I remember I played the hell out of the the black album on cassete in early 1988 and really was used to the hiss and the speed being a little fast. When I heard a digital version it sounded sluggish and anodyne. Le grind and Cindy C were especially impressive when they were a bit faster and the mids and the bass were bumped (so the hiss became more tolerable ya know)

But music had also moved on a lot; the black album felt edgy and controversial in 1987-88, then along came NWA and Public Enemy and the black album seemed a bit quaint.

khill95 said:

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.

I don't think anyone prefers cassette, they're saying some records sounded best in their cassette version.

Some of it's just nostalgia. Back then, it was the most convenient way to listen on headphones on the go, or in a small space like a car that has good accoustics. Boom boxes were made to EQ everything out of them and some music just sounded great that way.

There was a warmth and to get past the hiss you would get a more punchy. It was kind of like turn all the bass up or turning all the treble up, extreme.It's a little muffled then bright at the same time. Other times it just sounded more naturally compressed before compression was a thing. Sometimes you could even hear the tape turning, which doesn't sound like a positive but it's like hearing the warmth and needle floating on vinyl, it just does something.

If you go on Youtube, you can search for mixtapes and you'll hear some examples of what the format did to the overall sound. 90's hip hop is a good example, a mix of Fugees or Biggie, something you've heard before, or you can easily find the official version of, then hear it off cassette. That would be vinyl to tape to cheaply produced duplication and uploaded online, but you'll still get a sense of it. Won't be the best cleanest version, but it will have a certain quality to it.

lavendardrummachine said:

You got that right. I hated cassette tapes. 🤣

nayroo2002 said:

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

Then, '1999'!!!

That's where I first heard it--school bus trip somewhere, some kid's boombox. Sounded pretty good.

For me, all the albums from Parade to O+> were cassettes initially. Sign and Lovesexy probably still are, in my head. I don't know if they were better, but the cassettes are how I think of them. Sheila E's Romance 1600 was the most affected by being on cassette, since I damaged it during the first few days I had it, so that there was a drag in A Love Bizarre and (on the flip side) Romance 1600. A Love Bizarre still sounds weird to me without it.

I like the way Purple Rain sounds on cassette.

I find that warehouse sound comes through more.

I also think The Family sounds great on cassette.
[Edited 1/24/21 8:48am]

Romeoblu said:

I like the way Purple Rain sounds on cassette. I find that warehouse sound comes through more. I also think The Family sounds great on cassette. [Edited 1/24/21 8:48am]

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Agree.