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tape hierarchy



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 1st 04, 02:46 AM
DOGGIE104
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Default tape hierarchy

Hello,
I'm trying to sort out some blank tape hierarchy from lower quality to higher.
Radio Shack has 'Low Noise' and 'Supertape'. TDK seems to go 'D', 'AD','SD'.
How do the Maxell 'LN' and 'UD' tapes compare with one another? How about some
other brands? later, ron
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  #3  
Old August 3rd 04, 01:23 AM
trippin28track
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Ron,

I get best sound from Certron blanks, runner up is Scotch. Nothing
from Radio Shack could compare. Based on 26+ years of home recording
experience.

The Certron is really dark colored tape- techies say cuz it has more
iron oxide-and produces a better signal.

I've tried TDK and Maxell- they were inferior to the Certron, equal at
best to Scotch.

Scotch blank has by far most advanced internals- a bearing surface on
the inner reel and roller wheel where it rides the spindle. Someone
put their time in designing those.

A cleaned/aligned high end player with proper settings and source,
will make recordings on Certron blanks far better than any store
bought tape in existence. The resolution and ambience are in the R2R
league. That's assuming the tape is tuned up also (lube, splice, pads,
etc.)

Lately I've been making many recordings from old bootlegs, Capitol
white shells, etc. that have missing labels- and undesireable original
music on them. If I can't make out who it is, it gets bulk erased and
something good put on it. The bulk eraser will make even a low
quality tape sound good. I have Scotch 90's recorded in 1979 and still
sound like new- 25 year old home made tape still going strong and
heavily played at times.
  #4  
Old August 3rd 04, 03:37 AM
the animal
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trippin28track wrote:

Ron,

I get best sound from Certron blanks, runner up is Scotch. Nothing
from Radio Shack could compare. Based on 26+ years of home recording
experience.

The Certron is really dark colored tape- techies say cuz it has more
iron oxide-and produces a better signal.

I've tried TDK and Maxell- they were inferior to the Certron, equal at
best to Scotch.

Scotch blank has by far most advanced internals- a bearing surface on
the inner reel and roller wheel where it rides the spindle. Someone
put their time in designing those.

A cleaned/aligned high end player with proper settings and source,
will make recordings on Certron blanks far better than any store
bought tape in existence. The resolution and ambience are in the R2R
league. That's assuming the tape is tuned up also (lube, splice, pads,
etc.)

Lately I've been making many recordings from old bootlegs, Capitol
white shells, etc. that have missing labels- and undesireable original
music on them. If I can't make out who it is, it gets bulk erased and
something good put on it. The bulk eraser will make even a low
quality tape sound good. I have Scotch 90's recorded in 1979 and still
sound like new- 25 year old home made tape still going strong and
heavily played at times.



damn, i thought i heard everything, up untill i run accross this post. this
has got to be the biggest line of bull**** that i ever heard.
i have about a thousand blank tapes of various brands & i have done
benchmark tests on each brand. i also make 8 track copies off of CD's, LP's
& Cassettes top use on the decks in my car & for the other players in the
house. certrons have turned out to be more trouble than they are worth.
certrons are notorious for their lubricant contaminating the pinch roller.
they are also bad about flaking. they do not produce a wide dynamic range,
they have a lot of hiss & dropouts. they are just as bad as the radio shack
low end tapes.
the best tape that i have found was the scotch dynarange tape. follong that,
memorex (the old style using the nal style cartridge shell).
maxells, BASF, TDK were also good too.

but for you to say that certrons were the best just shows what kind of moron
you are.

--
i forward ALL post from charly nudo (trippin28track) to . for
the sake of preserving alt.collecting-8track.tapes, i urge every one else
to do the same. charlys nntp posting host is 172.159.31.220
  #5  
Old August 3rd 04, 08:37 AM
Andy
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youre kidding right certron tapes are known to be the lowest quilty you can
get aka junk

--

"trippin28track" wrote in message
om...
Ron,

I get best sound from Certron blanks, runner up is Scotch. Nothing
from Radio Shack could compare. Based on 26+ years of home recording
experience.

The Certron is really dark colored tape- techies say cuz it has more
iron oxide-and produces a better signal.

I've tried TDK and Maxell- they were inferior to the Certron, equal at
best to Scotch.

Scotch blank has by far most advanced internals- a bearing surface on
the inner reel and roller wheel where it rides the spindle. Someone
put their time in designing those.

A cleaned/aligned high end player with proper settings and source,
will make recordings on Certron blanks far better than any store
bought tape in existence. The resolution and ambience are in the R2R
league. That's assuming the tape is tuned up also (lube, splice, pads,
etc.)

Lately I've been making many recordings from old bootlegs, Capitol
white shells, etc. that have missing labels- and undesireable original
music on them. If I can't make out who it is, it gets bulk erased and
something good put on it. The bulk eraser will make even a low
quality tape sound good. I have Scotch 90's recorded in 1979 and still
sound like new- 25 year old home made tape still going strong and
heavily played at times.



  #6  
Old August 3rd 04, 01:33 PM
trippin28track
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Default

And how long have you been recording, since last June ??
  #7  
Old August 3rd 04, 06:20 PM
Bluemuse
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We never saw the Certron 8-track blanks around here, but their cassettes were
utter crap, maybe half a step above Irish brand. Certron and Irish cassettes
were the cheapest things on the racks. I think they sold three for 99 cents and
came in a plastic bag with no cases. Considering how lousy their cassettes
were, I'd have a hard time believing that Certron could make an 8-track blank
at the other end of the quality spectrum. Then again, I never used one. I
usually ended up buying Radio Shack tapes, partly because of availability and
partly because I was generally broke at the time. They did okay in the crappy
store-brand underdash unit I had with the wedge speakers sliding around on the
back seat.




--Bob Farace

"I only believe in fire." --Anais Nin
  #8  
Old August 4th 04, 12:43 AM
trippin28track
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Hard to believe but true- Certrons look cheap and at one time I
thought they were junk- until I recorded on a few- the results were
stunning. Look at the color of the tape and compare it. The Certrons
are much darker oxide cuz they are the HIGHEST QUALITY tape actually.

I was oblivious to this fact until I made a few recordings with
Certrons myself-and was amazed to find, the Certrons sound noticeably
better than any other blanks out there- and I've tried them all over
the years.

Stuff like TDK and Maxell have catchy names but are actually only
average sounding tapes. A Scotch sounds very good with superior
mechanicals inside- and if I couldn't get a Scotch I'd use a Memorex.
The Certrons are in a league by themselves for sound- they sound the
best- try one and you'll be amazed. Just be sure to bulk erase,
change the pads and splice- I also lube the rollers and reel as
needed. That goes for any blank regardless.

No BS- after 26 years of doing this I cull the Certrons for myself. I
have hundreds of blanks and if I had to houseclean and make a cut, I'd
keep all the Certrons, Scotch, and Memorex- and sell the other brands.

Radio Shack blanks are the WORST sounding of all- especially the red
RS blanks which REALLY suck- RS blanks were overpriced and sounded
like **** back in the 1970's- and RS blanks still sound like ****
today. RS blanks tend to produce muffled highs and hazy sounding
recordings- regardless of pads used. Any RS blanks even sealed I
gladly dump for $1 each if I can.
  #9  
Old August 4th 04, 01:12 AM
DOGGIE104
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Default

Thanks, y'all. Here's a quick summary:

Radio Shack: LN, Supertape

TDK: D, then AD or SD (my fave, but high maintenance transports)

Maxell: LN, UD

Not many others (i.e., Capitol, Memorex) seem to offer 8-track blanks in more
than one grade. But what about:

BASF: Studio or Performance?

Scotch: Low Noise or Dynarange? (and what about their FeCr tape?)

Ampex: Ampex or Plus?

Well, we're gettin' there. My thanks to the collective mind, ron

p.s. Certron! LOL! What about Audio Magnetics? ROFL!




  #10  
Old August 4th 04, 02:05 AM
Daniel & Kathy Gibson
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Don't forget the K-Mart tapes. I think I still have some sealed around
here if anyone wants the finest recording experience possible!

Dan

DOGGIE104 wrote:

Thanks, y'all. Here's a quick summary:

Radio Shack: LN, Supertape

TDK: D, then AD or SD (my fave, but high maintenance transports)

Maxell: LN, UD

Not many others (i.e., Capitol, Memorex) seem to offer 8-track blanks in more
than one grade. But what about:

BASF: Studio or Performance?

Scotch: Low Noise or Dynarange? (and what about their FeCr tape?)

Ampex: Ampex or Plus?

Well, we're gettin' there. My thanks to the collective mind, ron

p.s. Certron! LOL! What about Audio Magnetics? ROFL!


--

Daniel and Kathy Gibson
http://www.katestrackshack.com
"Kate's Track Shack -Your Internet Home For Inexpensive 8-tracks!!"
AND...
http://drnooseandjambone.com
"DrNoose And Jambone - Do It To The Optigan!"
 




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