John Darko
It might not be the best-sounding physical format – or the most popular – but Americans bought almost half a million pre-recorded cassettes in 2023.
According to Luminate, the USA’s top 10 selling cassettes were as follows:
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (18,000 copies sold)
- Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylorโs Version) (17,500 copies sold)
- Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (16,000 copies sold)
- Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (13,000 copies sold)
- Taylor Swift – Speak Now (Taylorโs Version) (11,500 copies sold)
- Nirvana – Bleach (8,000 copies sold)
- Metallica – 72 Seasons (7,500 copies sold)
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Mix, Vol. 1 (6,000 copies sold)
- Barbie: The Album (5,500 copies sold)
- Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (5,500 copies sold)
Hoping to ride the new wave of interest in cassettes is China’s FiiO which this week has, at last, formally announced its new portable cassette player.
The CP13 takes some design cues from the long-discontinued Sony Walkman but instead of asking us to bring our own batteries to the party, the FiiO unit internalises a 1800mAh USB-C rechargeable battery for up to 13 hours of playback. Notably, the CP13 can also be used whilst charging.
Headphone drive comes via a JRC5532 op-amp and 3.5mm socket for 250mV of output power and the ‘mechanical core’ contains a copper flywheel. However, FiiO chose not to add recording functionality or Bluetooth capabilities to its new cassette player.
Now for some vital statistics: the CP13 measures 12cm long, 88cm wide and 32cm thick; weight clocks in at 310g. Pricing? โฌ119.
Don’t be misled by the promotional photos. At the time of writing, FiiO is shipping the CP13 in two finishes: Sky Blue & Silver or White & Black. And that’s it! Future colour combinations will apparently be determined by customer feedback.
Further information: FiiO
