Info on tape reel retailers
Depends on where your located.
If your in a small area ie a town then your only viable option is mail order.
If your in Uk then it would be better as i have many resources.
As for recording media. i mostly use Ampex.
I purchased 40 brand new reels (7 Inch)
I do have some other odd tapes that came with previous machines (some people have NO IDEA on how to care for tapes). Many of the tapes i got with tape recorders were 1. Exessivly worn due to lack of machine maintainance 2. Incorrectly wound onto the reel resulting in badly damaged leaders. 3. On some tapes the leaders were missing altogether and instead of replacing the leaders they just wound the tape onto the reel as it was <--- one thing i HATE most of all. On the recent tapes i got, most... in fact nearly all the leaders were missing. Also the tapes have been joined (badly) in several places. And on some parts of the tape there was horrific damage where the tape must have got chewed up and instead of editing out the chewed up section of tape they just left it (that chewed part of the tape can effect the upper and lower layers of tape as it is wound onto the reel resulting in further WORSE damage. Also if you DO get any second hand tapes run the leader against the back of your hand, if the leader is magnetised it will stick TO the back of your hand, <---- this is bad, VERY BAD, this magnetised leader can start magnetising the travel path AND heads of your machine and MUST be replaced <--- ALSO A vital thing to watchout for.
Also storage conditions are EXTEMELY important. All of your tape reels old and new MUST be stored at ROOM temperature at ALL times and OUT of direct sunlight, humidity and damp (moisture) . MOST importantly tapes MUST be kept away from ANYTHING that gives off a magnetic field. This includes the following.
Speakers with or without built in preamp. Anything that transmits radio signals radios CB transmitters, INCLUDING cell phones.
Taking these steps will preserve your tapes.
Tapes that show symptoms of exposure to a magnetic field will lead to Intermitent dropouts, muffled or complete loss of audio output - also as i mensioned above magnetised leaders. possibly even the tape itself.
These are just some of many things to watchout for when getting second hand tapes. Although i am not keen on second hand tapes i have recieved some good ones.
As for Quantegy.
On their site they have a list of supported retailers.
Also Zonal media is recomended too as the BBC in the Uk uses it for their broadcast machines.
Hope this info helps
Keith
