Vinyl comeback now, cassette tapes next?

Nrenter- unless nostalgia is your motivation...prepare yourself for sonic disappointment. Having a great piece of audio history is a good thing, my 4 head Onkyo falls into that category... I also have recorded all my old vinyl (back in the early 90s, before giving it away) on Cassette, just wished it sounded better!

Sure.

Right after the 8 track resurgence.

Actually, the first cassette I dropped into this deck was a live-to-2-track recording I did about 20 years ago of a Ph.D candidate performing a piece for berimbau. It had been stored in a hot Texas attic for the past 10 years, and it's storage during the previous 10 years was not much better. I was actually surprised how great it sounded (not to mention the fact it was recorded on a Nak and played back on a Pioneer). Very little hiss. Decent dynamic range. Good frequency extension.

However, the 2nd tape I tried did sound pretty bad (sonically). A bit of a hot mess. It was a pre-recorded cassette released on the 4AD label (one of my favorite labels).

Neither of these examples should be proof of the quality of the cassette format (or lack thereof). Quite frankly, if I wanted to get as close to that "live" sound as possible, I'd listen to myself play guitar.

My desire for a cassette deck is for access to music *in context*. By this I mean finding "mix tapes" from back in the day, and reliving those good times through that particular sequence of music. Back when one was lucky enough to have a boom box with both detachable speakers and a dual-cassette deck. Back when some songs were recorded from the radio. Back when CDs were emerging from being a novelty. Back when you had to think about the next song while the current song was playing. When a mix tape was an art unto itself. Back when you recorded your friend's brother's LPs when he was back from college for the weekend.

It's more than just nostalgia. It's about the music.

Right...yuk it up guys but as I write this I'm listening to my Nakamichi RX-505 which was recently gone through by a renowned local tech named Willy Hermann. The sound is amazing and I do trust my ears to form that opinion. I just got in from shopping a local thrift store and picked up eighteen of my old favorites from the 60's and 70's for $0.25 each, many of them still in the original wrapper. The sound easily rivals vinyl, and the price I paid for the eighteen tapes would barely pay the tax on a remastered vinyl re-strike, not to mention the "hot stampers" snake oil they sell for $$$. So, if you're mind is still open, buy yourself a rebuilt Nakamichi unit: I recommend a Dragon, RX-505, ZX-9 or a CR-7A. Pair that with a set of Stax headphones driven by the analogue outputs (not the headphone jack) and enjoy! Oh...and don't feel you have to apologize when nearly everyone slams cassettes-just enjoy!

Tonykay, If you have commercial cassettes that sound as good as vinyl you must have compared them to some pretty bad records on a plastic turntable. :-)

Enjoy but don't expect a cassette renaissance. :-)

-Wendell