Cassette tapes are making a comeback

[Clonefan94]

I liked the liner notes - lyrics, songwriter credits, studio pictures and such. I do kind of miss buying a tape or CD and then playing through the whole thing while flipping through the notes.

Anymore I rarely listen to a new release from start to finish anymore. I played the new Bob Dylan album last week, and that was alright. But before that it's probably been at least a few months.

You can still buy LP Vinyl, CDs, etc. A lot of them have even better artwork than back when they were popular. I don't think the argument here is that people miss tapes because of what they came with compared to today. The argument is that tape sucked no matter what. Vinyl had the sound quality and feel you were looking for, CDs figured out how to do what tapes did, with better quality. There is absolutely no reason to go back to cassette tap for anything again.

I have a vinyl collection, still buy good new releases on Special Edition vinyl if they have it.

 

[Althetuna]

Yeah albums are different in my opinion. Those things were pieces of art.

Agree. I collect albums, frame and mount the album covers in the man cave.

 

[SpokaneCY]

I miss the days of inserting the cassette tape into the player, that was attached to my walk-man so I could listen to CD's in my 1988 Pontiac Grand AM.

I had a high-end 8-track unit back in the day... Was always cool to be rocking to Toys in the Attic and getting to the part where it went KATHUMP...

 

[BCClone]

C

Why would I want to go back to the early 90's? CD's changed my world, now that I have digital makes no sense. LP I can understand because the sound is great, but tapes were terrible for quality.

CDs were late 80s. I got my first CD player around 87.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

C

CDs were late 80s. I got my first CD player around 87.

I wasn't old enough to enjoy in the 80s.

 

[NorthCyd]

Well, it is analog which is what audiophiles claim makes lp superior.

 

[Acylum]

My uncle had a '79 Trans Am (black with gold honeycomb wheels and yes it had the screaming chicken on the hood) with the fanciest tape player money could buy - auto flip, skip to next song (which worked surprisingly well), add-on equalizer, tons of speakers though none in boxes. He was the epitome of 80s cool, he should have been on the Breakfast Club. I wanted that car bad.

When I turned 15, I got the car. What a hunk of crap! Stereo only worked if you jammed paper above the equalizer, the door handles were falling off and worked intermittently. Terrible gas mileage and couldn't outrun a Ford Escort. Still loved it. When first gear finally gave out I drove it with 2nd and 3rd only for a long time.

When I think of cassette tapes, I think of that car. It was crushed long ago after my nephew drove it into a complete state of disrepair.

Trans Ams may be the most overrated “muscle car” ever. And I’m not sure second place would be all that close.

 

[simply1]

As an example, I could see buying some of this stuff if you were a huge fan of the band.

https://store.universalmusic.com/the1975/*/Music/?sort=articleNameDescending

https://store.universalmusic.com/th...tion-Red-Cassette-Store-Exclusive/5Z5K0TOX000

 

[cyclones500]

Funniest part was when they didn't plan the tracks right or there was a really long song and the Ka-chunk came in the middle of the song.

Sometimes 8-track albums were able to avoid the fade-out/ca-chunk/fade-in by rearranging the song list differently from the LP version or repeating a song to balance the 4 channels. Which, if you're a purest, is almost worse.

I still bought some 8-tracks in the early '80s because the hand-me-down car I drove had an 8-track player -- I had REO Speedwagon's "Hi Infidelity" on 8-track, and it included those two flaws PLUS the ca-chunk ---... the track list doesn't match the vinyl version; it has a 1 & 2 cross-channel ca-chunk of "Keep on Loving You" AND that song is repeated again on Channel 3.

To be fair, plenty of cassette versions also f****d up the original track listings to balance the sides.

Edit/PS --- I have no idea why I remember this.

 

[MeanDean]

Sometimes 8-track albums were able to avoid the fade-out/ca-chunk/fade-in by rearranging the song list differently from the LP version or repeating a song to balance the 4 channels. Which, if you're a purest, is almost worse.

I still bought some 8-tracks in the early '80s because the hand-me-down car I drove had an 8-track player -- I had REO Speedwagon's "Hi Infidelity" on 8-track, and it included those two flaws PLUS the ca-chunk ---... the track list doesn't match the vinyl version; it has a 1 & 2 cross-channel ca-chunk of "Keep on Loving You" AND that song is repeated again on Channel 3.

To be fair, plenty of cassette versions also f****d up the original track listings to balance the sides.

Edit/PS --- I have no idea why I remember this.

I had an 8-track in my car right before and during college. Also had a recorder so I could dub from vinyl - Ka-chunk was a given in those situations. The biggest flaw in the technology to my memory was that after a while the tapes would tighten up. And so the player had a tough time pulling the tape after a while. This could be temporarily remedied by wedging something like a piece of cardboard in the opening to slightly change position of the tape to give the player a stronger grip.

One of my favorite 8-track memories was having Alice Cooper's 'Schools Out" on an 8-track. At the end of the song instead of a fade out the tape suddenly slows and stops in about 1 second. If someone new was riding with me and that was playing I would always fake like the 8-track player had just eaten the tape.

 

[mywayorcyway]

Trans Ams may be the most overrated “muscle car” ever. And I’m not sure second place would be all that close.

Whoa whoa whoa, easy there big fella! My love for Trans Ams didn't end in the 90s (when I got my hands on the car), I ended up owning two 4th gen WS-6 models as well. In 2000 there weren't many cars that looked meaner than that one and by the standards of 20 years ago, it was fast, too.

In '79, nothing had any power. The Mustang looked like a shell of its' former self and Dodge had completely given up. It's difficult to argue the staying power of the Firebird until Pontiac closed up shop. 35 years of cool looking cars.

If you're going to buy a "muscle car" (if you can call it that) from '73 to '00, there wasn't much out there other than Firebirds, Camaros and Mustangs.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Trans Ams may be the most overrated “muscle car” ever. And I’m not sure second place would be all that close.

This guy disagrees

 

[demoncore1031]

I got a pretty sweet cassette collection but haven't bought any in quite some time. Thinking of releasing some of my future material on cassette and vinyl.

 

[simply1]

I got a pretty sweet cassette collection but haven't bought any in quite some time. Thinking of releasing some of my future material on cassette and vinyl.

Do you have to buy a set block of each?

 

[demoncore1031]

Do you have to buy a set block of each?

I haven't looked into it but I would imagine so.

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

This makes zero sense to me.

I listen to them in my horseless carriage all the time.

 

[JM4CY]

This guy disagrees

Reported.

Reason: Pornographic Material.

 

[Macloney]

Reported.

Reason: Pornographic Material.

Burt's stache or the car?

 

[JM4CY]

Burt's stache or the car?

The combo is just too much for one picture. It should really be a Get Roman ad.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

The combo is just too much for one picture. It should really be a Get Roman ad.

I was trying to figure out where you were going with that.