Reel tapes recommendations


Anyone know of a good source for good quality reel tapes?

I have already subscribed to the Tape project catalogue but would like to expand the library.

Any specific tapes that is worthwhile getting?

I am only interested classical and jazz.
128x128glai

Showing 4 responses by mitch4t

.
No,.... what you have is a condition called print-through. Somewhere in the tapes lifespan the tape was stored unevenly wound, which causes the print-through sensation you are hearing. The tape you have is ruined.
.
.
You can prevent it by making sure your tapes are wound slowly, which makes them wind evenly. Using the fast forward and fast rewind causes the cape to wind unevenly. Once you have print-through, it cannot be corrected or removed....the tape is ruined.
.
.
Glai, there is no work-around. That's why all of my tapes were ruined. I had the big ten inch reels that took forever to play in either direction. So, I used the fast forward and the rewind, both of which were high speed. Does your rewind move at a slow speed? You could use rewind if your machine has a slow rewind. Slow winding is the only way to get the tapes to wind evenly. I didn't have the patience to wait three hours for a tape to wind slowly. Had I known that high speed winding was going to cause print through, I certainly would have been patient and wound them slowly.
.
.
I don't know which is better, but standing up looks cooler. You also may want to check the back of the unit. If it is vented for cooling through the back, it may be better to stand it up. Also, some units have feet on the back of the unit, if it has feet on the back, it means the unit can be played on its back without problems.
.