Whatever BASF and AGFA tape was being used for EBU programs in the late 80s and
early 90s, it's all held up beautifully for my purposes. Never had a bad roll
of the stuff. On the other hand, whatever Deutsche Welle was sending out (1-mil
back-coated brown oxide with a very smooth oxide surface) was sticky almost
immediately. This totally unscientific and biased survey is based solely on
what I was hauling out of CBC's Tape Reclaim and the CJRT discard bin between
about 1986 and 1996.

dl

Scott Phillips wrote:

> Agfa 468 in the '80's I had many, terrible problems with, in all width
> formats including 2". Sticky shed was the presentation, looking back at
> it. It was as if after a certain number of passes it just fell apart. A
> pity, as it was VERY good sounding tape with a nice 'type' of noise
> floor.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Marie Azile O'Connell
> Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 5:33 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] And on the plus side ...
>
> I agree whole-heartedly.  Virtually every tape I have encountered from
> the 50's and 60's presents with almost no problems, and the sound
> quality is very good, if not excellent.  This has been with 3inch, 5
> inch and 7 inch reels, and most
> 10.5 inch reels.  Strangely, the only brands I have had HUGE problems
> with in the 10.5 inch reels are AFGA 469 (I think) and PYRAL, or ones
> that have been spliced together with different brands of tape, having
> been recorded, in the field, on a Uher, and later spliced together and
> put onto a 10.5 inch reel.
> Once we hit the 70's, all hell broke loose, and they changed the
> formulas!  In hindsight, they didn't do us a favour at all!  Infact,
> they gave/give us endless problems - just because it it new, doesn't
> mean to say it is good, or the best!
>
> My sixpence worth!
>
> Marie
>
> Quoting [log in to unmask]:
>
> > In a message dated 3/19/2006 6:40:23 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> > [log in to unmask] writes:
> > Wow, the tape fairies are in the air! I had the same experience with
> > an early
> >
> > 60's reel of AudioTape
> > mylar-backed on Friday evening.
> > *****************
> >
> > I've yet to have a problem playing a tape made between 1950 and 1965.
>
> > Most of this was the cheapest tape I could buy so I'm not talking
> > about high quality, just that it is now just as good (bad) as it was
> when new.
> >
> > Unfortunately around 1980 I spent a considerable amount of time
> > transferring
> >
> > and editing material from that era to new, professional grade tape. I
> > am having trouble playing some of those transfers.
> >
> > Now should I go back to the originals and spend the time again, though
>
> > less with the help of digital editing, to make new copies on a
> > possibly even less
> >
> > durable medium?  I'm too old to maintain the copies myself for another
>
> > 25 years, and who else will?
> >
> > Mike Csontos
> >
>
> Marie O'Connell
> Sound Archivist/Sound Engineer/Sound Consultant Center for Oral History
> & Cultural Heritage University of Southern Mississippi
> Phone: 601-266-6514
> Mobile: 601-329-6911