I like to think that the internet and blogosphere is teeming with folks who have completely grown up around digital music — to the extent of having little to no experience with recordable cassettes.
The word ‘mixtape‘ itself sets up a sort of dividing line between the current generation of music consumers, and the somewhat jumbled aggregate of pre-digital goons (like myself) who still have mountains of old tapes that we don’t have the time to mine for those rare snippets that ought to be transferred to CD-R.
I’ve actually been tackling that labor of late: while at work, I’m playing one tape after another…noting stuff that needs to be converted to digital – and then simply shitcanning the tapes that are complete rubbish.
The thing that strikes me about this process is revisiting how much character the blank cassette had – from the design of the casing to the embellishments of the mixtape-maker’s labels and writing. Here’s a few classics to consider: 
The TDK SA90 was probably the most common higher quality Type II (“chrome”) blank; everyone seemed to use these at one time or another….They were solid, sophisticated, and sounded great.
The TDK AD90 was little earlier, I think. Chrome blanks were higher priced, and were still essentially “high end” consumer audio.
For a while there, Maxell seemed to make even their Normal Bias (Type I) tapes look elegant – with glossy metal panels and detailed insignia. The UDS-I was a durable and attractive product.
With their XLII, Maxell made the panels a brushed gold finish – just as swank. I still don’t quite know what “Epitaxial” means, but it sure sounds good.
Meanwhile, TDK held strong with the D90 as their low cost Normal Bias option; a no-nonsense workhorse that was famous for being the standard metal/thrash tape-traders format.
I didn’t own too many Sony blanks. They were all so gorgeous and defined that I mostly liked to admire them, and didn’t want to handle them too much.
This BASF CR-E II was a weird beast from around 1988. Only had two of these – they had a unique internal lever that “smoothed” the tape onto the take-up reel during play.
This SKC brand was some sort of cheap-o, bargain brand product that surprisingly has survived over the years — probably the first blank Type II that I bought (i.e. could afford) as a kid.
And lastly – as the era of the CD-R strolled in, TDK positioned their blanks as offering sonics “comparable” to digital. Who knew the cassette tape could provide massive bass? : ) 
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Cassettes had nothing on the minidisk. There I said it.
no doubt. most of my 400+ minidisc blanks have been sourced from japan via ebay…..that’s a blogpost i hain’t even considered.
That SKC tape wasn’t a cheapo. I have 1 that I recorded Jello Biafra’s No More Cocoons straight from vinyl on. That thing’s been 2 hell & back & still sounds great.
I’ve been collecting tapes, pre-recorded & otherwise, from 2nd hand stores 4 th’ last 10 years or so. I still record mixtapes & I’ve found tons of these old cassettes. Most r in amazing condition & I’ve been able 2 find lots of ’em unopened and/or unused. I consider myself a bit of an expert on cassettes because I’ve owned just about every brand & style available in th’ last 30-40 years.
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