I will start this thread in saying once and for all that The Black Album is way better on cassette tape. Real talk, Le Grind & Cindy C just has a deeper, darker, and warmer sound, the way I think it was intended the first time.

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Sign 'O' The Times gets an honorable mention Housequake, Hot Thing, U Got The Look, & Adore just has that kind of "listenable atomsphere". Seriously, I could see AND hear the peach & black.

[Edited 1/22/21 21:55pm]

Like, Walkman/Boombox-on-the-schoolbus better?

Then, '1999'!!!

Controversy and 1999.... but I had those cassettes so that's probably why I think that. Everything just sounds like it's made for the added mud and cassette oddities.

Yeah … hiss is so underrated.

Is it true that Graffiti Bridge on cassette has a longer fadeout at the end of "Joy In Repetition"? I'd love to have a copy of that song without the abrupt cut at the end, but such a mix doesn't seem to exist in digital format

Don´t know about official album releases on cassette but some bootlegs sounded deeper, bass-heavier when I listened to them on cassette. These days we have better sounding versions of many songs, many in crystal clear sound quality, but some of those old tapes had that fat, deep sound.

i have been listening to sign o the times on cassette since it came out .. apparently everyone bitches about the cd being tinny but i have never had a complaint .. in fact i listen to all my music on cassette .. and when they butcher a recording by remastering every thing for ear buds .. i un master it so it will hit the cassette right .. in fact some might say that all this shitty remastering is meant to make digital music sound like a cassette .. short answer : all of them sound better on cassette because that is how prince wanted them heard .. he listened to everything on tape in his car .. thats how he knew the mix was right

mbdtyler said:

TrevorAyer said:

all of them sound better on cassette because that is how prince wanted them heard .. he listened to everything on tape in his car .. thats how he knew the mix was right

Solid logic, it's hard to argue with it. That said, it's not a Prince thing, it's an industry wide way to check a mix, the idea of which is nobody is going to have $5000 speakers, so the idea is to duplicate the way an audience will be listening to it at home. Every studio has $10 speakers in it for that very purpose. It's not just pop music but also Hollywood movies do it too, and they're not eager to have someone listen on cassette, they just knew most people were going to hear it from built in TV speakers.

When Prince had record listening previews, they were usually in his studio, played loudly, but there are some stories about going out the limo too I guess. He definintely kept bouncing back and forth on cassette long after he should have been, so it's possible he liked it, but I don't think we know if it was his preferred medium, and that he mixed specifically for it. If so, he moved on to CD in the 90's with everyone else.

nayroo2002 said:

Like, Walkman/Boombox-on-the-schoolbus better?

Then, '1999'!!!

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Yes, old-school Sony Walkman better!

RODSERLING said:

I had Come on cassette tape, I can tell you it sounds better than the CD version. My record player did CD/cassette, so with the same device I had different sound of the same album.

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Now THAT'S^ interesting.

[Edited 1/21/21 18:23pm]

lavendardrummachine said:

TrevorAyer said:

all of them sound better on cassette because that is how prince wanted them heard .. he listened to everything on tape in his car .. thats how he knew the mix was right

Solid logic, it's hard to argue with it. That said, it's not a Prince thing, it's an industry wide way to check a mix, the idea of which is nobody is going to have $5000 speakers, so the idea is to duplicate the way an audience will be listening to it at home. Every studio has $10 speakers in it for that very purpose. It's not just pop music but also Hollywood movies do it too, and they're not eager to have someone listen on cassette, they just knew most people were going to hear it from built in TV speakers.

When Prince had record listening previews, they were usually in his studio, played loudly, but there are some stories about going out the limo too I guess. He definintely kept bouncing back and forth on cassette long after he should have been, so it's possible he liked it, but I don't think we know if it was his preferred medium, and that he mixed specifically for it. If so, he moved on to CD in the 90's with everyone else.

I read somewhere that Daymond John (FUBU, Shark Tank) knew Michael Jackson years ago, and stopped by a rehearsal or studio or something. MJ had a typical big pro audio setup on hand yet had a little simple boombox and, at that moment, was using that for playback. Daymond asked why. MJ replied "Because that's how almost all my fans will be listening to it."

IMO nothing from any cassette betters the CD counterparts, due to the technology favoriting accurate, cleaner, and less surface noise-laden reproduction in sound on the site of CDs

At their best, cassettes still don't match CDs in terms of sheer fidelity even the higher quality ones I tested for fun a while back.


If someone has a decent quality digital setup, that will always reign supreme

[Edited 1/22/21 1:59am]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Only the black album.

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I agree.

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LoveGalore said:

I'm not likely to ever prefer the "charm" of distortion over higher, cleaner fidelity. The only thing I miss about cassettes is the creation of mixtapes. That vibe was totally killed by streaming. Everything else, put it in the bin.

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I heard a song the other day that incorporated the typical sound you hear when you press record and play on a cassetee player, you know, the short speed up part and click etc.

When I heard it (on the radio) it was a nostalgic feeling i kind of miss (too).

Mixtapes was IT ! Certainly in the seventies and eighties.

I still have several hundreds cassetes, nicely organised with date and all.

I used to record instantly what i liked, music, news, conversations...

They are really nice.

Somtimes (rare thogh) I put one up when I take a long bath (not rare though) .

Mixtapes are indeed killed by streaming.

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The series of ''Late Night Tales'' albums, is something I like to colelct.

They remind of mixtapes but then on vinyl.

There's always something to disocver, either the compilating artist, or the choice of a track.

A recommender if you like (old fashion) mixtapes.

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Totally agree about The Black Album. I also had Dirty Mind and Controversy on one cassette and played it to DEATH. Poor thing died in my old Cavelier cassette player and refused to come out. I swear it sounded way better than the CDs. That was a sad day.

Poplife88 said:

Totally agree about The Black Album. I also had Dirty Mind and Controversy on one cassette and played it to DEATH. Poor thing died in my old Cavelier cassette player and refused to come out. I swear it sounded way better than the CDs. That was a sad day.

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That's because music in a car, often sounds better.

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LoveGalore said:

ForceofNature said:

IMO nothing from any cassette betters the CD counterparts, due to the technology favoriting accurate, cleaner, and less surface noise-laden reproduction in sound on the site of CDs

At their best, cassettes still don't match CDs in terms of sheer fidelity even the higher quality ones I tested for fun a while back.


If someone has a decent quality digital setup, that will always reign supreme

[Edited 1/22/21 1:59am]

None of my cassettes sounded better than CDs but I had a couple of metal cassettes that I recorded music on from my vinly turntable, and while they didn´t necessarily sound better than CDs, they still had a unique, deep, very fat sound that I miss these days. I never had the same effect with chromedioxide or normal cassettes, and not with all brands, but those metal cassettes were totally different soundwise.

All of them.
At least until "Diamonds and Pearls" (included).


The eighties were magical sound-wise.
The first walkmen (of every brand) didn't kid on the components.
Some really were the equivalent small deck players.

You wouldn't believe how the Sony Professional WM D6-C
(a crazy impulsive buying on my Dad's part, musta cost him a fortune) sounded.
Playback was studio quality, recording was, well, professional.
Nothing short but amazing with the proper microphone.

I was lucky enough to get through Thriller with it (at 11. No, I mean years old),
and the CrO2 official release, with the provided sony headphones,
let me tell ya, I musta gotten really, really close to how it must have sounded
coming out of the Westlake Studios monitors.

Thing is, we all go deaf in time. No wonder our adolescent music emotions
impact our brains for life. Kids get all the frequencies.

If you want to approach the same listening conditions nowadays,
You face all kinds of issues: the encoding quality of the digital file,
The audio circuits quality of the device you plug your headphones in,
and finally the headphones.
Oh, did I mention your age?

If you find a like-new functioning audio deck (tuner, amplifier, whatever)
manufactured between 1975 and 1985, hold on to it like it was your Soul.

Even a low range Sony Walkman (you couldn't walk with the Walkman Professional in your jacket.
Those components weigh a ton) later made "The Family" sound amazing,
"Around The World In A Day" a Magical Tour.


There's nothing sounding better than a proper Vinyl tranfer on an excellent cassette
through top notch eigthies audio devices.


The released cassettes were great.
"Batman" sounded amazing. "Parade" sounded amazing.
"Sign O’ The Times" sounded amazing.


But it stills boils down to the hardware you're using.
They called it "High Fidelity" for a reason.

Black album sounds better on vinyl IMO

Poplife88 said:

Totally agree about The Black Album. I also had Dirty Mind and Controversy on one cassette and played it to DEATH. Poor thing died in my old Cavelier cassette player and refused to come out. I swear it sounded way better than the CDs. That was a sad day.

.

I hear you. I just hate it when some cassette players die like that.

KoolEaze said:

ForceofNature said:

IMO nothing from any cassette betters the CD counterparts, due to the technology favoriting accurate, cleaner, and less surface noise-laden reproduction in sound on the site of CDs

At their best, cassettes still don't match CDs in terms of sheer fidelity even the higher quality ones I tested for fun a while back.


If someone has a decent quality digital setup, that will always reign supreme

[Edited 1/22/21 1:59am]

None of my cassettes sounded better than CDs but I had a couple of metal cassettes that I recorded music on from my vinly turntable, and while they didn´t necessarily sound better than CDs, they still had a unique, deep, very fat sound that I miss these days. I never had the same effect with chromedioxide or normal cassettes, and not with all brands, but those metal cassettes were totally different soundwise.

.

I remember those metal cassettes.

Hey ya'll, millenial here. For those of you who listened to music on cassette for a large portion of your life, what are some benefits to the sound quality of cassette? For lack of better words, I don't understand why some prefer cassettes.