Do people actually buy cassette players anymore?

Rtech · 31st January 2006, 12:17

I'm just wondering about this. Is there a market left for the good ol' cassette player?

Asking this as last night I found my old Blaupunkt cassette player that came OE in my car, which I had switched for the Pioneer CD player at that time itself. Wondering if its worth anything as I could part exchange it for a set of decent speakers.

nitrous · 31st January 2006, 12:18

They wouldn't be worth a 4-digit figure,RTech.

Psycho · 31st January 2006, 12:25

Well all the music systems I have are Cassette oriented for one reason that I started my casette collection over a decade and a half ago and have over 2000 tapes that I cannot digitise, hence am forced to remain back in time. However use a MP3 player / PDA to tag back into the cassette player for digi music. And yes a good cassette player still interests me, am planning on picking up a old old technics rack system for my place soon

(damn why did my bro have to whack my pioneer)

Beeman · 31st January 2006, 12:35

I havent seen much of cassette players anymore. Especially with the cd/mp3 hu's drastically falling in price every year. But once in a while i personally do buy a cassette and love my car for having a deck that plays it!

nitrous · 31st January 2006, 12:40

Yeah, The last time i checked, the cheapest Pioneer mp3cd HU cost around 4k. Thats Peanuts!

GTO · 31st January 2006, 12:41

Nope, Dont have / use the cassette player in any of my cars.

Butttttttttttttttttt very soon, I dont think I will be using CDs anymore too. The entire CD collection is slowly being transferred to the iTunes, and I am just waiting for the day that Pioneer car stereos with 40GB drives become commonplace.

GTO

navin · 31st January 2006, 12:52

GTO,

I have said this before and will do so again. iTunes and WMA are decent but not great. EAC and LAME offer better sound quality for a given file size. esp since you can integrate wagegain and accurate rip into EAC. Besides if you ripping your CDs make 2 rips at one go....

1. 1:5 or 1:6 compression for todays 2GB-60GB players
2. 1:2 or better for tomorrows 200GB+ players

They alreadyhave a 120GB 1.8" hard disk out and atleast one person has upgraded his ipod with a 100GB 1.8" Toshiba hard drive (see ipodlounge,com).

Given that look for a freeware called WACK which allow you to encode as many versions of the CD as you care to (AAC, MP3, WAV, FLAC, etc....) in one go.

As far as cassettes go I still have a Pioneer CT93 tapedeck (it weighs 12 kgs) and a box full of Maxelll MX tape (about 300 or so). I am still looking for a use. I once envisoined building a PCM encoder into the CT93 but then hard disks got cheap.

hrag · 31st January 2006, 12:53

Slightly off-topic but this looks like a good product to convert those cassette collections into MP3 formats.

http://plusdeck.com/englishsite/product_01.html

Answer to (y)our prayers, Psycho?

Beeman · 31st January 2006, 13:03

Correct me if iam wrong but this must been really really expensive at the moment?

navin · 31st January 2006, 13:04

hrag, any deck can be hooked to a PC (if not so elegantly) with a sound card.

Psycho · 31st January 2006, 13:18

Sorry : Offtopic a bit
Navin you are right on that, I already have my audio system hooked onto my comp but the pain is when you need to do one song at a time and it requires you to be there, however while ripping CD's it is easier as you can do the whole cd as a batch as each song is a seperate file. Well Cassettes are history now and it looks like I might have to go down with them till my last days as I am not going to give up on my collection so easily.

GTO · 31st January 2006, 13:42

Quote:

I have said this before and will do so again. iTunes and WMA are decent but not great. EAC and LAME offer better sound quality for a given file size. esp since you can integrate wagegain and accurate rip into EAC. Besides if you ripping your CDs make 2 rips at one go....

I am going to drop a line to understand this better. I really need to, since I will be ripping my CDs only once.

Heres some things I saw online for hard disk players in the car:

1. http://www.phatnoise.com/products/di...yers/index.php

2. http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/IS...fi_review.html

Why doesnt someone do an iPod for the car? I dont mean integration with existing players (that already exists)...

GTO

Neel · 31st January 2006, 13:48

The NHC comes with a decent (if not the best) cassette player and speakers. I find it convinient to connect my IPod or my MP3 Player based on the travel.I can use it in my Other car as well.
In the city, i find FM stations quite good (more so for the Traffic updates)
As GTO says harddrives are the next best, so no plans to upgrade to an MP3

-Neel

aravindr · 31st January 2006, 14:01

I think this is applicable not only to Car Audio. I have a large collection of Cassettes which are not available as CDs. Recently I biught a Yamaha Tape deck to connect to my Home Theater system to get the right quality of audio from these tapes.

tsk1979 · 31st January 2006, 14:17

Yes they do. Go to small towns you will see most of these local singers which are popular in a local area coming out with casettes. Also truck drivers listen to casettes. Many old artists who did not get "remixed" are available only in casettes(Except for the popular ones like Kishore Kumar etc.,).

31st January 2006, 12:17	#1
Rtech Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 5,770 Thanked: 359 Times View My Garage	Do people actually buy cassette players anymore? I'm just wondering about this. Is there a market left for the good ol' cassette player? Asking this as last night I found my old Blaupunkt cassette player that came OE in my car, which I had switched for the Pioneer CD player at that time itself. Wondering if its worth anything as I could part exchange it for a set of decent speakers.
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 12:18	#2
nitrous Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: UAE/Lon/Madras Posts: 6,965 Thanked: 325 Times View My Garage	They wouldn't be worth a 4-digit figure,RTech.
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 12:25	#3
Psycho Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,043 Thanked: 110 Times View My Garage	Well all the music systems I have are Cassette oriented for one reason that I started my casette collection over a decade and a half ago and have over 2000 tapes that I cannot digitise, hence am forced to remain back in time. However use a MP3 player / PDA to tag back into the cassette player for digi music. And yes a good cassette player still interests me, am planning on picking up a old old technics rack system for my place soon (damn why did my bro have to whack my pioneer)
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 12:35	#4
Beeman BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Treasure island Posts: 335 Thanked: 2 Times	I havent seen much of cassette players anymore. Especially with the cd/mp3 hu's drastically falling in price every year. But once in a while i personally do buy a cassette and love my car for having a deck that plays it!
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 12:40	#5
nitrous Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: UAE/Lon/Madras Posts: 6,965 Thanked: 325 Times View My Garage	Yeah, The last time i checked, the cheapest Pioneer mp3cd HU cost around 4k. Thats Peanuts!
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 12:41	#6
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 70,546 Thanked: 300,766 Times View My Garage	Nope, Dont have / use the cassette player in any of my cars. Butttttttttttttttttt very soon, I dont think I will be using CDs anymore too. The entire CD collection is slowly being transferred to the iTunes, and I am just waiting for the day that Pioneer car stereos with 40GB drives become commonplace. GTO
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 12:52	#7
navin Team-BHP Support Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 25,199 Thanked: 9,304 Times	GTO, I have said this before and will do so again. iTunes and WMA are decent but not great. EAC and LAME offer better sound quality for a given file size. esp since you can integrate wagegain and accurate rip into EAC. Besides if you ripping your CDs make 2 rips at one go.... 1. 1:5 or 1:6 compression for todays 2GB-60GB players 2. 1:2 or better for tomorrows 200GB+ players They alreadyhave a 120GB 1.8" hard disk out and atleast one person has upgraded his ipod with a 100GB 1.8" Toshiba hard drive (see ipodlounge,com). Given that look for a freeware called WACK which allow you to encode as many versions of the CD as you care to (AAC, MP3, WAV, FLAC, etc....) in one go. As far as cassettes go I still have a Pioneer CT93 tapedeck (it weighs 12 kgs) and a box full of Maxelll MX tape (about 300 or so). I am still looking for a use. I once envisoined building a PCM encoder into the CT93 but then hard disks got cheap. Last edited by navin : 31st January 2006 at 12:59.
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 12:53	#8
hrag BANNED Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bangalore / Madras Posts: 1,982 Thanked: 31 Times	Slightly off-topic but this looks like a good product to convert those cassette collections into MP3 formats. http://plusdeck.com/englishsite/product_01.html Answer to (y)our prayers, Psycho?
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 13:03	#9
Beeman BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Treasure island Posts: 335 Thanked: 2 Times	Correct me if iam wrong but this must been really really expensive at the moment?
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 13:04	#10
navin Team-BHP Support Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 25,199 Thanked: 9,304 Times	hrag, any deck can be hooked to a PC (if not so elegantly) with a sound card.
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 13:18	#11
Psycho Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,043 Thanked: 110 Times View My Garage	Sorry : Offtopic a bit Navin you are right on that, I already have my audio system hooked onto my comp but the pain is when you need to do one song at a time and it requires you to be there, however while ripping CD's it is easier as you can do the whole cd as a batch as each song is a seperate file. Well Cassettes are history now and it looks like I might have to go down with them till my last days as I am not going to give up on my collection so easily.
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 13:48	#13
Neel BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 178 Thanked: 35 Times	The NHC comes with a decent (if not the best) cassette player and speakers. I find it convinient to connect my IPod or my MP3 Player based on the travel.I can use it in my Other car as well. In the city, i find FM stations quite good (more so for the Traffic updates) As GTO says harddrives are the next best, so no plans to upgrade to an MP3 -Neel
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 14:01	#14
aravindr BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 56 Thanked: 18 Times	I think this is applicable not only to Car Audio. I have a large collection of Cassettes which are not available as CDs. Recently I biught a Yamaha Tape deck to connect to my Home Theater system to get the right quality of audio from these tapes.
	() Thanks

31st January 2006, 14:17	#15
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,717 Thanked: 22,825 Times View My Garage	Yes they do. Go to small towns you will see most of these local singers which are popular in a local area coming out with casettes. Also truck drivers listen to casettes. Many old artists who did not get "remixed" are available only in casettes(Except for the popular ones like Kishore Kumar etc.,).
	() Thanks