1983 Sony Metallic 60 Audio Cassette

Was there ever a better looking audio cassette on the high street shelves in the 1980s? The Sony Metallic 60 exuded class, with its dark label and gold foil-printed lettering. Even the inlay card in the case looked special, in white, with large gold-foil lettering.

1990 BASF Chrome Extra II 60 Audio Cassette

This is the dark grey, ridged version of the BASF Chrome Extra II, from 1990. It falls in between this version, from 1989, and this much more attractive version, from 1992. I wasn’t keen at all on the aesthetics of the version in this post, and I’m not convinced it sounded as good as the others either. It certainly doesn’t sound as nice to me as the ’92 version, which I felt was more in keeping with the Chromdioxids of the early ’80s. I have to admit though, I never tested tapes scientifically. It was just practical use in working situations that formed my opinions.

1990 That’s RX 60 Audio Cassette

I’ve put this one down as a ‘1990’, because I believe I bought it in the latter part of that year – possibly even early 1991. However, vintagecassettes.com shows this version of the RX as having been replaced by a different design by 1990, so I dare say some of this stock took a lot longer to sell than the UK retailers might have desired.