1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9.
Cassette players are staging a comeback. The original portable audio format is capturing the imagination of music fans once again, as sales creep back from the boot sale of oblivion. The compact cassette was a Hi-Fi fixture for decades, both as a pre-recorded alternative to vinyl and later CD, and as a home recording format, where it was used for everything from mixtapes, to bootlegging live shows.
It also famously ushered in a revolution in personal listening, when Sony introduced the Walkman in the 1980s. Eventually though, technology made the format redundant. Digital audio took over, first with alternatives like Mini Disc and Digital Audio Tape (DAT), and then MP3 and streaming.
Yet against all odds, it’s now back and selling again. According to the BPI (British Phonographic Institute), pre-recorded cassette sales surpassed six figures annually for the fourth consecutive year in 2023, topping around 136,000 units. Last year’s best selling cassette was Guts by Olivia Rodrigo, which shifted nearly 8,500 copies during its first week of release! The FiiO CP13 takes me back to the good old days of the Sony Walkman thanks to its distinctive design.
It's well put together and features a rechargeable battery that'll give you around 13 hours of playback. It also has a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack for wired listening.
Harkening back to the glory days of the 80s when double tape decks were all the rage, the Teac W-1200 is more than just a curio. The bar.
