Cassette tape resurgence ?

Lossless

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I was reading online where cassette tapes are making a resurgence kinda like vinyl did. Blank cassette tapes are selling for up to $10 each. Vintage cassette players are even going up up and up in price. I’m really considering investing into another cassette player. What are your thoughts about cassette tape resurgence and is it worth the effort?
 
The strange thing, is new release cassettes don't employ Dolby noise reduction at all. They do sound pretty good, but it's quite a limitation. Also, the only tape you can easily buy, is normal bias. The days of being able to buy metal bias tape for a reasonable price, and use Dolby B, are very much in the past. I think that given the limitations of normal bias tape without noise reduction, the cassette revival is somewhat limited to a nostalgia market, and is something of a dead end so far as high performance audio is concerned. Better to spend your money on vinyl, it's got way more potential.
 
BASF Chrome Extra II can be bought @ duplication.ca

It all depends on how much money you want to spend rebuilding something due to the amount of moving parts. It’s not like picking up an old receiver and using it until it burns up. It might be best to see who still makes parts for which model of cassette decks !!!!
 
The strange thing, is new release cassettes don't employ Dolby noise reduction at all. They do sound pretty good, but it's quite a limitation. Also, the only tape you can easily buy, is normal bias. The days of being able to buy metal bias tape for a reasonable price, and use Dolby B, are very much in the past. I think that given the limitations of normal bias tape without noise reduction, the cassette revival is somewhat limited to a nostalgia market, and is something of a dead end so far as high performance audio is concerned. Better to spend your money on vinyl, it's got way more potential.
I was going through some of my junk and found a bunch of my old tapes from the 80s and 90s, metal mostly and retail tapes. My early 20s audiophile years. I’m curious to see how they play 30 years later. I just need a player now.
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I was going through some of my junk and found a bunch of my old tapes from the 80s and 90s, metal mostly and retail tapes. My early 20s audiophile years. I’m curious to see how they play 30 years later. I just need a player now.
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I've got lots of stuff like that too. My guess is they'll play just fine. Usually all a cassette deck needs to get it going reliably is new belts, and a good cleaning and demagnetization, and it's an easy job to install them. Some decks are known unreliable and should be avoided. Nakamichi was the best back in the day, but these days they often suffer from bad capacitors, and bad rubber idlers. I'd instead look for a Sony or something. I'm sure people on the forum have lots of good ideas.

If the deck has high hours, with a worn head and worn out motor, it's easier to just find another deck which was used less, and focus your efforts on that one instead.
 
I am also one of those dinosaurs who never abandoned the previous formats. While cassettes are probably near the bottom of The Food Chain in the audio world, they are still fun, and can be had for relatively small dollars. Lots of pretty decent decks are still available, and new or NOS tapes from various secondary market sources.
Sound quality can rank from "just OK" to "pretty damn amazing", depending on the combination of hardware and software being used. I still have Maxell UDXL-II tapes recorded on my TEAC R888-X deck (with dbx) way back in the mid-`80s that sound quite wonderful.
So, as I stated earlier, you can have fun with these things, and learn a thing or two about making good-quality recordings, too !
 
I was reading online where cassette tapes are making a resurgence kinda like vinyl did. Blank cassette tapes are selling for up to $10 each. Vintage cassette players are even going up up and up in price. I’m really considering investing into another cassette player. What are your thoughts about cassette tape resurgence and is it worth the effort?

Strange. Go figure. I thought cassette was a downgrade from reel to reel when it first came out. It was a dictation medium that got hijacked for other things. Other than in a car or for portable use, I never understood the huge fandom for them in a home system. At least it was small and easy, and was less of a headache than 8-track.

I still have a nearly NIB Denon deck stored away somewhere. A nice near TOTL one, late 80s early 90s. Even though it was good sounding as cassette decks go, I thought that it was less capable than a better home CD deck at that time. I used it to make some car copies of CD and vinyl, until the cars started getting CD players in them. And that's why I bought it. I'm sure the cassette snobs will make fun of it, which is sort of hysterical.

I imagine it would be fun to haul it out and toy around with it . . . probably for about a day as a novelty. Digital streaming is so much more convenient now, and good vinyl just sounds so much better. If I ever seriously dabbled in tape again, it would be reel to reel. Just sounds better. YMMV.
 
The cassette rules in the garage.

Some of the metal tapes are really clear, a little on the tinny side, but clear as a bell. When under a car, most of the sound is muffled to a large degree anyways...being old Country as we used to call it...Merle, Johnny and the rest of the good old boys, but with some Garth, Travis, etc. in the mix.

The player is a decent Onkyo, that runs like a top, and build like any army truck. No probs...except the cassette door is getting slower all the time. Must be arthritis?

Like other vint formats, the cassette seems to be enjoying a bit of a heyday in the past while.
Looked up and found that "Throbbing Gristle" (who ever that is?) sold in 2014, for $2200. (box set). And another "Marblehead Johnson" sold (couldn't get the date) for $4087. Both were sold on "Discogs". Something to chew on. ;) On the other hand, I don't think Jim Nabors will come close to either of these cassette sales.


First LP's...now cassettes...8 tracks next?:dunno:

Q
 
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The cassette rules in the garage, with a few other vint rock selections.

Some of the metal tapes are really clear, a little on the tinny side, but clear as a bell. When under a car, most of the sound is muffled to a large degree anyways...being old Country as we used to call it...Merle, Johnny and the rest of the good old boys, but with some Garth, Travis, etc. in the mix.

The player is a decent Onkyo, that runs like a top, and build like any army truck. No probs...except the cassette door is getting slower all the time. Must be arthritis?

Like other vint formats, the cassette seems to be enjoying a bit of a heyday in the past while. Looked up and found that "Throbbing Gristle" (who ever that is?) sold in 2014, for $2200. (box set). And another "Marblehead Johnson" sold (couldn't get the date) for $4087. Both were sold on "Discogs". Something to chew on. ;) On the other hand, I don't think Jim Nabors will come close to either of these cassette sales.


First LP's...now cassettes...8 tracks next?:dunno:

Q

Some of the out-of-print stuff sometimes fetches crazy money. A little over the top at times.

I just learned that one of my Chet Atkins CDs, that I think I paid $6 or $8 for around 1990, is now worth over $400. It's a nice CD. But it's not $400 nice. There is a later CD version that should have the same music on it, and I have the vinyl version of the same album (which sounds even nicer). I'm not really sure what the market attraction is.

I think some of this is a case of people with more money than brains at times.

Every house should have a garage system. It makes the wrenching that much easier.
 
I got back into cassettes a short while ago I figured heck I have digital, CD's LP's 45's 78's Reel to Reel now whats missing 8 track hmm. not so much.
Hey what about cassette? So I started checking and you can get cassette decks in reasonable shape for not much cash.
I have acquired four of them so far and have found the things you need to check for is head wear. If you run your finger nail across the head and it catches the head has some wear and the deck has some hours on it.
Only one of mine has this condition. You need to understand that the belts will need replaced if you don't want it to start eating tapes. One other thing check the pinch roll make sure it has no low spots on it from being stored in play mode.
The pinch roll can be reconditioned with rubber rejuvenate but this will not fix a low spot in the roller. I am having fun working on and playing the old decks.
 
I Was going through my garage and found some tapes from my youth so I recently got picked up a NAD 6325. I am actually impressed with its quality especially with recording.I have been using National Audio Tapes which are actually BaSF Chrome tapes have been impressed.
 
It's still quite a niche "resurgence", but there is definitely a bit of renewed interest in the format. Certain new releases are making it onto cassettes again, as well as reissues of classic albums. The days of cheap NOS type II and IV tapes are long gone, and prices of good tape decks are going up. I think it's somewhat a response to the vinyl resurgence driving the prices of new records to new highs - enough to make some people (albeit, probably many of them non-audio enthusiasts) consider tapes as an alternative retro format to enjoy.

Whether it's worth it or not - that's up to you to decide. Personally, I love cassettes - part of that is probably some nostalgia factor, as they were my first exposure to recorded music at a very young age (via getting into my parent's tape collection and such), but they have enough going for them IMO - albums are typically cheap to dirt cheap to buy on cassette, it's a recordable format w/lots of blanks still available, and they can even sound quite good on a quality deck w/a pleasant (if not quite up to vinyl standards) analog sound. I have quite a few pre-recorded tapes w/Dolby HX Pro that sound very nice.

The main drawbacks that I can think of are the following.

  • You really want to try and get a good (ideally 3-head) deck to get the most out of the format. IMO, it's not like vinyl, where entry level turntables can still sound quite good.
  • Nobody is making any new decks that are worth owning - you will have to go vintage to get quality, and that can come with it's own issues. Most of the good decks are 30-40 years old now, so you will need to be willing to wait for a well maintained (or barely used) example to show up, or be willing to put some work into one to get it working properly. Very few techs work on tape decks anymore, so it's almost something you must learn to work on if you want to own one. You also want to make sure the heads are in good shape, as replacements are basically unobtainium parts without a donor/parts deck to cannibalize. The good news though is that quality decks typically came w/heads designed to last, and head wear isn't as much of an issue for cassettes as with reel to reel tape, due to the lower tape speeds/smaller tape size.
  • Blank type IV tape (aka "metal" tape), which is considered the best sounding type, is now scarce, and pretty expensive to obtain. It will likely never be made again as well. Type II tape (often considered the next best choice) is also creeping up in price (though not to ridiculous levels like Type IV), and will likely never be made again either.
Overall, it can be a rewarding format to get into, but those are probably the main things you should consider.
 
This thread has motivated me to look through some of my old cassettes, and see what`s in there....found a Maxell UDXL-II tape with "Frankie Goes To Hollywood" on it, recorded circa 1985. Listening to it right now, at a healthy volume. Holy crap....this thing actually sounds GOOD ! :)
 
I just got my Dragon back from servicing and am listening to mixed tapes I made almost 30 years ago on the same machine. (I was very anal about dialing in each tape before using it, and it shows today) They sound GREAT. (XLIIs/ZII/SAX)
Is it worth it.......... :dunno: It is to my wife and I. For now. Not sure about the formate actually making a resurgence though and as others have mentioned good quality tape is getting a bit more expensive.
I have noticed that CL has some good decks for sale for not a lot of $$ right now and what taketheflame said should be heeded.
 
Local bands release in cassettes at their shows here in the Derby City.
Cheapest way I was told.

May be that way in your area.
 
The cassette revival has been talked about the past few years, who knows. Good tape decks can still be had for $10, so I don't think it's arrived just yet. The day you see somebody making a new 3 head cassette deck then you'll know it has.

Good blank stock is an issue, I see from the link above you can still buy some new type II chrome cassettes, are those re-spooled or something?. I think environmental regulations make them hard to make now. I'll collect blank stock type II cassettes whenever I see them.
 
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