Rmgi 900

[Deaaaath]

Hey,
I recently bought a Tascam 38, still waiting on the manual to arrive so I can't consult it for any answers just yet.
The guy I bought it from gave it to me with two used reels of 1/2 inch tape, I am not home right now and I can't remember for sure but I think one of them was a reel of Quantegy 456 and some other Quantagy reel (both of which he used to record on the 38.)
I was in a Sam Ash today and saw that they were selling unused reels of RMGI 900 1/2 inch tape. Can any of you tell me if this reel would work on my 38?
Here are the specs
rmgi-usa.com/pdf/RMGI_SM_900.pdf

 

[Beck]

Hey,
I recently bought a Tascam 38, still waiting on the manual to arrive so I can't consult it for any answers just yet.
The guy I bought it from gave it to me with two used reels of 1/2 inch tape, I am not home right now and I can't remember for sure but I think one of them was a reel of Quantegy 456 and some other Quantagy reel (both of which he used to record on the 38.)
I was in a Sam Ash today and saw that they were selling unused reels of RMGI 900 1/2 inch tape. Can any of you tell me if this reel would work on my 38?
Here are the specs
rmgi-usa.com/pdf/RMGI_SM_900.pdf

The EMTEC products most suitable for your 38 are SM911 and SM468. SM900 would work but is harder on the heads and the transport. If using SM900 you would also have to do a full calibration for that tape, so you can’t use something like 456 and SM900 interchangeably.

 

[Deaaaath]

Thanks!
I found some reels of the 911 off tapes.com for about 35 dollars cheaper than Sam Ash was selling them for too! Sweet deals.
So, I can pretty safely interchange the quantagy 456 and the rmgi 911?

 

[Beck]

So, I can pretty safely interchange the quantagy 456 and the rmgi 911?

Yes. Some folks like to tweak for a particular tape, but on something like the 38 setup for 456 you can use other 456-class tapes like SM911 with no further adjustments. My TSR-8 is calibrated with 456. I also use SM911, SM468 and in the past 3M 226 with no need for “fine tuning.”

(Side note: I don't use 3M 226 anymore because it all succumbed to sticky-shed, but it was a good 456-compatible tape back in the day.)

 

[Deaaaath]

Thanks so much!

 

[Deaaaath]

Oh and one last question (hopefully!)
Is there any easy/safe way for me to double check that the machine is still calibrated for 456 and its compatible tapes? Or should I just wing it?

 

[cjacek]

Is there any easy/safe way for me to double check that the machine is still calibrated for 456 and its compatible tapes?

While the only sure proof way would be to do a full calibration / alignment, there indeed is a simple and cheap way to at least know that it's ballpark..... This will probably not check levels but would check if bias is within original spec.. (which will also give a hint to whether the machine was reset for another tape than factory).

Caveat: The following will only work if the heads on the machine are not worn to the point of actually changing the specs of the machine. You need to be absolutely sure that there is not too much wear on the heads.

Try to record some familiar to you music material on one of your reels, the Quantegy 456, for example, something off of CD, for instance, something really well recorded and mixed, with a good amount of different instruments and frequencies. Try recording the same material using pairs, first channels 4 & 5, then 1 & 2 and 7 & 8 (or in any order that you prefer).

While recording, do an A/B between the source and off tape monitoring (alternately switching between "input" and "repro") and see how close it is. Listen very, very closely to the entire frequency range, from the lows, mids to highs, noting any distortion or abnormalities in the sound picture vs the source. Both should be similar. If they are, good chance it wasn't set for another tape type. If it isn't, it may be excessive head ware or significant off spec performance, be it from typical drift or recalibration by the previous owner. In the future though, it'd still be good to recalibrate the recorder or any recorder for that matter, past the 2 decades mark.

---