BG>  Wonderful message about tape formulations, an area that I'm not that
 BG> versed on since I do as little with cassette as possible and that will
I've done a lot less analog tape recorder setup work in recent years than I 
used to too.  
 BG> shortly be even more so. I was unaware of that distortion in the Chrome
With a mid frequency tone near SOL it's typically about 0.7 or 1.0 for 
ferric, versus about 1.0 or 1.4 for chrome and similar quality pairings of 
each tape type from various vendors and alignment choices.  As you likely 
know better than most here, there are a number of compromises reflecting 
alignment choices, hardware, and oxide that complicate precise answers.  
 BG> settings. Does the ferrite formulations emulating the Chrome also have
I hesitate to offer a blanket answer, as I suspect exceptions exist and 
manufacturers change formulations periodically such that one would have to be 
an engineering supervisor at Ampex or a similar competitor for some time to 
have really solid wide scale data.  Some such formulations seem to have that 
trait based on my experience.  (I won't call it a "problem" since both analog 
and digital media have trade offs by design.)  
I'd hope any really serious tape users would test specific hardware, media, 
and alignment setups in house, in order to make informed choices to limit the 
scope of what's used, as opposed to more wild assed assumptions common to 
less serious users.  
 BG> this problem? Also, as you know, tape has a natively high distortion
 BG> anyway.
That's a feature, not a bug.    
Could you have imagined 48 tracks of tube limiters years ago, or FX boxes to 
give choices of odd/even harmonic simulations?  Of course we've both spotted 
production glitches of unintended tape saturation on music releases over the 
years, as well as some intentional use of hot or conservative levels.  
Terry
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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