Cassettes still rock!

I've got one of the best decks made, and I bought a ton of metal blank tape and enjoyed it very much. That was quite awhile ago. Compared to my other sources presently, it's mediocre.

Cassettes are just fine if you're into "mediocre".

Orpheus
We will agree to disagree my friend.
I find nothing mediocre about a lot of my cassette recordings tbh.

I also marvel at the excellent sound quality a well recorded cassette can provide.  As I've noted in other posts, I still listen to - and enjoy - cassette recordings I made in the late 90's and early 2000's of a great weekly jazz program hosted by Miles Willis on KPFT.  Still listen to these cassettes from time to time.

Most of youse guys really missed out on something fantastic when you swallowed that propaganda in regard to PC versus analog.

When I read how this "rich phile" who belonged to a club that met and discussed expensive cartridges over cognac, had gone to PC, but failed to mention that to the other members, I decided to look into PC.

That was some years ago when guys on the PC forum were taking the time to explain things to the PC illiterate. Stereophile even had articles about what cards to swap in your PC. The PC guys kept telling us that it was possible to get PC playback as good as R to R, but we said "No way".

I listened, but I couldn't understand PC, and If I couldn't understand it, I know yall couldn't understand it. Since I couldn't understand it, I found someone who could (the smartest thing I've ever done)

As I stated, this was some years back, and besides the PC cards, you needed a "Analog to digital converter", the reverse of a DAC, in order to put records on "hard-drive" in an Audiophile manner; "Benchmark" sold that. They no longer make them, consequently, you'll have to buy one used if you can find one at all.

Every since I've been in this game, in order to get something comparable to what the "Rich-phile" had, it cost thousands of dollars; I think those necessary computer cards cost in the vicinity of $200. dollars; I could swing that.

Not even "Benchmark" was available at that time, I had to modify a cheap analog to digital converter, but it worked, I was able to bring it up to "Audiophile quality"

After all of that, I enlisted the aid of a "Computer Guru" and told him I wanted to "down-load" Cd's and records, and just sit in my listening chair and listen to music without touching a record or CD player. He told me to go WAV and external hard-drive. I told him to go at it, and get me up and running.

Presently everything is on external hard-drive, and most of the time that's all I listen to; however, if you don't play your R to R, it will quit working. Which reminds me, I had better put on a reel.


Happy listening everyone.

Cassettes are, sort of objectively, inferior in sound, but they do sound better than anything. It has nothing to do with quality.

On a similar level, I read so many accolades about current high class reel-to-reel tape sound. I have been to two shows and one hi-fi dealer that played them. Easily contender for "the worst of the show" and really lacking at the dealer. Someone may like them, but someone may not be that impressed.