most unusual cassette cartridge. It is longer and slimmer than the Philips compact cassette, but has some numeric markings and a "fuel gauge" needle-style indicator. Stuzzi was an Austrian company that distributed products in the United States through Norfolk Hill of New York, from the 1960s through the 1980s. These products were used for voice dictation, where a letter is dictated verbally before being typed, then the recording is discarded. So the recordings made on these devices were temporary in nature and not designed for long term preservation. And while a rim drive, rather than capstan-driven, mechanism does not lend itself to good sound quality, this one sounds decent for voice.
I purchased this for a very, very low price from a thrift store. And there was a recording already on the cassette. A man speaking was dictating letters regarding his divorce, and construction on the University of Washington Physics and Astronomy Building in Seattle, about 1994. He also makes reference to the retirement of John Skilling, an architect or engineer who helped design the twin towers of the World Trade Center, as well as many skyscrapers that make up the Seattle skyline. I find it very interesting through the use of some Internet searches on key phrases in the recording one could find out a lot of information.
0:00 Introduction
1:12 History, Typing, and Dictation
2:13 The IND-X-MATIC Tape format
3:00 Repairs and idler strobe
4:10 Internals and line output
5:00 Detective work, part 1
5:33 Detective work, part 2
6:20 Conclusion
The Stuzzi Memocord Mini has a most unusual cassette cartridge. It is longer and slimmer than the Philips compact cassette, but has some numeric markings and a "fuel gauge" needle-style indicator. Stuzzi was an Austrian company that distributed products in the United States through Norfolk Hill of New York, from the 1960s through the 1980s. These products were used for voice dictation, where a letter is dictated verbally before being typed, then the recording is discarded. So the recordings made on these devices were temporary in nature and not designed for long term preservation. And while a rim drive, rather than capstan-driven, mechanism does not lend itself to good sound quality, this one sounds decent for voice.
I purchased this for a very, very low price from a thrift store. And there was a recording already on the cassette. A man speaking was dictating letters regarding his divorce, and construction on the University of Washington Physics and Astronomy Building in Seattle, about 1994. He also makes reference to the retirement of John Skilling, an architect or engineer who helped design the twin towers of the World Trade Center, as well as many skyscrapers that make up the Seattle skyline. I find it very interesting through the use of some Internet searches on key phrases in the recording one could find out a lot of information.
0:00 Introduction
1:12 History, Typing, and Dictation
2:13 The IND-X-MATIC Tape format
3:00 Repairs and idler strobe
4:10 Internals and line output
5:00 Detective work, part 1
5:33 Detective work, part 2
6:20 Conclusion
