Is it any wonder that some music fans are starting to look for alternatives to streaming services? Not only do estimates indicate that most streaming services pay artists a fraction of a penny per listen, but in recent months we’ve seen articles about services raising prices, CEOs showing total disdain for the value of artists’ work, and playlists being populated by music from questionable sources.
The resurgence of vinyl is old news at this point, and that format works great for enjoying physical media at home. But how do you say “So long!” to Spotify while you’re walking the dog or riding the subway?
Would it surprise you to learn that, for some people, a portable cassette player is the answer? The cassette format, introduced in the 1960s, is enjoying a resurgence of its own, and many major pop artists now offer their latest works on cassette. New portable cassette players inspired by Sony’s 1980s Walkman have appeared from various companies, including upstart manufacturer We Are Rewind, audiophile fave FiiO, and numerous off-brands on Amazon.
But can people really go back to carrying around a separate tape for every album they want to hear—and having to flip it halfway through to get to the rest of the music? Not to mention tolerating the possible loss of fidelity? And paying at least as much for every new album as they would spend for a month of streaming?
To get a better idea of what you can expect from this new crop of cassette players, Wirecutter acquired samples of the We Are Rewind and FiiO players, plus the inexpensive Reshow 235A, and put them in the hands of senior updates writer Arriana Vasquez, a music enthusiast who’d had only fleeting experience with cassettes, and senior staff writer Brent Butterworth, who’d used cassettes every day for decades. Brent also ran technical tests and conducted some listening sessions with a few vintage-audio enthusiasts.
