[BlueA]

That's what I call Iconic Design
Well done Fiio

 

[Chuck Dee]

Any W&F figures you can publish yet?
Hoping you're aiming for something close to 0.10% RMS or better for it to be anywhere near listenable?

Make the internal battery user-replaceable to extend the lifecycle and make the playback head the defining end-of-lifecycle item.

For all those asking about PC connectivity (presumably to digitise cassettes) just buy a cheap old Yamaha KX deck.

 

[XTF1]

No Dolby B (or C)?

 

[ImaginaryFireball]

Will it use a proprietary cassette deck and tape reader, or will it just be built around the same components that most other modern cassette players use?

 

[betula]

I get this retro wave that every 30-40 years some old trends and technologies return in a new robe, but do not quite understand the need for cassettes. It is different with vinyl, as those truly convey a uniquely 'fluid' analogue sound, but I do not think cassettes offer anything unique in the world of hi-res streaming. They just sound noisy and unrefined with terrible resolution. At least that is how I remember even to top level Sony Walkmans from the 90's. I do not mean to sound negative, just don't quite get the idea this time.

 

[Menkau-ra]

Wow! This is so cool! I love it

 

[Trickness]

Here's some wishful thinking: don't use a cheap off the shelf transport, all the ones currently available on the market are trash. Get an old Sony Professional WM-D6C and reverse engineer it. Make it a good CASSETTE PLAYER - bluetooth, streaming, wifi are great, but what the market needs is a real quality portable cassette player with good frequency response and mechanicals.

 

[tramubla]

No recording? But that was like half the fun of cassettes

 

[Jimmyblues1959]

No recording? But that was like half the fun of cassettes

What this device may accomplish is to begin a trend where younger people may start collecting older Walkman
style cassette decks. I remember when I was in my early 30's and first saw the books published by Charles Kittleson
regarding vintage tube HiFi equipment from the 1930's through the 1960's. I couldn't wait to buy some of that older gear
to restore it. IME young people tend to have a fascination for any technologies (however outdated) that were contemporary
for their parents and even grandparents. They see it as part of their own history.

 

[heliosphann]

Shhhhhhh. Nobody tell @L0rdGwyn!!!

 

[jamato8]

I hope it can record, since my best tapes of the past, were ones I recorded using a Sony home deck. And I don't see any commercial tapes to speak of and all mine are a long time gone.

 

[123peter]

Young, mobile people for whom a small USB-dongle attached to a smartphone is already an inconvenience and do not know what a Walkman is,
and older ones who went through the Walkman era and only remember it sentimentally
- are most looking forward to this set of cassettes added to the CP13 in the form of ---playlists on Tidal.
But maybe I'm wrong and someone from both groups will take a step back to see how many light years separate compact cassettes from current music streaming.

 

[Jimmyblues1959]

Young, mobile people for whom a small USB-dongle attached to a smartphone is already an inconvenience and do not know what a Walkman is,
and older ones who went through the Walkman era and only remember it sentimentally
- are most looking forward to this set of cassettes added to the CP13 in the form of ---playlists on Tidal.
But maybe I'm wrong and someone from both groups will take a step back to see how many light years separate compact cassettes from current music streaming.

Time will tell

 

[psikey]

I get this retro wave that every 30-40 years some old trends and technologies return in a new robe, but do not quite understand the need for cassettes. It is different with vinyl, as those truly convey a uniquely 'fluid' analogue sound, but I do not think cassettes offer anything unique in the world of hi-res streaming. They just sound noisy and unrefined with terrible resolution. At least that is how I remember even to top level Sony Walkmans from the 90's. I do not mean to sound negative, just don't quite get the idea this time.

Some people chase their youth as they get older, personally no interest in cassette (other than reading Fiio news). I threw all my old cassettes away decades ago.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I have collected MANY bespoke vintage blank cassettes and have a restored Revox B215 deck on the way.

I am ready.