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Re: [ARSCLIST] BASF LH 60
At 06:38 AM 2008-10-07, Tom Fine wrote:
Mike, this is a true statement based on my experience. There doesn't
seem to be much rhyme or reason to it. In other words, you can't say
"all cassettes made before 19XX are vulnerable." It seems
brand-dependent to some extent and tape-thickness-dependent also (ie
I've encountered more shell and splice problems with C-120's than
C-60's, in general). Cheapo duper cassettes tend to be vulnerable to
the plastic shape-shifting over time and causing mechanical
problems, but that's not a hard and fast rule either.
Another problem we all probably encounter is that "voce grade" blank
cassettes were intentionally manufacturerd for a low price point and
are generally of low quality compared to "music grade" blanks. For
instance, a Maxell UDXL tape is much better constructed than a
Maxell LN type (I think this was the cheapo normal-bias voice-grade
type but I might be wrong with the letter). Even the normal bias
music-grade UD didn't have as well-made a shell as the
premium-priced high-bias type.
Tom, I concur.
Storage history is a key part of it as well as how the tape was
treated IN the machine (and by the present playback machines).
I am not seeing the > 10% shell failure rate that Mike is seeing. If
I have to fix-price a project, depending on the mix of cassettes, I
usually use 3-5% as the potential for re-shelling and I haven't been
skunked once.
I certainly have had machines that really bang on tape during rewind.
I don't find the Dragons or the MR7 or even the Sony TCD5M doing this.
Cheers,
Richard
Richard L. Hess email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.