Tape Switch over

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Bguzaldo

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Hey guys, just a quick question. If I have been using BASF 911 1" for the last few months can I switch over to BASF 900 1" without doing any maintenance to my machine? I just don't have the gear/money to be doing any calibration/ biasing/ alignment right now. I'm in a state of infnacy in the tape world so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-Barrett
 
Avoid buying from that seller. A lot of people on this forum have reported that TapeandTape is a liar and a scam artist.

I know the allure of buying cheaper, used tape is tempting, but stick to new stock.

As for SM 900, if you don't re-calibrate your machine for it, you'll get more high end, as well as additional high end distortion.

-MD
 
Yes, within limits.

I assume the properties of the old BASF is the same as for the newly manufactured RMG stuff, for both 900 and 911; 911 is a +6dB tape, and SM900 a +9dB tape. If you are calibrated for an operating level that is 0 VU for the SM900 you could use 911 at -3 VU. Do you know the reference fluxivity that your machine was calibrated to? If it is 250 nW/m, for example, you should be operating at +6 for the 900, +3 for the 911.

900 and 911 are only 3 dB apart, so assuming the machine has plenty of dynamic range, you should probably be OK.

But for serious work on this expensive medium, you should really know what your operating level is, and maybe get a test tape so you can check periodically, and calibrate when necessary.
 
It's not a good idea to use a +9 tape on a deck calibrated for +6. You can get the levels "right" but you're going to lose a lot of detail in your recording.
 
NO tapeandtape. Do a quick search on the forum and read the info for themselves.
 
yes, no

The short answer is Yes you can.

The long answer is that if you change tape without recalibrating you will be introducing a number of compromises.

First off to get the most from your tape and machine you should recalibrate everytime you change batches of the same tape (which is way overkill for most of us). You should recalibrate when changing type types.

There are 3 catagories of compromises that changing tape without recalibrating introduces.

1) There may be minor or significant frequency response changes. This may be very subtle or quite obvious. Try it and find out.

2) You may have greater distortion due to differing bias requirements.

3) By changing to a tape of a different MOL (+6 tape to +9 for example) your operating level may not be what you want.

When putting a +9 tape on a +6 machine you gain headroom (you can hit the tape harder) before compression and generally keep the same noise floor.
(if you hit a + 9 tape at +9 levels you move the noise floor down so as to have a quieter tape)

When putting a +6 tape on a +9 machine (Read as machine calibrated for +9) you will be getting tape compression and perhaps sever distortion if you drive it anywhere near 0 VU.

All this is a generality. Best to try it and listen to the results. In any case depending on how well your deck was calibrated and how long it has been since then it may be out of cal to start with.

Regards, Ethan
 
Last edited:
Bguzaldo said:
Hey guys, just a quick question. If I have been using BASF 911 1" for the last few months can I switch over to BASF 900 1" without doing any maintenance to my machine? I just don't have the gear/money to be doing any calibration/ biasing/ alignment right now. I'm in a state of infnacy in the tape world so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-Barrett
Click to expand...


First of all, what kind of machine do you have? On some machines +9 class is not recommend... not a good idea.

If your machine is capable of handling the tape, several things should be adjusted... tape tension, bias and levels at the very least.

And yeah, steer clear of tapeandtape. His conduct goes beyond honest mistakes.

:)
 
Jesus, what would I do without you guys... Thanks so much for all the help, I really appreciate it. I'll definitely steer clear of TapeandTape. Also I think I'll stick with 911 But I'll have to buy it new. My Machine is a Tascam MSR 24 not the s version. I've been trying to track down a manual for the longest time, I ordered 2 from teac parts and never got either! Do you guys think I'll need to recalibrate, I was using tapes from 1996 which I got good results with and I'd like to stay close to that quality.

Thanks a million guys,
-Barrett
 
Bguzaldo said:
Jesus, what would I do without you guys... Thanks so much for all the help, I really appreciate it. I'll definitely steer clear of TapeandTape. Also I think I'll stick with 911 But I'll have to buy it new. My Machine is a Tascam MSR 24 not the s version. I've been trying to track down a manual for the longest time, I ordered 2 from teac parts and never got either! Do you guys think I'll need to recalibrate, I was using tapes from 1996 which I got good results with and I'd like to stay close to that quality.

Thanks a million guys,
-Barrett
Click to expand...

You should calibrate every so often. I'm not sure how often, exactly, but it may be good to do it every four months? Three months?
 
I'm not sure you need to recalibrate every few months...
...unless you are tracking like 24/7 throughout that time period...or if you are swapping tape formulations.
Heads don't wear THAT fast and neither to the tape guides...and the electronics should stay pretty stable over that time period...and screws rarely turn by themselves! ;)

I would maybe toss up a test/calibration tape every few months and just see if your levels are where they should be going in/out. If they are...not need to recalibrate. Pulling cards and moving adjustment pots and wires on old deck can sometimes open up a can of worms.

And also...don't demag constantly...unless of course you're really putting some serious 24/7 type of hours on your deck like a commercial facility might be.
Best thing is to have a Gauss meter...and check how much magnetism has built up.
Often you will find it's nominal for moderate home/project studio use....
…so no need to demag unless you just like doing it! :D
Cleaning is the thing to do regularly/daily...even sometimes during tracking sessions...especially of you older/questionable tape. You don't need a drop out on some important section of a lead vocal...etc.

Also...the 911 is my favorite formulation for tracking...the 468 is great too, but I would use that more for mixdown/mastering, though I use 911 for that too...and they are so close, that you don't necessarily need to recalibrate when switching between them.
US Recording has new RMGI 911 tape at decent prices.

http://usrecordingmedia-store.stores.yahoo.net/
 
miroslav said:
I'm not sure you need to recalibrate every few months...
...unless you are tracking like 24/7 throughout that time period...or if you are swapping tape formulations.
Heads don't wear THAT fast and neither to the tape guides...and the electronics should stay pretty stable over that time period...and screws rarely turn by themselves! ;)

I would maybe toss up a test/calibration tape every few months and just see if your levels are where they should be going in/out. If they are...not need to recalibrate. Pulling cards and moving adjustment pots and wires on old deck can sometimes open up a can of worms.

And also...don't demag constantly...unless of course you're really putting some serious 24/7 type of hours on your deck like a commercial facility might be.
Best thing is to have a Gauss meter...and check how much magnetism has built up.
Often you will find it's nominal for moderate home/project studio use....
…so no need to demag unless you just like doing it! :D
Cleaning is the thing to do regularly/daily...even sometimes during tracking sessions...especially of you older/questionable tape. You don't need a drop out on some important section of a lead vocal...etc.

Also...the 911 is my favorite formulation for tracking...the 468 is great too, but I would use that more for mixdown/mastering, though I use 911 for that too...and they are so close, that you don't necessarily need to recalibrate when switching between them.
US Recording has new RMGI 911 tape at decent prices.

http://usrecordingmedia-store.stores.yahoo.net/
Click to expand...

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the help. I do clean everyday (a habit I luckily formed early) I'll have to get some test tapes and the gauss meter sounds helpful.

Thanks again to everyone that's helped me out
-Barrett
 
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