Cassettes and compact discs have both been used for a number of different purposes in the past few decades, from studio-produced pre-recorded media such as music releases and audio books to blank, recordable versions used for storing music and data. While both perform similar duties, in many ways CD's make for a more advanced, upgraded medium for those duties, leading cassettes closer to obsolescence a bit more each year.
Recording
CD's have a number of advantages over cassettes when it comes to recording. For one, CD's are a digital medium while cassettes are an older analog medium. Therefore, CD's can store and transfer data such as music files with no loss or deterioration regardless of how many times they are copied, and re-writable CD's can be recorded onto numerous times and still retain the original quality. One advantage cassettes hold is in recording time--some blank cassettes hold ninety or more minutes, while most blank CD's are limited to 77 minutes.
Playing
Compact discs also present an upgrade over cassettes when it comes to playback. Whether they are recorded at home or commercially-produced, individual songs and files can be instantly located and played with no rewinding or fast-forwarding needed. And, unless the disc itself is scratched or damaged, it will maintain its original quality better than a cassette over time, while a cassette can also be at risk of having the tape get caught in the heads, tangled up, warped or broken.
Long Recordings
One area cassettes may have an edge over CD's is that CD's are recorded from the center to the edge, and when recorded up to their 77 minute limit, certain CD players, mainly single-disc car stereos, can tend to skip when nearing that edge and fail to play the final tracks at times, where a cassette will play the same whether at the beginning or end of the tape, given a consistent power supply.
Equipment
Another area where CD's are leaving cassettes far behind is in the number of devices available to play them. While home, auto and portable cassette players still work well when properly maintained, finding new models in the stores is becoming more of a rarity, and vehicle stereo systems no longer have the option of coming with a cassette player, whether they be factory-installed or purchased elsewhere.
Convenience
Compact discs are a much more common medium now than cassettes, and can be played and accessed in a wider variety of devices, including home CD and DVD players, car stereos, portable players and in the CD-ROM drive of a computer. Also, a CD will play straight through from beginning to end, while a cassette will need to be flipped over, either manually or by the player, to play its entire content.
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