mp3 Vs. cassettes
 

I realise there can't a hard and fast answer to this, but I am only looking for a rule of thumb.

Which would you reckon to be better sound quality: a mp3 at 128 bitrate or a commercially produced cassette?

A brand new, never been played cassette probably sounds about the same as a 128 MP3 in my opinion. But the more you play the tape, leave it laying in sunlight or next to electronics, etc. , the more the sound loses its fidelity. MP3 records frequencies up to 16 KHz and new tapes record up to 18 or 20 KHz, but after a while the tape's frequency range drops below 14 or 12 KHz and it can't reproduce the high frequency sounds, making it sound muffled and muted. The bass can tend to get a little smeary too. But MP3 never loses its quality, it always produces the same sound every time you play it.

tough call. the weaknesses of both formats are similar: dynamic range and frequency response. cassettes duplicated at high speed (almost all commercial ones) suffer badly with both, as do mp3s at 128, even well burned ones.

for me in my studio tho, mp3s get the edge in sound. they're a bit tighter and have faster transients than store bought prerecorded cassettes, although the high end is grainier. the biggest diifference tho is that mp3s have no hiss at all which can be a major problem with cassettes, especialy those with badly calibrated dolby.

but if i roll my own cassette using a cd source and my nakamichi deck, it's a much better recording than that same cd source done as an mp3@128.

- js.

Thank you Mazer and JS.:)