Are cassettes really making a comeback?
Interesting article after I was a little surprised to see one of my current fave's available on tape!!!
Dolby B, Dolby C, HX Pro, On My !!!

https://medium.com/@bells750/welcome-back-walkman-the-resurgence-of-cassette-tapes-785b2672cbc9
Dolby B, Dolby C, HX Pro, On My !!!

https://medium.com/@bells750/welcome-back-walkman-the-resurgence-of-cassette-tapes-785b2672cbc9
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Spare Room: , Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, PASS ACA Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: , Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
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Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, PASS ACA Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: , Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
I was forced to buy a guys 200 tape collection of great classic rock for ....5 bucks at a yard sale many years ago ( 6) .
I also would buy some spacey tapes at good wills sometimes. I think .25 for a tape.
I played one a year ago playing chess and was blown away by the clarity. But then again, my hearing is high challenged.
Are all those trucks hauling your tape collection ???
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, PASS ACA Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: , Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
And one will def. have a Nackamichi tape deck in it. My other one can have one too since I have 2 Nak's and a plethora of other tape decks too.
All that survived over the years. Typical story, Mom threw all my cassettes and LPs while I was in college and then military. Devil music, you know ...
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, PASS ACA Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: , Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Agreed. Mom passed away this year and all was forgiven many many years ago. I did however rebuild my beloved complete Styx LP collection !!! Found a bunch of esoteric variants since then, etc. Obsessed yes. And snagged a re-issue of their LP's since their breakout Grand Illusion !!! Internet, love it !!!
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, PASS ACA Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: , Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
My Mom sold a coin collection of mine for one thing. I held a grudge for 2 years. When I forgave her, I got back to coin collecting and my collection went to 20 times the old value. Pays to forgive doesn't it!
I love Styx! I did a lot of home remodeling listening to Styx's greatest hits cd. That and Steely Dan's greatest hits got rotated a lot. My neighbors probably know the soundtracks by heart like I did there for a while.
But the coolest part of this story is I finnaly made it to this thrift store 5 or 6 miles from me that I've wanted to got to for years but things just kept comming up. Until Thurs. I think. There was a guy I helped out and he has a section in there for selling all kinds of things. There is also a guy who sells records here in the flea market store and in Raliegh too. I checked out his record collection and it was impressive. And what cought my eye the most was a MINTY ( that's what he had on the 12.00 sticker price tag) STYX , The Grand Illusion Album. I took it out of the sleeve and it said BUY ME! It was glistening with newness! JUST LIKE THE ONE IN YOUR PICTURE! But I'm sure I have one but I don't know if it's like new. But I wanted to come home and see how my copy is. I've yet to check though. But that's cool, you rebuilt your Styx collection up better than it was it sounds like.
Just like my coin collection. My prized coin was a counterfeit nickel. My mom did'nt sell that nickel so 2 years was lost for NOTHING. We had many more years before she passed. But I'll never get those awful 2 years back.
You can rewind and fast forward with that there pen
VA 2 Channel Focal Electra 926 speakers, Pass Labs X150.5 Amp, Eastern Electric MiniMax Preamp (Tutay mods), Eastern Electric Minimax CDP (Scott Nixon mods), Music Hall mmf 5.1 Turntable, Parks Audio Budgie Phono Pre , Audioengine B1 streamer, MIT S3 IC's / MIT Shotgun S3 Speaker Cables / PS Audio power cables
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Polk SDA1c modded
Polk CRS+ 4.1TL modded (need veneer)
Polk SDA2BTL (fully modded)
A/L 1000VA Dreadnought Canare 4s11 SDA cable
SACD Marantz DV8300
Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD
Yamaha YP-D6
Soundcraftsmen PCR800
Audible Illusions L1 Preamp
Vincent MFA based Cocci Tube Preamp
Pho-700 Phono Pre
Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's
Yes heard many they are excellent. Tapes if recorded correctly are quite as a church mouse.
VA 2 Channel Focal Electra 926 speakers, Pass Labs X150.5 Amp, Eastern Electric MiniMax Preamp (Tutay mods), Eastern Electric Minimax CDP (Scott Nixon mods), Music Hall mmf 5.1 Turntable, Parks Audio Budgie Phono Pre , Audioengine B1 streamer, MIT S3 IC's / MIT Shotgun S3 Speaker Cables / PS Audio power cables
Noggin Schiit Valhalla, Pangea, Phillips Fidelio X1, Polk UF8000
Polk SDA1c modded
Polk CRS+ 4.1TL modded (need veneer)
Polk SDA2BTL (fully modded)
A/L 1000VA Dreadnought Canare 4s11 SDA cable
SACD Marantz DV8300
Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD
Yamaha YP-D6
Soundcraftsmen PCR800
Audible Illusions L1 Preamp
Vincent MFA based Cocci Tube Preamp
Pho-700 Phono Pre
Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's
It is a credit to Philips, Dolby Labs & others (who originally developed chromium dioxide tape formulations? BASF?) that such good hifi performance was ever wrung out of cassettes.
Dolby B NR, for example, is a double-edged sword. As a compander, it reduces hiss by boosting treble upon recording (10 dB) and then cutting the treble at playback. The net result is less HF noise (since the noise isn't 'recorded' per se, so it's cut by the 10 dB 'de-emphasis' upon playback). The problem is that the maximum signal levels at low distortion decrease at higher frequencies. This is true for all linear recording media, but it's a big problem at the slow speed and small track width of cassettes. The frequency response specs for cassette decks was reported at -20 dB (20 dB below). At 0 dB, the treble response in particular is much more limited.
"Metal" tape formulations helped with the HF extension problem, too, but didn't ever quite catch on -- with the result that metal formulation tape is fairly rare and consequently expensive.
In fairness, Dolby HX addressed the high frequency headroom problem with some success, but I was never terribly impressed by either Dolby C or HX Pro "encoded" tapes I've made/heard. Dolby B is borderline. No NR at all "sounds" best to me, but (of course) at the expense of 10 dB more hiss.
I haven't heard a Dragon, but I have heard Nakamichis up through the 1000ZXL. They are superb for reproduction (i.e., copying recorded material) but they really don't have the headroom (especially at high frequencies) nor the extended treble response (again, at high signal levels) for live recording. That's where 1/4 inch (or bigger) tape at 7.5 or 15 ips wins the day. I think you can probably get, say, a nice Otari MX5050 for less than you'll pay for a Dragon, too. Tape for the Otari would be pricier, though
My experience with Nakamichi decks is that they really do sound better than most -- but they're finicky. The ones I've owned (or those of folks I know) seem to require more care, cleaning, demagnetizing and even repair to maintain good sounding performance than decks from other manufacturers.
The only Nak deck here at the moment is very low end. There are a couple of nice Pioneer decks here -- but I really don't use them. I do occasionally tape radio programs on a dump-find, dual-well Radio Shack "Optimus" deck (rebranded Pioneer)
that sounds OK and is very, very easy to use.
This is apparently what a Marantz SD-7 deck looks like (borrowed image, needless to say):
VA 2 Channel Focal Electra 926 speakers, Pass Labs X150.5 Amp, Eastern Electric MiniMax Preamp (Tutay mods), Eastern Electric Minimax CDP (Scott Nixon mods), Music Hall mmf 5.1 Turntable, Parks Audio Budgie Phono Pre , Audioengine B1 streamer, MIT S3 IC's / MIT Shotgun S3 Speaker Cables / PS Audio power cables
Noggin Schiit Valhalla, Pangea, Phillips Fidelio X1, Polk UF8000
Polk SDA1c modded
Polk CRS+ 4.1TL modded (need veneer)
Polk SDA2BTL (fully modded)
A/L 1000VA Dreadnought Canare 4s11 SDA cable
SACD Marantz DV8300
Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD
Yamaha YP-D6
Soundcraftsmen PCR800
Audible Illusions L1 Preamp
Vincent MFA based Cocci Tube Preamp
Pho-700 Phono Pre
Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's
The Philips cassette 'standard' required compatibility between decks bearing the Philips "CompactCassette" mark. It can be argued that Dolby, non-ferric formulations, etc., produce tapes that can be listened to on another deck, but won't sound quite right. That not quite rightness, I think (!), got to be more and more of an issue as more and more signal processing tweaks were made available.
Not a big deal -- until and unless someone has a bunch of tapes made one way on one deck, and then that one deck defecates the bed
There were also several companies (notably BIC and Marantz) who made dual-speed tape decks. The higher tape speed (3-3/4 ips), of course, improves everything at the expense of recording time -- and compatibility. There was, AFAIK, never any industry standard for 3-3/4 ips EQ; I presume the Marantz and BIC decks probably used different EQ.
The best thing about cassettes was probably that even good quality tape (TDK SA,
Maxell UD-XLII) was fairly cheap due to the format's popularity!
I still have a bunch of nearly 40 year old tapes, recorded on a (purchased used) Yamaha TD-511B (a very basic 2 head deck) that (still) sound fine.
I must ask for today's recent releases of cassette tapes, is there a preferred standard?
Tape formulation
Noise reduction, if any
Et., Al
Please advise. Thanks.
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, PASS ACA Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: , Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
I still have those cassettes at work playing on a boombox and I'll be darned if they do not still sound good for a 30+ year old cassette. I'd love to compare them on my old deck to see if there is any degradation and how much. I'm sure they have lost a step after the boombox but maybe they would surprise me.
These days if they came out with portable players I'd have to think it would be flash drive driven.... audiophile of course.
OH WAIT THAT WAS YESTERDAY
There is a ton of vinyl on the market and in collections that have survived as far back nearly a century
TT that are still running that are decades old. Very little inventory of cassettes or players of old.
Don't see it cost effective jump starting the format that is pretty much destroyed
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As i remarked in my post WHY cassettes when SD cards are so prevalent. Other than the anolog aspect it seems like a waste as you stated. Funny thing an article i read the other day stated most millennials are not even using the vinyl they are buying it's all part of a status symbol. The buying of vinyl and vinyl peripherals is tapering off fast. Interesting to see where it will be in 2-3 years.
Hopefully some great prices on some 180 Gram Vinyl
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
There are some of those horrific grey plastic shell commercial cassettes here that belong to Mrs. H. Tom Jones, Barbara Streisand, Ringo Starr... they're Zombie tapes -- they can't be killed... They must be more than 40 years old.
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