Otis Rush – Ain’t Enough Comin’ In audio cassette (1994)

Ohhhh yeaaahhhh…. This. Is. The stuff. In 1994, an Otis Rush studio album release was a completely new experience to an entire generation. Not since the 1970s had Rush bestowed a non-live album upon the world, and whilst I’d heard his name before, it was the UK publicity which went with this release, in spring ’94, that alerted me to his capabilities. The early 1990s had seen an explosion of traditional American blues, and whilst this product from Otis Rush could have done with being recorded and released two or three years earlier (for its own commercial sake more than anything), it was most welcome, and it’s remained a very important release within the blues genre.

The Type I Normal Bias Audio Cassette

The Type I normal bias audio cassette was the standard and most widely compatible tape format – the direct descendant of the original compact cassette. The tape preserved sound by means of a ferric-oxide coating, and first appeared on the consumer market in the mid 1960s. Heading the post you can see a fairly early Type I musicassette demonstrator, which was used to help drive the cassette format into wider use in 1970.

Sony AHF 90 Audio Cassette (1981)

The Sony AHF was an excellent normal bias cassette from the renowned hi-fi manufacturer.

At the dawn of the 1980s, there were three normal bias ferric oxide tapes in the Sony range.

The CHF was the basic offering. Light on treble definition, fairly noisy, and low in price – but in its class, still pretty good value.

The next step up was the BHF. This had noticeably better treble response, and whilst noise/hiss wasn’t exactly minimal, it was certainly more under control than with the CHF. The price was typically around 30% higher than that of the CHF.

Stepping up again to the most expensive Sony ferric, you found the technically superior AHF.