PER525 vs PER528, and how about PEM468 ???

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david winter

david winter

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Hi folks,

I'm just checking a lot of 100s of 10" reels I bought a few months ago. All are from RTL radio (Paris). Tapes are mostly PER525 and PEM468.

I want to keep the "nicest" ones (i.e not shortened or with too many splices) to record live concerts. I ussually record PER528 tapes but I have a few wonders:

1) Anyone knows, even roughtly, how much PER525 will wear the heads versus the PER528 ?

2) Whats the difference between 525 & 528 in term of sound quality ? Somebody told me the 525 had a better response but what does this means ? Bandwidth ? Or better ability to record dynamics, bass, etc ?

3) I'm not used at all with PEM468 and I now have a number of them. How good are them ? I noticed they have a backcoating. Can this generate sticky on this type of tape ?


Thanks !

David
 
David,

I only have experience with AGFA PEM468 and BASF/EMTEC SM468. These are the same tape. BASF acquired the AGFA magnetic tape division when AGFA got out of the tape business.

468 is one of my favorite tapes and was historically used interchangeably with Ampex 456. In many ways 468 is a better tape than Ampex/Quantegy 456. It has no history of sticky-shed. It has a reputation as a superior archiving tape because it preserves the high-end frequencies much better than other tapes over time.

With magnetic tape there is always a slight fading of high frequencies over time as compared to immediately after the recording. This is nothing drastic, but 468 is known to hold on to these high frequencies better.

As a rule I don't recommend used tape, but we have to do what we must these days if new tape is hard to come by. One thing nice about 468 is that it has "PEM468" or "SM468" printed on the backcoating, so you know it is the tape the box says it is.

RMGI now makes SM468, which is the same formulation, but the RMGI I have does not have "SM468" printed on the backcoating. This is unfortunate. Otherwise it's the same.

I have seen a batch or two of AGFA PEM468 with heavier than normal oxide shedding, but this is not sticky-shed. I've had no problems at all with BASF, EMTEC or RMGI 468.

I know PER528 was popular in European broadcast radio, but I have no personal experience with it. I know nothing at all about PER525.

Hope that helps

~Tim
 
lo.fi.love said:
(pardon the hijack)

OK, so maybe this thread is an appropriate venue. I've read that SM468 has the "West Coast Sound". What does that mean? This tape makes you sound like Miles Davis?? :confused:

Here is an example of what I'm talking about.
Click to expand...

"West Coast Sound"

Of French origin: Bruit de côte ouest

Definition:

Means someone at USA Recording Media needlessly made something up to sell a great tape, which really needs no gimmicks. ;)
 
Thanks for your replies. Here's a chart giving some interesting infos about these tapes. I thought the 468 & 528 had the same oxyde as per "8" digit, usually standing for the type of oxyde. But since it's not the same thickness (46µm vs 52µs) some parameters may change. You tell me ! However, the SM468 and the PEM468 aren't really the same. But they are very close.
 
I have that same tape list. I’m not sure how accurate all the info is. That little difference can be attributed to different methods of measuring. If AGFA was a couple dB down compared with later BASF, EMTEC and RMGI, it was before my time. All of the AGFA PEM468 I have now is the same as BASF (and later).

AGFA 468 was passed down to BASF when BASF acquired AGFA Magnetics. I have lots of 468 going back to the original AGFA brand. One box that is rather unique… it’s BASF, but is marked PEM468 just like the AGFA. It’s an early box made shortly after BASF took over AGFA formulizations. The other BASF and EMTEC I have are marked SM 468 and have a different box styles.

The general character and performance of 468 is about the same. However tape manufacturers have always tweaked formulations without telling us, so over the years a tape type can become different than the original. It’s the same with AMPEX/Quantegy 456. The formulation has been tweaked a lot over the years. Some people hear enough difference that they like the pre-2001 Ampex/Quantegy better than anything later.

:)
 
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