purchasing new 9-track tapes?

On Mon, 15 Mar 2004, John Willis wrote: I'm in awe. Speaking as a life-long musician, studio owner / builder / architect and former Chief Engineer of MGM Studios AS WELL AS a crazed computer collector with several working 9-trk drives.... i have one sardonic, sarcastic, but mostly tongue-in-cheek question: John, old buddy, do you have even the slightest concept of the fundamentals of tape recording? Because if you do, are you actually *trying* to cause some poor sod a vanload of grief? I'll save the long treatise on coercivity, bias points, oxide and binder formulations and tape lubrication.... So what actually prompted you to recommend Audio Tape for digital use?? And, yes I've tried, and no, not only does it work poorly or not at all, it's hell on the 9trk drive.... (think: sapphire scrapers vs Ampex 456) I really am boggled that BASF is working on your drives - how do you reconcile the operating points??? How long do you think the data will last??? Nothing I ever tried would even write/read with any reliability at all, on various Kennedys and Ciphers and a TS11. This harks back to the old 'slit-video' cheap 1/4 bulk tape scams in the 70s. Also I knew several guys in the late 60s who were slitting 800 BPI computer tape and selling *that* for home audio use...! A few thousand feet and your head-gap resembles the San Andreas Fault... not to mention 1 good and one raggedy edge... ;} And I buy lots from Sweetwater - have been since Chuck used to answer the phone himself. BUT: I.M.(not so)H.O. - DO NOT use 1/2" audio tape, of any manufacturer, for your 9trk!!!!!!!!!!!! NOS, or used-once, tape is easy to find, new tape is still being made, is it not?? Cheers John (Swami Audionanda)