Opinions on New Reel to Reel Tapes

Depending on what tape deck you have, and it's bias selections, you may need to use standard Iron Oxide, or Ferrichrome, or CrO2, or Metal tapes. I have had some reel decks in the past and found good quality from Maxell, in all of the above formulations.

I used to use Maxell UD 35-90B to good effect. These tapes were "back-coated" which I thought were much better than their standard version. (Allowed less saturation) In my personal experimentation many years ago w/Teac deck I found
the TDK GX 35/90B was slightly better than the others. I would buy "back-coated" tapes, whichever brand you decide to buy. What R/R did you buy and are you using a DBX noise-reduction unit? Bill

I'll second the TDK GX 35/90B. I have had 2 Teac X7R decks in the system for the last 20 years or so and of the 800+ reels in the library, the best sonically are the TDK. They have also held up the best over the years for shedding, squealing, and other sundry problems.

The question I have is whether they're still available. I stopped adding to the R2R side of the library ~7 years ago and haven't looked for new tape in quite a while.

Say Dave, since you have owned the Teac X-7s for so long, maybe you can help me... Recently I bought an X-700R and I will have an X-7 coming to me shortly. I really like these decks, but do not have an owner's manual. I have heard that the motors require periodic lubrication with a special syringe (and don't have one of those either).

Do you have any maintenence tips you can share on these machines? Secondly, if I send you some money to cover your costs and trouble would you be willing to mail me a copy of the owner's manual?

Thanks in advance for any help or tips you can provide!

The top Maxell or TDK Tapes listed above are really great ! I have some very old ones and they still play fine.

When I was a recording arts student 10 yrs ago, the go-to studio tapes were Ampex. It appears they (either the tape div, or the whole company) was sold to a 'Quantegy'. Ampex 456 Grand Master was *the studio tape. I see they (Ampex by Quantegy) have 7" reels for around $10. I would certainly audition the current product.

You gotta love the metal reels; no cheepshit plastic stuff...

Ampex Grand Master cassette tapes were another story. They sounded great, but IME, they had a longevity prob. After many years, say over 12, a rewind would snap the tape off the takeup reel. Grrr... But then again, I wouldn't consider the tape cassette an 'archival' medium. Kinda like 3.5" floppies are turning out to be...

Where can I purchase these tapes?

I second the maxell, TDK's and if you can find BASF tapes, try them. I have had aging issues with the Ampex 456. After about 12 years + the tapes tend to shade the oxide and stick. I have BASF tapes that are 40+ years old no problems and Maxell and TDK that are 30+ year pod no issues.

To buy try Jandr.com or check on ebay for a reliable seller . You want fresh stock. do a search on google with the exact model # and a few professioanl audio dealers may also pop up.