cassettes CAN sound better than vinyl.

In Clown World

So, I got the Panasonic AG-7350 SVHS VCR and tried to record. To begin with, I decided to use my Nak 682ZX deck as a source not Nottingham turntable. Maxell Vertex cassette in the Nak and TDK XP Super Pro SVHS tape in the Panasonic. Was listening through Grado RS-1 headphones and the Panasonic's headphone amp which is quite good. The source and the recording sound a little different, I do prefer the way Panasonic sounds compared to Nak overall. There is a little more noise, as expected, but there is a bit more solidity and precision to the sound. Something this pro machine and premium 1/2" tape do very right, in the direction of good RTR deck. By the way, I compared various SVHS tapes. That TDK was the best followed by Quantegy. They were also best mechanically.  Next step will be recording off vinyl.
And it is two hours of uninterrupted music. Not to mention that its video performance is excellent. I have many VHS tapes to play. I like this machine. Needs good service and alignment, I guess, but even as it is, it is quite impressive.

I owned numerous Nakamichi decks and used the MR1 to record a few master recordings. Technology has transcended cassettes long ago. My biggest complaint about cassette decks and especially Nakamichi is the poor reliability. I recall sending mine MR1 decks in for repair multiple times to Nakamichi and the cost  was significant.  All modern digital based recording devices are far superior. If you want improved sound?: Eat less cheese!!

Not on this planet.

I have both a vintage Akai reel to reel player and I also have a 1980s vintage JVC cassette tape deck. The discussion about whether tape is better than vinyl, or even MP3's misses the point of tape. There is still a niche for tape in this world. For me it is live recordings you can't get on vinyl or CD or anywhere else for that matter, except the internet. I have made tapes (reels and cassettes) from digital sources of live concerts and such. Sure, they are not hifi but they sound fine. Why would I do this? To me, the internet is incredibly cluttered and is just a vast pile of things to sort through. I like to find the gems, the ones I really want to keep, and put them on tape. Having a physical version of a concert makes me more likely to listen to it, and it also makes it far easier to find than finding something on the internet. Also, stuff can be deleted from the internet and simply vanish. I guess you can store all this stuff on a hard drive, but again, that too can get extremely cluttered. There is just something about having a physical copy of this really cool concert you found.