Recommendations for tape

[Wardsweb]

I have been using 3M 996 and Ampex/Quantegy 456 with very good results. I was wondering what over tape would be of equal or better quality?

[heideana]

Hi...I'd just been musing about the new forum and thought I'd better state the obvious.  Its' probably much better to start with fresh tape from Quantegy or one of the other manufacturers that's gearing back up.  I've been a bit frightened at the prices for old stock on e-bay coming in at the same price as what's new.  Especially since I see some stuff there for sale that frightened me in 1978...Irish, Shamrock, Supertape....this is stuff that I don't think any self-respecting tape head would have touched except when in a bind.  And then it was only reserved for stuff you didn't care about....

I'm having great results with Quantegy 456 and GP9...I've got a few Maxell's that I've picked up on e-bay for poor source material.  What I'm having trouble obtaining readily is 10 1/2" reels with 1/4" 3600' lengths of 456.  I've been getting pancakes of Quantegy 457 and "rolling my own", but need to find a relatively inexpensive source of 10 1/2" metal reels for the pancakes.  Anyone have a good source?

Heidana

[ironbut]

I hope you guys know about US Recording Media. I think the days of getting ripped on Ebay for our supplies are over. They have the new RMGI tape on 1/4" 10.5" reels, metal or plastic. There are many grades of this tape as well as thickness. The empty metal reels are pretty reasonable. Here's the site;usrecordingmedia.com

[heideana]

Thanks...are all of these tapes "456" compatiable in terms of bias?

[slbender]

Many USA tapes in the later 70's and 1980's are known to have had batches of SSS ( Sticky Shed Syndrome ). Debate continues as to whether this was due to environmental restrictions on Whale Oil, or other binder problems. Since its quite rare to find Japanese tapes that have the problem ( some Sony products being the exception ) since the Japanese kept Whaling despite resitrictions, I have to believe that since I've never seen a TDK or Maxell reel with that problem, I vote for the Whale Oil as the source of the problem.

Next Ampex / Quantegy type 456 is always a 1.5 mil backing in 1200' on 7" reel, or 2500' on a 10.5" reel, not 3600' ( 3600' would be a 1 mil backing or type 457 ).  I myself picked up a case of 12 Scotch 207 tape pancakes recently, about 20 years old, and have been putting it on empty reels too.  But, some metal reels have 3 screws, some have 4, even more, while tape pancakes come on standard three screw hubs.  So watch what reels you buy, the fancy TDK's ( LX and GX ) metal reeks as I recall have 4 screws, and will be incompatible with standard hubs.  Maxell metal reels, and most standard blank metal reels I think always have 3 screws.

Steven L. Bender, Designer of Vintage Audio Equipment

I'm having great results with Quantegy 456 and GP9...I've got a few Maxell's that I've picked up on e-bay for poor source material.  What I'm having trouble obtaining readily is 10 1/2" reels with 1/4" 3600' lengths of 456.  I've been getting pancakes of Quantegy 457 and "rolling my own", but need to find a relatively inexpensive source of 10 1/2" metal reels for the pancakes.  Anyone have a good source?

Heidana

[ironbut]

Thanks...are all of these tapes "456" compatiable in terms of bias?

I think that one of the formulations is but it's best to check their site. There's a section call " what tape should I use?" that's really good for just what it says.

[ironbut]

I just took the RS1500 into a shop to have it biased for RMGI 911. I'm also having one of the settings checked for bias with 456 so it will be dead on also. When I get it back, I'll do a comparison between the two with some live recordings I've made. The recordings have no compression, eq, or other nasties. They are digital though but sound very "live". My tech is pretty busy, so it'll be a few weeks. I'm having all the alignments done too, so hopefully, I'll be able to give you guys a pretty good idea what to expect from 911.

[kftool]

Steve, or other members,

 Do you know which tape Dan is using for The Tape Project dupes we will be getting on our subscriptions. I need to have the bias set for recording on my machines and there is no sense in using a tape different than Dan is using. I'll be doing some live recording at clubs in and around Richmond and DC. My studer has a switchable equalization between NAB and IEC on playback. I'm sure there will be an advantage for me if I use the same tape Dan does. Your thoughts?

  regards, Ken

[ironbut]

The tape project tapes are recorded on RMGI 468 and that's what Paul suggest also. I had my machine biased to RMGI 911 before I knew this. I don't expect to be recording a whole lot but some of the whacky stuff I do requires real long recording times. Since RMGI LPR35 has the same bias as the 911 and is available in 3600' lengths, I'll probably stick with the 911 on my Technics. I'm thinking about getting a pro deck for more critical recording. All I have to do is figure out what to do with the sofa.

[kftool]

  Steve,thanks for the post on the use of 468 tape.

  The Studer machines I just purchased were just aligned and biased for 456 tape. I can have them re biased for $80 each for a different tape formulation of my choice. It seems it would be worthwhile to re set them for 468 and stick with one tape formulation, which I'll do.

  I've been thinking about TTP for the last day or so and spending time reading many of the forum postings. Yesterday I had a group of audio buddies over to listen to vinyl and they saw the Ampex and began asking questions. After about 15 minutes of telling them about TTP, I'd convinced MYSELF that it was foolhardy of me to invest in R2R machines and limit myself to only 6 selections per year. Time to upgrade to full membership.   

  Ken

[kftool]

  Steve,

  Just another thought, if you'd dump your wife you could replace the sofa with a chair! Time for a major decision.  **[>!

  Ken