Photograph Credit score: Maxell Japan
Maxell Japan releases a transportable cassette participant with a great deal of trendy options, together with Bluetooth, USB-C, and a chargeable battery. The discharge comes as cassette tapes have turn out to be massively widespread in Japan.
The curiosity in retro tech with a contemporary twist continues as cassette fans hope to deliver a few renaissance for the format just like the vinyl resurgence. Whereas cassettes haven’t but reached the identical ranges of comeback hype in america and elsewhere, extra firms are creating gamers to go together with artists’ cassette releases.
That is most obvious in international locations like Japan and South Korea, the place artists typically launch cassettes to accompany CD and digital releases. Now, Maxell Japan has launched a transportable “Walkman” model cassette participant, and it’s full of options to buoy trendy comfort.
The brand new Maxell MXCP-P100 might look very acquainted to the older generations, with a method not not like that of the outdated Sony, Panasonic, and different cassette gamers widespread within the ‘90s. However this model boasts options now normal in 2020s audio tech, like Bluetooth and a chargeable battery that connects to a USB Kind-C charger.
It may be complicated to many within the west as to why Maxell felt it essential to launch such a product, however J-pop and Okay-pop followers are properly accustomed to modern cassette releases. It’s common for pop idol teams to launch unique cassettes, typically with distinctive cowl artwork that makes for a fantastic collector’s merchandise.
The truth is, cassette tape gross sales in Japan skilled a dramatic resurgence in 2023, in accordance to the Recording Business Affiliation of Japan. Cassette tape gross sales rose by 241% in 2023, reaching 212 million yen ($1.37M). Unit manufacturing of cassettes additionally elevated by 224% to 119,000 items—although small, highlights the recognition of the format amongst devoted followers. That development continued properly into 2024.
Different key options of Maxell’s moveable cassette participant embody its battery life. The corporate says the rechargeable battery lasts 9 hours utilizing wired headphones, or seven with an lively Bluetooth connection. Notably, the machine additionally includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, one thing vastly missed within the newer generations of good telephones. A USB-C charging cable additionally comes with the machine, although it should, in fact, work with any USB-C cables you would possibly already personal.
Maxell’s MXCP-P100 sells for ¥13,000 in Japan, or round $90. Nonetheless, the cassette participant is already bought out as of this writing. Will probably be attention-grabbing to see if this is because of demand, or if Maxell solely launched a restricted quantity in its preliminary batch to gauge shopper response.
