lrb@rrivax.rri.uwo.ca (Lance R. Bailey) (10/25/90)
In article <7190@uwm.edu>, rich%island@uunet.UU.NET (Rich Fanning) writes... >I had much the same experience with several reels of Scotch 150, 206 and 207. .. > >Several reels of cheap Radio Shack Concertape also survived. It doesn't sound >very good, but it's probably as good as it ever was. :-) > >I also have some acetate tapes which were recorded in 1962-64, and these i'm curious as to what the rest of you are using for tape brands on a regular basis. this includes - mastering - archiving - personal I have a good source for ampex pancake and maxell UDXL and have been using the latter with nice results on my reVox. I also have a reel of reVox 641 (gift) that i am saving for a special mastering (gosh, it's pricey). because essentially all machines can be biased for any tape, we will ignore that issue, (although that still leaves room for preferences of 'X tape on A machine, but never on B machine'.) Lance R. Bailey, Systems Manager ================================ box: Robarts Research Institute email: lrb@rri.uwo.ca Clinical Trials Resources Group fax: 519.663.3789 P.O. Box 5015, 100 Perth Dr. vox: 519.663.3787 ext. 4108 London, Canada N6A 5K8
Steve_Graham@ub.cc.umich.edu (10/26/90)
Lance Bailey wants to know what we are using for tape stock. I have been using mostly Ampex 407 with my Revox, though I use 456 now and then. When I'm feeling strapped I use whatever I can pick up. 3M-806/7 is very different stuff--you have to work at getting it flat as it wants to be bright. (And by the way, some tape-deck/tape combos give flatter response than others no matter how the knobs are tweaked.) I don't record on 807 on the Revox as I don't want to rebias it, but have used it on Studer A807s and A67s, and Technics RS 1502 machines. Also Tascam 52s. It seems to sound a tad hard, but lose less transient response than most other tapes. I try to avoid Japanese reel tapes as I feel the stiffness of the base gives rise to too much dropout. 3M is just coming out with new reel tape, model 996, which they claim can be recorded at +9 dB (presumably above 185 nW/m, which is to say 9 dB above the standard level established in the 50's, and at least 3 dB higher than any other known tape). We hope to have a sample to play with soon. Should be interesting. Hard to believe; especially when they claim print-through is also minimal.