Cassettes are like music diaries. Years later you will find them in a box and be reminded of a specific time. Or discover someone else's cassettes. That's what I like the most: They are documentation. Digital traces (like a playlist on a streaming service) will more likely get deleted or go undiscovered.
Yea i went into my attic to get a box and ran into another box that had my old VHS tapes, DVD's, CD's and cassette's ... Yea that sparked up some memories. Those are all hard copies of the music or movies where you may find them on a streaming service TODAY but in ~15 years will be deleted because time's are changing. And once deleted from streaming, its GONE unless you have that hard copy. Perfect example is the Star Wars episode where Vader says, NO I AM YOUR FATHER where everyone thought he said LUKE I AM YOUR FATHER ... Having that hard copy DVD or VHS can show proof of what he actually said vs what they remember him saying. Problem is that MOST go with technology and change with technology. I knew that VHS would come to a stop eventually and it did around ~2005. VCR's stopped in 2016. With today's streaming, i am shocked that DVD's are still made and people still buy them. I have 3 dvd/Blu-ray players in my home and 1 VCR and i stopped buying VHS when DVD's replaced them and stopped buying DVD's around ~2010 ... I just didn't see any point to buy a DVD when i could stream them "illegally" ...
@@EmeraldPixelGamingEPG it depends on how they are stored. I have cassette's from 88 (33 yrs old) that still play rock solid. If they are stored in a HOT attic basement without a case and just left open, yea they will deteriorate. But if you have them in a temperature controlled house and its inside its case, i don't see why they would not last 40 yrs easy.
Yes. I have hundreds of cassettes all still in great shape from the late 70's into the 80's and 90's. They've all been stored well, just like my albums. I've played them all this time!
I like all physical media "records, tapes, CDs, etc."! Simply for "choices" , back in the day you had lots of choices! These days its like "take the one format that makes us the most money or is the most convenient! Let's get back to choices!
Not just that, but it makes the distributors and streaming services money but unfortunately not the artists. I know Caz I am one, Ive been in music for 30 years and now the industry for artists is over as it stands. Sad
I am still involved with cassettes for over 50 years. I recently have bought new old stock cassettes and have stereo and boom- boxes 📦. I am glad, like with vinyl records, there is a resurgence of cassettes. I am 77 years old. Ray
@@daviddavidsonn3578 depending on his kids or grand kids, probably TRASH ... My father in law just passed away several months ago and i "inherited" his 400 vinyl record collection that he had THAT his 3 daughters (one being my wife) were going to throw in the trash. My wife's uncle purchased a used trailer and the old tenant left the old bedroom wall unit in the room to find out that the bottom 5 shelves that were LOCKED had 250 records inside. So now i have 650 records in my hand.
I found a well-kept 1990's Hi-Fi tape deck that retailed for $700 used for $60. I was amazed how well my old tapes sounded. They never sounded that good when I was in my teens and 20's! Most of us that remember the hissing sound of cassettes...blamed the tapes but in reality it may have been the super-cheap equipment that we could only afford back then.
Cheap turntables do the same .,,any type of an overly cheap made analog equipment makes the best analog media sound really bad and you have to keep heads cleaned and demagenatized and adjust the azimuth if you have va hard time hearing high notes and cymbals ..
I'm 26 about to be 27 next month, and i have 60+ cassettes in total. I love collecting them and i've always used tapes ever since i was a kid. It's a whole vibe and it's a different experience. I'll continue to collect and use cassette tapes until i die.
@@ahah1785i guess that depends where you live... I find NOS high end tales all the time where I am at. Including blanks, pre-recorded, lots of cassette decks and reel to reel machines. The last few years have been really fun for thrifting.
What was so GREAT about cassette's .... Back in the late 80's and early 90's we had a radio station that on Friday nights would have their special DJ do his special 2 hr mix combining 80's and 90's music. This guy was gifted. His mix was impressive to say the least. This is where the CASSETTE came into play. Just waited for 10pm to arrive, HIT RECORD and just record the entire 2 hrs of mixing music. That was the mix you had for the next week until he did it again next friday night. You then either erase the cassette and start over or just drop in a new one and just label the last one and keep it to have it. 47 yrs old here and still have some of my cassette's ...
Another reason to love cassettes. And so. I was born in 1968 two years later (1970) I started saying my first words. Then my father recorded me on a reporter cassette player PHILIPS. The cassette is from the same brand. Since then they have passed 51 years old! Last year I filled my collection with the top model deck for 1976 JVC KD-95. And guess what? I released the tape from my childhood. Both the recording and the tape are in perfect condition! 51 years! ....
I exclusively support the format here in the USA by repairing decent to low end cassette decks. From my experience you don't need a high end cassette deck to enjoy the benefits of recording or playback. I find that even some low end or even dual cassette decks have some decent features and still make great recordings. A good point I must stress is to buy a deck that has been serviced. Most that sell on sites like eBay and others will just list them as they found them and never check the tape tension, or replace worn belts. The belts get soft and turn into black goo. They will most often fail after short use if the unit was not serviced or at least inspected. BUY A SERVICED TAPE DECK.
I'm so thankful for my dad keeping my 1981 JVC boom box all these years without knowing. He recently past and going through his items I found around 60 cassette tapes some that were mine and his! I restored my boom box and playing all the cassettes...📻🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
I have just got back into HiFi, after many years, I’ve assembled a system with a turntable, cassette deck, mini disc and graphic equaliser, and I’m now enjoying my music. I would really like a reel to reel tape machine, but they’re really expensive and I’m not sure if the sound quality would be as good as my cassette deck with Dolby S . I have managed to purchase cassettes from eBay, that are new old stock , still in original wrapping . I normally purchase type 2 chrome cassettes . I love the physical quality of vinyl and cassettes, you can hold and it see it , I’m really impressed with mini disc , it’s a really great medium, I don’t understand why they never really took off!
Welcome Back! Quality R2R is the best out there but it comes with a lot of hassle...too much probably! A high quality cassettes chain comes close IMHO.
@@anadialog Like you said Guido, the tactile feel of cassettes and oh that waxy smell of the pure chrome tapes. MMmmmm. Delicious! I love tapes and my cassette decks. (All 7 of them)
I love listening to my old cassettes! My family even likes some of them, too! A couple of years ago, I picked up an excellent late 1980s JVC cassette deck that works flawlessly. I found it at a thrift store for $8 and have been very happy with it. I also inherited my dad's old late 1970s Kenwood cassette deck. It needs a belt to run correctly, but it's build quality is incredible! I can't wait to hear it when I get it fixed.
I'm happy to have several cassette decks - both two and thre head ones. Also I have over 1500 cassette tapes and a few hundred still not opened. Maybe I will be rich one day. ;-)
I recall back in the early '80's, a lady I met at my Radio Shack job paid me money to make her a wedding tape. She said it sounded good. My first professional recording gig.
Making home made Mix tapes in the late 70s early 80s was the one trendy behavior that scared record company music executives because home made cassette tapes were traded and given away which paved the way for the executives to print on the vinyl packaging "home taping is killing music". They hated that people traded mix tapes back in the early 80s. They would never attempt that push again.🤣🤣🤣 Hip hopsters got their "soundbites" from mix tapers!
Got back into cassettes last year and restored my old decks and my old tapes from the 80s. Even got an Akai GX-95 deck as 2nd deck and bought NOS blank tapes to start recording. Also joined some cassette & vintage decks in FB Groups. Yeah, really enjoying the good old days of cassette tapes.
I buy all of my cassette tapes at the local thrift stores, mostly classical. You did a video about two years ago which explained how to re-lube your tapes. If you buy your cassettes at Goodwill, Salvation Army or some such place you will have tapes that sometimes run slow or stop completely. I strongly recommend this video. It sometimes takes a week or two or three or even a month, but it does work!
Cassettes are a lot of fun. I got back into it a couple years ago and I now have five great decks that I record my records on. 90% of the sound quality comes from the deck. 30-40 year old prerecorded cassettes and recordings I’ve made on standard quality type I cassettes sound absolutely fantastic. It blows my mind because I remember how bad they used to sound on crap equipment I had as a teenager and young adult. I prefer Nakamichi decks, myself. Can’t go wrong with them..
I really appreciate cassettes as a form of exercising rights and ownership. While services like Spotify and RU-vid music are convenient I dislike how we are moving away from a model where we actually own anything. I hate it when I want to listen to music, but I forgot to download the trac before leaving my house and I don't feel like burning data. Sometimes there will be login errors and I am unable to get my music because I clicked the wrong login info or there is a glitch in the app. I want to be able to own an album, and it allows for some flexibility. I want to support artists on places like bandcamp, but it can also be inconvenient to have to either download the FLACs or stream it, which again have several downsides.
I'm 20, almost 21. I remember playing my dads remaining cassettes when I was a little kid. Just now tried looking for them, and his old cassette player. No luck on both fronts. It makes me sad. Parents probably got rid of them thinking cassettes would never come back. I also have an extensive Vinyl Record collection. With an Audio Technica turn table. HAPPY UPDATE! Found the cassette player, and a tape still inside it. Gonna try looking for other tapes.
Nice to see cassettes still getting the love. I never left cassettes, and have picked up loads more in last few years at very cheap prices. Same with sealed cassettes. The TEAC W1200 ( think thats the model) is the only half-way decent new deck being made. I have Yamaha, Technics and Panasonic decks and love them. * Have you ever come across any Nakamichi Reference recordings- if so, lucky person. Also, any Chasing The Dragon cassettes? Going off- piste a bit, have you bought any Dutton Vocalion CD's. I have not given up on recording audio to HiFi VHS & now have a Nokia VHS machine which has separate audio settings and record level meters- certainly intetesting. Best wishes now.
Unfortunate the minidisc (the “new” cassette) got lost down the memory hole. Recordable, portable, nearly indestructible, and ingenious, the minidisc had a lot going for it.
I found a tape from 25 years ago and played it on a basic player and was amazed how good it sounded on my hifi system, truly did not expect it. didn't have a HiFi system 25 years ago, so now I can listen to all my tapes again and enjoy all the music I missed back then... wohooo very nice discovery
I just got a Sony Cassette Deck for fifteen dollars at my local thrift store. I wasn’t able to get speakers for it, but I was allowed to set it up in the living room so I could listen through our home speakers. All of my tapes sound so good!! I’m very excited to get brand new releases on cassette to see how they sound! Love the video man, keep it up!
I got really lucky here in Kona Hawaii ( I'm originally from England ) I bought a Pioneer CT-M6R 6 cassette changer in perfect working condition , then I found a JVC KDS201 cassette player Which is brand new , lastly on Ebay I found a 1971 Sony TC-20 car cassette player that is also never used , the car player is going in my 1971 BMW 2002 , I too am reliving my cassette loving youth , thanks for a great video .
On eBay, I recently purchased an old fashioned Panasonic music centre from the early 1980s. I recently have gone back to the nostalgia of recording from the vinyl records onto cassette again. Brings back lots of memories. Sometimes I still digitise stuff, but you cannot beat the old cassette’s and I still love the idea of having cassette’s recorded on a certain high-quality recorder.
Nice video! One "feature" of cassettes my son pointed out to me is unlike CD/LP they "remember" where you stopped them between plays. My opinion (for more mass market decks) is the models from the late 70s-early 80s look the best and are a good combination of quality construction and features, as there was much competition at the time. As time went on things got cheaper, i.e. more plastic and less substantial flywheels etc.
Do you mean hiss, lack of highs, detonation and other signs of a "real analog" sound? If you would need an analog hi-fi, you'd use LP and expensive MC cartridge with heavy-heavy transformer.
You know just about everything he said I can relate to and what makes cassettes so captivating to me. I'm only 16 so I've obviously never owned a cassette tape or anything as such, but ive spent the past year or so learning everything I could, learning about the history, finding decks and Walkman's I could collect and i have found that there are plenty of things that draw me closer closer to this, as ana[dia]log states, "underground" community. I love the thought of having my favorite music that was brought together into a mixtape or a band's album in my hand, I dont have the nostalgia per se, but I feel there could be something emotional to it as well, for the older people they could miss their past or just missed what they used to do. I hope that one day this community eventually blows up and a big company rises and starts producing high quality decks and Walkman's again and we can buy these things off the shelves just like you guys used to years before. I really do hope I keep my interest and hopefully I soon get a job to allow me to connect even further with it.
Point 11 suggestion: « Custom play list » What is the only solution to get an easy personal playlist with analog sound ? Answer: Cassettes! (also possible with real to real tape but more expensive) p.s. Buying vintage or used cassette decks is good for the planet, less waste, less Co2, better sound, spare parts available. Have fun 😊
I have a remanufactured Delco deck with the 5 band EQ in my '85 T/A and it sounds fantastic. People ask why I don't have a CD player or MP3 but I just like the way a good cassette sounds. Digital media just doesn't sound "right" to me. People don't realize how good these old decks and tapes can sound if they're taken care of and not thrashed.
good video you put out I have still got and still used my massive collection of cassette tapes what do you think the kids we'll get into next maybe the MiniDisc
I never liked pre-recorded cassettes; they seemed to not sound as good as a record. So I would buy the album or single and record it onto a high quality cassette.
Tbh there is a wide variety of quality levels when it comes to cassesttes. From some being quite mediocre to others being absolutely incredible sounding. In a way this makes cassesettes even more appealing to me. Yeah, I know there are variances with vynil amd they'll last forever... Jajajaja...
I can confirm. I bought several SEALED pre-recorded albums for $1 each when I first started getting into cassettes as a format (Im 18) and I found several that had recording errors. On one album, one song kept skipping which is impossible to happen on cassettes (tape was seemingly dubbed from a CD), and another one played way too fast on one side, while the other side was recorded correctly. One tape had no left channel.
I believe my homemade mixtapes sound better than a pre recorded cassette tape. But, having a nice cassette recorder is very important. They’re out there if you know where look for them.
I used to spend so much time curating the sound / feel I wanted for my cassettes. I felt like I worked for Time and Life. I miss mylar so I'm very happy to see this video!
Still have my Cassettes from 1969 to 2000 - to my mind TDK SA 90 was the best money/quality buy. Was a VINYL DJ mainly in the early to mind 1980‘s and did some live club mixed back in the days on cassette for guests and some for me, too. And in the late 2000‘s all tapes were recorded in wav format by a profressional audio studio (REVOX)... now I have both well preserved cassettes and wav files, too.
In the UK in the 1970s when I was moving from one tiny austere dwelling to the next, my cassettes followed me. They were tapes of my vinyl collection which resided in my parents garage. They were easy to transport and store plus held a lot of music. When I started collecting CDs, I taped them to play in my car. Got a few treasured bootlegs on cassette and still have a player. Also, who can forget the alchemy in making those special mix tapes?
Good tape CrO2 II type or Metal IV type and good cassette deck tape recording can used for professional recording in music studio for very good analog warm sound and very natural sound. Than convert that sound in computer through professional sound card for DAW recording. Result is amazing! Reel to reel tape recording is too much expensive. Digital sound is only good for editing. Digital sound is dead sound.
I've been using cassettes since 1977 uninterrupted until this day... they just work everywhere, and sound GREAT if decent recorders and cassettes are used, right up to the level even trained ears cannot(!) determine whether listening to tape or source while recording. Even on a bug basic Sony HF cassette... this may very well happen to you if you own a Nakamichi CR-7E or a Tandberg TCD-3014A. For me, they work in my living room, in my hobby room, on the go with a Walkman, or even one of my Ghettoblaster,s and in both of my cars... just everywhere!!
The problem with the cassettes is that actually is impossible to buy a new hifi recorder. You can only buy a vintage one. Hoping that in the future the situation Will change.
My favorite part about cassettes is not only analog recording but long form listening. Its the only way to make a true track mix. No skipping. No jumping around. My favorite cassettes that I've made are of Ween's B-sides and rarities. Volume 1 and 2. Not all the mixing in the source tracks was in line with each other, except for on my compilation cassettes. Its the best mastering of those tracks that you can hear.
I have been into cassettes since 79. I have refurbished two Pioneer CT-F9XX series decks. I have a lot of cassettes, mostly I recorded. Would like to see new decks made again. The only thing is hoping if someone makes new decks the price point is not as high as new reel to reel decks. Bring on the Analog!
Why the Turntable, Tape deck, CD Player, Real to Real, Mini disc player and Graffic equalizer ever died of death I'll never know, it's just fantastic playing these formats on great high end machines, just having music on your Phone just never did it for me, I'm so glad it's nearly all coming back, still have my Vinyl, Cds and Tapes, just starting to get all my audio equipment again, I'm just loving this hobby all over again, great video 👍
I record my high end vinyl records using an Aiwa AD F990 and Type IV metal tapes. I make mix tapes as well as complete album recordings. I still have a stock alpine cassette deck in my 02 Lincoln Continental. It's nice because I can listen to my records on the road!
For me, it's a bit more complicated. During my teenage years in the 80s, my dad own some very decent HiFi equipment, including a Sansui QRX-5500 quadraphonic amp, JBL L150 (front), JBL L50 (rear) speakers, Technics SL-10 turntable, and a Pioneer CT-F750 tape deck. He appreciated good sounding music, but really didn't understand the technology behind it all. Nor did I. For example, I had no idea how Dolby B/C/S worked, what bias calibration was, 2 heads vs 3 heads, Type I/II/III/IV tapes, and that music reproduction in tapes can sound just as good as vinyl- if you knew all the aforementioned. Until recently. I am rediscovering what I did not know. Aside from refurbishing vintage equipment to make things work as they use to (like my JVC KD-D55 or Luxman K-106), I also use new technology to record my tapes. I use Djay Pro and its AI features to beat match and mix music with over 60 million tracks from Tidal using my Mac. I take my Sanyo M9990 boombox out by the pool to listen to my mixes, or maybe for a walk with one of my Walkmans. For me, it's a new appreciation for vintage technology and a breath of fresh air away from all my smart glass panes.
I'm absolutely loving Audio again, it has been over 20 years since my last hifi system, never had separates back then, now I'm buying vintage equipment, so glad I didn't get rid of my Vinyl, Tape cassettes and Cd's, Cd's are cheap in the UK, bought 4 Cd albums for £2 just the other day, great video 👍
Thank you so much for this most informative production about an audio format that has brought much joy to my life. I still have quite a few blank metal and chrome tapes that I bought while working at Radio Shack in the '80's. I used several to record a live broadcast of the 12/12/12. I still have my cassette music collection. As a young teen, I recorded many compellation tapes from the radio. It is a good way to record music if the DJ's give you a heads up of what is about to be played and didn't talk before or after the songs. I found my very nice Denon deck at a pawn shop, reasonably priced. I programmed a remote to perform it's functions. I got a LOT of use from my tape deck in my car. It is good to know that this quality format is being discovered by the younger generation.
I am 50 and have always been a physical media guy. Over the years I have put together a few really good systems shopping only at thrift stores. You go as often as I do and you eventually come across some decent components. My set ups includes vinyl, cd and cassettes. My heart always goes out to the people that got rid of all their media because of streaming and then later regret it because they get back into it; I’m thankful that I never did that.
At the moment there's not much on the market for great audio equipment other than vintage, these big companies should start making it all again, I would not buy any of the cheap crap on the market today, vintage is the best!!
What I like most about compact cassette is the visual diversity. Lots and lots of different designs and colors through the years. No other medium has offered that.
I had a lot of cassettes back in the day, i even recorded one of my bands in one including making the cover with lyrics and proper pictures, i still have it and I still have the sony walkman in pristine condition.
Cassettes are back! HECK THEY HAVE BEEN BACK! I heard that some New High Quality cassette players are coming out soon.So keep a watch out for them.👍👍I've noticed alot of limited edition Cassettes you can purchase on ebay.Ive seen a Dr. Dre cassette limited edition and a tu pac limited edition Cassette.👍How cool is that.All the haters who hated cassettes will see that Cassettes are back and here to stay.Esp when the new players come out.2022 WILL BE A GREAT YEAR FOR CASSETTES AND THE NEW Cassette Players that will be out soon.👍I'm proud to be a cassette head !!! I've been collecting cassettes since the 80s.👍🙂 Everyone likes different kinds of formats.For me it's cassettes. Soon the New Cassette players will be here and then we won't have to deal with the crappy players outhere today.
I got three boxes of my old cassettes that I left at my uncles. I have a Sony dual cassette deck. I got it for $5 at an estate sale. It works great. Do you think that I should toss it aside and start looking for a more vintage and higher quality deck? Another question: what labels put out higher quality cassettes? Blue Note? I have tons of bootleg shows on cassettes, heavy metal, some early alternative, classic rock, and tons of mix tapes. It’s funny, just tonight a younger guy at work said his car has a cassette deck but he doesn’t own any cassettes. I thought about making him a mix cassette but I remembered a horrible experience making a mix tape for Ed Marshall the engineer that worked on Hotel California. He said “I loved the songs, but each one was at a different volume. I had get the levels the same and put it on a new cassette. That took the wind out of my sails, as far as making mix cassettes. Before that I thought I was awesome at making mix cassettes. So sad....
Great video. Cassettes are cool in so many ways, and they also enjoy the advantage of being easier to use than vinyl. I have (currently) a Teac A-303 in my living room system, and it's so much fun to pop in say, Neil Diamond's Hot August Night and let it play. I like cassettes best for when I don't want to listen critically, but just want some music playing while I do other things. They're great for that. And who doesn't like big, incandescent-lit VU meters swinging away? I need to buy a lava lamp....
I have lots of lava lamps. Even 2 Grandes. (Large 2 foot tall ones). As I'm currently typing this I'm listening to a tape. I'm 20, soon to be 21. Cassette player is my dads old player. Tape is one of his old tapes.
Great video. Very well explained. I love cassettes. That was my medium as a music lover and musician since the 80s. Also vinyl. I still have a lot of my cassettes and records. I have a few nice cassette decks, and a lot of small portable players and recorders which I have modified to use for tape loops. Have picked up a couple of vintage decks recently. Got a nice Akai double deck from the late 80s. Another thing about the vintage gear - Made in Japan!
One thing I loved about cassettes was the fact they were so easy to "make a new one". Many complained about how they wore out or didn't have long-term playability. I made cassettes from CDs or albums to use in walkmans, in the car, etc. I played it till it wore out and I could just make a new tape. I have an old Harmon Kardon tape deck from the 80s that is still going strong. I keep finding "new/old" blanks at the thrift store. Some are type 2.
I never found the quality of pre-recorded cassettes good. But a good quality tape, TDK, Maxell etc. was perfect. My 40 year old vinyls are in such great shape, because I would almost always record new LPs on to cassettes and then listen to those. I honestly don't remember snap, crackles and pops. I found cassettes to be an easier format than CDs to handle in cars, and I didn't have to move them between cars or the house... just make another copy of the tape. 8-tracks were too bulky and not recordable. But most of the music I listen to, is meant to be listened from start to finish. Shuffle gives me the creeps to this day :-).
Nobody mentioned it, but cassettes go for 25 cents at most thrift shops. I'm always looking for vinyl, but notice they have 10 or 20 times number of cassettes than vinyl, so I keep buying cassettes as well.
We need a company to start making Type II tapes again. This Type I stuff is just not cutting it. I appreciate what companies like National in the USA are doing, but my old CrO2 Maxell's from the 1980's sound WAY better than the brand new 2021 National Ferric type I's. And if a couple of manufacturers would put out a deck that is capable of 20-20,000 Hz that sure would be nice. Like you said, a music greeting card sounds better than the Chinese USB portables you see all over the place (Many of which are not even STEREO).
Get NOS. Any tapes that are made today most likely come from China & are pure crap. I Just got some TDK SA-90 Tapes from 1985 & 1987 & some D-90s from 1982, They sound phenomenal.
for nostalgic reasons i still stick to cassette tapes, i recorded my first tape in the early 70s and still use cassette tapes, i love sticking to the 70s and 80s analog setup. I also have multiroom streaming so I can hear my tapes in all rooms throughout my home, but in the two true listening rooms I have several cassette recorders.
I am so thrilled that I kept and preserved my pre-recorded cassette tapes and maintained by cassette decks. The sound quality is still excellent especially if they were recorded on Nakamichi, Teac, Revox & similar decks. I have Maxell UDXL & TDK Super Avilyn pre-recorded tapes that sound like they were just recorded yesterday! With anything else, these tapes just need to be maintained in a controlled environment and decks de-magnetized every so, often. Whether you are aware or not, people thrive on nostalgia and there's nothing better than a blast from the past!
Back in the day people would buy vinyl and record those to cassettes and listen to them in their cars or boomboxes. You could also record your favorite songs off the radio for free. I remember not having money as a kid to buy records so I saved up to buy a cheap cassette recorder and got my tunes the old-fashioned way. A lot of young people didn't have a choice in those days Cassettes were the only portable media available. When CD's came out in the 80's not many of us could afford them and forget about buying a player they were out of reach for most of us. Cassette players were standard in cars well into the 90's. I didn't own a high-end cassette deck until the 90's and by then they were yesterday's news. So my experience with cassette tapes was always low-end but back then it was all I had and I never knew the difference but they were fun and brought a lot of joy to a lot of people🙂
As much as I like physical media (I confess I'm a cassette hoarder) ... the fad will not last for long. And the reason is, today's younger generation is not into music, at all. Some listen to computer-generated "dance tracks", some listen to atrocious mumbling called "rap", but even these are a minority. Most just don't and won't listen to any music. It's not part of their world.
Here's a list of why I hate cassettes. 1. Hiss. 2. Distortion. 3. Limited frequency range. 4. Limited dynamics. 5. Wow & flutter (even on the best machines). In the 70's, 80ś and most of the 90's cassettes was what I had as recording media, and I hated it. To make decent recordings/copies I increasingly went for more and more expensive and better gear, like the Dragon, and Dolby S machines etc over the years, but it was nothing more than pouring money into the toilet, and one disappointment after another. I was never pleased with it. Though the format was improved over the years it never became good enough to meet the minimum hifi standards in my opinion. During the 90's I started using hifi videoes for recording, and after that cassettes were a thing of the past. At least in my universe. I went with cd recording for a short while after that, and then I finally saw the light and went reel to reel, which in my opinion kicks the crap out any other format. Nothing else has the dynamics or the frequency range that reel to reel can deliver, and nothing else delivers recordings that close to the original material. If you compare a CD-R to the original material you will notice a way bigger difference. Reel to reel is simply the best format in existence. Nowadays all you can get is type 1 cassettes as correctly pointed out. Some may be lucky to find some new old stock chrome or metal cassettes, but bite me if the quality of them has not diminished with time. When it comes to players/recorders you can choose from used worn junk, or new even worse junk. All new machines from the cheapest to the most expensive uses the same chinese (piece of s...) mechanism, the same lousy tapeheads, and Dolby noise reduction is all gone. Even at it's peak the cassette format sucked, but now I don't even think harsh enough words to describe it exists. To me it's a total mystery that anyone in their right mind wish to go back to that horrible format. Neither nostalgia nor anything else can offset the misery that it is. After three decades of disappointments, I for one have no warm feelings, memories, or urge to go back to cassettes. And though distortion can sound awesome, one thing is certain; The music I make does not end up on cassettes. My mother taught me that if I had nothing nice to say, then I should keep my mouth shut. But she also taught me to be honest. In this case, I choose to go with that part of my upbringing in the service of balance as my contribution to this praise of what I think is a horrible format. But to those who like cassettes; Don't pay any attention to me, because this is just my personal opinion. My agenda is not to ruin your fun.
Although some of your gripes are real, you would never throw away the main source of distortion of your sound system. The speakers are the main source of distortion (sometimes near 10% or over) and the quality of speakers that mainstream buyers get are for most just crap. The damping factor on my main power amp is above 1,000+ when one with over 100 is consider rare and pricey.
@@solarfall2728 I don't think they are still made. Reel to Reel is the most expensive music format out there and it is also the best analogue source. My TEAC X-1000RBL 10" Reel to Reel deck's frequency response is from under 20 Hz up to a whopping 33,000 Hz. It the best recording format that money can (or can't) buy.
@@solarfall2728 If you are planning on reel to reel, I'll say buy vintage. There's a few new models on the market, but they are expensive as hell. A good well kept vintage machine is still the best media you can get. Especially if you go with a two track high speed model.
8:52 Not just because of distortion, but be cause the analog system does a "full capture" of the audio! Like a film photograph, so you get (pretty much depending on type) the full microphone capture of the audio with very little loss ( with practically no loss with type II, and even less loss with type IV)!
Yes, the tonal richness is amazing, perhaps not perfectly reproduced (digital people will get angry otherwise) but present and...distorted (in a very pleasant manner).
On my ultrahighend tube-amp chain i got an akai dx-3000w. On my 5.1 System i got a yamaha kx-e100 and in my bedroom k-185x. Thats all 80s stuff. Together with some tone-control tube buffer preamp, tape can sound very nice, although i prefer vinyl. In my basement i got a collectors vintage Player from the 60's. Pretty nerdi, but its great fun ;) greetings from germany
Thought on my own list, but xouls only make 8. 1. Good for artists 2. Warm sounding 3. Flexibility 4. Form factor / Design 5. Save your vinyl 6. Portability 7. Memorys to look back on 8. Physical media rules
I had a love hate relationship with compact cassette. Pre-recorded tapes often sounded awful as head alignment of the duplication machines was all over the place. I would have a loved a deck that would allow adjustment of the azimuth of the head like a Nakamichi CR-7. Recording at home was another matter. My favourite desk for recording was a Proton 740 deck factory calibrated to Maxell XL tapes and it had dbx noise reduction. dbx was great for most music (not solo piano). CDs and vinyl recorded to tape on this sounded so good with no tape hiss and great frequency response. I once bought a dbx encoded Dave Brubeck vinyl but no dbx decoder to play it through. So I recorded it to tape without any noise reduction enabled and played it back with the dbx in the tape deck enabled. Truly astonishing sound quality. Then the amazing Dolby S came out and the tape market fizzled out. Nice to see an interest in it again. I still have my tapes from the 80s and 90s but no cassette desk or boombox!
I love this video. I made 250 of my own custom cassettes from radio or records and then CDS from 1973 to 2000. Cassettes really added life to a lot of events I visited and it became a party with my music cassettes.
Some company needs to make a new high quality deck. Even if it were expensive there would be a market for it. And with today's electronics it could excellent per price.
I have a good collection of NOS blank cassettes, and enjoy the process of selecting the right one for the type of music I want to record. Peeling off the wrapper is like opening a time capsule (even the smell). I have a fondness for the 'super ferric' Type I cassettes, and like to push the recording levels to the limit of the tape (a 3 head is essential for comparing the source and recorded output in real time). For myself, it's just another way to appreciate music.
I don't have a lot of tapes but I do love them. The underground metal scene is filled with bands releasing cassettes, especially black metal. Somehow, that music sounds perfect on that format... For some reason, tapes have a nice round, full body bass sound in my system. Not that accurate or fast, but I enjoy it. Currently running a Nakamichi 480.
Cassettes are not a good choice for music enjoyment..they wear out and incur damage more easily than any other physical medium. Cd's are the best. I've had my oldest ones for over 30 years and taken care of them..they play like they did day 1. Cassettes are good for easy recording , that's about it. If you want nostalgia, bring back the wax cylinder players!
Old cds from when they first came out were ok but the new remastered stuff is crap. They dont sound good on a decent system only on junk speakers and blue tooth.speakers..Recorded with the highs blaring. Thats why they faded away no one really wants them anymore.
My main misgivings about the so-called "cassette comeback" are the following: 1. Availability of cassettes that are made to an adequately high standard (chrome or metal tapes, well-built cases) 2. Availability of cassette decks that perform at least as a relatively good mid-1980s deck would 3. Good luck finding someone to design circuits, or to program FPGAs, that'll offer the functions of technologies like dbx, Dolby B, C, SR, S, and HX-Pro. I really don't care what the hipsters say or do. If a cassette comeback is to happen, it needs to happen properly: with decent decks (not the trash TEAC, Marantz, Aurex, and others have inflicted upon their unsuspecting buyers lately), good tapes, and with Dolby either licensing its noise reduction technologies again or open-sourcing them (then again, the patents have already expired, so someone who thinks reimplementing them makes financial and commercial sense could do so).
I love cassettes because of the vibe you know? The aesthetics and the fact I can put whatever I want on them and make my own j cards with whatever I want
For me it's: tactility of the format, analog sound (the slight distortion), and it's vintage (don't care if it is 'hip' or 'trendy', it's from my youth). I have hundreds of Maxell XL-II (mostly) cassettes and a good tech nearby to repair my decks. I'm still looking out for a reasonably simple, but good and affordable 3 head deck.
Unlike records were there are actual new quality turntables and media being made, new cassette decks are far worse than ones made 40 years ago even from some of the same companies. I fear that until this changes any meaningful comeback will not happen.
Sure cassettes should stay and as far as I'm concerned they never really left. They fill a need that CDs can't fill. Vinyls us a different story. It has got way too expensive and don't sound nearly as good as CDs. So long live the cassette!😅
sound quality tbh can be pretty hit and miss especially with older tapes..... BUT when you listen to a really good one on a decent machine..............WOW !!!
I keep an old Sanyo cassette head unit I pulled from my first car, it has my REO Speedwagon High Infidelity tape completely wrapped through it. I pull it out any time I get the itch to collect cassettes.
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