This is an interesting question. I have here a '70s Teac 80-8 set up for 456 but I'm actually using Scotch 203 from the '60s/'70s which is a 0db level tape. What does this do to the tape? It sounds fine actually...but does it mean the tape is getting hit really hard? Again I really think is sounds good....should I set it up for 0db tape or keep it calibrated for 456? This scotch is the only tape I'll use so I keep that in consideration.
What happens when you hit tape too hard?
- Thread starter SongJohnn
- Start date
leddy
Well-known member
Best performance will always be from recalibrating the deck.
I asked myself the same question though. So I ran different test tones into my tape decks at different levels on different tapes, and then (ran the tones into my PC) looked at the results on a spectral display to see when distortion started, and what kind (odd/even, etc.), how the overall EQ balance was affected, etc. I'm a geek that way.
Your ears are a better judge, though. Assuming you have good monitors.
I asked myself the same question though. So I ran different test tones into my tape decks at different levels on different tapes, and then (ran the tones into my PC) looked at the results on a spectral display to see when distortion started, and what kind (odd/even, etc.), how the overall EQ balance was affected, etc. I'm a geek that way.
Your ears are a better judge, though. Assuming you have good monitors.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Child Services comes in and takes the tape into custody...and you go before a judge for tape abuse.
Basically, distortion increases as the level of magnetization increases, and this distortion rises faster and faster as the tape nears its saturation point, beyond which, increasing input level does not increase the level imposed on the tape, and ultimately output level starts to decrease above a certain point.
I didn't find decent graphs online for Ampex/Quantegy tapes, though I think I have 456 data in paper form in a file somewhere. I did find the spec sheet for RMGI SM 911 online, and you can use this as an example:
http://www.rmgi-usa.com/resources/Spec-Sheets-&-Bias-Chart/RMGI_SM_911.pdf
Look at the graphs on page 3 to get a sense of how distortion increases with increasing input level, and how output level changes with different input levels. The overall response of Scotch 203 will resemble those curves, but at lower absolute levels, reflecting the lower remanence capacity of the tape.
That's the technical answer. The practical answer is that with tape, if you are recording without noise reduction, you pretty much always turn up the recorder gain until the signal comes back off the tape so bent that you don't like it and then you back off just to the point where it sounds OK. That way you push the noise floor as far below the signal as possible.
OTOH, if you are using noise reduction, you want to calibrate properly for the tape and avoid pushing levels up to where distortion becomes appreciable, because that will skew the proper tracking function of the noise reduction, which generally relies on linear response from the tape recorder.
Cheers,
Otto