[Uri Cohen]

My local flea market has tons of them for like 50 cents a piece. After going vinyl and loving it I was thinking of doing a small investment on tapes. Still a good idea to buy tapes?

I was thinking of getting a lower end Nakamichi player for my needs.

Or maybe go to the flea market this weekend because that is how I found the great Kenwood TT for a great price.

Any ideas or I am crazy?

 

[Uncle Erik]

I keep a Harmon-Kardon cassette player around for the few tapes I still have. They're not as good as the black or silver discs, but can sound good. If you can get good deals on the software and hardware, go for it! This is all about exploring music, not format snobbishness.

 

[leeperry]

cassettes sound very analog, digitis is definitely out of the way

prerecorded is usually junk, OTOH Metal tapes w/ Dolby S aren't that bad.

 

[jc9394]

I still have Nakamichi Dragon and I think it sound very good. All my cassettes are recorded from CD.

 

[pcf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jc9394 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I still have Nakamichi Dragon

We're not worthy!!!

*It is amazing how cassette tapes can sound with this deck.

 

[Uri Cohen]

Dragon cost too much.

Let me explore the local area first, but honestly I really would like a Naka deck.

What are the good lower-end Naka decks?

 

[freakydrew]

cassettes degrade over time, albeit slowly. If you are buying cassettes from a flea market and I assume they are not new, you run the risk of degradation. a whole bunch of factors would need to be considered on these used tapes....where were they stored, how many times were they played...etc...etc
buyer beware I suppose
let us know how this works out!

 

[jc9394]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcf /img/forum/go_quote.gif We're not worthy!!! *It is amazing how cassette tapes can sound with this deck.

I can't afford it myself, I inherited from my uncle when decide to go digital only and only have to buy him dinner.

 

[Uri Cohen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freakydrew /img/forum/go_quote.gif cassettes degrade over time, albeit slowly. If you are buying cassettes from a flea market and I assume they are not new, you run the risk of degradation. a whole bunch of factors would need to be considered on these used tapes....where were they stored, how many times were they played...etc...etc buyer beware I suppose let us know how this works out!

Same for vinyl I suppose. Have to look at the condition of the vinyl to make sure it is still in good condition. Good news is that the music stores in the flea market do allow you to try before buying.

We'll see this Saturday. Honestly I jumped the gun on the Kenwood but that was just by pure luck that I got one in great condition. I'm just going to test the waters to see if I can even do this locally.

 

[pcf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jc9394 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't afford it myself, I inherited from my uncle when decide to go digital only and only have to buy him dinner.

I like your uncle already.

 

[pcf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HyperDuel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dragon cost too much. Let me explore the local area first, but honestly I really would like a Naka deck. What are the good lower-end Naka decks?

They produced some very good budget decks in late 80's/early 90's.
Here's some useful info:
Naks.com, the [unofficial] Nakamichi cassette deck resource.
eBay Guides - NAKAMICHI cassette decks - A BUYER'S GUIDE

My first Nakamichi was a top loader(!) and I ran it through a Goodman receiver and a pair of AR6s. Sounded great.

 

[CrazyRay]

All of my tapes sound amazing!
I would definitely go the tape route!!

 

[Uri Cohen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyRay /img/forum/go_quote.gif All of my tapes sound amazing! I would definitely go the tape route!!

Can I have one?

 

[soundboy]

If the deck and the blank tape are matched good, the recordings can sound awesome. The trick is the matching part. Before CD-R and CD recording capability was common, I used to tape my CDs using Type II high bias Denon (HD-8) and Sony (UX-S and UX-Pro) on my 3 head closed loop dual capstan Sony deck (which I still have)....and they sometimes sound as good as the original CDs.

For the record, a Sony "Sports" cassette Walkman is still being used as part of my portable rig.

 

[Voltron]

Manufactured cassette tapes tended to sound pretty lousy, so adding many years of either use or just aging I wouldn't be inclined to think there would be good value there. I still have a big box of tapes that I recorded from vinyl back in the day, but I don't really listen to them.