1990 Sony UX 60 Audio Cassette

Given that the Sony UX was the most basic Type II audio tape in the manufacturer’s 1990 range, it was a really nice job. I found these very reliable for home multi-tracking, if rather uninspiring to look at and a little ‘wallflower’ in terms of tonal character. This Sony UX 60 feels reassuring when you pick it up, and is very uniform and smooth in its sound reproduction. The tape has an extra uniaxial formulation, but I’m not sure that this in itself was any cause for high expectations. The later Sony FXII 60 also boasted the extra uniaxial coating, but to me sounded thinner than the UX 60 and didn’t in my experience perform as reliably.

1990s Sony FXII 60 Audio Cassette

If you wanted to find weasel words in the mid 1990s, I doubt the first place you’d look would be on the outer packaging of an audio cassette case. However, the term ‘reference quality’, used in relation to what was really quite a low-end Type 2 tape, would surely make a PR officer smile. Sounds impressive; doesn’t really mean anything – the Holy Grail for anyone in the business of selling decidedly unremarkable goods.