Cassettes are making a small comeback, why?

[DMill]

They most likely make great dental floss if you don’t mind hearing Supertramp Live in Paris while you clean your teeth. Fun album btw

 

[Ron Texas]

I could say the same thing about camping. But apparently some people really enjoy it.

Mrs. T's definition of camping is any hotel which costs less than $300 per night. Some people really enjoy camping, for others they can't afford any other kind of vacation. Maybe I could go glamping...

 

[mhardy6647]

Mrs. T's definition of camping is any hotel which costs less than $300 per night. Some people really enjoy camping, for others they can't afford any other kind of vacation. Maybe I could go glamping...

. . . [hilarity ensues] . . .

 

[MattHooper]

Mrs. T's definition of camping is any hotel which costs less than $300 per night. Some people really enjoy camping, for others they can't afford any other kind of vacation. Maybe I could go glamping...

I’m with Mrs. T on that!

I remember enjoying camping in my distant youthful years, but I’ve grown soft. A few camping experiences I’ve had as an adult have been more nightmarish than fun.
Give me room service over setting up a tent or portaging any day!

 

[Doodski]

I’m with Mrs. T on that!

I remember enjoying camping in my distant youthful years, but I’ve grown soft. A few camping experiences I’ve had as an adult have been more nightmarish than fun.
Give me room service over setting up a tent or portaging any day!

For sure... I want table service, decent comfort food, good whiskey and a steady flow of people... Sounds like Vegas!

 

[woppinger]

Pencils will make a comeback soon too…

Already happened!...there are subreddits and podcasts devoted to pencils, expensive limited edition subscriptions, etc.

(And that's all NOTHING compared to the current interest in fountain pens...)

 

[woppinger]

This topic makes me interested to hear cassettes again, just to compare if they are as good as I remember. I never saw anything wrong with cassette sound quality, but then again I was very young back then and it was the only medium that I actively listened to. My parents had a CD player but that was hooked up to the living room stereo and anything I wanted to take with me was taped to cassette. I never had the impression that the cassette was significantly worse than the CDs I recorded them from, but I did not have good gear and no experience. Would be nice to hear the difference with my current setup. Most likely it's a lot worse than I remember.

This video (a good watch) suggests (IIUC) that in a best case scenario they were good for the equivalent of a 9 bit SNR - and typically with home recordings/gear more like 5-6

 

[pablolie]

There was no bigger user of the cassette format than me. I invested more time and money into creating a superior cassette experience than anyone would do these days with the silly "resurgence" and limited existing resources and tools. The fact no one talks about calibration and such shows what a pathetically uninformed and nostalgic "trend" this is. Yeah, bring out the format without any of the education and tools to make borderline tolerable.

In 2002 or so I threw my TEAC 8030S straight into a trash bin.

Compact Cassettes are a totally stupid trend. Not even nostalgia or large print album art (like vinyl) remotely justifies it. The remaining players and new cassettes are either worn out or poor quality.

 

[Doodski]

no one talks about calibration and such shows what a pathetically uninformed and nostalgic "trend" this is. Yeah, bring out the format without any of the education and tools to make borderline tolerable.

I serviced cassette mechanisms and devices in car audio, home audio, personal electronics and enjoyed doing that. Right now I look around and have nobody to even refer units to for cleaning, demagnetize and calibration and then months or years after that happens the belts maybe will be worn or a idler tire wears out or goes hard. So if cassette users want that then they run it like a car... goes in for service, gets repaired when it has a issue and not let things become multiple faults. Cassette decks cost money and cost to operate. But they are cool in a 3 head etc.

 

[MattHooper]

There was no bigger user of the cassette format than me. I invested more time and money into creating a superior cassette experience than anyone would do these days with the silly "resurgence" and limited existing resources and tools. The fact no one talks about calibration and such shows what a pathetically uninformed and nostalgic "trend" this is. Yeah, bring out the format without any of the education and tools to make borderline tolerable.

In 2002 or so I threw my TEAC 8030S straight into a trash bin.

Compact Cassettes are a totally stupid trend. Not even nostalgia or large print album art (like vinyl) remotely justifies it. The remaining players and new cassettes are either worn out or poor quality.

I think you are looking at this wrong. I don’t think many people involved in cassette coming back are approaching it like an audio file, expecting or trying to get very best quality out of cassette tape. Probably more like the opposite: they probably don’t care a lot about the sound quality.
(I haven’t looked into the cassette revival much, but that would be my guess as I haven’t seen any claims made about “superior sound quality” from cassettes)

 

[wwenze]

Hippies are a big spenders, ask Columbia and CIA.

 

[DonR]

One other factor to consider is that almost any reasonable deck will be very old by now. There hasn't been a decent mechanism manufactured for nearly 2 decades.

 

[Doodski]

One other factor to consider is that almost any reasonable deck will be very old by now. There hasn't been a decent mechanism manufactured for nearly 2 decades.

Are belts available? By size? Then a person can measure and fit to order if the part number and belt specs are not available. Then there are idler tires which are very common in lower end cassette mechanisms. Are they available? Will they be available when the new cassette deck models are released so that people can reform home businesses and service them in warranty and out of warranty? I'm pretty sure some industrious people will be happy to take up the business as a home operation.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

I think it's a fad. I grew up in the days of cassette, reel to reel, 8-track, and vinyl and when CD's came out, there was no looking back. Why on earth would one want to go to such a low quality medium, might as well get a FM radio.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Maybe next?

 

[DonR]

Are belts available? By size? Then a person can measure and fit to order if the part number and belt specs are not available. Then there are idler tires which are very common in lower end cassette mechanisms. Are they available? Will they be available when the new cassette deck models are released so that people can reform home businesses and service them in warranty and out of warranty? I'm pretty sure some industrious people will be happy to take up the business as a home operation.

The real terminal problems are heads with cracks or excessive wear and broken plastic gearing although an industrious person with a 3d printer might be able to fix that. Also, God help you if the Dolby chip fails.

 

[Doodski]

The real terminal problems are heads with cracks or excessive wear and broken plastic gearing although an industrious person with a 3d printer might be able to fix that. Also, God help you if the Dolby chip fails.

To make it they would need release a proper service manual, exploded diagrams and parts lists and provide all parts. Then they can ask US $400.00 for a basic proper quality model or into the thousand(s) for fancy stuff.

 

[Mart68]

Friend of mine bought a late 1970s Tandberg deck and had it refurbished by an ex-Tandberg engineer who has all the parts and the knowledge required to make it factory fresh again.

Okay, he has the time and money to indulge in such things, but it can still be done if the will is there.

 

[JSmith]

Nostalgia for sure.

However, one good thing about tapes is they never mis-tracked in a car... like car CD players did, with audible drops out as one went over a series of bumps.

But we have moved on from car CD players, mostly. (well I haven't, but I have an early 2000's car)


JSmith

 

[Newman]

However, one good thing about tapes is they never mis-tracked in a car...

Would you say that a tape, that leaves the rollers altogether and goes wandering around the innards of the car dashboard, has ‘mis-tracked’? I sure would, and it was a depressingly common occurrence.