Looking to top up my stock of 1/2" tape, does this look ok?

  • Thread starter Thread starter altruistica
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I used to really like that tape. Tape Works Texas had a ton of it years ago. It sold for around $25/reel.

-MD
 
Does the MSR-16 manual give any warnings against using 1 mil tape?

Cheers! :)
 
Love BASF (later Emtec) but I used 911 on the MSR16, so I don't know about the 900? I had a search of the net and it appears that the formula is different and the sound is also different, but neither in a bad way so it was personal choice.

Be aware that the BASF branded stuff will be older stock, however the BASF/Emtec brand had a much longer life than Ampex.

Alan
 
This stuff is ok. I bought a couple reels from Tapeworks Texas years ago for $21.00 USD per reel. Technically speaking you should adjust tape tension, bias and output level. But most people these days use tape without worrying much about all that. Expect to have a different character to the sound. It will be brighter with more high-end distortion if your deck is set with Quantegy 456 compatible. Factory set tape tension is a bit too high on the MSR-16 for this tape, but that transport is very easy on tape in general.
 
I've got 8 reels of BASF 911 that I bought new (well, NOS!) for my son in 2007 to record band rehearsals on my Fostex B-16. He almost never overdubbed them, so it was a handful of passes on each reel for recording, a few listens then a quick mix to CD afterwards.

They are all on Ampex reels, because I bought 14" reels and spooled them off. Very nice tape: bias-compatible with Ampex/Quantegy 456 but better slit and without the sticky shed!!!

$25 each plus shipping if anyone is interested.

David
 
Hey maddog,

Is this your review?

'The Tascam MSR-16 is a 16 track multitrack recorder that uses 1/2" tape. It is set up for 1.5 mm thick, +6 tape, and in particular Quantegy 456. Although Quantegy 456 is no longer produced, RMGI (Emtec, and previously BASF, and previous to that AGFA) SM 911 will work just fine. Also, RMGI SM 468 can be used as well.

My two MSR-16's had dbx Type I noise reduction which is mandatory to producing clear, hiss free recordings. Some claim that the MSR-16s, which came with Dolby SR noise reduction is superior to the dbx, but I have not used any of those machines. The dbx can be switched on and off on tracks 1-8 and 9-16, and can be outright disabled on track 16 solely, for the purposes of SMPTE and MTC striping. There is also an Accessory 2 jack to use a device such as the Tascam MIDIizer to synchronize another MSR-16, the MSR-24, the TSR-8, or the 238 or 688. In addition, there is a remote control available for this machine that uses a standard serial cable. Although I can't remember which cable it uses exactly, a normal male to female extender cable with the same number of pins can be used to place the remote control in a separate room and will operate just fine. This standard cable can be ordered through the Amazon marketplace, which is where I acquired mine.

Down to brass tacks: The MSR-16 makes excellent quality recordings. Personally, I think the recordings are as good as the ones I made on the TSR-8 I owned for a short time, but with the benefit of an additional 8 tracks. This is a powerful machine, particularly when combined with a DAW for added tracks. In the time I owned two (one at my band's studio, the other in my home studio) I was able to easily take tapes recorded on one machine and bring them for playback, overdubs, and mixdowns on the other machine with ease. The recordings are crisp and clear, but if you want even crisper recordings uses higher bias tape (for which the machine is underbiased) such as RMGI SM 900. This may put more wear on the machine, but I was satisfied with the results this achieved.

This is a narrow track machine, so don't expect to be able to get a lot of tape compression out of it, especially since the dbx is pretty much mandatory to use and compensates for it anyway. If you ever need to bounce tracks it will do it seemlessly, and I'll think you'll be impressed with the results. During the one time I bounced a track, I bounced it three times, adding more and more effect each time, and the loss of quality, due in part to the excellent onboard dbx, was indiscernible, particularly within the mix.

I really enjoyed this machine, but after a few years opted for the larger track width of the Tascam MS-16. I still wish I had it around, but it was time to clear some space.'

I found it on another site. I can't find any tape suggestions in the manual so can only say that the reel of Agfa 468 I've got and some Quantegy 406 run well on the machine (are these both 0.5mil tape).

I once tried some Scotch 966 but it was far too thick and the motors struggled to rew or ff. Actually they came to a stop.

Al
 
altruistica said:
I can't find any tape suggestions in the manual so can only say that the reel of Agfa 468 I've got and some Quantegy 406 run well on the machine (are these both 0.5mil tape).

Al
Click to expand...

The manual only specifies 1.5-mil “High Output tape,” which at the time meant Ampex 456 or compatible. The MSR-16 was factory setup with Ampex 456. The MSR and TSR machines were introduced before +9 tapes came out, so the highest output tapes for 1/2” and above were Ampex 456, 3M/Scotch 226, AGFA 469, AGFA/BASF 468, BASF 911 and Zonal 700.

Lower output tapes like Ampex 406 and Scotch 206 can be used as well. These are all 1.5-mil tapes.

Now days you'll want to avoid certain tapes from the sticky-shed era, like 3M/Scotch 226, Ampex 456 and 406 from certain years, and AGFA 469.
 
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