And here's where I depart from the true tape aficionados...I never went up the chain, even to a three head deck. In the 80s, made more sense, but now? I enjoy my lower end playground. Plenty good for the sound quality and I don't need to pay $2000 for the deck, another $1000 for a re-build and $300 in freight to get it back and forth to Connecticut. But if it's your thing, have at it.
A Dragon or a ZX1000 is a beautiful thing to look at...I prefer to keep our relationship just that way.
I am the opposite: The first cassette deck I saw was a 3 head Technics, in a radio station. After playing with that, I was all in & bought one. I have not been without at least one (& usually, like now 2) three head cassette decks since.
One reason many (most?) cassette decks never reached good sound quality is:
Almost all cassette decks have an
MPX filter to improve the sound quality and the tracking of the noise reduction system when recording from an FM stereo broadcast. However, in many especially cheaper decks, this filter cannot be disabled, and because of that record/playback frequency response in those decks typically is limited to 16 kHz. In other decks, the MPX filter can be switched off or on independently from the Dolby switch. On yet other decks, the filter is off by default, and an option to switch it on or off is only provided when Dolby is activated; this prevents the MPX filter from being used when it's not required.
It was possible (with great effort and expense on the manufacturers part) to get:
By the late 1980s, thanks to such improvements in the electronics, the tape material and manufacturing techniques, as well as dramatic improvements to the precision of the cassette shell,
tape heads and transport mechanics, sound fidelity on equipment from the top manufacturers far surpassed the levels originally expected of the medium.
On suitable audio equipment, cassettes could produce a very pleasant listening experience.
High-end cassette decks could achieve 15 Hz-22 kHz±3 dB
frequency response with
wow and
flutter below 0.022%, and a
signal-to-noise ratio of up to 61 dB (for Type IV tape, without noise-reduction)[
citation needed] . With noise reduction typical signal-to-noise figures of 70-76 dB with Dolby C, 80-86 dB with Dolby S, and 85 - 90 dB with dbx could be achieved.
Many casual listeners could not tell the difference between compact cassette and compact disc. (probably because their systems couldn't put out what Compact Disk was capable of [but the same is true today for casual listeners and higher than CD quality resolutions of digital than CD])
Regarding pre-recorded cassettes:
(From Wikipedia, as is the majority of what I have posted, [because it was easier than going through my stuff]))
"The buyer who is aware of sound quality is making his own." "They won't be satisfied with the 'tunnel effect' of prerecorded tape. And home tape deck users don't use prerecorded tapes at all." Yet, contended Solomon, while Tower's own stores show strong blank tape sales gains, its prerecorded sales have increased by only 2% to 3%. With an estimated 15% of the chain's total tape business now generated by the sales of blanks, "it would appear our added tape sales are going to TDK, Maxell and Sony, not you." he concluded. -
Billboard, Vol. 93, No. 38, 26 September 1981.
[17]
So, is it capable of digital levels of resolution? No, absolutely not! Is it capable of being "good enough"? In my humble opinion, yes. But was/is it ever implemented at that level?
RARELY!
So most people never heard it at it's best. And today (and has been for a number of years) it is much easier and less expensive to get better resolution than a cassette could provide. However, if you already have the "suitable" equipment (in great shape [because you bought it back then, inherited it or whatever {including stock of quality cassettes]}) it is (again, in my humble opinion) worth listening to.
Not to mention, in my case, many family things, important (to us) events, etc, that we have on cassette.
Will I digitize them? Yes, one day, maybe, if I get around to it. In other words I want to but life keeps getting in the way.