Tape duplication services?

[absurdexposition]

A to Z Audio - http://www.atozaudio.com/

I used A to Z about 10 years ago and remember the customer service was very good.

Now I always go through duplication.ca on account of the local factor, but it's free shipping to Canada/USA at any rate.

Unfortunately, having tapes pro-dubbed is not cheap these days.

[WCN]

Would be very interested in hearing reports from people about the sound quality of pro-dubbed tapes from various places they've worked with. General loudness, low end, high end, signal:noise ratio etc. I've definitely played some pro-dubbed tapes that sound quite solid, and some that don't.

Also have noticed that often with pro-dubbed tapes, my tape deck starts stopping periodically mid way while playing them the first time. Sometimes remedies after I've gotten through both sides, then plays back fine. As if there's some issue with the slack/tension in how the tape is wound in the dubbing process. Could be in part due to something off/wrong with my deck - anyone else ever experience something like this?

[absurdexposition]

Also have noticed that often with pro-dubbed tapes, my tape deck starts stopping periodically mid way while playing them the first time. Sometimes remedies after I've gotten through both sides, then plays back fine. As if there's some issue with the slack/tension in how the tape is wound in the dubbing process. Could be in part due to something off/wrong with my deck - anyone else ever experience something like this?

This used to be a very common problem with Duplication.ca, but thankfully seems to be less of an issue now. It also seems like it happens more when ordering blanks for home dubbing. It must be a tension thing during the plant's winding process.

[totalblack]

I've had the same thing happen with pro-dubs, although not super frequently. When it gets stuck I find flipping the tape, rewinding passed the part where it sticks, and then flipping, rewinding, and playing again works.

[holy ghost]

It must be a tension thing during the plant's winding process.

I've definitely had frequent jams when dubbing and I too think it's a tension issue. If I manually loosen the leader with my finger I have no problems. I kind of thought it was my tape deck!!

[absurdexposition]

It must be a tension thing during the plant's winding process.

I've definitely had frequent jams when dubbing and I too think it's a tension issue. If I manually loosen the leader with my finger I have no problems. I kind of thought it was my tape deck!!

Once had to get them to replace a full run of 100 blanks due to so many of them being affected. I think they had to retire that entire colour temporarily because I wasn't the only one with the issue.

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

Same as well, that stuff often happens to me when I play newer tapes for the first time. It doesn't happen with my older ones.

And I'm about to send a project to Debandjesfabriek in Holland. Good contact, decent prices,. We'll see how it comes out.

[Into_The_Void]

The few times I needed it, I used Brutallica in Bulgaria: excellent service and cheap prices. Unfortunately, he tended (2-3 years ago, don´t know now) to take more work than he can afford to manage, so delays could incur, but still pretty good.

[Theodore]

Also have noticed that often with pro-dubbed tapes, my tape deck starts stopping periodically mid way while playing them the first time. Sometimes remedies after I've gotten through both sides, then plays back fine. As if there's some issue with the slack/tension in how the tape is wound in the dubbing process. Could be in part due to something off/wrong with my deck - anyone else ever experience something like this?

This used to be a very common problem with Duplication.ca, but thankfully seems to be less of an issue now. It also seems like it happens more when ordering blanks for home dubbing. It must be a tension thing during the plant's winding process.

Well, my thoughts are that it can be cause a variety of reasons. To be honest i dont see how tension could be responsible unless two layers of tape were kinda glued together. So much slack in the middle of a wounded tape to cause a problem seems impossible to me. If we exclude deck's general problem [cause it would show itself very frequently] , my bet is that responsible is bad shape hub, and too tight closed shell combination, that at some point maybe get it stuck. Yes, after a play and its rotation, with the tape nicely wounded it may fix itself. I would also suggest you try to loose cassette screws just a little if they are too tight.

On my quartz locked direct drive / gear idler deck i only had this problem twice, with hundreds of tapes played. One stopped cause tape was glued close to leadin/out joint. The other, the hub was stuck, couldnt rotate even by pen initially, till i move it up-down, left-right, and then relaxed the screws to help it from now on. - My point is that a belt driven / idler tire deck probably wont be that good handling these difficulties / faulty tapes, even if its rubbers are of excellent quality / condition , and autostop will be engaged much easier. Very thin tapes dont help too.

Fuck these things can be a mystery, really. Many things involved.

[TS]

Tapes are mysterious indeed. Curious how some tapes produce issues on some tape decks but not others. The first Wagner Ödegaard tapes from a few years ago started making odd clicking sounds on the tape deck in my living room, but play fine on the Marantz PMD 430 in the studio. I don't know if they were home-dubbed but they certainly look pro. Had a similar issue with an old Furze cassette which I thought was busted (warbly) but sounds good on the deck I'm using now.

More directly on topic though, we have also always had good experiences with Duplication out of Canada. A bit pricey, but it's always sounded good.

[[MBD]]

Duplication.ca was my go to source for blank for years and I never had problems. Fast shipping, sometimes they'd throw in a couple extra blanks, etc. However the only time I used their pro dub services, things were nothing but trouble the whole way. Three test tapes had to be rejected before I got one that sounded correct, then when the batch of tapes showed up, at least two out of three had the problem with the test tapes (the bass was way too high in the mix for some reason, not an issue with the files or when I did a home dub as a test).

I got sent a new batch of 100 for free (admittedly very nice on their end, was not expecting that). Unfortunately, those are messed up too. So I now go through each copy and erase and dub over.  I'll be switching to NAC from now on (or at least for pro dubs plus a stack of some quality Technics decks are on the way to me so there's that too!)

[ConcreteMascara]

I've been using NAC off and on for my pro-duplicated jobs for the last 7 years and have never had any problems or complaints. Most recently I used them for the Screloma reissues. When I got the masters and later the the actual order I did several comparison listens between the original CDs and the tapes and was very happy with the sound. Those were done on NAC's in-house super-ferric tape. I also think NAC typically dubs at just the right volume allowing for a crisp and clear dub that's not under a bunch of hiss.

I do miss when they had a variety of tape options though. I did a chrome tape job in 2015 that came out sounding amazing, especially since the music was IDM type stuff.

For my home dubbed stuff I normally get tapes from tapes.com. Haven't had any consistent or notable issues there either and haven't heard any complaints about the sound quality on those releases. Since I only live a state away I also tend to get my tapes in 72 hours which is nice.

[[MBD]]

I keep forgetting tapes.com, I'll give them a try for blanks. Ebay has also been a decent source of type II tapes when people aren't jacking the prices up.

Here's hoping NAC delivers with the new formula. If it's not anything special, it's really not the worst thing to go to type I's for dubbing. Not optimal, but it is what it is.

[theworldisawarfilm]

Duplication.ca was my go to source for blank for years and I never had problems. Fast shipping, sometimes they'd throw in a couple extra blanks, etc. However the only time I used their pro dub services, things were nothing but trouble the whole way. Three test tapes had to be rejected before I got one that sounded correct, then when the batch of tapes showed up, at least two out of three had the problem with the test tapes (the bass was way too high in the mix for some reason, not an issue with the files or when I did a home dub as a test).

I got sent a new batch of 100 for free (admittedly very nice on their end, was not expecting that). Unfortunately, those are messed up too. So I now go through each copy and erase and dub over.  I'll be switching to NAC from now on (or at least for pro dubs plus a stack of some quality Technics decks are on the way to me so there's that too!)

Can I ask if you were having your stuff dubbed in real-time or high speed?

[[MBD]]

Can I ask if you were having your stuff dubbed in real-time or high speed?

Real time, I forget what they said to explain the poor quality but it didn't make any sense. Something to do with the track being to bass heavy when a quick look on my end didn't show anything too wild.