1986 BASF LH-EI 60 Audio Cassette

Propping up the range of BASF audio cassettes back in 1986 was this LH-EI – a base-level Type I with an attractive look, and a significantly better sound than you might expect. It is a bit on the noisy side, but nowhere near as bad as some direct rivals, and the frequency range is impressive indeed for a tape occupying such lowly territory. This is certainly not a tarted-up ‘voice recording’ product. It’s fine for music. Quite different in tone to Sony’s HF. The BASF LH-EI is brighter (comparatively strong brightness was typical for a BASF tape).

1990 BASF Ferro Extra I 90 Audio Cassette

What an excellent tape this BASF Ferro Extra I was. As you’d expect, given the cassette’s name, it was a Type I, normal bias ferric, but it had a lovely refined sound. I bought a few of these in the autumn of 1990, shortly after getting myself a Tascam Porta 05 ministudio (26th September – still got the receipt). The Ferro Extra Is weren’t suitable for use in the Tascam (which only took Type II tapes), but I wanted to master some of the Tascam’s multitrack recordings onto normal bias cassettes which would play on the widest range of equipment.

1984 BASF Chromdioxid Super II 60 Audio Tape

What an attractive beast of a tape this was. Very eye-catching in its black plastic casing with black label and shiny gold lettering, the BASF Chromdioxid Super II 60 of 1984 was a leading Type II consumer cassette of its time. The sound was similar to that of the standard Chromdioxid II, but ‘prettier’, with what I felt was a nicer midrange. Despite the sparkly zing at the treble end, and some nice deep bass, this was still a sweet sounding tape, with a good, full, roundness. Sadly, these were a bit on the pricey side for youngsters to be buying in bulk, so I only got a few of them.