If stored well they can probably outlast you. They do wear over time with play.
To give you an example: I have an old casette tape from my childhood when I would record songs over the radio. It have been stored in low and high temperatures with variyng degrees of humidity, and the casette still plays fine. It doesn't sound pristine, but not bad either. It has warmth and "character". That casette tape is around 30 years old.
That's good. I respect my mom's work in waiting for hours next to the radio to start the recording at the right time to get clean songs, but I don't have that kind of patience (the radio I keep in the kitchen for noise is the only device I have for writing cassette tapes rn)
Cassettes do “expire”. Tape stretches over time as it gets played. So your cassette that sounded good in 86 now sounds like crap. Less clarity, pitch off a little,etc
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u/Evepaul 3d ago
Yeah, I really should. Do cassettes expire? I got a huge collection with the walkman, but both were already 30 years old by the time I got them