Hi Mark,

For years, my mantra was: "If it ain't 206, check it." Then, I came
across some Scotch 206 (1.5Mil) with SSS and my confidence was shaken.
However, Scotch 206 & 207 still remain to be the most stable of the
back-coated PET tapes. At least, here on the left coast. Shai Drori's
experience in Israel has been much different, with 206 having nothing
but problems (and with a very similar climate!). So, my recommendation
is: Check it! Carefully un-spool the reel and look for signs of SSS. If
none are found, play a segment or two for about 30 seconds and if the
transport looks clean, you should be good to go. I know this sounds
labor intensive (and it is) but: No pain, no gain.

 From the "Bake it as a last resort" guy,

Corey

Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
www.baileyzone.net

On 10/23/2017 8:22 AM, Hood, Mark wrote:
> I am about to digitize a daily large batch of quarter-inch tapes, most of which I believe to be 3M 206. There were professionally recorded and have been stored in a variety of conditions since the mid-70s, but in a pretty stable environment for the last 20 years.
>
> I'd like to solicit everyone's current experience and protocols when dealing with Scotch 206 - specifically, are you baking prior to spooling, or is 206 currently behaving well enough that a blanket baking policy is not required?
>
> And if you are baking 206 at any point in the process, what baking times and temperatures are you all using for quarter-inch stock?
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Mark
>
> Mark Hood
> Associate Professor of Music
> Department of Audio Engineering and Sound Production
> IU Jacobs School of Music