Is Cassette Resurgence Next?

[jimbo2k]

In this house its still a go

Not in my home....

Matter of fact, I need another storage container for my truck as the current one only holds 15,

 

[old 2080]

i run across cassette decks all the time and still own a few nice working ones, i always worry that the belts will be shot when encountering these decks, and whether the belts would still be available, i also still have hundreds of cassettes from the 70', 80's, 90's, i just can't seam to let go of them, i did run across a really nice yamaha deck that i'm considering, seller is asking $75. which seamed a bit steep to me, but is a high end model..................:scratch2:

 

[Ths364]

There are bands doing limited release titles on cassette these days, they are into it. A younger friend of mine (24 or 25 yrs old) has been buying pre-recorded cassettes of experimental music, metal, and black metal. These are NEW cassettes with new music! I was surprised to see that people that young even knew what cassettes are...

 

[just dave]

It's just that there are better sounding sources that are also more convenient to use.

Right, why ride a horse when you could drive a car.:scratch2: I still record and listen to cassettes I think they're kinda fun and they still sound great.Not the ultimate in sound quality but you don't always need that.

 

[Lavane]

I have two decks. As long as there are bins full of prerecorded tapes for $1 ea. I'll keep them.

 

[restorer-john]

Right, why ride a horse when you could drive a car.:scratch2: I still record and listen to cassettes I think they're kinda fun and they still sound great.Not the ultimate in sound quality but you don't always need that.

The same can be said of vinyl.

I love cassettes and vinyl because you actually get to "play" them, you have an influence on the tape recording or the ultimate reproduction by cleaning, cartridge choice, turntable setup/choice, head cleaning etc, whereas with CD, if your player is working, there is essentially nothing you can do to improve the 'performance'. The disc disappears into a slot and a computer takes over.

Yesterday I went onto a major music store chain and thumbed through their new vinyl for the first time in so many years I can't remember. Seeing AC/DC's catalogue on new vinyl and Madonna's first album on vinyl- all brand new, made me feel like I'd stepped back 30 years and I almost bought an LP for old times' sake. Then I considered pretty much all those LP albums would be mastered most likely from a CD of the same material as the analogue masters would be long gone.
I'll never sell some of my cassette decks, and I'll re-belt them every 7 years or so until it all becomes too hard, but that's because I lost count of the hours I spent creating the perfect 'mix tape' and I remember it fondly. Back when time wasn't so scarce.
But, just as kids these days are mp3 kids, I happily adopted the superb format that was and is CD. It was the true game changer for hifi.

 

[bhundu]

So where is a good belt source?

I've got a Sony TC-129
a Sansui SC-636
and a Marantz SD 3000

Although none of them are three head machines, all of them could do with a belt change, and I do enjoy tapes.

Edit: Just found heaps on the bay.

 

[restorer-john]

So where is a good belt source?

I've got a Sony TC-129
a Sansui SC-636
and a Marantz SD 3000

Although none of them are three head machines, all of them could do with a belt change, and I do enjoy tapes.

WES components in Australia.

 

[rockur]

I doubt that cassettes format would be back. I've personally never bought a new pre-recorded tape. I've recorded a lot though on cassette in the past and It sounded better than any pre-recorded music, probably due to the making process.
It's possible though that quality decks gain in popularity, and price, and again here, the older the better. Cassette decks's mechanical from the early 80s were mostly plastic parts that for most, decay overtime. As a lot units of this generation end up to trash, this makes the good units to become more valuable.

 

[Vinylcafe]

My local GW electronics branch received a donation of about 200 new blank cassettes, mostly Maxell UDXLll and TDK SA, your choice a dollar a piece.

They were gone in about 2 weeks.

One anecdote does not a trend make, but they seem to sell well in my neck of the woods.

I do not do a lot of recording, but I have a quantity of cassette tapes that I recorded back in the day with Maxell and TDK tapes using a 3 head cassette deck and they still sound very good.

Of course there is no denying the convenience of digitally stored music compared to music stored on a cassette tape.

I just bought 20 new Sony tapes from a guy on CL that had bought out all of a university's NOS tape media.
I got the last two boxes of his type II. He had moved hundreds of tapes. So someone is still buying. Coincidentally, after I posted this, my daughter texted me that she was at a "CASSETTE (her caps not mine), launching party" at her local record store. There seems to be a pulse coming from somewhere.
Not saying however that big record companies are going to start releasing anything on cassette again, but Indy labels and bands are.
As for convenience, agree.
That said albums are not terribly convenient either, unless of course you're a late night talk show host. Then the 12" cover is much easier to hold up and shoot than a jewel case or iPod screen. Hell, even Jay Leno has come around on that one.
So sometimes convenience is not the driver, sometimes it's the "cool" factor or in our case, nostalgia.

 

[NEMOaudio]

There are bands doing limited release titles on cassette these days, they are into it. A younger friend of mine (24 or 25 yrs old) has been buying pre-recorded cassettes of experimental music, metal, and black metal. These are NEW cassettes with new music! I was surprised to see that people that young even knew what cassettes are...

And that's the only resurgence that will happen. There will be no more new decent quality cassette recorders built. I still keep and enjoy my cassetes and players in my collection but I'm not expecting a serious resurgence.

 

[bhundu]

WES components in Australia.

Cheers Mate. I thought I was on to a decent range from an ebay supplier in the UK until I saw the WES range under the Wagner Catalogue. Looks like I'll have to email or call them to find out pricing. The Ebay seller is AU$1.79 per belt, plus AU$6.27 in postage for any number of them. From memory, there are two belts per machine, so for $17.01 I can re-belt all three of them. I'll still contact WES though. They look like a solid outfit.

 

[BayouTiger]

Many will never admit it, but so much of the hobby is about the gear and the media more than the music. I was heavily invested in Cassettes and R2R but them moved on to using a VHS-HIFI recorder and then to digital media. Cassette was always simply for convenience.

I gave a friend my collection just to browse one weekend as i had them all boxed up for storage. Apart from a few irreplaceable interviews and other radio broadcasts, I never for one minute missed them or asked him to bring them back.

 

[bhundu]

Regarding the topic of resurgence, I believe it could well happen, even to a similar level of the renewed interest in vinyl. There would be enough decent quality, vintage decks out there in dusty cupboards to fill the renewed demand. They are still within the restoration ability of anyone willing to spend some time.

Although these analogue resurgences are still small change in the scheme of things, the whole mechanical feel and cool factor would be driving it as much as vinyl for the younger crowd. There are some countries that have a very vigourous cassette industry and always have, and as long as there are groups of people playing the format, it's still alive, never died, and who knows what might happen. Perhaps a U-Turn cassette deck?

Personally, I'd just love to make a good, driving mix tape again for the car. "Andy Warhol" from Bowie's Hunky Dory would be the first track. It was a fun media to play with in the 80's and I wouldn't have the same access or appreciation for music without it. The digital age talks about accessability, but there was nothing easier than duping a tape or recording from a friend's new record. These days my Wife has an ipod, and so does her sister, but can they share each other's music as easily??

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Not a revival until: Show me the CRO2 tape, the Metal in current production I can buy. Show me the brand new quality decks I can buy. No new quality tape or decks I can buy today at sane prices.

 

[leevyou]

+1

I sold my Akai GX-75mkII in mint condition for 35 Euros, and I had to sweat out to find someone willing to buy it...

That was a real bargain!!! Why didn't tell me ? A mint GX-75 usually worth about 100EUR or even more on ebay.

 

[bobsvinyl]

I sell cassettes at the flea market in the summer along with LPs and CDs. Most of them go to teenagers or young adults in their 20s. I ask them about it and they have told me cassettes are cheap and easy to store and many of them have older cars that have a cassette player in them.

I started buying them again myself because they are so cheap (10 for $1.00) and there's some very interesting stuff on cassettes like promos, demo tapes, private produced punk, rock and metal, you name it. I posted this not long ago, but check out the completed cassette sales on the Bay and put in highest first if you want a shock.

 

[Andyman]

I got rid of 90% of my cassettes and RTR gear a few years back as I saw no need for multiple formats and decided to go digital. My preamp lacked tape outs, (go figure..), so I hadn't made a tape in years and rarely played them.

I got rid of all my self recorded tapes aside from some mixes and radio recordings and a few unique pre recorded tapes and kept a Nak BX-100 for playback, which does a fine job. I've probably played 10 tapes in the last 2-3 years, so it looks like i made the right move.

As far as a comeback, no way. No one with any business sense is going to design and build a new cassette deck for the masses, and does anybody even produce new cassettes of hifi quality, not voice?

What may resurge is an interest in restoring old machines and recycling old tapes as they are numerous and cheap, but you're not going to find any new releases on cassettes anytime soon.

As a hobbyist though enjoy the bounty. $0.25 Maxells and TDKs abound and one can discover quite a bit of music for less than the price of a decent hamburger these day.

 

[kermit z]

I don't think so either, but, I do remember cassettes outselling LP's in the mid 80's. The CD finally overtook cassette around 1993, so it was a pretty popular format for a few years. I know some indie bands are releasing cassettes, so it isn't completely dead.

 

[Drumolator]

Once our cars had CD players, cassettes quickly became very unimportant. I still have some in boxes under our bed. I also have a cassette deck, JVC, that worked the last time I used it, but it is not connected to anything. CD, DVD, flash drive, computer, and radio are enough formats for me. Peace and goodwill.