Why cassette tapes are making a comeback — and it’s not just a fad?

[ThaDood]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/why-cassette-tapes-are-making-a-comeback-and-it-s-not-just-a-fad/ar-BB1igaoU
How many of us still have bins and drawers of cassettes to still go through. Ya know, there's a lot of history recorded all over on cassettes. Like, pirate radio history. Now, what's that cassette company in MO?  Oh yeah, this one.  https://www.nationalaudiocompany.com/   Huh... No Metal Tape formulas? At least, you can still buy CrO2.

[MDK2]

This to me is one of the more mystifying things if you're talking pure aesthetics. The only advantages cassettes had in the past were portability and low cost (if you bought albums on tape - I preferred to record my LPs and CDs to blank cassettes, unless I got them used or because it was significantly cheaper than CD). That's unlike vinyl which had its dynamic advantages, or CD's which have their capacity advantages (and which I think will make a comeback for that reason). Cassettes didn't sound good, and it's a pain to have to FF and RW to find a song you want to hear. Those were fatal flaws once portable CD players came along and CD prices dropped, but the iPod, file sharing, and the ability to rip both vinyl and disc to .mp3 format really killed it off. So all I can see in the revival is pure nostalgia and maybe a bit of hipsterism, because nobody is getting out a Walkman or installing a 40 year old deck into their cars to listen to these.

I should add that I remember the mixtape phenomenon as well as tape trading, but again that's not anything that can't be done online now. Creating a playlist online and sharing it with whomever is as easy as pie.

[skeezix]

I agree with MDK2... I have had cassettes, CD, and HD/SD in my vehicles. Cassettes where great before CDs, as I'm not going to put a turntable nor reel-to-reel deck in the car. CDs could switch between songs quickly & easily. There is an argument about audio quality, but in the car, does it really matter with road, wind & other noises? In my current car, I have a HD & some SDHC cards... much, much better than cassettes & CDs. Can store vastly more than the other two and trivially switch between the vast plethora of songs.

I have a bunch of albums and my old cassettes. I've converted many of those into MP3, put them on an SDHC and stuffed it into the car.

At home, I still have two reel-to-reel decks, a dual cassette deck, and a turntable. I only listen to cassette is from recording I made long, long ago. Turntable is great.

[uhf35]

I dont think that the Cassette is massibly returning.

May be this is similar to "Vinyl return", with excepcional costs and regular quality of new copies compaired with old ones. Only a return in "fanatic mode" by new people, or  nostalgic remember by old ones.

But, going to basics... -and blank the fact of I m a very... very fan of CD tech how an advanced in time and disrupt format when it born at end of 70s-...

I believe that (for equally duración and quality in mobile situation, cars, outdors, etc.), "the little box" (Compact Cassette), is most reliable, practical and robust way of carry music, -cause: CD is more "destroyable" and digital ones... well... in this format problem is not the content but interfacing devices, most of these literally "discartbly" ones in "undesirable yard situation"

In fact, pirate SW portable emissions may be a good example for needry of Cassette return

That's unlike vinyl which had its dynamic advantages, or CD's which have their capacity advantages.

Yes, but... dynamic vinyl advantages are more commonly dependable of mastering audio process, is not an intrinsecall format advantage. Good times of mastering maked good vinyl and, logically, loudness war times maked bad CDs from mid nineties... But, this fact is also true if invert.

May be you refer to more reliably (sub and suprasonic) frequency response of vinyl (majorly inaudible), compaired with Nyquist 44100/16 cut of CD, but this fact crashs with cross pickup position read angle (that destroy fidelity from mid of 33/12 inches record sides to end), and horrible signals to noise ratio compaired with CD or digital ones, although the 16 to 19 KHz response of cassettes (talking of CR2 of Fe tapes and  directly function of quality of recording deck), of course, is not an amazing feature of this format...

[MDK2]

May be you refer to more reliably (sub and suprasonic) frequency response of vinyl (majorly inaudible), compaired with Nyquist 44100/16 cut of CD, but this fact crashs with cross pickup position read angle (that destroy fidelity from mid of 33/12 inches record sides to end), and horrible signals to noise ratio compaired with CD or digital ones, although the 16 to 19 KHz response of cassettes (talking of CR2 of Fe tapes and  directly function of quality of recording deck), of course, is not an amazing feature of this format...

That stuff's above my pay grade. All I know is what my ears tell me, and they tell me that cassette tapes hiss, no matter how high quality they may be, no matter how clean and advanced your tape deck and amplifier and speakers are. So generally vinyl > cassettes, all other considerations being equal.

[ThaDood]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/9-valuable-cassette-tapes-that-made-music-history/ar-AA1kYQHd?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=LCTS&cvid=d328b4a0bfcf4372939a0f278977d5b1&ei=16    Seen this coming out of OUTLOOK. Actually, aren't there Open-Reel recordings out there that are worth way more?

[ThaDood]

https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2024/05/podcast-341-the-distorted-history-of-the-cassette-tape/    As long as this thread post is cover the subject. I became aware of the latest RS podcast on Thursday 5/16/2024. Had I known that they were going to do so, I would have FWR'ed them our posts and comments on cassettes. Enjoy.

[NQC]

Hey All,

I just found a MINI cassette recorder with two tapes buried in a box.

I am sure it won’t be super hi fidelity, but I wanted a standalone audio source
( rather than my phone) to maybe fool around with.

I thought mini cassettes were so cool when they came out. But as the rather droll joke states: 1983 called and wants its mini back.


de NQC

[fpeconsultant]

Slightly off topic:
How about Sony mini discs?  I have a few player/recorders and a bunch of old MW, SW broadcast and pirate recordings and a bunch of blank discs too.  They did a great job of recording exactly what I heard with no degradation 15 plus years later.  Cutting edge at the time.  I don’t recall if the files are .wav or what - I don’t think they’re mp3s.  I liked them because in “long recording” mode I could record on a frequency (typically MW after this old man’s bedtime) for I think 6 hours then check it the next day to see if I “caught” anything.
I still use them ever so often and I don’t use an sdr - get ready for it but I still turn knobs on the R8, Watkins Johnson, TT 340 and/or JRC 545.  And I use a Universal M-8000 for WeFax, sitor, etc.  Old I know.  And feeling it lately- hah!