Hello analog cassettes, goodbye WMA

[NAD613]

I've gotten so used to listening to the nice analog sound of cassettes over the last month that I've all but quit listening to the WMA on my computer; it just sounds too thin now. My MP3 players may go next, except for the first one I ever got. It has a line in, so I may record directly off my cassette deck onto my MP3. I'm also going to use my Walkman-type players more, too.

[Scorpion8]

Good choice. The move to digital was never about sound quality, just convenience, storage and ease of manufacturing. I've never listened to music thru the computer because those speakers usually could never compare to my audio stuff, even small bookshelf units. I've never been a fan of running the PC out to an amp or receiver, so that wasn't done.

Besides, I'm old school. I grew up with tape. I like tape. I understand it's inherent flaws and weaknesses, and it's strengths and superiority. I don't need to carry my whole home library with me, not do I care to watch videos on a 1" x 1" screen.

I know digital is here to stay. Long live the analog cassette. Long live the Walkman-type personal stereo.

[Mr. Lin]

I haven't tried recording any files from my computer to cassette just yet, but I can tell you this: I've begun taping some CDs, monitoring the whole thing on headphones. Today for the first time I hooked my Nak BX-1 up to my main system to hear some of my tapes through speakers - I held my breath waiting to see if I'd just wasted a lot of money on blank tapes - it sounded amazing! And for some reason the hiss was less audible through the speakers.

I have an enormous library of music on my computer that I never listen to anymore, but perhaps this will give me a new reason to listen to all those songs.

[NAD613]

I've got my computer hooked into one of the tape monitor loops in my Realistic Tape Control Center; the other 2 loops are for my Pioneer minidisc deck & my NAD 613 cassette deck. Since I've started getting into cassettes again, I've been recording some stuff from the computer onto cassette tapes again, then doing an A/B listening comparison. Yeah, the tapes sound better, more full, better bass.