1993 PMD Magnetics Professional Audiocassette C15

Here’s a cracker from the 1990s – a PMD Magnetics Professional Audiocassette, which I think would probably have been manufactured in 1993 – the year I bought it. The ‘Professional’ designation hints at something fairly magnificent, so you’d expect at least a high bias Type 2 tape – if not a Type 4 metal job. However, this is in fact a normal bias Type 1, with a ferric formulation.

1997 Konica KX-HR 90 Audio Cassette

Given the distaste I had for Konica’s photographic film, I wasn’t expecting much from their audio tapes, and indeed stayed clear of them until 1997, when I needed some high bias tapes in quantity, and was swayed by the saving on bulk packs of Konicas, as opposed to more highly respected brands. I was amazed at how good these tapes were, and even though I’d bought quite a number of them, I did buy more. They were actually my last audio tape fad before I switched to entirely digital recording means.

1990s Woolworths Ferric 90 Audio Cassette Tape

One audio tape brand I’m not seeing much of on the Internet is Woolworths. Until it went out of business in early 2009, Woolworths (very often known as Woollies) was a British high street retail chain store. It had been a fairly well respected and popular chain of large general product shops in the latter part of the 20th century, perhaps best known for selling sweets and snacks, entertainment media such as records and tapes, and household electrical items such as light bulbs or plug extensions.