NYTimes Wirecutter last week said . . .

[Mister Natural]

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/cassettes-comeback-sound-lousy/?searchResultPosition=1

dunno if there is a paywall or not on Wirecutter . . .
peace

 

[johntoste]

I only read the headline, but I agree: cassettes are not a serious medium for quality audio playback.
Those silly kids will be swallowing goldfish next.

 

[guitararmy]

Back in my cassette days, I was able to encode surround sound on them by recording off of the preamp out of my Carver Preamp that had that Sonic Hologram thing. They sounded pretty good!

 

[guitararmy]

I also made a few mix tapes where the songs ran into each other--2 CD players and a mixer.

 

[apalazzolo]

He doesn't say whether he is talking about normal bias tapes or high bias chrome or metal tapes. The fact that he doesn't point out the difference and the fact that his link to blank cassettes is for normal bias is telling. Of course the normal bias cassettes sound bad. High bias ones are a different story altogether.

 

[Mister Natural]

I think the "mix-tape" thing is what my nostalgia re: cassettes is all about. Yeah, I could tweek the eq, bias, tone on my pre-amp to make the tapes sound pretty good. . . but
Straight vinyl sounded(and still sounds) cleaner/better

My girlfriends DID NOT understand the real me more b/c of the mix-tapes however. See: High Fidelity book/movie
peace

 

[amigo30]

He doesn't say whether he is talking about normal bias tapes or high bias chrome or metal tapes. The fact that he doesn't point out the difference and the fact that his link to blank cassettes is for normal bias is telling. Of course the normal bias cassettes sound bad. High bias ones are a different story altogether.

I agree. The author gave me no confidence that he really knew anything at all about
what he was writing about.

Which happens just about 100% of the time with Brent Butterworth.

 

[pfrischmann]

Cassettes are terrible IMO. The were more portable than records but lacked some of the warmth and vibe but you could play your favorite tunes in your car.
Once CD's came along, why would you want a tape unless you were already heavily invested? MP3's sound terrible but they are as portable as you can get. I don't think the average consumer cares about sound quality though, just instant access.

I once did a test with a buddy with a really nice audio set up. We listened to the same tune on all of the available formats we could find. SACD,CD,Record,MP3, cassette. That was pretty much the order from best sounding to worst. We debated switching MP3 and record. one of our friends felt record should be second. I think that's nastalgia as the first time he heard the song was on record. FWIW

 

[Spupilup]

I think that most people who criticize cassettes haven't played them through high end gear. Back in the 1980's when I was off the wall with my Linn/Naim obsession, I had a Nakamichi CR-7a cassette deck. Basically, it was a Nak Dragon but it went in one direction only, there was no auto reverse. There were those, including me, who actually felt the CR-7a was every bit as good if not a tad bit better than the Dragon but that's neither here nor there for this observation. Anyway, back in those days I would buy my vinyl, bring it home and immediately record it on my CR-7a using Nak premium metal tape (about $8-$9 a cassette). The tape was the best of the best TDK made. Basically, the top 5% or 10% of TDK's premium metal production.

Once the album was recorded onto cassette it would be retired only to be played on my full blown LP12 for demonstration purposes. If I wanted to hear the album I played it back either on the CR-7a at home or on my Nak TD-1200 deck in my car. The beauty of playing those tapes in my car was that the deck I had featured auto azimuth adjustment so the playback heads would perfectly align with the recording heads on my CR-7a. Whether listening to these recordings at home or on the road, the level of accuracy was nothing short of remarkable.

I defy anyone who had an opportunity to experience cassettes in a similar manner to call them mid fi only.

 

[Spupilup]

I read through the article while having a good laugh. Clearly, the author knows, knew nor cared to know anything about quality audio. If I were to look for a cassette deck today, I would scour the used marked for a quality Nak, or Tandberg or Revox. Buy it and have it refreshed and start having real fun.

You don't get high quality audio gear at Walmart or Amazon or Best Buy. Jeez!!!

 

[Spupilup]

I don't think the average consumer cares about sound quality though, just instant access.

Give that man a cigar.