Opinions: Metal or Plastic 7-inch Reels?

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sweetbeats

sweetbeats

Reel deep thoughts...
I know with 10.5-inch reels this makes a difference in my experience, especially when using precision reels. Is there as much a difference when using 7-inch reels with stability, performance or tape-pack or is it pretty much aesthetic?
 
sweetbeats said:
I know with 10.5-inch reels this makes a difference in my experience, especially when using precision reels. Is there as much a difference when using 7-inch reels with stability, performance or tape-pack or is it pretty much aesthetic?
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Pretty much aesthetic. Biggest consideration with 7" reels is standard vs. low-torque, and that depends on the diameter of the hub. You'll notice the low-torque hubs on 7" MRL tapes. Compared to standard hubs there's not as much room for tape. This keeps the tape farther away from the center of the reel table where the torque is highest. It really has to do with diameter, but you can think of it as how near the inside of the tape pack gets to the center of the reel table.
:)
 
I buy SM911 1/4" on 7" plastic tridents Cory and run them just like that onto another 7" plastic trident take up reel. I do have 10 1/2" reels of tape stock and take up reels but three 7" plastic tridents are cheaper (and longer) than one 10 1/2" reel on metal. I buy them by the outer carton - 20 reels to an outer.

I only use the 10 1/2" reels if I'm going to master up an album and then it's one reel per side (in the old vinyl sense). All the tracking is done on those 7 inchers and if am recording singles then it's side one and side two mastered to another 7".

Cheaper and easier in the end with no noticible difference in audio performance although they are not as visually precise in their rotation as the metal reels. There may be some increase in wow and flutter but without a wow and flutter device like wot Dr Zee showed us yesterday I doubt you'd notice it.

7" plastic tridents are the right price / performance / length ratio for me and I can afford to buy them in bulk when I need them and get the bulk discount.

Geoff
 
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Just out of curiosity, what are the drawbacks of using plastic 10.5" reels?
 
Thanks for the post jedblue. I've been looking into getting some empty reels of 1/4. My Nephu is loaning me his Teac X7-R to mix down some tracks. I really don't want to use the 1/4 track but that's all I can get my hands on. I'm wanting a Tascam 32 1/2 track but just don't have the $$$$ I'll buy the 1/4 inch pancake from ATR and use the plastic 7's. BTW, have some rep points on me.
 
The plastic reels may(?) be thicker (for firmness) compared to metal...so you have to check that they are not sitting "higher" on the reel table, and therefore altering the tape path in any way.

I had one deck where the hubs could be placed two different ways on the table...one way was for metal reels and the other for plastic...and that always kept the tape path the same going to the guides.
 
I would get the 7 inch reels in plastic, a choice over the metal ones by far. It may be only my experience but I've found the metal reels in this format to be pretty flimsy and get outta shape pretty fast. The plastic ones tend to be more thick, precise and will never bend out of shape. I don't think there are any 7" metal reels made of the thick, 6 screw type, that you sometimes see on the larger 10.5" reels. I've found the plastic ones to be more reliable / stable on my 7" transports. So, plastic I'd choose.:)
 
Thanks everybody! Very helpful. I'm going to quit looking at 7" metal reels on eBay. Few and far between and stupid expensive. Just saw a bulk pack of 12 Scotch 7" metal reels go for nearly $200USD. Nice looking reels, but at that price?

I have a couple three plastic tridents that came with my 388 and I'm going to remain satisfied with those. ;)
 
I love 7" metal reels.

Every time I get one I clean it up inthe dishwashser and sell it for an outragious price on eBay.

Wish I had hundreds of them. :)

-Ethan
 
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