Finding some old cassette tapes and realizing that I hadn't listened to them at all. I think someone sent them as music to check out.
Finally getting a chance to listen to them.
Whoops.
Unrelated: If anyone tells you that cassettes are better than digital you have my permission to lop off their highs and muddy their lows.
@craigmaloney Unless the cassettes are DAT or DCC, of course. Having worked at KUNI & KHKE during my college years (2000 to 2004) I can say that we usually recorded on DAT at a 48 kHz sampling rate, higher than the 44.1 kHz used for CDs.
Cassettes can sound pretty good, but a) they need to be at least High Bias (Type II) or Metal Bias (Type IV), b) the tape heads need to be aligned, c) the heads, capstan, and pinch roller need to be cleaned regularly, and d) they need Dolby C or S, or DBX NR.
@ND3JR These were decidedly not DAT /DCC, nor were they anything Hi Bias. And even with HI Bias they still tend to be muddy with a more pronounced high end. (At least that's my experience). I haven't had experience with Dolby S or dbx, but those tended to be formats that needed special playback in otder to work
Also 48kHz is best for recording but isn't any better for playback.
Cool that you used DAT at your radio stations. We were still using reel-to-reel for our promos et al.
@craigmaloney may I also wrap their tape around the capstans in a horrifying tangle that requires two hours with hemostats and nail scissors to disengage?
@MightyBigCar You do you. :)
@craigmaloney Don't bother me. I'm rewinding an MP3 file.