Bruce,
Okay, I'll bite on your comment. I had posted this same question a few months ago when I first got my ADAT, and at that time these tapes were a couple of the ones suggested for use. I haven't had any problems so far, but I have only used each tape once or twice. I've been taping live, 8 tracks only since I only have a single blackface at this point, about 60 minutes worth of music (ie. 2 tapes each session). Each tape has gone through multiple hours of my learning how to mix, etc. and I haven't had any problems that I didn't create myself (ie. input overload causing distortion, duh!).
So, now the question...Why a special coating that isn't warned about in the manual? And what indications will I have that my tape is failing me?
I realize that I'm working with a relative dinosaur using an older blackface unit, but coming from my 4-track cassette it has been like a night and day difference in quality, so I'm not complaining too much (and the cost was easy to swallow, since my main goal was to see what I could do with 8 tracks and learn some basic recording skills).
And, by the way, thanks for all of your input on this forum. I have learned a lot from your advice, so this is just another of my opportunities to learn from someone who been down the path before.
DDev.....