The last few weeks have been spent wondering whether to purchase the new FiiO CP13 cassette player or put the 10K aside for a few more software subscription packages.

FiiO is a fairly new company — established in 2007 — that makes headphones, portable devices and more from its Guangzhou setup. The question is will you be able to relive those tangled-mangled moments. Further, very few new recordings get released on cassette, making you rely on secondhand stores for old recordings.

So why has a company come up with a portable cassette player? Retro kicks mainly. The sound of tape is not as soulless as that of streaming digital music on tiny wireless earbuds.

Despite the dominance of digital music, thanks to the ease of streaming services, physical formats have proved resilient. Of course, vinyl records are having a strong showing and even the less-celebrated CD continues to have its loyal enthusiasts but don’t forget the cassette. Despite its imperfections, sales of cassette tapes is on the rise and, from time to time, musicians like Lady Gaga are releasing their albums on cassette.

Shipping the FiiO CP13 or We Are Rewind to the US, the UK or Japan makes sense as the hip-hop and punk scene is big in these markets. National Audio Co is a popular name in the cassette tape manufacturing segment, still producing a substantial amount and Melbourne-based Dex Audio is the leading producer of cassettes in Australia.

But before buying any of these players, ask yourself whether you can easily find cassettes. In Calcutta’s Wellington neighbourhood there are some old folks selling cassettes but titles are limited. If you can keep purchasing Billie Eilish or Taylor Swift on cassette then go ahead and get FiiO CP13.