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Anonymous
Anonymous asked in Consumer ElectronicsMusic & Music Players · 4 weeks ago

Why a high end cassette tape deck sound better than CD?

High end cassette able to reproduce 20 to 20kHz by using Metal tape, actually most people are unable to listen to sound frequency higher than 17kHz. So even a normal tape with frequency response of 20 to 16 kHz is enough to reproduce good quality sound.

Although cassette tape deck produce higher distortion (about 1%) but people will not be able to differentiate sound with 1% distortion with the original sound with 0% distortion. Just like tube amp produce higher distortion compared to solid-state amp. Most people agree that tube amp sound better.

Don't take the example of cassette walkman, it's wow and flutter figure is very bad, not worth to listen to cassette walkman at all.

Update:

The source of the tapes are recorded from 1970s vinyl records.

Update 2:

Hi Robsteriark, at normal listening sound level in a living room, I don’t feel any hissing noise come from the speakers, (I guess you meant hissing noise). Unless when during the blank between songs when no music sound and I turn up the volume only then I heard hissing noise.

Update 3:

Hi "crazy" (the person's nickname), you like to listen to stair step wave that is your matter. I don't listen to stair step wave.  

Update 4:

You believe the electronic filtering circuit can change the stair step wave back to the original natural analog wave with 0.001% distortion, I don't believe that.

14 Answers

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  • Tony B
    Lv 4
    3 weeks ago

    I'm not sure what you're asking but, all other things bring equal, a cassette of any type does NOT “sound better” than a CD.

  • Anonymous
    3 weeks ago

    This is the stair step wave output from a Digital to Analog Convertor.

    Attachment image
    Source(s): Source of picture: electronics dot howstuffworks
  • 3 weeks ago

    Look up the term 'head room' with respect to audio.

    Also, there was a device that was called a 'click, pop suppressor' that got rid of the unwanted noises.

    That applied to records.

    For tapes, you needed a 'tape head demagnetizer' and track cleaner every once in a while.

    Dad used to talk about those things.

  • keerok
    Lv 7
    3 weeks ago

    I noticed that too. Back in the days, if I really liked an album, I would record the first "play" of a brand new vinyl or cassette to a metal tape.

    I hate the scratches on vinyl and I hate that cassettes wear out (even metal) but I also hate that CDs sound dull to me. Now that the most popular form of entertainment comes from Bluetooth speakers with tin-can audio quality, the poor sound of highly compressed mp3 files don't matter much anyway. Goodbye Hi-Fi!

  • 3 weeks ago

    The world is analog, your ears are analog, drums and guitars are analog so naturally

    it sounds better.

  • Anonymous
    3 weeks ago

    Even if cassettes did sound better, you just said most people wouldn't be able to hear it. And given the choice between a $100 CD player and $15 album, or a $5000 Nakamichi Dragon and absolutely nothing to listen to because type II tapes haven't been made in decades, the choice is pretty obvious.  If distortion is desirable, then just buy a tube amp and play CDs, or better yet, FLAC, through it.

    In short, if quality is imperceptibly different, then the format that is cheaper, more reliable, and doesn't wear out (CD) is better. And if the distortion of tapes is somehow "better" to you, then you would be better off with a low-end deck. Eliminating noise and distortion is the entire point of high-end machines and metal tape.

  • garry
    Lv 6
    3 weeks ago

    whats better the sample rate of 22khertz from a cassette or the sample rate of a cd which is 44khertz...???? simple answer is you got a crappy copy on cd , pay more for a cd with better sound , and which last longer a cd or a cassette !!! Go away troll to you learn how a cd is made .

  • 3 weeks ago

    Analog is not as compressed and anything written on CD is. Compression is a loss of information and data and could resort in the sound being distorted. 

    Try finding a digitally remastered version of that cassette album and this might fix your problem. 

  • 4 weeks ago

    Someone with good hearing can detect distortion below 0.1%

    Analog compact cassette is not as good as CD, no matter what machine or tape is used.

    Analog tape systems also need equalisation and record bias to compensate for lack of linearity and noise introduced.

    And both tape the tape heads wear slightly with every pass of a tape through the machine.

    The playback with cd (or dvd / blu-ray) is optical and does not cause wear or degradation to the discs.

    It can be extremely good and completely acceptable for general listening, but so can high bitrate MP3 - it does not mean either is as good as CD.

  • i find that cds sound way better.

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