SONY UX TEST

SONY UX TEST

Since 1986 the UX has been the base line Type II until it disappeared in the early 00s.

Here is a short test that auditions the tape in question from 1986 to 1995 approx!

Deck - Pioneer CT-S810S 3 Head. No NR used.

Audition Disc - Days of Open Hand by Suzanne Vega (1990 DDD)

Track - "Tired of Sleeping"

1986 version - This is my favourite looking of the bunch and it offers punchy bass and good clarity, vocals were well imaged and centered but the precision of the hi hats and rim shots on this recording are not as tightly focused as I have heard on some of the others in the test. 

1988 version - Here you will notice an immediate difference from it's predecessor. The percussive nuances are more sharply focused and the sound all the more engaging. Bass is strong but tight and focused. This is a different tape all together.    

1990 version - Again this is hard to tell apart from it's 1988 brother. It sounds fantastic, clear and highly focused and all the instruments in the mix can be heard without a problem. The vocals are very engaging and the sound very powerful.

1992 version - Hmm there is a slip in quality here. While the tape sounds fine in the quieter part of the song, once the song gets louder and the drums play harder this tape seems to distort the soundstage. The treble of the rim shots and hi hats is a little blurred and fuzzy. This was noticeable unfortunately and there seems to be more hiss than the others on the this tape. This one is made in Italy. 

1995 version - The same could be said for this tape as for the previous, the precision of the treble is simple under par and unfocused. There is the same kind of hiss here too. The quality is simply not as good as the 1988 or 1990 version and another thing I don't like is the lack of screws on the cassette shell, there are none, it's glued together like a prerecorded cassette and we all know how bad those are! This my friends is the curtain call for the Sony UX, once up a time, great entry level Type II. But not now!

VERDICT

So, I think the 1988 and 1990 versions are the best and still very easy to find. The construction is second to none and the sound super duper. The 1986 version is a lovely tape too and well worth chasing down in it's purple and chrome wrapper. From 1992 I think they are under par so I would chase the versions before that.