There were some shedding issues with some early batches of RMGI tape. RMGI seems to have done their best to recall those early batches and restock their distributors.
Aside from those early growing pains, I've never had problems with the 468, 911 or LPR-35 that I've used.
That's not to say, that I've never had curling or oxide shed. But when I did, I've always found it to be an issue with my machine and my own darn fault.
I've also been in contact with Mike at ATR and he feels that his tape is manufactured to a higher standard than any other tape currently available. My motivation for contacting him was to educate myself about the process of magnetic tape production and was long before this petition was made. He stated that the slitting blades are dedicated to each tape width and type. " The slitting blades must be lapped and stacked to a .00005". "
In other words, there are no adjustments other than having new blades made.
There could very well be an issue with playing ATR tape on some consumer grade machines. I know that I probably have 10s of hours (if not over 100) of making sure that the tape travels flat, down the center of each guide on my machine. This is an attempt to keep it from touching either edge too much. This means that every guide and roller is as close to 90 degrees from the face of the machine and at the correct height. All it takes is one head to be slightly tilted and all that goes to naught.
You might wonder, "Why the heck should I have to go through all that trouble just to use one brand of tape?"
And of course, you don't have to. For something like an ATR 100 or a Studer A80/820, this is a good starting point. Those heavy ass deck plates aren't just for looks. And the $$$ that it costs to replace something like a tensioner is probably much more than our machines cost. They are the result of a lot of sweat and blood so they'll stay in perfect alignment until they need to be replaced. On a consumer machine, the tensioners are probably riding on screws you can pick up at the local hardware store (or the same tolerances).
So, if you want to get the performance of a consumer grade machine as close to one of these studio machines as possible, it takes lots of time and experimenting around. Luckily, I love doing that kinda stuff but most folks would probably have me locked up if they had any idea.
So, would I have ATR produce a product that can be used in these "higher tolerance" machines? Absolutely not! After all, this is a product with the best studio machines in mind. It will be recording the live performances that the world of music lovers will be listening to forever.
RMGI tape if perfectly fine for all of us home recordists. So, please don't ask Mike to "dumb down" such a perfectionist product. There are far too few of them left in the world.