CASSETTE tapes are experiencing a renaissance of sorts with the current generation of music consumers being exposed to the old format of music playback thanks to the likes of artistes such as Ed Sheeran and Eminem bonding over them, along with movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy prominently featuring tape players and mixtapes.
That said, cassettes are not as widespread as they were, with most mainstream musicians opting for digital releases and equally, tape players are not being manufactured in the sheer numbers as three decades ago.
However, music lovers can still get their hands on both, particularly tape players, which are rarer than the two, as there are still companies out there bringing new devices into the niche. Here are a mixture of vintage tape players still floating around and new ones that were very recently released.
Fiio CP13
Compared with the utilitarian design of old school portable cassette players, modern ones are more stylish but there are those that combine the two as seen with Fiio’s new CP13.
Slightly smaller than its modern peers, the players are certainly portable and pocketable. A relatively straightforward player, the CP13 has no advanced features such as equalisation settings or noise reduction. Instead, it has an onboard battery and volume control.
The device’s sound quality is lean with trebles and a punchy bass. Through certain headphones, the sound can come across flat.
