So what does everyone think of the rise in audio cassettes?

[PhlegethonVeins]

There's no real reason to believe this will take off. As a collector, I see tapes as flat out GARBAGE.

Theyre small, they're oddly shaped. They're cheap and easily destroyed... (And EASILY FAKED)

The only people that want this shit are black metallers trying to outkvlt each other and the longterm value of these is less than probable.

This pretty much sums it up for me. There is a strong hipster vibe in this revival.

 

[waif]

Agreed. It's a shitty format and it always was. It may be cheap for bands to hand out demos on tape, but not as cheap as digital distribution. There's no valid reason for cassettes to exist anymore.

 

[MotherEel]

They are very easy to store, trade and move around. They also can have a warmer sound than CDs - plus you can also do the lo-fi recording thing on them, get tape saturation, sound huge and it costs nothing.

 

[matt schrauben]

Most cars have both now.

I don't know about that. I haven't seen any newer vehicles with them. My 2006 Ford Fusion doesn't have one. Hell, my 1996 Olds 88didn't even have a cassette deck.

 

[Dak]

Oddly enough my 02 RSX has a cassette deck. Fortunate really, just a CD deck does me no good: I rip my CDs and put them on my phone. I'd need either an aux in or Bluetooth......or a cassette deck for an adapter. Keeps me from having to replace the stereo for now.

But who the fuck actually wants cassettes? More convenient to transport than vinyl sure, but otherwise a shit format all the way around.

 

[sevag00]

Why would anyone buy a cassette? The audio quality is terrible compared to cds.

 

[matt schrauben]

Why would anyone buy a cassette? The audio quality is terrible compared to cds.

Or even vinyl for that matter!

 

[Unholy and Rotten]

So I would like to take a minute to thank everybody for responding. I didn't expect so many people to be so interested or so vocal on this subject. My takeaways from this conversation are myriad. Firstly, the production of tapes is cost-effective for small bands. It may not be as cost-effective as digital distribution but it is a cheap and easy way to have a physical product to give people. Secondly there seems to be 2 very different opinions on sound quality. Many people are saying that the quality on a tape is bottom-of-the-barrel when compared to cds, digital, or vinyl. This is most likely true. However, there is another group advocating the use of audio cassettes because of the added warmth. I find this to be very valid as well. Finally, with regards to sound quality, tapes are well-known to degrade in quality much faster than vinyl. This seems to be the biggest shortcoming of the medium, in my opinion. My final point is one of collect-ability. This goes back to cost of production in that tapes can be sold for very cheap resulting in package deals (with pins, patches, buttons, downloads, etc.)as well as giving fans a viable option if they cannot afford vinyl or cds.

 

[Krow]

Just saying, almost repeating myself really... Collecting tapes in the hopes they will become valuable is foolish. Tapes are so easily faked that if you go on eBay right now you'll most likely find burzum tapes, listing or sold for big money. 90% of them are fake. Play your tapes until they quit working, then toss them in the garbage.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

There are still people who buy into the nonsense that analog audio formats are somehow superior to digital, using the tenuous defense that since the audio signal isn't translated into bits and bytes there's no loss of fidelity. Which would be true except for two things:

1) The dynamic range of analog audio formats is SHIT.

2) All audio is recorded digitally anyway now, so putting it on vinyl or cassette and expecting it to sound better is like upconverting your mp3s and expecting them to become higher quality.

It's fucking pointless, offers no increase in quality, and is one of those things people do for the sheer purpose of seeming more "pure". Don't get me wrong, it's RAD AS FUCK if you have like old demo tapes from a band before they got big, but a band releasing tapes NOW is like a movie coming out on VHS. Not only does almost no one have the equipment for it, but it's gonna look like shit anyway.

 

[Mnmolino595]

I've seen a lot of labels and bands talking about releasing their material on cassettes. I'm certainly intrigued by this return to an old format. The rise in vinyl's popularity in the 21st century kind of makes sense to me. Large format artwork, highly collectible goods, and better sound quality are all associated with vinyl. Tapes however do not benefit from any of these factors yet people seem to be really into them. Do you think its just a nostalgia/novelty thing or is there something more behind this?

All I know is that if you have to use a pencil to rewind them. Not fun.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

It's a novelty/collectors thing. They're old school and people like that. I buy CD's not only because I love the music, but because I like the collection aspect of it. I've started on vinyls too. I haven't come across cassette tapes though. I don't think I'd be into collecting them pretty much for the reasons you mentioned.

Vinyls only get a pass because they're HUGE and the album art tends to look REALLY cool on them. The appeal of vinyl has nothing to do with the sound that comes off of the album itself, because it's just no good.

 

[Mnmolino595]

Vinyls only get a pass because they're HUGE and the album art tends to look REALLY cool on them. The appeal of vinyl has nothing to do with the sound that comes off of the album itself, because it's just no good.

Not to mention you can always use them to practice your DJ skills....

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I didn't know that there was much of a cassette movement in metal, at least outside of some black metal. I think this fad is more associated with independent electronic, industrial, and noise releases than metal hipsters tbh.

 

[EternalMetal]

Not gonna touch the quality argument here, but I think this is just an advertising campaign. They are clearly cheap to make, and im sure that a lot of labels would easily get off on the idea of selling collector's tapes. Basically what Balls McHoolihan said applies. A throwback for generation X or some shit.

 

[PhlegethonVeins]

Vinyls only get a pass because they're HUGE and the album art tends to look REALLY cool on them. The appeal of vinyl has nothing to do with the sound that comes off of the album itself, because it's just no good.

If you're playing a record that was mastered for vinyl on a nice system there is a huge difference between what you're hearing and CD quality.

 

[matt schrauben]

If you're playing a record that was mastered for vinyl on a nice system there is a huge difference between what you're hearing and CD quality.

Yep. Audio masters made specifically for vinyl sound great.

 

[matt schrauben]

There are still people who buy into the nonsense that analog audio formats are somehow superior to digital.

It's not superior. Technically. Anyone who argues it's technically superior is flat out wrong. It's just a much different sound. Especially since the audio is mastered differently for vinyl. When I listen to CDs I have that I also have on vinyl, the difference is pretty significant. It's definitely more open and live sounding on vinyl.

 

[PhlegethonVeins]

2) All audio is recorded digitally anyway now, so putting it on vinyl or cassette and expecting it to sound better is like upconverting your mp3s and expecting them to become higher quality.

This analogy is straight up wrong, by the way. Just because something is recorded digitally does not mean it is topped out at CD quality. You can still put more info on a high gram vinyl than a CD, and as long as you master (and press in high quality) it separate from that which is released on CD there is a large difference in quality. As far as physical formats, vinyl still offers the highest sound quality, period. Does it match loss-less digital files? No. But are those offered to a reasonable degree on the market either? No.

 

[sevag00]

^It seems you've never heard of flac format. That beats them all.