Sony UX - 1988 - US
"Sony's entry level, premium Type II, US version. Lovely understated shell and hubs. Good quality tape inside. Doesn't need much bias tweaking, will get the most out of most decks." Tony Villa
NOTE 1: 60 Minutes: One (1) available.
NOTE 2: 90 Minutes: Two (2) available.
NOTE 3: 100 Minutes: One (1) available. Made for the US market.
NOTE 4: 100 Minutes: Two (2) available. Made for the Canadian market.
Sidenote:
Sony transitioned from their previous UX formulation (1986) to an improved formulation in the middle of production of this 1988 run. These with the US "New" sticker on the front side, and the Canadian "New/Nouveau" sticker, make them rarer a find. The Canadian version will be even rarer. This may actually have been Sony's last tape formulation improvement and development, much like all the other brands around this time, 1985~88. If I may take a guess, the previous UX is replaced by their UX-S formulation, and all the other higher grade formulations also get pushed up:
See chart:
The old UX is replaced by the old UX-S
The old UX-S is replaced by the old UX-ES
The old UX-ES is replaced by the old UX-Pro
The old UX-Pro is replaced with the new 1988 recently developed and improved formulation, and it becomes the new UX-Pro.
I cannot see that Sony would have improved 4 different formulations a little bit for every one of their four type II designations. If you happen to have true insight about this Sony improvement introduced around 1988, I encourage you to share it, and I will in turn, also share it here. Thank you.
If this theory holds true, this would mean that all subsequent runs of their different type II tapes, such as the 1990 UX, and so forth, would also have benefited from this improvement. This makes the more ready available 1990 UX, and especially the 1992 UX a very affordable and high performance cassette, especially if it happens they are using old UX-S formulations.
About Sony:
Sony Corporation (ソニー株式会社 Sonī Kabushiki Kaisha, /ˈsoʊni/ SOH-nee, stylized as SONY) is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo.[9][1] Its diversified business includes consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and financial services.[10] The company owns the largest music entertainment business in the world,[11] and is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets, and a leading player in the film and television industry.[12][better source needed] Sony was ranked 97th on the 2018 Fortune Global 500 list.[13]
Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group (ソニー・グループ Sonī Gurūpu), which is engaged in business through its four operating components: electronics (AV, IT & communication products, semiconductors, video games, network services and medical business), motion pictures (movies and TV shows), music (record labels and music publishing) and financial services (banking and insurance).[14][15][16] These make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. The group consists of Sony Corporation, Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, Sony Mobile, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Sony Financial Holdings, and others.
Sony is among the semiconductor sales leaders[17] and since 2015, the fifth-largest television manufacturer in the world after Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, TCL and Hisense.[18]
The company's current slogan is Be Moved. Their former slogans were The One and Only (1979–1982), It's a Sony (1982–2006), like.no.other (2006–2009)[19] and make.believe (2009–2014).[20]
Sony has a weak tie to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) keiretsu, the successor to the Mitsui keiretsu.[21]
Sony produced the world's first portable music player, the Walkman in 1979. This line fostered a fundamental change in music listening habits by allowing people to carry music with them and listen to music through lightweight headphones. Walkman originally referred to portable audio cassette players. The company now uses the Walkman brand to market its portable audio and video players as well as a line of former Sony Ericsson mobile phones.
SONY UX - 1988 - US