Not all of us are particularly computer literate. I have friends that have excellent sounding vinyl mofi stuff and SACD's or dvd a's. I imagine there are ways to make copies digitally, but as an older somewhat dinosaurish gentleman I find reel to reel and higher end cassettes to give me the best chance to come up with a superb listening experience. I have prerecords and lp's and the such galore. But I also find it quick and easy to make cassette recordings for personal use. I cycle about ten different decks to keep them alive, but still avoid overuse. They are mostly nakamichi's and denon's and a decent Aiwa 3800. I find most metal cassettes to have very little detectable hiss. Whenever I do it right, which is often enough, I come up with pretty darn close to audiophile SQ. I know some of you like to, perhaps rightfully, show your disdain for anything non vinyl or non digital, but simply said, some of us love tape. A small extra benefit to tape, mostly cassettes, is that everybody else seems to hate it, so I get a great deal of music for free. Over the last ten years or so I have brought home thousands of cassettes from the give take shed at our local landfill. A lot of it is music I would probably never have tried if I had to buy it. I've discovered some nifty music this way. Hardly any records are thrown in there and when they are, they're usually scratched all to heck. Just an old man's observation.
Cassette tape resurgence ?
MRL_Audio
RIP 2022
That entire statement made me laugh. Especially the part about light tracking. Thanks for that. Ever hear of the Ortofon SPU. 4g. A nice cartridge if I do say so myself. Do I worry about record wear? Nah! Figure the folks at Ortofon know what they were doing 50+ years ago and still do today. What is the "long haul"? I have some tapes dating back to the early 70's that still sound great and have been played many, many, many times. Perhaps you need a better playback deck. Dunno. I have about 1,000 cassettes, 500 reels and 4,500 LP's. It's not that I don't like vinyl. To the contrary I am most found of vinyl but also really enjoy cassette and reel to reel technology as well. Is one better than the other. Not in my opinion since they both have plus's and minus's. That's in both the media available and the plethora of playback options.
Right on @Joewag.
infullview
Super Member
I think the people at Sure who made the V15 Type III HE also knew what they were doing. I also have 1000's of LPs and lots of reels. I gave up on cassettes when they gained popularity in the late 70s. Having had a Uher, Beocord, Tandberge, RatShack, Roberts, and Teac reel to reels and done a lot of live recordings, cassettes just never lived up to the quality that I consistently got with these machines. If you like them, great!
hbucker
Well-Known Member
They'll sound fine. I've got some Maxells as old as early 80s that still sound like I recorded them yesterday. My favorite all-time tape is the XL-IIs.
Johnny B
Well-Known Member
There are a couple of things going on with the cassette resurgence. Avant-garde musicians and some other small bands have been making cassettes for years because they’re a lot cheaper and easier to get together than vinyl. Limited edition physical media has always been a thing with these kind of artists. I’ve seen quite a few release a limited edition cassette with a download card and also make the digital version available on Bandcamp or somewhere.
That kind of developed out into bigger bands selling limited cassette runs with a download card as a way to basically sell a download at the merch booth on something more distinctive than a card. That, of course, developed out into things like Cassette Store Day. But those limited edition cassettes are no different than all the silly Venom picture discs and reissues of albums on neon orange vinyl and all the other stuff that’s sold on Record Store Day. They’re essentially a novelty, though some people probably do listen to the cassettes. I tend to listen once and then listen to the download versions after the first play.
That kind of developed out into bigger bands selling limited cassette runs with a download card as a way to basically sell a download at the merch booth on something more distinctive than a card. That, of course, developed out into things like Cassette Store Day. But those limited edition cassettes are no different than all the silly Venom picture discs and reissues of albums on neon orange vinyl and all the other stuff that’s sold on Record Store Day. They’re essentially a novelty, though some people probably do listen to the cassettes. I tend to listen once and then listen to the download versions after the first play.
Ken Creamore
New Member
As a guy who records and plays cassettes again. I would agree that getting back into cassette has its challenges. Most of it has to do with reliability. They are very finicky and require a full servicing in order to get any consistent performace. I would also say as far as sound qualiity go’s, three head machines are the only way to go imo. I have already stated that the sound quality of the pioneer CT-F1250 is really very good, but it is a high end quarts lock direct drive three head deck. For me, cassette was an all or nothing endeavor, because getting a cheap deck that is fifty year old is nothing but trouble and not worth the expence of a complete restore. I personal have no problem getting tape. I just bought a 10 pack of TDK SA for $50. I currently have about 30 new blanks tape. Although I spent some money to restore both my cassette decks they perform well and funtion as intended with no issues. Knock On Wood ...
I love the look and sound of the 1250.
Ken Creamore
New Member
I have had people say they can not beleive what they are hearing is coming off a cassette. When you calibrate a good quality tape on the CT-F1250 it sounds pretty damn good. I have gone as far as recording the same piece of music on both the CT-F1250 and the RT-909 RR to compare . No the 1250 does not sound as good as the 909 and I would be damn upset if it did, but it was at least in the ball park ...
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kydog
Super Member
Just like vinyl, I for one never abandoned Cassettes. Plenty of decks and tapes to choose from in fantastic condition due to the fact I’ve never stopped using them. Recently reconditioned Pioneer CT-F 9191, 1250,950, Kenwood KX-630 & A few JVC’s , Akai, etc etc. listening to the Kenwood through my KA -9100 as I type. Sounds marvelous.
Attachments
I'll bet it does.
kydog
Super Member
I feel your joy owning two of them!! ( Looking for a play record head for one of them as the right channel is out )
lico
Super Member
One aspect of a cassette resurgence that is not considered is digital streaming. Back in the day the reason most people wanted a good cassette deck was to record their vinyl thinking it might wear out, or more importantly record somebody else's vinyl. These days with digital streaming as the primary source for listening, you can do a cassette rip of a playlist and keep it. Did I say that? Ha.
luckybaer
Thinks The Devil actually beat Johnny
Don't get me wrong, I like cassettes, but with the exception of the recently acquired Nakamichi DR-2 sitting in my rack (being used as I type), I don't have anything else that plays cassettes. The last car I owned that had a cassette deck was the 2002 (or was it 2001) Honda Accord I bought for my wife. I may have a boom box in the garage that has a cassette deck...
PS - Have you checked the price of Sony Walkmans (Walkmen?) on eBay? Some are outrageous!
luckybaer
Thinks The Devil actually beat Johnny
Not to be a s**t stirrer, but I have dozens of LPs purchased in the mid- to late-80s as well as dozens of cassettes purchased or recorded during the same period. One of my LPs was damaged (either during a move or by one of my kids), but the rest of them managed to survive college, multiple moves, and being played on systems ranging from all-in-one POS turntable/cassette combos to some fancy-pants Sony individual component system with a linear tracking tonearm and all kinds of other goodies. My cassettes also survived multiple moves, drunken parties, and wild swings in temperature on a regular basis.
I just received a Nakamichi DR-2 in excellent condition, so I popped it right into my system. Some of my cassettes sound great (the Thomas Dolby album with "She Blinded Me With Science" and The Cure's The Head On The Door are two examples), while some of them sound flat and stuffy. All my LPs sound great, although I had a two or 3 that had skips are horrible scratches that couldn't be remedied (at least by a good cleaning in an Okki Nokki, anyway). So, maybe with all things being equal, carefully handled vinyl stored semi-carefully (to avoid scratching) may be a more lasting medium than cassettes.
To be honest, my cassettes saw much more use in my youth than my vinyl. Maybe the high usage factor on my cassettes and the relatively low usage of my vinyl has something to do with how well they sound 30-35 years after they were purchased new?
vwestlife
Super Member
The quality and consistency of pre-recorded cassette tapes improved drastically with the introduction of digital bin mastering in the late '80s and early '90s, such as Digalog (see video below), DAAD, and HiQ, and the increased use of chrome and cobalt tape. And from around 1992 to 1998 there were a few million pre-recorded cassettes encoded with Dolby S noise reduction, which sounds phenomenal when played on a Dolby S NR capable deck.
MaxxVolume
Lunatic Member
One thing that hasn`t gotten mentioned much is that cassettes were predominantly a MOBILE format (at least during most of the 80s and 90s....they got transported all over the place (often quite haphazardly), stored for long periods in blazingly hot (and alternately, freezing) cars, handled with greasy fingers, sprayed with beer, you name it. The fact that they still play at all is a testament to their durability....
zedex
Well-Known Member
Very durable format indeed. 
I remember 20 years ago i was getting rid of stuff and i had 2 big boxes of cassettes (over 300) sitting next to the garbage can. I had already thrown out my technics silver stuff(reciever,deck,linear tracking TT) a few months before. I was standing over the garbage can, tilting one box over to dump it in and i couldn't do it. I had recorded all those tapes and there were alot of memories in that box. I figured i should keep them, you never know. Boy am i glad i did. They all still sound great. It was actually one of my TDK MAR 90s that stopped me from dumping the box. Cassettes sound so good when you have decent equipment. People dont believe it.
I remember 20 years ago i was getting rid of stuff and i had 2 big boxes of cassettes (over 300) sitting next to the garbage can. I had already thrown out my technics silver stuff(reciever,deck,linear tracking TT) a few months before. I was standing over the garbage can, tilting one box over to dump it in and i couldn't do it. I had recorded all those tapes and there were alot of memories in that box. I figured i should keep them, you never know. Boy am i glad i did. They all still sound great. It was actually one of my TDK MAR 90s that stopped me from dumping the box. Cassettes sound so good when you have decent equipment. People dont believe it.