Vinyl comeback now, cassette tapes next?

No. It was never a high quality analog medium when it came to prerecorded material. It could be pretty darn good when done at home. It will return about the same time 8-track does. :-)

-Wendell

Uhhhh, No.

I hooked my old Onkyo cassette player up to look for some recordings of old friends and I practicing and playing in small bars.
Tried listening to copies of LPs I made before I gave them all away. Dolby A, Dolby B, Dolby C....had to put it back in the garage....

Alternately, reel to reel would be a much better format. Surprisingly, there is an active community of reelheads selling-buying of machines and tapes. I got a used r2r this summer as an alternative to a turntable because my HT shelf couldn't accommodate a turntable. The sound is 90% my analog (tube/vinyl) set up. A well recorded reel to reel tape compares favorably to the vinyl counterpart. Best part is I don't have to deal with surface noise, record scratches, noisy grooves, or warps. Relatively hassle free analog format with a retro cool factor tossed in. This thread has extingished my notion to resurrect the cassette deck.