The center thread condition of a tape and any hub deformation will eventually deform a tape to make drop outs or loss of highs and even a lower left channel.
This is interesting because I have several tapes that have a lower left channel and I've been thinking is it by chance or is there something I'm doing wrong. I do put a leader always, however.
This is interesting because I have several tapes that have a lower left channel and I've been thinking is it by chance or is there something I'm doing wrong. I do put a leader always, however.
I'd rather expect diagonal or perpendicular creases that cause momentary loss of sound. That's what usually happens with slotted reels if you don't use leader. I've got a very old (late 50s or early 60s) Philips TP tape recorded at 1 7/8 and although it does have the factory leader the tape is visibly damaged several metres in, causing very audible drop-outs. Loss of one channel is more likely caused by uneven winding, resulting in edge damage.
I use it by default. All my tapes (but one) are Maxell UDXL and they come with leader on both ends. I added leader to my lone ATR mainly because 1) thats what I am used to and 2) It give me more stuff to buy and play with!
Leader tape virtues
I have a lot of Pre-recorded tapes and always add long leaders maybe even leaders on leaders... Lots of good reasons mentioned here. One of my main reasons is to reduce the harm from the slit in the reel hub... On some hubs this slit is unreasonably wide and the symptom is even worse. Ever notice an indentation line across the tape at every revolution? This indentation can be seen far into the tape pack on some reels. A nice long 1.5 mil Mylar leader goes along way to reduce this effect... On a few of my Quad tapes I have even put a 1/4 inch silicone rubber band around the hub before winding.
For me, leader tape is more to satisfy my sense of order than anything else. I absolutely love when buying used tape, to find tape with matching leader on matchin reels in matching boxes, and when the leader colours are even correct (e.g. green at the beginning and red at the end) I just even love it more.
Don't use leader on the tape I use in the studio for master recordings, but in my personal collection of tapes for "living room listening" I very much prefer tape with leaders.
What is a store trail?
BTW, I recently got into open reel tapes and already had a Duke Ellington tape damaged by a guy from whom I was purchasing a B77 from - it was right in the beggining but after that I really noticed the need to leader tapes. I got the red and green ones to mark the begining and end of a tape.
I alway use leader tape and it is useful because the B77 has a photo diode to sense leader tape, so the machine stops before the tape completely unwinds. At the end I just hit rewind and no need to attach the tape because it did not unwind.
edit: Oh, I judt realized that only makes sense on a 2-track machine!
Most machinex for US market were 4-tracks if I remember correctly...
ke4mcl said:
I'm supposed to but rarely do... Yeah.. the tape demons are gonna haunt me... Whatever..
Isnt leader tape GOOD cause it saves the reg tape from being pulled on as much when it reaches the end? (When the unit senses the leader tape doesnt it stop??) I know thats how alot of VCRs work
Using leader tape
I have many older pre-recorded tapes from as far back as the 's. I am sure the recording company's did not use the best quality tope in their production.. I find it less destructive use the leader to load because the older tape is often very brittle. It really isn't that much trouble. I do it as soon as I receive a newly purchased tape. Most of my pre-recorded tapes are purchased on ebay. Many of these tapes are over 50 years old.
Jim Walton
I, always, add leader to the beginning and end of my reel tape which didn't have any. I add the amount of leader needed to do two full revolutions of the packed reel. Some of my tapes have sensing foil for the auto-reverse function and I hand-wind past the leader tape when beginning to play a tape. I prefer to begin recording about 15 seconds into the start of the reel. Leader at the start and finish of the reel protects the recording from possible damage.
Nando.
I started in and mostly bought Philips LP and DP tapes that came with green and red leaders and a piece of conducting tape for auto stop.
Other brands often missed the conducting foil, however I never bought without leaders. Now considering buying some reels by RTM and notice I need to buy me some leader tape and sensing foil aswell, but what prices.
I too am in the “always use leader tape” camp. I just think it’s better. I suppose if you have plenty of regular tape between both ends of the reel and the actual program content it’s not strictly necessary...but I like it better...and I use a LOT at the head so I can see when to stop the rewind *bigthumbup*
...and I use a LOT at the head so I can see when to stop the rewind *bigthumbup*
Why wouldn't you monitor the index counter instead? -or just hit "Z-LOC" in the case of the Studers...
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