5 ms·

Is this a submarine? None of the music aficionados I know talk about cassette tapes. They're all about FLACs and vinyl.

clock_tower 10y ago
I suspect so. A lot of references to relatively ordinary music-world people and phenomena, and then there's this: "Also last year, the National Audio Company — the largest cassette tape manufacturer in the U.S. — saw a 20% increase in its commercial tape duplication business (this doesn't include blank tapes or audiobooks), according to a company spokesperson. This continues an upward-sloping trend for the Missouri-based company, which did more business in 2014 than at any other point since its factory opened in 1969."
- deleted 10y ago
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sago 10y ago
They're probably recorded music aficionados. This is more a thing for prolific gig-goers, as far as I can tell. I'm not very prolific, but I have a couple. Both came with a d/l url. I don't own a tape player, but having physical correlates to information products does have something engaging about it. I suspect it is a trend we'll see more and more of, not just a tapes. c.f. Amibo, Steel/Tinbox games/bluray. I personally suspect the 'it sounds better' thing is post-hoc rationalisation, mostly, given how trivial it would be to record/recreate the tape-butchered sound in a digital format.
zo7 10y ago
Really? Every music aficionado I know collects cassette tapes.
- TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
  From this corner of the world, tape looks like a local-ish hipster fad that's of interest in some micro-scenes. But there's a general nostalgia thing happening all over, and tape and vinyl seem to be part of that. When I switched from tape to vinyl in the 70s I noticed I enjoyed some of my collection less, even though I was hearing a lot more detail. I've often wondered if there's a psychoacoustic effect which forces your brain to work harder to parse sound on cassette. It's such a lofi medium I suspect your brain fills in the missing detail with what you'd like to hear. So it's more involving than (say) FLACl, which gives you all the detail you want - and then some.
bravura 10y ago
No, it's not. They probably just aren't involved in the live music scenes where tape is a trend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Records https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Records 'Get Bent in 2011 went on to say, "Burger’s played a crucial role in the revival of the cassette tape, as well as in the promotion of the thriving Orange County garage scene."'
ashmud 10y ago
And reel-to-reel. Example article from a quick web search: http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-...

I suspect so. A lot of references to relatively ordinary music-world people and phenomena, and then there's this: "Also last year, the National Audio Company — the largest cassette tape manufacturer in the U.S. — saw a 20% increase in its commercial tape duplication business (this doesn't include blank tapes or audiobooks), according to a company spokesperson. This continues an upward-sloping trend for the Missouri-based company, which did more business in 2014 than at any other point since its factory opened in 1969."

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

sago 10y ago

They're probably recorded music aficionados. This is more a thing for prolific gig-goers, as far as I can tell. I'm not very prolific, but I have a couple. Both came with a d/l url. I don't own a tape player, but having physical correlates to information products does have something engaging about it. I suspect it is a trend we'll see more and more of, not just a tapes. c.f. Amibo, Steel/Tinbox games/bluray. I personally suspect the 'it sounds better' thing is post-hoc rationalisation, mostly, given how trivial it would be to record/recreate the tape-butchered sound in a digital format.

zo7 10y ago

Really? Every music aficionado I know collects cassette tapes.

TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
From this corner of the world, tape looks like a local-ish hipster fad that's of interest in some micro-scenes. But there's a general nostalgia thing happening all over, and tape and vinyl seem to be part of that. When I switched from tape to vinyl in the 70s I noticed I enjoyed some of my collection less, even though I was hearing a lot more detail. I've often wondered if there's a psychoacoustic effect which forces your brain to work harder to parse sound on cassette. It's such a lofi medium I suspect your brain fills in the missing detail with what you'd like to hear. So it's more involving than (say) FLACl, which gives you all the detail you want - and then some.

bravura 10y ago

No, it's not. They probably just aren't involved in the live music scenes where tape is a trend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Records https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Records 'Get Bent in 2011 went on to say, "Burger’s played a crucial role in the revival of the cassette tape, as well as in the promotion of the thriving Orange County garage scene."'

ashmud 10y ago

And reel-to-reel. Example article from a quick web search: http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-...