Look what the cat dragged once again!
Seriously? ... you may be wondering who on earth would need blank cassette tapes these days, let alone a USED tape?
Go way back in time, the early 1990's, although it still just seems like yesterday!
Our audio post production studios were buzzing with all sorts of exciting activity and the engineer just had to have a play around with "those Metal cassette tapes". In those days we were heavily involved in R2R magnetic tape of all sizes, alongside DAT, and a bit of mini-disc (remember them?) & hard disk recording thrown in for good measure but a lot of 4 track source material from bands was supplied to us on "ordinary" Type I cassette tape.
This metal tape is a remnant from those days, the early 1990's. It has been in amongst all the other gear which I safely stored away and today it has (at last) seen the light of day.
Many analog audio enthusiasts still run cassette tape, many "audio folk" also appreciate vinyl and some even still run R2R systems. It's not really about "living in the past" (Jethro Tull) but obtaining that sweet sound only analog audio can provide.
Ok, so it's used ... how do you know it still "works?"
Well, I have not recorded to the tape myself, that is true but this tape has musical material already recorded onto by someone in the "old business" and I have played the ENTIRE cassette, one end to the other and back again!
Unlike the other metal tape I have found, this one just has what I would describe as random music throughout. All of the music sounds like it is commercial releases, not demo's etc
SONY - Cassette Tape
Manufactured by Sony, Japan
Made in Japan
Type: UX 100
Formulation: Chrome-II (70uS)
Tape capacity: 100 minutes (50 minutes each side/set of tracks)
Circa early 1990's
This tape is one of the first generation that did not have the sensor holes (usually located around the central area) and the user had to manually select Metal or Type IV on their cassette deck front panel.
Tape colour: Medium Grey
Protect tabs are unbroken i.e the tape can be recorded onto in it's present form
USED
Contains commercial music material ... random material
TESTING:
First I ran this up on a Nakamichi I have available at the moment, cycled the tape FF & RW a couple of times to even up the tape packing and tension because the tape has been sitting idle for yonks.
Set up the machine for metal tape playback (different equalisation is used (70uS), if you do not change your machine settings you will experience higher Treble and increased tape hiss)
I then played both sides of the tape completely (and was bored!), the audio quality is good, although I think the audio source was not of great quality ... it just didn't sound as "good" as it should but no drop outs heard or symptoms of tape travel issues (no warbling etc)
Mechanical travel through the tape path was without any issues at all.
*** For serious users of this tape, it is important to "bulk erase" the cassette before reuse. I had a number of these for cassette and R2R previously (thank you "Aunty") but they have all found new owners so you will need to provide your own bulk eraser.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
Both the cassette shell and outer hinged Smokey Grey case are in good condition.
NO cracks or other damage to the tape clamshell or case.
Based on the successful mechanical test run above, the lubricant still seems to be fine and the tape pressure pad is secure and in good condition.
I have now packed this tape into a sealed clear plastic packet to protect it from the environment while it awaits a new "purpose in life"
