Quantegy comeback?

[Blue Jinn]

http://www.quantegy-online.com/quantegy.html

Now indicate plans to revive 456 as well. ALso, have some NOS there.

[poopchute]

Really? As long as its cheaper than the highway robberie other tape companies are charging...

[mastercontrolme]

Hmmm, interesting. I guess they see a demand out there.

[Instroverb]

I went to the web site and saw that they have 206 reels of 457 in stock. Is this new manufactured tape or NOS? The price is $2.00 less than RMGI! Great news for 388 users!

[cjacek]

So I guess the email campaign, months ago, must have worked, 'cause it looks like 456 is gonna be in production too!

As I understand it, 456, 499 and GP9 are back and the rest is old stock.

[Beck]

I was going to start a thread about 456 coming back, but ya beat me to it.

Yep, our email campaign and you can bet they got an ear full from recording professionals from all over.

Analog is not dead once again... and the story continues...

[SteveM]

........

[Dr ZEE]

- uhhh- ha ha ha ha....

that's all I have to "say"

[sweetbeats]

"Analog is dead"
"[Analog] has one foot in the grave."
"[Analog equipment] is obsolete garbage."

Recent quotes on this very forum.

My eyes see the words, my brain understands their meaning, then the muscles turn my head back and forth.

My senses revel as I watch the reels go round and round pulling brand-new tape, the smell of which politely permeates the space.

Enjoy the death-march naysayers...I'll be in the studio.

[jjones1700]

Originally Posted by sweetbeats

"Analog is dead"
"[Analog] has one foot in the grave."
"[Analog equipment] is obsolete garbage."

Recent quotes on this very forum.

My eyes see the words, my brain understands their meaning, then the muscles turn my head back and forth.

My senses revel as I watch the reels go round and round pulling brand-new tape, the smell of which politely permeates the space.

Enjoy the death-march naysayers...I'll be in the studio.

Beautifully put man! Pure poetry. Now where did I put my take up reel?

[Ink N. Face]

Awesome! I was getting nervous about whether I'd be able to find new old stock tape for the rest of my life.

[Muckelroy]

The last I heard, the Quantegy plant in Opeleika, Alabama was shut down and up for lease. (In fact, I recall seeing an ad online for the building lease itself, with photos.)

So does this mean that they're just selling left overs out of a warehouse, or does this mean that they've actually set up shop somewhere else and began new production again?

[analogkid]

hmm. Building. If the mchinery is still there we should all get togther, buy it and go into production.......


AK

[A Reel Person]

..............

[Molasar]

Originally Posted by analogkid

hmm. Building. If the mchinery is still there we should all get togther, buy it and go into production.......


AK

I'll second that! I have a very modest recording studio down here in sunny Mexico and it's getting more and more difficult to find (import) tape, even from RMGI!!

(I have one Tascam 32 and two Tascam BR-20s just collecting dust!!! I'm starting to pull my hair out!!! )

So, where do I sign???

[Hi_Flyer]

so they are going to sell NOS tape for a few bucks less than RMGI? I don't get it, what is worth getting excited about here?

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by Hi_Flyer

so they are going to sell NOS tape for a few bucks less than RMGI? I don't get it, what is worth getting excited about here?

Me either. The last runs from Quantegy had very loose qc. Why bother?

[Beck]

Originally Posted by Hi_Flyer

so they are going to sell NOS tape for a few bucks less than RMGI? I don't get it, what is worth getting excited about here?

I don't see it that way at all. First of all, the post-2004 owners royally screwed up in about every way a business can screw up. They've learned hard lessons from those mistakes (by the way every one of which I warned them about in a long email in 2005... and they all came to pass). They're not going to make those same mistakes again. If they didn't have a plan this time they wouldn't bother... it's too costly.

Secondly, more tape manufacturers will ultimately lead to better prices. It's economics 101. The demand is there in professional circles even if most amateur home recordists are clueless.

The loss of the old Ampex/Quantegy formulations was a huge blow to the industry. I expected them to be brought back, but not by Quantegy. One can only hope that Quantegy has their shit together this time.

There may be bad news down the road... such is life. But for now this is the best news any analog enthusiasts could hope for.

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by Beck

I don't see it that way at all. First of all, the post-2004 owners royally screwed up in about every way a business can screw up. They've learned hard lessons from those mistakes (by the way every one of which I warned them about in a long email in 2005... and they all came to pass). They're not going to make those same mistakes again. If they didn't have a plan this time they wouldn't bother... it's too costly.

Secondly, more tape manufacturers will ultimately lead to better prices. It's economics 101. The demand is there in professional circles even if most amateur home recordists are clueless.

The loss of the old Ampex/Quantegy formulations was a huge blow to the industry. I expected them to be brought back, but not by Quantegy. One can only hope that Quantegy has their shit together this time.

There may be bad news down the road... such is life. But for now this is the best news any analog enthusiasts could hope for.

My point is that considering how spotty (and that's being kind) the quality of Quantegy products were in the last few years, especially the very last runs, why get excited over new old stock? The performance won't have improved in storage no matter how rare the stuff is.

[SteveM]

Originally Posted by RRuskin

My point is that considering how spotty (and that's being kind) the quality of Quantegy products were in the last few years, especially the very last runs, why get excited over new old stock? The performance won't have improved in storage no matter how rare the stuff is.

I don' t see where you're getting "new old stock" from. It says they are bringing back 456 etc...

[cjacek]

Yeah, I too am a bit peeved that the talk of "new old stock" is being mentioned continually. Quantegy had made it clear in previous messages, both online and email, that they are indeed bringing back 499, GP9 and now also 456! The NOS talk has to do with the fact that they're selling off what's currently left over in the warehouse but they are indeed going to restart production of the fore mentioned tapes. Here's what is says on their site:

The Quantegy products listed are a few of the remaining items that we have in our warehouse until we bring back the 456, 499, and GP9 Mastering Tapes. If there are any items you do not see, please call or email for availability.

Yes, that is indeed the "best news any analog enthusiasts could hope for", as Tim already pointed out.

--

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by cjacek

Yeah, I too am a bit peeved that the talk of "new old stock" is being mentioned continually. Quantegy had made it clear in previous messages, both online and email, that they are indeed bringing back 499, GP9 and now also 456! The NOS talk has to do with the fact that they're selling off what's currently left over in the warehouse but they are indeed going to restart production of the fore mentioned tapes. Here's what is says on their site:



Yes, that is indeed the "best news any analog enthusiasts could hope for", as Tim already pointed out.

--

1. Until they actually come out with new product, iffy NOS is all you can get from them.

2. Regardless of the intent, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for new Quantegy audio tape in this economy. If it happens, great but I'm not all that optimistic.

[Beck]

Originally Posted by RRuskin

My point is that considering how spotty (and that's being kind) the quality of Quantegy products were in the last few years, especially the very last runs, why get excited over new old stock? The performance won't have improved in storage no matter how rare the stuff is.

I'm not excited about recent NOS. I'm looking forward to them beginning the manufacturing process again and having new stock.

In fact I've recommended on this form in the past that people are best off buying 456 manufactured between 1995 and 2004 for best results. I think my exact words were something like, "before 1995 you have sticky-shed and after 2004 you have poor QC."

That doesn't mean they didn't make any good tape after 2004, but the QC is one of the things I mentioned that the new owners screwed up, so the amount of bad tape coming out of Opelika was unacceptable. When Quantegy had their fire sale this last time there were some pretty good deals on certain tapes, but I didn't buy a single tape because of QC issues. I did and still do buy NOS Ampex/Quantegy between the years 1995 and 2004... never had a bad tape yet.

Quantegy knows they can't put out crap tape and expect to succeed this time. RMGI has put out enough crap tape that perhaps Quantegy sees an opportunity to do it right this time and regain their former position as the leading tape supplier in the world.

If it doesn't work out there is plenty of NOS tape from the good years to keep me stocked up for the foreseeable future. When I see a good deal I buy it. Otherwise someone else can have it. I’ll wait for the deals. By the way, I’m also still buying NOS BASF and EMTEC due to RMGI QC issues.

My music comes first. When manufacturers get their shit together I'll be happy to buy their tape... and that's what I'm hoping for.

[poopchute]

Too bad we cant all get together and do a group buy of some of their tape. That way we could all rate it and give a good idea on what the quality actually is. If everyone here that wants tape buys a few reels and gives a report it could help out others that are iffy about buying and maybe we could some type of group discount...

[Talldog]

I'm in on a group buy when they are ready with NEW 456.