Used to swear by Type II cassettes for mixtapes, now I grab whatever I can find at thrift stores

Back in the 90s, I was super picky about using TDK SA or Sony UX for every mix I made. I thought anything less sounded muddy, especially for recording off the radio. But about 5 years ago, when I started collecting again, I realized those nice tapes are getting expensive and hard to find in good shape. Now I just grab any decent looking Type I from Goodwill for like 50 cents each, and honestly with a good deck and some EQ tweaks they sound fine for casual listening. Has anybody else noticed the prices on sealed SA-90s going crazy online lately?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_owens1mo ago

Man, my buddy swore he found a goldmine of sealed SA-90s at an estate sale and paid $10 each.

flores.tessa1mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, that reminds me of something that went down with my friend Marcus a couple years back. He thought he was getting a steal on some vintage metal reels from this old guy's attic, paid $5 each for like 12 of them. Turned out they were all just empty spools with no tape inside, total waste of money. Ngl, @troy_owens, your buddy might wanna check if those SA-90s are actually sealed or just repacked. Tbh, estate sale goldmines usually have a catch somewhere.