Printing with tape
Jan 27, 2021 15:58:47 GMT -6
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cowboycoalminer, donr, and 4 more like this
Post by christopher on Jan 27, 2021 15:58:47 GMT -6
I’ll just make a new thread for this, hopefully it helps people out there.
Confession time:
Re: tape costs
I’ve been using the same 1/4” reel of RTM SM900 for over 2 years now? I use it to print individual tracks and effects, test 2mix prints, and while doing demos etc. I’ve re-recorded a full album of tracks through that one reel, capturing the repro head, and it’s still good! I must have run 500 passes just in stems. I need to order a few more new reels and support the new makers, maybe try out Capture and ATR. Sometimes my erase head doesn’t reach all the way as deep erasure as I need, so I hit it with hand-D-mag while in FF (lol) and it’s pretty much good again.. Dale Manquen (3M guy) noted many years ago that tape particles never lose the ability record. So the only way tape degrades is through friction(buildup/shedding) or getting overly stretched, eventually enough particles shed so that it’s no good. I think people confuse “loss of recorded info” with tape getting old. The longer a recorded track is on tape and being shuttled, the more the magnetic charge can change. My MCI 2 track works, so that’s what I use. The heads get some tape particle buildup but it’s really not much. It was a lot more when the reel was new, which leads to the next thing..
Re: NEW tape quality
The 1/4” reel of SM900 had some weird loss of level issues on very first playback. Luckily it was short term and it got better over time. Apparently people say the brand new reels can sometimes have excess loose ‘tape dust’ creating uneven response but only at certain moments. Luckily people say rewind a new reel with cotton seems to help collect the loose stuff. Maybe do it over and over until the swab is clean? I’ll try next reel, but technically my reel works better now than when it was new. I’d still use a new(er) reel for final prints.
Head Wear friction:
Studers are awesome at being gentle in terms of tension and friction, the only wear point would be the sharp edge of the head surface. If the heads are smooth there, like after a relap, then a reel of tape should last a very, very long time, pretty much like new. I have a studer supplemental doc which is very detailed on how to relap heads, so I’m gonna practice lapping on my MCI (I have a spare headstack) . Not sure I’ll go for my A80.. depends on what my cash is like and whether JRF is still around.
Conclusion:
- Modern tape is excellent for printing everything and re-using as much as needed
- Brand new reels are ideal for final mixes/mastering, but if the client can’t afford it, re-using reels works incredibly well, since we aren’t asking the reel to hold the magnetic info while we shuttle it thousands of times.
Confession time:
Re: tape costs
I’ve been using the same 1/4” reel of RTM SM900 for over 2 years now? I use it to print individual tracks and effects, test 2mix prints, and while doing demos etc. I’ve re-recorded a full album of tracks through that one reel, capturing the repro head, and it’s still good! I must have run 500 passes just in stems. I need to order a few more new reels and support the new makers, maybe try out Capture and ATR. Sometimes my erase head doesn’t reach all the way as deep erasure as I need, so I hit it with hand-D-mag while in FF (lol) and it’s pretty much good again.. Dale Manquen (3M guy) noted many years ago that tape particles never lose the ability record. So the only way tape degrades is through friction(buildup/shedding) or getting overly stretched, eventually enough particles shed so that it’s no good. I think people confuse “loss of recorded info” with tape getting old. The longer a recorded track is on tape and being shuttled, the more the magnetic charge can change. My MCI 2 track works, so that’s what I use. The heads get some tape particle buildup but it’s really not much. It was a lot more when the reel was new, which leads to the next thing..
Re: NEW tape quality
The 1/4” reel of SM900 had some weird loss of level issues on very first playback. Luckily it was short term and it got better over time. Apparently people say the brand new reels can sometimes have excess loose ‘tape dust’ creating uneven response but only at certain moments. Luckily people say rewind a new reel with cotton seems to help collect the loose stuff. Maybe do it over and over until the swab is clean? I’ll try next reel, but technically my reel works better now than when it was new. I’d still use a new(er) reel for final prints.
Head Wear friction:
Studers are awesome at being gentle in terms of tension and friction, the only wear point would be the sharp edge of the head surface. If the heads are smooth there, like after a relap, then a reel of tape should last a very, very long time, pretty much like new. I have a studer supplemental doc which is very detailed on how to relap heads, so I’m gonna practice lapping on my MCI (I have a spare headstack) . Not sure I’ll go for my A80.. depends on what my cash is like and whether JRF is still around.
Conclusion:
- Modern tape is excellent for printing everything and re-using as much as needed
- Brand new reels are ideal for final mixes/mastering, but if the client can’t afford it, re-using reels works incredibly well, since we aren’t asking the reel to hold the magnetic info while we shuttle it thousands of times.
