callimnate said:

jonylawson said:

so it begs the question

how does the quality of a cassette compare??!!

if vinyl is the golden child where does everything else compare?

and is it factual or subjective?

great thread by the way

Cassettes were heavily reliant on too many factors.

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* The type of tape.

* The source of where the music was taken from

* The quality of the recorder

* The quality of the player

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Sometimes you could get the perfect mix of the above and it was

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But usually it was a lot of hissss and shit.

Also, tape, whether cassettes or VHS, can deteriorate faster than all the other common media formats and are the easiest to damage.

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First, it doesn't take much of a problem with the mechanics of the player for the tape to get "eaten". In other words, the tape gets pulled out of the cassette and chewed up by the player.

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Also, the magnetic information on the tape deteriorates and rubs off. It can "dirty" up the heads of the player affecting quality of playback. Then, you can put a brand new tape in the player, and it can be ruined by running over the dirty heads of the player.

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If cassettes aren't properly rewound and stored they will sag causing playback issues.

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Sometimes you could faintly hear the other side of the tape playing in reverse behind the the side you are listening to.

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Cassettes = Bad.... in my not-so-humble opinion.

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Vinyl (under optimal conditions) is the best sound

Digital is the most versatile

Cassettes sound bad and deteriorate the fastest.

^ Remember 8 tracks? They were even worse. On some albums, a song would run out midway at the end of side 1 and you would need to flip the tape over to hear the rest of the song and the rest of the album.