My band's first cassette run felt like holding a piece of our history, lol. All those late nights in the garage suddenly had a physical form you could actually touch. What really sealed the deal was handing them out at shows, seeing people's reactions firsthand. The smell of the ink and the crispness of the J-card made it all real in a way streaming never could. Wendy's right about the weight thing, too, that heft in your hand is oddly satisfying. It's a milestone that changes how you view your own music, for sure.

Needle depth seems to be the make-or-break factor for clean lines. A lot of artists never get consistent feedback on that specific variable. What was the actual metric they used to gauge proper penetration?