Dan,
1 7/8 inches per second and narrow tape are indeed a compromise for sound quality and I never thought about those developments you mentioned (along with three heads) specific for music reproduction (but try to find decent tape these days). While the analogy isn't 100%, I liken cassettes to (lossy compression) digital formats - it's an approximation, and serves a purpose: portability, travel, convenience, etc - but
you are losing something. But that doesn't mean the format isn't useful or fun.
I mean, wasn't there a line of "pro" cassette recorders-TEAC and Marantz (PMD-....) that were portable? Artists could capture ideas, the jist of a song and then work on it "back home."
OK, who here set up in a Grateful Dead concert and recorded?
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