Does anyone else jam to cassette tapes? I've been getting back into them lately because a lot of the more underground bands are putting out tapes since it's cheaper to record and more interesting than a CD. I'm actually listening to one right now, an experimental noise album... by some random musician that I forget the name of right now.
The best thing about compact cassettes is that many of the old pre-recorded ones are 100% analog. Recording vinyl to blank cassette works very well, also. If you want to be really different, get with 8-track tapes - I don't use them very much, but I have a batch of prerecorded ones, a player and a JVC player/recorder with blanks tapes. Cassettes are smaller and more reliable, but 8-tracks are more appealing in other ways. You should be able to find cassette and 8-track equipment and tapes at garage sales. flea markets and stores that sell used stuff.
One of my favorite possessions is a cassette tape Lightning Bolt's "Zone", the band only pressed ~750 I believe, bought it at a show for 3 dollars a few years back.
Haha yeah I know of 8-tracks but from what I hear they really weren't that great. I do love the sound on most of my cassettes though, very clear and upfront. Sounds great on my surround sound. NICE. I have yet to own any of Lightening Bolt's music but it would be great to have one of their cassettes.
Well the ones I own don't sound like crap, but you could be right about them wearing out. I try and take care of them though.
Nostalgically, sonically, the fact that you don't really have the ability to skip tracks so you tend to listen through the whole album... which I do anyways but it's still there.
Actually, 78 RPM records are the most interesting - they vary in sound quality, but when they're well-recorded and in good condition, even with surface noise and other problems, the sound is very musical. All music is analog. To make a digital recording the sound waves must be converted into 1's and 0's, and then converted back again for listening. Recordings done with analog tape have certain problems, but if it's done properly the ear doesn't really notice it. Digital, on the other hand, sounds less natural and artificial - although it's improved since the early days of digital recording technology. Even a cassette copy, which is not the best analog medium, will contain more information than an MP3 of the same source whether the original recording was made using conventional analog or digital recording techniques. I'm not knocking MP3 - it's convenient, but not as good as a well-recorded cassette.
That's if you're using the mp3 format. Nobody who actually values music quality would use that. I use the WAV Lossless that comes with Windows Media, and it sounds great. Is it better than a fresh, well-made/cared for vinyl record? Probably not, but it's at least better than fragile finicky cheapo tapes, at least to me.
I agree that WAV lossless is a good medium for copying music, and convenient. I use it myself all the time. It would make no sense to copy a CD to a cassette, if anything you'd lose more information than you would with WAV lossless - but in the case of copying an LP record, or analog reel-to-reel recording, I think that the cassette would sound better, as long as a quality cassette such as those made by Maxell, TDK, Denon, etc., is used - and, of course, a good turntable, arm and cartridge. I have a lot of cassettes that were recorded directly from LP's. One of these days, maybe sooner, I'll select one and convert a song or two to MP3 and post them as: Analog master tape>vinyl>cassette>MP3 I think that it would still sound good, even after a few generations of copying.
Yeah man I hear ya. Just so you know, I have more LPs than any other media form, I just happen to like cassettes as well.
An MP3 recording, Lipstick Sunset, from a cassette made from the vinyl LP, Bring the Family, by John Hiatt. Also features Ry Cooder, guitar, Nick Lowe, bass, and Jim Keltner drums. View attachment 889697
It's all about preference. Some people like the dry sound of digital, where as some people like analog so much that they will run the signal through old hardware before it gets to there speakers just to give it a grittier sound. However, most professional mixing engineers use analog gear at some point in their workflow, so even if the end result is a digital file there will still be noticeable analog coloring in there. I personally like a mixture of both. Analog effects are hard to beat, but a lot of the older recordings from the 60's and 70's are weaker in the mix simply because of the limitations of the time. Also, the recordings from that time can sometime sound a little bit too "live", like the room they were recording in had too much reverb and this can sometimes be fatiguing to the ear like two or three minutes in.
back "in da day" the only way one could get live shows for phish, grateful dead and others was to trade tapes. i got like 50 phish shows from the 80s and 90s. tapes cool. still have mine
i have a functioning 8track player in my van and i feel like the only person who would recommend an 8track is someone who has never listened to them before because the audio quality is appalling no one liked them when they came out back in the day and for good reason because there garbage if your trying to stick to an old school format i recommend vinyl the sound qualities actually good and they wont wear out as fast as cassettes
Yeah this is what I've heard. Still I like cassettes though. I'm listening to an old mixed tape right now that I made from the radio when I was in 4th grade. Full of sections of 90s metal and rock, with some 70s in there and 80s heavy metal, led zeppelin, Brittany spears, buthole surfers, nirvana, random rap music.... all just short clips of songs that I recorded over with other songs. It's like nostalgia in musical form. A collage of my youth.
"Please tell me whyyyy The car was in the front yard and I'm Sleepin with my clothes on i came in through the window last night and you're gone"
Well vinyl is the best, it beats everything except the master tape. I used my 8 track player, pictured below, to make an MP3 of The Doobie Brothers' It Keeps You Runnin', from a pre-recorded 8-track cartridge of the 1976 album Takin' It To The Streets. I think it sounds pretty good, considering the age of the 8-track cartridge, the player, etc. View attachment 889812 View attachment 889811