Ampex/Quantegy 456

[frosty55]

My tech set up my Teac 80-8 for Ampex/Quantegy 456. I find the recorded sound a bit too "muddy" and lacking brightness. Is there any way to get a clearer sound by using different tape?

[astrotoy]

I had an old reel of Quantegy 456 and there was some shedding. Have you looked closely at your heads to see whether there is some tape shed?  That would certainly cause problems.

Larry

[ironbut]

Hey Frosty (please read "Forum Rules" and place your real name in your signature),

Larry's right.
If you plan to do much recording, you'd be much better off using one of the current production tapes such as RMGI or ATR Magnetics.
Ampex 456 is great sounding tape when it was new, but over time it is prone to sticky shed syndrome (and is actually the worst offender).
Sticky shed is what Larry is talking about.
At the very least, it will effect the high frequencies and will progress to stopping your machine dead in it's tracks.
Thorough cleaning of the entire tape path is needed after using a tape with sticky shed.
There is more info regarding this problem in "The Beginners Guide" located in a sticky (no pun intended) above the General Forum (post #24).

If you need a source for new tape, try US Recording Media.

http://usrecordingmedia.com/

[frosty55]

I had an old reel of Quantegy 456 and there was some shedding. Have you looked closely at your heads to see whether there is some tape shed?  That would certainly cause problems.

Larry

Yes I regularly clean the entire tape path before each session.

[docb]

You just need the proper storage container for 456. Here's what I use:



Go with ATR Magnetics, it's great tape.

[ironbut]

I agree with doc.
If you're bouncing stems or recording live audio directly to tape, only the best tape available would be what I'd use.
 ATR may be the best that has ever been produced.

Bear in mind that your Teac isn't a machine that you should expect to sound like a big studio multitracker. It was intended to be used by bands to record sessions for stuff like demos. The low original cost of the machine and the narrow tape format are compromises and when it comes to tape, it's usually the high end that suffers first.

Most likely, this isn't news to you.

However, you should do your best to optimize what you have.
Use the highest speed available.
Making sure that the heads aren't grooved and the rest of the machine is working a perfectly as possible.
Using the best tape you can get your hands on.
Being sure that the input path is as short and simple as possible.
In fact, try recording a stereo source like a cd that you know well on pairs of tracks to check that all the channels are sounding good. You may find that some channels sound a little different. If the high frequency info seems to degrade more and more as the channels reach the track # extremes (1&2 or 7&8) your heads probably need to be aligned and your tech should fix this.