MRL Tape Cost

[Preslav]

Is there any way to avoid paying $750 dollars for a reel of tape? Does anyone have experience w/ buying used ...is it worth it or is it a risk?

There is a store on Ebay selling "short" 2'' tapes...does this translate to a lot of forward/reverse on the tape machine to adjust all 24 or 16 channels ? Do they wear out faster due to that?

Help is appreciated.


Preslav

[chetatkinsdiet]

Haha...one of the added bonuses that no one talks about when discussing how "cheap" analog decks are these days.
I'd imagine a short tape would wear out quicker....both the tape and your nerves as you're having to set down your screwdriver and hit the rewind/stop/play buttons every so often while trying to adjust your machine.
later,
m

[Preslav]

yeah...for some reason i avoided thinking about this when we bought our machines. at the price i got the machines, it would cost me 1/4 of what I paid to get a full frequency long 2'' MRL tape. Talk about a seller's market.




preslav

[moogrocker]

I cheaped out and got a short tape for my machine. In all honesty the rewinding has never been a problem, assuming your machine is only a little out of wack you get through each step in 2 passes. I guess compared to the regular length tape you would probobly do less rewinding with a shorty than you would do fastforwarding to get to the next tone on a long one. I like it....my 2 cents.

[burn]

ok, maybe it will sound stupid, I don't know much about mrl tapes, but instead of buying a MRL, if I record tones on a blank tape with a recorder who is freshly calibrated, will I get the same result as a MRL Tapes and could I use that to calibrate the deck in the future?

[I'm Painting Again]

I'm not sure if i would trust some store on ebay enough to buy a calibration tape from..it maybe cool..i dunno..caveat emptor..

try looking into hiring a tech with his own tape and tools to set up the machine..could work out cheaper in the short run..you will be able to use your machine right away and save up for the MRL to do it your self in a while..

[I'm Painting Again]

ok, maybe it will sound stupid, I don't know much about mrl tapes, but instead of buying a MRL, if I record tones on a blank tape with a recorder who is freshly calibrated, will I get the same result as a MRL Tapes and could I use that to calibrate the deck in the future?

no that wont work..

MRL tapes are full track, and made in a lab with special gear..

that would wack out a recorder pretty badly..

[markpar]

$750? I got what I think is the most expensive one (2", 15 and 30 ips, long tone length) and it was only around $400.

Expensive, yeah, but not $750.

-mark

[Preslav]

Can you tell me where you bought your $400 tape at? I'd like to "get on that ass" if you will.


Preslav

[Mark Alan Miller]

ok, maybe it will sound stupid, I don't know much about mrl tapes, but instead of buying a MRL, if I record tones on a blank tape with a recorder who is freshly calibrated, will I get the same result as a MRL Tapes and could I use that to calibrate the deck in the future?

no that wont work..

MRL tapes are full track, and made in a lab with special gear..

that would wack out a recorder pretty badly..

Actually, it's always been my understanding that when calibrating with a full-track reference tape on a multi-track headstack one has to compensate for a change in low-end response from the playback of the full-track tape!
If one was very careful in making a tones reel on a very well calibrated machine, preferable the same model (or, even better the same machine immediately after having been set up by the best tech you can find) it should work better than not having a MRL. As the tones are recorded at the right track width this way, no compensation in calibration would have to happen. Please, correct my if I'm wrong, but this has been been passed off as 'permissable action' in a pinch by more than one tech.

[joel hamilton]

If you get a tech to come in for 75 bucks with an MRL, youcan print tones on a good chunk of tape right then and there and use it for day to day alignment for years. This is not the "textbook" way to do it, but whatever, it works fine on the machine that it was created on.
A real MRL has always been relatively expensive compared to a reel of tape.

Tape has a different set of headaches than a DAW, but once you get rolling, you get great sounds that do not require as much messing with as digital.

I love both formats, but boy does it make life easier to simply track to tape in the first place....Great sounds.[/i]

[@?,*???&?]

The way to avoid paying $750 for an MRL is to rent a second tape machine and make a copy of it. Or go to a studio and do that. Be sure to accurately align both decks and perform azimuth too. I've seen this trend in that past at studios that operated on a fixed budget.

[burn]

I got a Fostex 24trk 1" recently but is unusable it is so uncalibrated. I just asked price for a new 1" MRL from the official canadian retailer... $ 559.80 CAN + tx.. I think I'll call a tech and right after records bunch of tones, it is better than nothing I guess! I'm not a professional studio, just record my own and friends stuff so 600$ is a few less mics for me!

[I'm Painting Again]

ok, maybe it will sound stupid, I don't know much about mrl tapes, but instead of buying a MRL, if I record tones on a blank tape with a recorder who is freshly calibrated, will I get the same result as a MRL Tapes and could I use that to calibrate the deck in the future?

no that wont work..

MRL tapes are full track, and made in a lab with special gear..

that would wack out a recorder pretty badly..

Actually, it's always been my understanding that when calibrating with a full-track reference tape on a multi-track headstack one has to compensate for a change in low-end response from the playback of the full-track tape!
If one was very careful in making a tones reel on a very well calibrated machine, preferable the same model (or, even better the same machine immediately after having been set up by the best tech you can find) it should work better than not having a MRL. As the tones are recorded at the right track width this way, no compensation in calibration would have to happen. Please, correct my if I'm wrong, but this has been been passed off as 'permissable action' in a pinch by more than one tech.

I actually had heard that but never believed it! I guess its possible..but it doesnt seem that practical for a typical user though it doesnt seem too dificult either..more power to you if you go this route..learn something new everyday! thanks Cowtrax and Joel and Jeff !

[uniformrecording]

Can you tell me where you bought your $400 tape at? I'd like to "get on that ass" if you will.

http://www.usrecordingmedia.com/mrlflandspte.html

seems to be a good option

jeff