It’s Time to Get a Portable Cassette Player (Back) Into Your Life
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At my house, we believe in analog, and lately the whole family has been rediscovering the humble cassette tape, thanks to a refurbished 1990s-era dual cassette deck. We’ve been putting some old favorites back into the rotation and acquiring a growing pile of new music in the antique format, in all of its fuzzy, warbly glory.
But the deck we’ve been using sits in the stereo cabinet, and a big part of the ’80s was being able to take those cassettes on the go. So with that in mind, I’ve been using We Are Rewind’s retro-styled WE-001 portable cassette player, a newfangled take on the old Sony Walkman concept, in the appropriately retro rose-and-teal Edith colorway (you can get it in a variety of finishes, if this particular eye-melting combo doesn’t suit your taste).
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Seems a little weird at first, turning to fragile, inconsistent tape in this age of on-demand digital perfection. Perhaps it’s because home taping not onlydidn’t kill music, but from mixtapes to music sharing it paved the way for how we listen today. Or it may have to do with the high price of other retro media — new vinyl records areaveraging above $30, while prerecorded cassettescost well under $20.
But like vinyl (and, for that matter, analog watches and film cameras), a big part of the fun is the imperfection, whether you’re digging up your parent’s OG Madonna cassettes, tracking down some ultraobscure dungeon synth producer, or picking up the latest from Taylor Swift.
“For younger generations who grew up with MP3s and streaming services, cassette tapes offer a physical and tactile experience that feels fresh and new,” TEAC product-planning section manager Jo Yoshida told me recently. “Some enthusiasts even enjoy recording digital music onto cassette because tape introduces a distinctive character and warmth that differs from the original source.”
And that’s what the WE-001 gives me: character and warmth. I’ve been listening to a mix of cassettes I’ve owned since way back in the late 20th century as well as new releases, and while the audio quality isn’t anything to write home about (I’ve been reviewing audio equipment and recordings since the 1990s, so I’ve written plenty), it isn’t what I was after.
In a lovely package, the WE-001 delivers access to a huge range of music that never made it to digital formats, with modern conveniences like a rechargeable battery and Bluetooth, meaning I can listen for hours at my desk, over Bluetooth speakers, or while I’m out mowing the lawn (though the substantial aluminum case is just at the margins of being coat-pocket-friendly). And that’s pretty satisfying — listening wirelessly to tapes you made before wireless audio was even a thought is a real moment for reflection.
If you’re really serious about audio quality and want the highest possible quality out of a cassette player, however, this might not be for you. The We Are Rewind, like most modern cassette decks, doesn’t support better-quality media of the past likechrome, ferro-chrome, and metal tape, nor is it compatible with Dolby noise reduction. If you want that, you can go out and buy a refurbished Sony Walkman on eBay or stick with stereo gear, which never really went away.
“Interestingly,” Yoshida says, “cassette decks have remained a consistent business for us rather than disappearing and then returning. In Japan, there has long been demand for cassette recording applications, including music education and karaoke-related use. There is also steady replacement demand from older consumers who continue to enjoy cassette collections they built during the heyday of home recording.”
But if you really want quality over all else, you’ve got plenty of options, from loss-less streaming to the resurgent compact disc to today’s better-than ever turntables. A cassette player, especially a portable cassette player, is first and foremost about the vibe — and the vibe is pretty nice. And if you’re looking for more features: digital duplication, or a belt loop for easier portability, or even something less expensive and more stripped down, there are plenty of models out there that might motivate you to dig that old case of cassettes out of the back of your closet.
Other portable cassette players we’ve been testing
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A bare-bones player-only in a compact, solid case from the mobile audio specialists.
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A player-recorder you can run off AA batteries or USB-C in a transparent case with retro headphones.
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A more compact player-recorder with Bluetooth.
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An inexpensive take on the Bluetooth-enabled cassette player — with a belt clip for retro mobility.
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A new-school take on the console player-recorder you might remember from elementary school.
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A player-recorder with a digital output to convert your cassettes to MP3s.
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