Cassettes still rock!


Played Dire Straits debut album last night - from a Maxell XL 2s cassette recorded from the vinyl over 30 years ago. Best sound I've heard on my system in months. I have the SACD, but doesn't have the organic sound from the tape/vinyl. Dig out your old cassettes! 
mcondo
are of me and my band playing mediocre if enthusiastic rock and roll
Lol
Sums up the cassette single of our band I found today( and played )quite admirably.
What we lacked in talent we made up for in enthusiasm and volume!
Awesome! I still have a 3-head Denon deck from the early '90s and my old mix tapes sound great!! 
The Aiwa ad f990 was a pretty close match sonically to the fabled nakamichi Dragon. Sold my 990 on ebay, and kept both my 770 and 660 though. Reason being Is the 990 still fetched top dollar. I have had some issues buying sealed pre recorded tapes, I’d say 1 out of every 10 were junk and would not play properly. Maxell and tdk I’ve found to be the two best tapes available. To buy these tapes still sealed, you pay a pretty penny for them. I would not say that the tapes played thru the aiwa or even a Nak are true hifi but there is something truly unique about the sound, warm and inviting, not sure how else to describe it. I love it.
If you REALLY want to go crazy try looking at prices of genuine Nakamichi tapes on eBay.
Good for a laugh.....
Anachronistic enthusiasms always hit the dead end of original context.

Cassette was invented to lift the hassles of LP.
CD was invented to lift the hassles of cassettes.
Computer-based formats were invented to lift the hassles of CDs.

Go back to your earliest surviving, coherent Maxell cassettes -- in my case, home-recorded in 1977. Quickly you'll remember that what on cassette requires precisely-timed rewind, fast-forward, or tedious record-over, can now be accomplished at the touch of a remote player button.

Sound quality? As noted by OP and many others, cassette is great. Heard some obscure gems from 30-40 years ago that sounded better tonight than ever before. This old analog cassette medium is divine.

The knock on cassette is not sonics. It's hassle, outright impracticality, and, come to that, obsolescence. If you have cassettes that you still want to hear unedited, that still turn at the intended speed (Maxell, most likely), and still own a working player with working remote, then by all means incorporate the old device in your current system and use as desired or needed. Otherwise? Put all available desired content on a digital playlist, click by remote to a good DAC and beyond, and spare yourself a world of hassle.