Does anyone here still use cassettes?

[par4ken]

Im just curious are any members still recording and or buying cassettes? There is supposed to be a cassette revival like Vinyl but I see little evidence of it.

There are a few new cassette players being made but they are not high quality.. One cannot buy new chrome or metal tape anymore only normal or ferric oxide.
Because my car is so old it has both a cassette player and CD player. So I would occasionally record a tape from records to play.
In the old days I would record entire albums on tape not just for the car but to play at home so I wouldn't have to keep getting up and flipping records. I also liked to make mix tapes as many people did.

I always liked fooling with cassettes but is there really a practical use for them when you can play digital files?

Of course practicality and hobbies don't always go together.....

I have a friend that still uses cassettes despite having a CD player. I don't know why? At one time he had an old computer. I set it up for him with the hard drive full of CD rips, I don't think he ever turned it on. He still plays his vinyl collection as well.

I used to record entire albums on tape like you did, both for the car and to preserve the original vinyl. I also used to make the proverbial mixtape. I still have my collection of tapes, my most valued ones are those recorded off the radio (now referred to as airchecks). I never got into purchasing pre-recorded cassettes though, unless they were in the cutout bin. I switched to using CDRs when computer drives became popular.

I think that it's rather cool to still be able to put a cassette on. I still have my Beta and VHS, VCR's and collection of tapes as well. I never totally abandon any format. I even have my Mothers 78's! I don't think that cassettes will ever have the same type of revival as vinyl though, but will remain a niche market.

There are people who are still 8-track fanatics as well. I only got into them at all because of Quad.

 

[MidiMagic]

I use them for only the following reasons:

- I collected about 200 commercially distributed cassettes that were gifts I received over they years 1972-1998. I occasionally play some of them.
- - (I never bought cassettes unless no other format was sold - I went directly from records to CDs.)

- I could not play anything but a cassette in my car from 1988 to 2011. I made tapes to take in the car.

- I have a TASCAM 246 cassette multitrack with DBX and both 1.875 in/s and 3.75 in/s. I bought up enough chrome tape to keep using it.

- I have about 50 multitrack tapes I made of live performances with the 246.
- - (Note that I never used the 246 for discrete quad. I used it to compose QS/DS matrix recordings.

 

[Obbop]

Actually, I once surmised that if the Hardware Manufacturers who had put all the Research and development into making the cassette medium sound Hi Fi, into the development of the compact disc, we wouldn't have been stuck with 16 bit/44.1!

Dolby b, Dolby C, Chromium Dioxide .......... Oh, it was ALL so confusing!

And, then, Dolby S arrives!!! Read somewhere that the "S" stood for Sony. It was a Sony cassette deck I bought that had Dolby S. The only Dolby I ever considered worthy of using. One drawback . . . matrix-type quad; SQ and RM and other coding types were interfered with by the Sony S. If I wanted a quad-encoded cassette I had to turn off the Dolby S and I noticed the various types of "noise" present with cassette tape use. Noise that the Dolby S did a wonderful job of hiding.

Sadly, as with my beloved lamented Sansui QRX-9001 receiver the Sony unit died. I believe the high-humidity of my semi-to-me-tropical summer clime attacked the innards of my units assisting with eventually making them non-functional.

Frustration and climbing costs of finding replacement items along with increasing age and physical impairments led to a decision to lighten the load. My eBay auctions were lucrative and it did make moving to a new abode much easier. Those vinyl records are heavy as was the lamented loved QRX-9001. The portable Panasonic cassette/CD/AM-FM/USB port is a quality unit with excellent stereo sound and is easily carried with one hand. And those little thumb-drive things that hold entire collections of personal greatest hits are the bees knees . . . a real cat's meeow!!!!

Quad reel-to-reel and making matrix quad cassettes and plopping down the needle of the CD-4 capable Technics SL-1300 turntable with Shibata-type stylus upon quad records was a delight as was sitting in the middle of four speakers belching out their input reaching my ears in a delightful manner. I can still hear Santana's Black Magic Woman swirling around my head. Sigh.

Memories is all I have. Along with the memories of the pre-Web printed snail-mail distributed quad newsletter that had a few editions until the masses began hopping aboard the Web and the print was replaced by Web sharing. Sadly, with great remorse, my copies of those 1994 to 1995 or 1996 or whatever years they existed were lost during one of my moves. Happily, the Web has allowed quad to be properly represented and this Web site where this rambling message resides, is the home of the finest quad Web site within the Web thus upon Earth and possible even in the entire Milky Way galaxy!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!

Despite my lack of quad equipment I well-recall acquiring quad goodies and listening to the output of the several receives, decoders, demodulators and peripheral equipment. I have had a quad Web site on the Web starting in 1996 or so and it found a permanent home (is anything permanent on the Web??) at the WordPress blogging site. It holds the most basic info with links to other sites and to this site prominently. When folks leave comments with many seeking information I send them here, the home of the most quad-informed folks upon the planet.

That's it. You folks are doing an incredible job of keeping the old-style quad alive and introducing the new stuff.



replaced by:

 

[cbmmm3]

I still play cassettes. Not very often, but I have some nice Nak decks and an ass load of high quality mix tapes that I made in the 70's 80s and 90s. Always enjoyed making the mix tapes. It was a chance to create musical mood and flow. Practice my DJ prowess. Ive got the tapes for all types of occasions. Its fun to play these tapes now. And perhaps someday when I have time, Ill get back into making more mix tapes. I have a good 20 unopened metal and high bias Maxells just waiting......

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Cassette is actually making a comeback like vinyl, which has me thinking whether I should get some made for the younger population.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (George Santayana)

 

[cbmmm3]

oh, and PS - I have a notebook that has each mixtape cataloged by number, name ( yes, each tape was 'named' by me so as to remind of what musical mood it was ) and the Artists and Songs on the tape. Soooo Analog !!!!!!!

 

[Pontoneer]

Cassette is actually making a comeback like vinyl, which has me thinking whether I should get some made for the younger population.

Vinyl is not making a comeback : it never went away .

 

[4_everyman]

Aw, come on guys, don't be so harsh, this isn't SH(i)TV---

Testify, brother!

 

[Pontoneer]

Convenience...I had a WalkMan knock off I used when bicycling circa 1983 or so, and some I recorded for car listening. Then I bought a used Tandberg deck which was fairly good. But, they are all gone. Oddly, I think the new Abba album is available on cassette.

Also , like many , on vinyl

 

[HiFiMan]

I used to record every LP I got onto cassette and then listen to that and put the album away so it wouldn't degrade.

That was me all the way! I still have a few cassette decks (including a Sony TC-FX6C; very pricey) and do play one now and then just cuz it's kool! Quite a few new, and presumably young, artists on Bandcamp release their stuff on cassette (along with CD, digital, and vinyl). I've bought a couple just to check out the quality; definately not bad for casual listening. So, someone is buying them; or they wouldn't be making them. I'm waiting for the resurgence of 8 track. Hey, its got to happen ............ Right???????

 

[jefe1]

Ha Ha Na Na Cassettes are here to stay!

Next up the HD DVD Revival........

 

[kap'n krunch]

I use my dual Yamaha KX-W582 cassette deck every once in a while and it sounds great (pic is NOT my deck, it's an online pic). Pity it doesn't have dbx NR cause that was the best ever!

I also have a Yamaha 4 track deck which also still works great , now, THAT one has dbx NR.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Next up the HD DVD Revival........

Walter does not approve.

 

[Wurly1]

i used cassettes a lot for compilations and in the car. With CrO2 and Metal tapes, the sound was very good. Wes there were dropouts and these were exacerbated when Dolby was used. So i never used Dolby for during playback. Also i never bought pre-recorded tapes as the quality was never good. Vinyl records has always been my favorite.

 

[timbre4]

It was a phase from many of us experienced from 1972-1983, then CD nixed the need to record the vinyl. Still have cassettes here going back 45 years; the few Memorex (Dropout kings) barely play but the Maxell and TDKs still play well.

Top priority: I used to record every band shows we played and nearly every rehearsal - those were all digitized in 2006-2008. I did need to play a cassette last year to verify content and found a "lost" side (mislabeled) to share with a band member.

I have matching Denon cassette + DAT decks connected to the quad system. They are nostalgia items now, rarely pressed into service. The Q8 deck and CD-4 demodulator are there to complete the picture as well.
The Oppo BDP-93 and 5TB HDD FLACs rule the day now.

 

[kinglewi]

Thank you NYMo and Mr Afternoon for mentioning that cassettes are still be produced with new bands and existing bands, in some cases for practicality, in others because they are creating interesting collectable limited editions. Off-hand, bands like Zombi and at one point the Lumerians (as just a couple examples) do/did unique releases on cassettes only, in very small numbers. But of note currently, is that the new Beach House (their 8th album I believe, due out in February) is getting a really nice treatment by Sub Pop (who've done other cassette format releases with their catalogue roster.

Once Twice Melody

 

[cbmmm3]

the bands Riverside and Mystery had put parts of their catalog out on cassette a year or two ago. I just bought a New Order boxset that was in 2 formats - Cd and cassette. Discogs shows cassette sales growing bigley. Hang on to them - and have a number 2 pencil handy also

 

[cbmmm3]

On an Endless Loop: Tracking the Cassette Renaissance in 2021
Davey Ferchow posted October 12, 2021

The cassette never went away. According to National Audio Company (the largest audio cassette manufacturer in the US), the need for cassettes continued throughout the ‘90s and 2000s as there was still a demand for spoken word tapes. As cassettes were originally produced for dictation, this is where we began to see the tape come full circle.
The circle is now continuing to loop around as we’ve seen a cassette revival in the music industry. Cassettes are being produced and released at higher rates than they have in years. With the popularity of releases like Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1, National Audio Company has seen their best sales since they opened in 1969 and they now produce cassettes for Disney, Sony, and Universal. The demand is there as sales continue to climb with young cassette fans leading the charge.
So what has inspired a new generation of music fans to collect cassettes? Information from the Discogs Database unveils some interesting developments over the last five and a half years.

Since 2015, the number of cassette releases added to the Discogs Database has increased almost every year. Part of this growth can be attributed to the number of new cassettes being released. Incredibly popular artists like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift have all released their recent albums on cassette in addition to vinyl, CD, and digital formats. We’ve also seen a return to cassettes in underground music. Bands like Poison Ruïn have kept the DIY cassette alive by self-releasing their own recordings, while labels like Sacred Bones offer cassette versions of the latest Molchat Doma and John Carpenter albums.
The data also shows that older releases are being discovered or rediscovered as the amount of tapes listed for sale has grown significantly over the last several years. In 2020, over 600,600 cassettes were listed for sale on Discogs. This year still has a few months to go and we have already seen more than 1,000,000 cassette tapes listed for sale this year.
Naturally, with more cassettes for sale, there are more cassettes to buy and members of the Discogs Community have continued to outbuy themselves every year since 2015. Looking at the data for 2021, it’s looking like this trend will continue.
But why are people listing, selling, and buying so many cassettes?
Vinyl sales have been booming for years with no sign of slowing down. The popularity of vinyl has contributed to higher prices across the board and cassettes have stepped back in as a cheaper alternative for those looking to own physical media.
Millennials and Gen Z are looking for connectivity beyond the digital world. For Millennials, there is the nostalgia of returning to a format from their youth. For younger generations, there is the excitement of tapping into a culture that predates them. Most Gen Z kids have Gen X parents and many of them are discovering fashion trends and music formats from the ‘80s and ‘90s and embracing them the same way their parents did.
The pandemic has also helped boost sales as concerts have been canceled. Tapes allow fans to engage with music in a physical way and support the artists they admire.
While the data shows us that cassettes aren’t likely to come back the same way vinyl has, it appears that cassettes are here to stay. So, if you are looking to get into cassettes or relive your youth, now is the perfect time to grab that boombox or walkman and let those tape spools spin!

 

[4-earredwonder]

Cassette is actually making a comeback like vinyl, which has me thinking whether I should get some made for the younger population.

IMO, some things are 'better left in the past!' Cassettes were fun and offered convenience in 'their day,' but why take a backwards step in both fidelity and diluting your incredible 5.1 surround remix by offering lo fi STEREO cassettes! Your release on hybrid SACD 5.1 and BD~A 5.1 was certainly a bold move for an independent production but hey, it's your $$$$$ ...... if you decide to go the cassette route!

 

[4-earredwonder]

And how long before 8 track cartridges, bell bottoms and platform shoes make a comeback?

Stay Tuned!

edit: and how 'bout DAT Tape ......16/44.1? I still have 2 of those delightful machines plus a portable SONY DAT recorder...and about a dozen pre~recorded DAT tapes!

And DAT is DAT!