The Type III Ferrichrome / Ferro-chrome Audio Cassette

Most cassette-buying consumers of yesteryear will remember normal tapes (classified Type I), high bias tapes (classified Type II), and to a lesser extent, metal tapes (classified Type IV). These were the three options from which consumers would choose.

And if you look back at the cassette decks from the heyday of analogue home recording, you’ll probably see a reference to each of these three cassette types. Perhaps a physical selector (if it’s a very old deck), but more likely just a series of LED indicators, showing which of the three types the deck has auto-detected, once the cassette is in the machine.

Type I, Type II, and Type IV. No Type III…

Voice of the Beehive – Let It Bee Audio Cassette (1988)

In 1987 and 1988, I was a trainee working with a group of largely incompetent painters and decorators…. Papering walls, doing odd jobs, accidentally pulling down the odd ceiling, and once in a while being ordered to take a door off its hinges and burn it because the customer was so dissatisfied with the painting. Invariably, we’d have the radio on, and Voice of the Beehive tracks such as I Walk The Earth and Don’t Call Me Baby would keep us as enthusiastic as was feasible. When this Album – Let It Bee – was released in June ‘88, combining existing hits with new or lesser known songs, I bought it straight away.

The Type II Chrome Bias Audio Cassette

A classic blast from the past, in the shape of a mid 1980s BASF CR-E II cassette. A real chromium dioxide formulation, and for many, the epitome of the high bias tape.

The Type II high bias audio cassette is actually much older a development than many people realise. The rise of the Type II tape is generally associated with the 1980s, but in fact, it was introduced, with a chromium dioxide (CrO2) tape formulation, at the dawn of the 1970s.

Chrome tapes were, technically, a big advancement from the start. Du Pont’s chromium dioxide formulation gave an undeniable increase in high frequency response over the often rather muffled tone of the existing Type I ferric cassette. This meant much better definition – a major improvement in fidelity, and an ability to preserve all the zing and sparkle at the treble end of the original sound.