Best REEL TO REEL blank tape?

All tape machines can be biased for a particular tape. Most of them require that a technician do the work.

BTW, if the machine is *not* set up for a particular tape, there is no point in auditioning the differences between tape, as the issues of highs and lows are usually also dealt with in the setup/bias procedure.

Shedding is a phenomena of all polyester-backed tapes. It can be reduced by storing them in a low humidity environment. If a tape does start to shed, it can be 'baked' for about an hour at about 120-150 degrees to chase the moisture out of the polyester. This will get rid of the shedding/sticking problem for months or years. OTOH some tapes can be so saturated with moisture that they will be too far gone. This baking procedure can be a bit of an art, BTW, but if done right can get a lot of older tapes back into service.

Have fun :)

Nobody has added a response to this thread for 5 years. But it still comes up on Google as the first search result for "Best Reel Tape". So how about the latest ideas about which tapes are worth searching for, either used on Ebay or current production? I believe Pyral (formally RMGI) is the only new option now. My first advice is BUY NEW from a Pyral dealer, to support the continuation of new production. Their 468, 911 and 900 are generally considered the best there is.

My second advice is before you chose any tape, you must decide how hot a tape is appropriate for your machine. Then within each range, there are a few "best" tapes to look for. There is no reason to settle on just one tape in particular, unless your machine must be opened up to adjust bias, sensitivity and EQ. For Otari owners (me for example), and for many other semi-professional decks, we have test-tones and external adjustments to adjust and optimize for any tape within the limits of our decks' performance.

For the 0dB applications: Maxell UD, UD-XL, UD-XL1, TDK LX and TDK GX are great and plentiful. For +3 dB tape: BASF/RMGI/Pyral 911 or Quantegy 456 (not Ampex 456 though). For +6 dB tape: Ampex/Quantegy GP9, Quantegy 499 (not Ampex), ATR Master, BASF/RMGI/Pyral 900, Agfa/BASF/Emtec/RMGI 468 are all great. You cannot go wrong with Maxell, TDK, and ANY manufacturer of 900, 911, GP9 or 468, because these formulations NEVER had a widespread problem with sticky-shed. And, you can never go wrong with ANY non-backcoated tape from the past. If the back and front are the same color, it will play fine. If the backing is black, you MUST know exactly what tape it is before you subject your valuable tape machine's heads to that tape.

Again, if the backing of the tape is black, and you don't know EXACTLY what tape it is (and what year of manfacture) then you should remove the tape and throw it away. Keep the empty reels for new tape.

Ok, how did I do? Did I miss anything?

I am glad this thread is alive, though I don't have any reel to reel deck. Hope to get Otari or Studer one day.
I have Nakamichi 682ZX cassette deck in top condition and use almost exclusively Maxell Metal Vertex backcoated tape. Never had any problems. This tape is the best there is for cassette decks.

I'm transferring all of my LPs to sheet music so I can get musicians to come over and play everything live. The early Jethro Tull stuff should be interesting...

I'm another R2R tape fan. 15 IPS 2 1/4 inch track tape replay is about as good as one can get, unless you get lucky finding 1/2 inch masters.

Personally I use the RMGi (now Recording the Masters) brand, which is the continuation of the classic BASF and AGFA formulations. My normal tapes are either SM911 (1.5 mil base) or LPR35 (same formulation as SM911 but on a long play 1 mil base). I use 2 x Sony APR 5003 and a Studer A807/II. I have too many R2Rs and am reluctantly letting my Revox G36 High Speed go.