Yamaha CR-X - 1982 - JP
Made in Japan for the EU and NA markets, possibly for Australia and NZ as well.
These are Yamaha OEM tapes manufactured by TDK The best guess here is, this is a TDK 1982 cassette with at least the SA-X formulation. TDK's best, double coated Type II. at the time. Could it be a superior formulation? It's doubtful. These (TDK) were very well designed, and the overall quality of every part that makes this cassette, was nothing shy of amazing.
Great design with a very unusual BROWN shell, just like the 1982 TDK SA-X, make this an ultra classic and very rare. These were the tapes featured in the Yamaha 1982 line-up that seem to fetch today up to 3 or 4+ times the value of TDK tape equals.
Personal history bit: I remember buying these Yamaha marvellous blank cassettes in the Toronto downtown area for about $6.95 each around 1982-83. I must have bought 5 or 6 then. These were costing less than their TDK's equal, the SA-X C90, priced then at about $9.95 each. The AD-X C90 selling at $8.95 at A&A Records at the Dufferin Mall, at around this same time (1982-84).
Note 1: 90 Minutes: Rarely offered, and only 1 available.
About Yamaha:
Yamaha Corporation’s headquarters is in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. They also maintain major offices in Tokyo (Shibuya), Yokohama, and Osaka.
Yamaha Corporation, founded in 1887 in Japan, began as a piano and reed organ manufacturer before expanding into a global powerhouse in musical instruments and audio technology. By the late 20th century, Yamaha’s name was synonymous not only with instruments but also with high‑fidelity audio equipment.
During the cassette boom of the 1980s and early 1990s, Yamaha marketed blank audio cassettes under its brand. These tapes were not manufactured in‑house but produced by TDK, one of the world’s leading tape makers. Yamaha‑branded cassettes were essentially TDK formulations repackaged with Yamaha’s branding, offering consumers reliable performance while reinforcing Yamaha’s identity in the audio recording market.
Yamaha also produced a range of cassette decks, known for their solid engineering and clean design. Yamaha remains a major player, though its focus has shifted to amplifiers, receivers, and digital audio systems. Yamaha’s legacy in analog audio continues to resonate, bridging its historic role in tape culture with its modern reputation for high‑quality sound reproduction.
YAMAHA CR-X - 1982 - US