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.

1987 Maxell XLII-S 60 Audio Cassette

Okay, so I’ve been raiding my 1987 drawer for cassettes today. I used Maxell XLII-S tapes for a number of important projects in the late 1980s, and they really were a special product in their day. The casing design was clearly well ahead of its time, and the cassette instantly feels super-rugged the moment you pick it up. The resilience of the tape itself was phenomenal with the XLII-S, rendering drop-outs virtually non-existent. A bold sound, low noise, and no difficulty at all in taking high volume levels with these. And just look at the lack of gobbledygook on the cartridge. No fancy science words necessary to convince the public that these cassettes were good. You merely used them, and you could tell.

1987 Maxell UD II 46 Audio Cassette

After buying my first proper home multi-tracking system in 1987 (a Tascam Porta One), I asked around for recommendations as to the best value high bias CrO2 tapes. The Maxell UDII was mentioned, and I gave it a try. I wasn’t disappointed. These were really nice products, with great high frequency reproduction and what I felt at the time was superb resilience. Now 25 years old, my first batch of Maxell UDIIs haven’t noticeably degraded with age, and have preserved my initial experiments with 4-track recording extremely well. The content of the recordings, however, is another matter.