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Cassette resurgence

D

DavidS

pfm Member
Is cassette really making a comeback , I notice the new Bill Callahan album is available in this format.

Is this just the latest hipster thing ?
 
Anyone making new cassette players?
If not then only enthusiasts will be interested, which is an ever reducing market. Pre-recorded cassettes tended to be generally poor sound quality as well. (I've seen exceptions talked about)
It's only relatively recently that I've stopped using the format but certainly can't see myself digging out the machines I still have any time soon.
 
It has been a hipster/indie/freak folk thing for many years now. It is a medium that can be self-produced at minimal cost by very small acts or labels so has some attraction.
 
...and hipsters don't run the risk of getting their ridiculous beards caught on a stylus...

(I have a beard.. I just don't make a big deal of it.)

If someone would kindly start a 78 rpm revival.. I have hundreds of the things ... could be a nice little earner...
 
Dug my beloved Aiwa AD-F810 out a few years ago. I put in a brand new tape and set about a 'fast forward/rewind' tape tension relieving ritual as was always my wont. A few seconds in all stoppped and a quick visual revealed a tangle of belts inside. Oh well...
I skipped it.
 
Cassette decks have moving parts etc so need to be powered up regularly to keep the transport mechanisms and electronics etc all working otherwise some components can seize up. Just powering them up and playing a tape and or fast forward/rewind etc usually helps to keep them working for much longer.
 
I don’t know about a revival, but I use my cassette deck from time to time. I leave a cassette in there ready to
catch a radio programme.
I know, I can ‘listen again’ on BBC Sounds.
Am I the only one fed up with hearing about BBC Sounds ?
 
There were 17,872 releases on cassette on Bandcamp alone in 2017.

As Tony says, they're cheap to produce in low runs (£150 for 50) so perfect for bands to self-release.

They're also a lot easier to sell for a fiver at a gig than a download code on its own :)
 
I was only listening to my Denon DRM-14 last week. It sounds really good. I’ve got a Teac V-1050 and Technics BX-606 as well. They are nice to listen to once in a while, if only to recapture my youth!
 
My cassette player has been in my rack for years, I can't remember when it was last used or even connected up.
Anyway,the other night I connected it up again to give it a whirl.
Lo and behold it actually worked! Tried all the functions and everything worked a treat.
I have literally hundreds of tapes ' Not the Prerecorded ones' namely TDK AR, the ones in the curved case. No doubt the design of the case has helped to protect the cassette tape.
A friend visited me last night and remarked who is this playing Ray? can I have a look at the CD case? I passed him the cassette box. Wow! that sounds brilliant! I didn't know it was your Cassette that was playing? Enough said!
Ray
 
One of the reasons I have a cassette deck is the many recordings made in the ’70s and ‘80s that can’t be
found anywhere else.
All those wonderful Radio 4 plays, for instance.
I did move to a Minidisc deck, but didn’t make that many recordings.
 
Martyn Miles said:
One of the reasons I have a cassette deck is the many recordings made in the ’70s and ‘80s that can’t be
found anywhere else.
All those wonderful Radio 4 plays, for instance.
I did move to a Minidisc deck, but didn’t make that many recordings.
Click to expand...
HI Martyn
I mainly recorded the John Peel programs. Priceless!
 
Yes I knew a guy that recorded the John Peel program every night for years , had all the cassettes on shelves around his living room.
 
The indie/band release ones tend to be mastered and copied on poor or poorly maintained decks, with according results. Sometimes, though, they're all there are of some good music.
Jag Audio said:
Cassette decks have moving parts etc so need to be powered up regularly to keep the transport mechanisms and electronics etc all working otherwise some components can seize up. Just powering them up and playing a tape and or fast forward/rewind etc usually helps to keep them working for much longer.
Click to expand...
Noted. My cassette deck, always a quite nice sounding one, hasn't been lit in ages.
 
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