What do cassettes sound like

Robin L , Oct 28, Location: Jedburgh Scotland. It did not catch on. I don't know whether any albums were ever released on the Elcaset format. Then, of course, there was DAT which, again, didn't really find a mass market. I would agree, however, that, in the early 80s, cassettes sounded pretty good. Especially when vinyl quality appeared to take a nosedive in the same period.

Scotsman , Oct 28, Kristofa , Daniel Thomas , Aftermath and 2 others like this. Lownote30 , Oct 28, Location: United States. Grant , Oct 28, Location: MA, US. Location: Bristol, England. CD beats cassette in pretty much every way, but cassette does have a nice analogue quality to it and is capable of more than acceptable sound, I still listen to cassettes, usually to transfer them to CD , and I'm often surprised by just how good cassette can sound.

Dubmart , Oct 28, Location: Moscow, Russia. I upgraded over the years, eventually using a deck with DBX noise reduction and metal tape. Hiss, wow, tape stretch, print-through, jamming and of course the dreaded tape-eating capstan were always part of the experience to a greater or lesser degree.

The slow speed of the tape contributed to the inferior sound quality, and many music fans largely dismiss cassettes because of these imperfections. To some, this displays the technical inferiority of vinyl, but others like the way it sounds. You can argue that the sound quality of vinyl is superior to tapes. Neither format is indestructible, and they become more vulnerable with age.

Vinyl better preserves the intended sound of the music, with cassettes providing less nuance. Clearly, vinyl has a better sound quality over cassettes, which is why the latter has become less popular in recent years. You will find a lot of vinyl collectors but very few pure cassette collectors.

One of the most significant ways they differ is sibilance:. De-essing is undertaken only with vinyl records because the sound is so prominent. You can recognize the difference on a CD and a vinyl recording, which often leads to a less-intense sound on vinyl.

No matter what format you choose, the music will be optimized for that delivery. Michael Bolton is back. Even cassettes—the sometimes-dysfunctional format pushed aside by the CD— have made a comeback. It can be tough for tape-curious shoppers, too.

But if you want to get into cassettes and are ready to suffer the relatively lousy audio quality, we have advice on how to find serviceable players and tapes. For a lot of kids in the s, a Walkman was as essential as a Swatch watch and a can of styling mousse. Fast-forward to the present day, and even a kid from the s might be cassette-curious, thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy video. CDs can flawlessly reproduce the entire range of audio from 20 hertz half an octave below the lowest note on piano and 20 kHz a frequency too high for most adults to hear.

Data-compressed audio—using technologies such as AAC, MP3, and Bluetooth—delivers the same range, although with a few distortions that can subtly coarsen the sound of voices and instruments. High-quality streaming , from services such as Amazon, Apple Music, Qobuz, and Tidal, can span an even broader frequency range.

Cassettes, on the other hand, start to attenuate bass tones below about 40 Hz, so instruments with ultra-deep notes—such as grand piano, large kick drums, and synth bass—lose some of their sonic power.