The Cassette Comeback - should it?
4,583In which your esteemed host looks at the current "comeback" of the cassette tape as a modern commercial music format. Is there any good reason for cassettes to be back on the market? Or is it purely based on nostalgia for a format that we never really liked all that much? I'll talk about my own experiences with cassettes back in the day as both a consumer and electronics salesman, along with what I think about new releases on tape.
A small update: VWestlife pointed out in the comments that you'd never see XDR and Digalog together as they came from competing record labels, and it is likely that I just switched the cases at some point. I actually have several XDR tapes but most likely only one Digalog tape, which is Curve's "Doppelganger". It advertises digalog on the tape itself, so probably matches to that case too. (Yes, it's the one you see that got eaten by my TC-K96R.)
A few promised links:
The actual deck in the photo on my monitor: https://www.fryderykdanielczykstore.com/en/product/technics-rs-bx626-stereo-cassette-deck-fully-revitalized/ (looks like it's sold now)
Techmoan on Digalog and other digital bins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0beJZaOUYM
VWestlife's review of the Pioneer CT-W606 (really the 616; he got an odd duck): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v14AEKgX29U
Affiliate links - I'd appreciate the commission if you want to buy something you see in the video!
Ebay (buy a cassette deck or some tapes): https://ebay.us/dhPUmY
Amazon (for new normal blank cassettes, or anything else): https://amzn.to/3OFaZMD
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:10 My cassette collection
02:28 The hardware - cassette decks
09:18 The format's biggest problem - hiss!
13:48 Tangent - what's this format actually called?
14:31 Blank tapes and recording at home
19:13 What about mix tapes?
20:54 Cassette's last stand - making it digital
24:23 Early conclusion and new cassette releases
26:23 How to ignore my advice and buy into the format
28:36 Wrapping it all up