Maxell, TDK, BASF, Memorex, Sony, 3M, Scotch, Capitol, Lafayette, Realistic, Norelco, Lyric, and at least a dozen other manufacturers sell audio cassettes. Many manufacture cassettes of excellent quality, others consciously exploit cassette users with sub-standard cassettes.

I’ve used cassettes since the late 1960’s when Phillips and the Japanese invented cassette audio. I’ve done countless interviews with a succession of fairly trusty Sony and Hitachi cassette recorders. I listen to most of my music on cassette and, despite its symphonic limitations, it’s the easiest way to manipulate sound.

The quality of the cassette recorder and the cassette affect how the sound comes out. But, no matter what you pay for the cassette recorder, the fidelity df its performance is fixed by the cassette. Cheap cassettes record and reproduce sound poorly, they hiss, pop, and rumble, they can damage the cassette recorder head and capstan roller, and wear out quickly.

The casual buyer is “being sold” cassettes, not “buying” them. A small minority know what cassette to buy at what price.

Some suggestions: