This statement:
 
OP: "I bought X recording gear/instrument/amp etc. and it sounded so good my friend thought I had used samples/emulation etc.
 
These are weird times or what? 

I sure Am glad I don't have to fuss with a 4 track cassette machine no more.... but I was a lot more creative when I did.

I sure as hell wasn't. Hated that hiss so much I stopped bothering with recording at all, even though I had nothing to compare it with. Getting a DAW, meagre as it was at the time, opened a whole new world to me! 

Although it was low tech I had to work harder at getting things right which kept me on my toes and your right the hiss was bad. I got me one of those new fangled DBX boxes(in the day) and it helped some.
 
These days it's matter of looping and Quantizing so no need to rerecord a bad take. Although I'm more happy with the results these days I still Romanticize about how well those old sessions came out when compared to some of the stuff I put out these days.
 
There ARE some great tools available these days no doubt.

Perhaps they could make a DAW where the sound quality became progressively worse with every take (like on tape). That way you'd have an excuse to keep a good but possibly improvable take!

I just made sure all my 4track cassette songs were about snakes. Simplz.

I think the only way would be to not allow any editing what so ever.... but then no body would buy it.

yorolpal
I just made sure all my 4track cassette songs were about snakes. Simplz.

That's a nice dogma record right there. Snakes on a cassette!

SvenArne
This statement:
 
OP: "I bought X recording gear/instrument/amp etc. and it sounded so good my friend thought I had used samples/emulation etc.
 
These are weird times or what? 

That's why I don't go on forums.

jamesg1213

SvenArne
This statement:
 
OP: "I bought X recording gear/instrument/amp etc. and it sounded so good my friend thought I had used samples/emulation etc.
 
These are weird times or what? 

That's why I don't go on forums.

The only way it would make sense would be if samples and emulators were actually more expensive than amps/pianos/mixing consoles/compressors/tape machines/what have you...