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Cassette tapes are making a comeback, but cassette tape players aren't really.

Vinyl is experiencing a huge resurgence. We all know this. But a rising tide lifts all ships and it has actually spawned renewed interest in other old-school audio formats as well, including CDs and, maybe a bit more surprisingly, classic cassette tapes.

The heyday of classic cassette tapes was really in the '70s, '80s and '90s — before the emergence of CDs really snuffed them out — and they became super popular because they were really the first portable audio format. Largely thanks to the boombox (first released in 1966) and the iconic Sony Walkman (first released in 1979), cassette tapes allowed you to listen to music outside your home and wherever you like.

In additional to being portable, cassette tapes were really popular because they were affordable; the average price of an album on a cassette tape was about $10. Plus cassette tapes played a warm and imperfect sound that analog audio from reel-to-reel and vinyl is known for (even if the audio quality of a cassette tape is considerably worse). It also provided a similar mechanical and tactile experience. It's a format that you have touch to experience

In 2022, it's actually not that difficult to buy cassette tapes. They are still being made and they are still very much in pop culture's zeitgeist thanks to being featured in hit shows and movies like Stranger Things and Guardians of the Galaxy. Also, a lot of labels and recording artists are still releasing cassette tapes. For example, if you go on the websites of many of today's most popular artists — including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, Billie Eilish, Selena Gomez and many others — they are selling cassette tapes of their latest albums.

And as far as older albums are concerned, you can find cassette tapes of those as well. There are certain albums that are significantly rarer than others, of course — just like with vinyl — but you find a lot of old school albums on vintage audio shots, online specialty stores (such as Tape Head City or The Cassette Place) and online marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, Sweetwater or Craigslist.

Cassette tape players are an entirely different story, however. Unlike how the popularity of vinyl has encouraged new manufacturers of turntables and other hi-fi components, there are virtually no new makers of cassette tape players — both portable cassette tape players or cassette decks. This means you have to shop vintage. Fortunately, there's a thriving online market.

Just like with vintage turntables, shopping for vintage cassette tape players and decks isn't as straightforward as shopping for modern audio components. A lot of what you'll find online is obviously odd and probably not in the best condition. In fact, a lot of these vintage cassette tape players and decks don't work at all and the sellers are expecting you to have to fix them up. This is going to add an extra cost, not to mention you're likely going to have to find a local hi-fi shop that can do it for you.

A note: This isn't a definitive or exhaustive list of the best vintage cassette tape players and decks — there's too much subjectivity there and room for debate. Instead, this is a list of some of the most beloved models that were first released in the 70s, 80s and 90s and are still sought after today. If you have suggestions for additions, please leave them in the comments and we'll potentially upgrade this post in the near future.

The Aiwa HS-G330 is a chrome-and-metal walkman with wonderfully tactile buttons for playback controls on the top, as well as a volume scroll wheel on the side. It also has a 3-band graphic equalizer on the front, which is a fun feature that allows you to tweak the audio settings.

The Aiwa HS-G08 was a really advanced cassette tape player when it was released. It had a 5-band equalizer, auto-reserve, soft-touch controls and Dolby B noise-reduction. It was also the company's first music player to have a remote control. When it was released in 1985, it was $100. But it's a lot more expensive these days.

(You can read more about the Aiwa HS-G08 at The Walkman Archive.)

The Sony Walkman TPS-L2 is one of the most important portable music players. It was designed as a pretty affordable music player — was around $200 when it was released — but it was really innovative because it had two headphone jacks so two people could listen at a time. It also had a "hotline" button that, when pressed, overrode the music and activated a microphone so that two people could talk to each other without taking off their headphones.

(You can read more about the Sony Walkman TPS-L2 at The Walkman Archive.)

The WM-DD9 is one of the most sought-after vintage cassette tape players — and many enthusiasts to be one of the best Walkmans ever. Despite its relatively bespoke design, the WM-DD9 was a really high-end player at the time and it's made of advanced components. It has two independent disk drive motors, an amorphous head, auto-reserve, Dolby noise reduction and it's one of the few Walkmans to have a gold-plated headphone socket.

(You can read more about the Sony WM-DD9 Walkman at The Walkman Land.)

The Sony TC-WE605S is a really great vintage stereo cassette deck with a tiny screen and a host of buttons for recording and playback controls. It's rich with playback features, including supports loop and reversible playing, which is pretty cool. It also supports Dolby B/C/S and HX-Pro noise reduction. It cost $250 when it was released in 1996 and you can find it for pretty much the same price today (although it'll likely need quite the tune up).

(You can read more about the Sony TC-WE605S at CassetteDeck.)

The Akai GX-M50 is a high-quality and gorgeous vintage cassette tape player. It's a 3-head deck (a technology inspired by reel-to-reel decks) that was designed for listening and recording. It has a wide array of buttons and knobs for controls, as well as a display for level meters.

(You can read more about the Akai GX-M50 at CassetteDeck.)

The Pioneer CT-F9191 is another really pretty vintage cassette tape player. It's a 2-head deck with memory stop and manual tape selection. It also has a wide variety of buttons, switches and knobs for playback control, as well as two microphone inputs and level meters for optimal recording.

(You can read more about the Pioneer CT-F9191 at CassetteDeck.)