dave weil wrote:
On Tue, 4 May 2004 15:16:28 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

The original claim was that modern recordings are so mediocre that
being re-recorded on a poor medium like cassette would not further
audibly degrade them.

You mean re-recorded on a poorly recorded cassette.

No, I mean recorded on a well-known poor medium. It has been always
well-known that the cassette medium was a technical compromise, cubed. Or,
do I have to remind you that anybody who serious about sound quality on
analog tape uses wider, faster tracks?

You spent much of the post trying to establish how poor the format in
general is (as you did in the above sentence).

I'm just alluding to the well-known fact that were it not for an acute need
for convenience and portability with existing relatively simple-minded
technology around 1968, the compact cassette would have never existed.

Also, the OP said "so bad...would sound the same if recorded on a
cassette". This is a slam on the format in general.

It's not a slam, its a recital of a fact that is widely stipulated. the OP
no doubt based his comment on the fact that it is widely-known that cassette
is a highly compromised medium.

You didn't say "on a poorly recorded cassette".

Cassette was and is a highly compromised medium, on the first and best day
of its life. My transcriptions weren't poor, they were average. Keep them
away from the originals and they don't sound too bad.

If you want a real thrill, get the RAP CD set 5 and try re-recording my test
file on your Tascam. Then edit it up and ABX it. You'll learn! ;-)

Just about anybody who has much experience with the pre-existing large
analog tape formats knows that they always performed better. There's no
extant controversy over the idea that they sound better than cassette.
Indeed, there was no doubt in the mind of the OP.

The technical limitations of cassette on the best day of its life are very
significant, even compared to vinyl.

You just don't see professional audio engineers saying "Let me master this
on cassette tape instead of half-track 15 ips, to get superior sound
quality". Never happened. It would be a joke! ;-)

What did happen is that way back then, people faced real-world constraints,
mostly related to and portability and what is now low tech.