Some history
I grew up in the 80s and cassettes were a big part of how I experienced music. I remember recording bits of radio shows to create my own mixtapes. Furthermore, I also recorded records of friends and relatives to play on my Walkman.
In the 90s, I really got into techno music. It was difficult to get the music to play at home or in the car. There were basically two sources, the radio and recorded DJ sets from clubs. Once you got your hands on a recording, they were widely shared between friends.
I had a Sony TC-C5 five cassette-changer back then. I used it to record one of the radio shows which was going over multiple hours, and sometimes also DJ sets at parties of friends.
In the 00s, I lived in London and had a bit more disposable income that allowed me to acquire a Sony TC-K6 ES, which is probably one of the best cassette decks ever built.
At the time, you were able to buy mix tapes on Camden Market. The quality and source was often questionable.
Technology
There is no way around it: cassettes are a pretty bad medium for music. There is a lot of mechanics involved, the tape is far too small and thin, and they do tend to get a lot of abuse. Duplicating them quickly reduces the quality, too. And they disintegrate over time.
Companies producing hi-fi equipment, like Sony and Nakamichi, put in significant effort to improve the recording and playback quality of cassettes.
They added more magnetic heads, motors, direct drives, dampening of the mechanics and cases. They improved the cassettes themselves with different recording media. Furthermore, they used a few different noise reductions systems from Dolby and others.
There were also different types of playback systems, from the miniature Walkmans, that were not much bigger than a cassette case, to ghetto blasters. Single cassette decks in all quality levels, dual cassette decks for easy duplications, cassette changers from 5 to 10 cassettes, and many more.
Nostalgia
Nowadays, cassette decks don't make a lot of sense. I get my music digitally and have access to many DJ sets through SoundCloud and similar services. For pop music, you have all kind of streaming services. If you want even higher quality, you can buy music on services like Qobuz. And if you prefer something you can hold in your hand, you can get everything on CD too, which are easy to rip and copy without any loss of quality.
You can still buy pre-recorded cassettes from many artists, but the quality of the tapes is pretty bad, and they are mostly limited edition collector items, similar to a band t-shirt or sticker.
So my collection is mostly about nostalgia. There were some cassette decks I dreamed about as a kid, when I browsed the catalogues of high-end brands that I was unable to afford.
I really wanted only three decks in my collection, and that I have now:
- The Sony TC-K6ES because I think it is probably the best deck ever created.
- The Sony TC-C5 for the weirdness of a cassette changer and because I had it before and used it so much
- The Nakamishi RX-505 for the amazing auto-reverse feature that moves the whole cassette. I first saw it in the film 9 1/2 weeks. I only got the RX-202E, but they look and work very similar.
While looking for these and for recording, playing, and digitising my tapes, I also acquired some more Sony decks. I also really like the sound of the 90s Sony amplifiers, and while I was at it, I ended up with CD players and radios too. All my amplifiers also have Google Chromecast Audios connected, and are used for music in every room.
If you are looking for a really nice deck that isn't too expensive, I would suggest the Sony TC-K511/611/711. You can find those, sometimes nicely restored, on eBay.
If you are just curious about the technology and want to watch some videos, I can strongly recommend the channel from Techmoan on YouTube. He also explains why you don't want to use one of the new cassette players you can buy now.
You might also notice that I don't have any portable cassette players, like Walkmans or Ghetto Blasters. So far, I thought this would be a step too far 😀. They also never fascinated me as much, even though the technology is interesting and there are some real oddities available.
Maintenance & Repair
You might also wonder how much of these devices still work. Good question! They all show signs of their age. The TC-5 and RX-202 will need some real love, they only function sporadically. The amplifiers all have problems with their switches and potentiometers, which leads to noise when changing the volume, the rest mainly works.
The main issue with cassette decks is their use of rubber belts to transfer the rotation from the motors to the tape mechanism. These disintegrate over time, and you have to take the whole deck apart, clean it, and replace the belts. This can be quite fiddly. If you have added mechanics of tape changers or fancy auto-reverse, this gets even worse.
In all old devices, capacitors will also fail at some point, and small plastic parts can also break through use.
I am going to learn to fix some of these issues myself, but there are limits to my skills and the time I want to spend on it. There are some places that do this professionally, but they are not cheap. It is really only worth it for the very fancy devices. Otherwise, it is easier and cheaper to find a restored one on eBay.
Still going
Finally, I leave you with some of the cassettes I bought over the recent years. More out of curiosity, than for the music. This also explains the weird mix of styles. Sadly, there are not many cassettes with electronic music available.
Why I Still Care
This hobby is part nostalgia, part admiration for the engineering behind these devices. It’s not the most practical way to listen to music today, but it connects me to a time when music felt more hands-on and personal. And honestly, there’s something satisfying about seeing this ancient hardware work and do its thing.
