Conference napalm::guitar

    Ampex 456 roolz!

    My favourite brand of tape is Sello an in Sellotape.My brother and I
    had many a happy hour putting bits on my dad's neck when he was
    sleeping and ripping it off quickly!!
    
    
                                                Staynz

    Agagagagaga!!!!!

I find that TDK's and Maxells work just fine.  I've not used ther SA-X's
but I've used the XL-S's...In fact I recorded on ten of them recently,
and they all worked flawlessly.

jc

    I recently bought a box of TDK SA's and there was a bad on in it. 
    Sounded like the whole recording was played through a cheesy tremelo
    unit, awful.  Wasted a whole mixdown/redub session because of it, I was
    MAD!
    
    Greg

    I had a *bad* experience with Memorex on time.  Bought 2 cases of 'em,
    only to discover they were from a bad lot.  Had *all* my stereo gear
    put in the shop to cheeck it out - friggin' tapes !
    
    Scary (who uses Maxell's whenever possible ... with VAXdocument labels)

    For all around general use I use maxell XL-II or XL-IIS tapes. In a
    pinch I'll use TDK SA or SAX tapes. But for multitracking on my 688 I
    always try to use SONY UX-PRO's or DENON HD-8's, but I prefer the Sony.
    I have yet to try AGFA's and I don;t know if AMpex makes a decent
    cassette that's high bias. On my 688 the sony took higher levels
    before saturating into distortion, Denon was next and after that maxell
    and TDK were about a tie. My only complaint is that I have yet to find
    shorter lengths in the Sony; optimally I'd buy the sony's in C-45
    lengths. I may write Sony and ask if they make that length, or if they
    don't, who might custom load some shells in that length for my studio
    stock.
    
    regarding TDK. I've had more TDK tapes go bad than any other "top of
    the line" brand, so I switched to maxell and don;t have near as many
    problems. However to be fair, these tdks are 10+ years old, but maxells
    of a similar vintage don't seem to fail as often (hardly ever in fact).
    
    memorex is a joke IMHO. I have yet to hear a decent tape that had
    memorex on the label, I associate that brand with cheapo tape for mass
    production. But Sony HF tapes are as cheap and sound better to me.
    
    I'd recommend buying one of each and deciding which  work best on your
    deck in your application. one thing I've looked for is an extended high
    end response like you get on the top end of most really good tapes,
    seems like it always wants to get lost in the mix anyway, but every bit
    helps.
    
    
    dbii

    I've never had a problem with TDK's, but the Sony's sounds like their
    worth a try.
    
    Mike

    Back when I worked in the pro-audio biz, DENON HD-8's were worshiped.
    

	For four-track recording I'd like to have one song on
	a tape, which is a waste of a 90-minute tape (22 1/2
	minutes, really, with double speed on a four-track). Which
	of the good tapes come in shorter lengths - 30 minutes
	(7.5 usable minutes) or even shorter? I haven't seen
	Maxells below 60 minutes. If so, do they use thicker tape
	for the shorter lengths?

	Mike

I've had good success with both Maxell and Ampex. The Ampex tapes
are especially nice since you can get them in 30 minute (or less) length,
which is great for putting just one song per tape (7-1/2 minutes at 
high speed).

-T

    
    Anyone got a Mail order source for Ampex tapes?  I really like the
    C30s.  Daddy's is the only place I've seen them.
    
    Justine

    I haven't tried the Sony pro, but the Denon HD-8 are wicked good. Best
    I've ever used. Very hot. Haven't gotten a bad one yet.

I've had more dropout problems with TDK than any other "quality" brand.
Haven't seen Sony UX PRO in any store, just plain UX.  Do I have to order them?


Bob

    
    	Denon hd-8's have been my favorite, but i've been half-heartedly
    looking for the Sony Pro - if dbii likes 'em, i'll try 'em.
    
    	If i have to settle for less, Maxell's the most reliable. I
    consider the tdk's and memorex aggravating and just don't. May as
    well buy rat shack in that case.
    
    	bob
    

	Tnx for your feedback.  I'd been using Maxell XL2 for years,
	until I switched to their XL2S.

	I was bummed out when a recent batch turned out to be pretty bad.
	They're all C60s, and after a double wind before first use, they
	still gave me audible wow & flutter.  A couple even exhibited
	drop-outs in a few places.  Murphy's Law, I guess.

	In any case, the XL2S does suffer from (relatively) low LF headroom.
	I'm going to try the HD-8 and the UX-PRO.  I know I shouldn't complain
	about 1/8" tape running at 3.75 ips, but until I win that Tascam
	24 track DAT, I suppose I'm stuck with this format. :-)

	/ravi

    I've used TDK SA's and Maxell XLII's. 
    I had problems with TDK's, they had Print through problems and they just 
    couldnt take the sonic abuse that that the Maxells could in my case.
    
    Jay 

    An earlier reply mentioned problems getting Maxell in sizes below C-60.
    I picked up some XL-II C-46s recently in a Strawberries (record store). 
    I'd love to find XL-IIS in this size.   
    
    I have noticed with the trend to C-100, that C-60 and smaller tapes are
    harder and harder to find.
    
    Anybody remember the old TDK C-180?  Talk about tape stretching....
    
    						Brian

    Don't remember the C-180s, but I had some of those nasty C-120s!  Yuck! 
    Stretching, breaking, wobbling... 
    
    Greg

	I got a couple of TDK SM-20's (Sound Master 20-minute tapes)
	for Christmas, perfect for 5-minute 4-track masters...

	Mike

    I've been looking around for some of the smaller length tape mentioned
    here and haven't come across any yet.  What national franchises (i.e.,
    Tower, Wherehouse, Sam Goody, etc.) sell these lengths (20, 30, 45, etc.)?
    
    Thanks,
    Mike