Re: [AV Media Matters] Analogue vs digital tape stock

[rohre@ARLUT.UTEXAS.EDU]

I would expect the digital stock to be a higher bandwidth coating for the
digital signals, and thus finer ground oxides, or even a dual coating, vs.
the lower coercivity coating of analog audio tape.  It typically might be
higher coercivity material, if from something like digital beta or SVHS
based digital recorders.

The bias requirement would be different, and digital tape might not give
optimum results with the bias of the analog recorder.  There might be
coating thickness differences that could affect how well it handles in the
mechanics of the drive.

In our instrumentation equipment, by resetting the bias, we were able to get
wideband tapes to emulate intermediate band oxides; however, these were
similar coercivity materials and oxides.
I would say doing this depends on how modern the digital tape is.

 In the early days of computer drives, (7 tracks), they used to white box
old digital tapes to make low cost audio 3 inch or 7 inch reels, by slitting
the computer tapes I was told.
The only white box tape I ever used was 3 inch quarter inch type for a voice
only recorder, and it worked, but that is very subjective as I had no
quality audio tape for comparison at the time.

This might work, but if you want quality analog recordings use the top end
tapes designed for this job today.

The differences are far more than marketing in some brands, but I defer to
Mr. Wheeler to offer his considerable experience from the drive maker's
view.  You can get the data sheets for the types of tapes you are comparing
and look at the magnetic characteristics and decide how close they might be.
Call the tape makers.

Stuart Rohre
Univ. of TX Applied Research Labs.