How Many People Are Using Cassettes Here?

Pinky said:
Compact Discs are much more viable (at least some computers still have the ability to play them as well as any bluray/dvd player, whereas nearly no one owns a cassette deck anymore), and through services like Kunaki cds can be made for under $2 each. I'm basically a 'local internet band' and use Kunaki for cds and when they sellout I can always make more, or not.

The whole nostalgia thing will fade fast (it's already flatlined/stagnated), once people realize what shite the format is/was in the first place and run back to their superior streaming service mediocrity.
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Whether it's a trend or not, I'm not sure.

Maybe there is an untapped market for locally released CDs but the majority of bands I've seen in the last few years are choosing to sell cassette or vinyl copies of their music from the merch stand at their gigs.
 
Chilljam said:
Whether it's a trend or not, I'm not sure.

Maybe there is an untapped market for locally released CDs but the majority of bands I've seen in the last few years are choosing to sell cassette or vinyl copies of their music from the merch stand at their gigs.
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I think IMVHO that all formats have their place and that we should try to be open minded. I use an old Atari ST from my old days with Cubase, I have a DCC and an ADAT, I have 2 turntables with all my old vinyl LP's, a Sony CD player with all my old CD's... an Aiwa rack cassette deck with my old factory recorded 1980's cassette tapes. .. and a Yamaha MT8X cassette based Analogue multitrack recorder. I also use Cakewalk DAW on my desktop. I love all formats. Its all just about the musical creative process to my mind 😉🥰👍
 
clamsterdamm said:
I enjoy recording music on cassette. Wondering how many people on this site are still using cassettes. If you are please share your experiences and what deck you are using

Paul
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Hello Paul

I have a twin deck on my Technics home stereo but that is just a home stereo thing.
I would like to add a nice analogue cassette deck to my rack mount studio recording system alongside my DCC and ADAT. Can you recomend a decent one not a bank breaker but not rubbish one, best bang for your buck? I dont want bells and whistles, just a well built unit with a good motor and decent quality heads. Should I go for non dolby and buy the rack mount Dolby unit seperately? I have heard that it is best to go for seperate units.
Thanks mate for any advice
Steve 👍
 
Hello

I have many good analog cassette decks here. They are mainly Sony ES Direct Drive decks from 1989 - 2000. I specialize in them. In the upcoming months I may sell a few, and will let you know.

I work on other decks and brands, but these Sony ES Quartz Locked Direct Drive Cassette Decks are highly phase accurate. I don’t like cassettes for the retro or nostalgia. I use these decks because they sound way better than anyone would expect. Recordings made on these decks are indistinguishable from the source, especially with Dolby S. Tracking is precise.
 
Chilljam said:
Whether it's a trend or not, I'm not sure.

Maybe there is an untapped market for locally released CDs but the majority of bands I've seen in the last few years are choosing to sell cassette or vinyl copies of their music from the merch stand at their gigs.
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One thing is for sure, selling cassettes and LPs makes it more of a hassle to make copies. Of course it can be done, but it's surprising how few kids these days have any real knowledge about this type of thing. They have known streaming all their lives, but now they have this cassette deck and some tapes. It's a novelty, so it stands out from the Spotify, Bandcamp and Youtube posters.

If you sell a CD, many kids could put it into a computer and make 10 copies for their friends, dub it to MP3 and put it on everyone's phone is a couple of minutes. When I was young, you made cassette copies but it took 90 minutes to copy one cassette with two LPs. You might do one or two for your girlfriend or best buddy, but it didn't go much beyond that. Each generation was a step down.

The fact that LP sales are beating CDs isn't that big of a deal. Kids today don't buy anything physical. It's all how many streams you get. Going from 100,000 to 200,000 sounds great, 100% increase, but compared to 5 million streams, it's a drop in the bucket.
 
Copying LPs to tape was always annoying. Whatever you wanted to listen to was at the other end of the tape.
That was worse than vynal, which you had to flip over half way through.
Thank heavens for CDs.
 
clamsterdamm said:
I enjoy recording music on cassette. Wondering how many people on this site are still using cassettes. If you are please share your experiences and what deck you are using

Paul
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Why would you ever want to record on cassette still in this day and age? I have rare recording of my band that I put up here from the eighties that was recorded live to cassette, but would never wish to record that way again.
 
linz said:
Why would you ever want to record on cassette still in this day and age? I have rare recording of my band that I put up here from the eighties that was recorded live to cassette, but would never wish to record that way again.
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Why would anyone ever buy a pair of jeans that were intentionally ripped up? These are only $60.
87088894_962_main.jpg

I wouldn't even give something like this to Goodwill! I've thrown better into the trash.
 
TalismanRich said:
Why would anyone ever buy a pair of jeans that were intentionally ripped up? These are only $60.
87088894_962_main.jpg

I wouldn't even give something like this to Goodwill! I've thrown better into the trash.
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Well it does not explain why you would record on cassette.. would be interesting to hear your view.
 
Not me, but there are folks who do.

Right now, I'm digitizing a tape reel that my father made.. in 1955/56! It has my brother and me as kids, my mom and dad, grandmother and aunts. And at the end, there's a speech by President Eisenhower. When was the last time you saw a reel of tape this old? Granted it's not a cassette, but then, cassettes hadn't been invented then.

Tape dubbing.jpg
 
I always thought the sound of Redbook CDs were pretty terrible. I opted for SACD back then and those sounded way better.

Hey to each their own. I have 5 reference grade decks that i have no issues with.

I like analog sound
 
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I would say that "the sound of Redbook CDs" is not one thing. There are plenty of factors that contribute to how they sound. That said, I do like SACD. I have one player and one dual layer disc. It just didn't catch on enough for me to keep buying into the format.
 
linz said:
Trendy! Why who records on cassette... it was never a thing.. well not in England.. Why would you choose to record on cassette.?
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Most of us old timers got our start into multitrack recording on cassette.

A portastudio. Either 4 track or 8 track. That’s some pretty narrow track width. But some great sounding recordings have indeed been made on cassette.
 
You can see the thick gauge wiring on the record board that feeds the whole audio path. Some serious engineering went into the design of this deck

This is with the playback board removed. There are 3 floors of boards in this deck

This model is from 1989
 
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