Sooner or later, music lovers who listen to vintage reel-to-reel tapes will start getting curious about making their own homemade tapes. Since the heyday of reel-to-reels in the 1970s through to today, blank reel-to-reel tapes have been manufactured for those who need them. Some insist on vintage blank reel tapes by companies such as TDK, Maxell, and Realistic, while others buy blank but used reel-to-reels at a fraction of the cost.
There are various projects that can be undertaken with blank reel-to-reel tapes. You can make your own party mix – imagine the reels spinning around during a get-together at your place with the perfect compilation of music coming from your vintage equipment. Or, you can make your own reel-to-reel version of an album that was never released in the format. You can even design and print art for the tape box and leave it out as a casual display in your music room.
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Choices for buying blank reel-to-reel tapes
Blank reel-to-reel tapes come in a variety of types. The length of tape is a primary concern. You’ll get different time to record on the tape depending on its length and on the speed you choose. Generally, if you have a reel-to-reel player that can record tapes, you will be able to choose the slower speed of 3.75 inches per second (ips), or the faster speed of 7.5ips. You will sacrifice a bit of sound quality at the slower speed – but this may be fine for your needs. One of the draws of reel-to-reel tapes is their sound quality, even at the slower speed.
When buying recordable blank reel-to-reel tapes, you may want to insist upon getting such tapes that are still sealed, which will cost more but will quite possibly lead to a cleaner sound on your recordings. You may also be interested in looking through sales listings of bulk reel tapes. Buying two or more blank reel-to-reel tapes in a lot at one time can save money and save on shipping costs.
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Whatever your purpose is, blank reel-to-reel tapes are fortunately easy to find in a variety of types and conditions. Even if you aren’t intending to make your own recordings, buying blank reels that someone recorded in the 1970s can be a fun window into the past. Sometimes, you can cheaply buy a piece of a radio broadcast someone made back in the day, or even a mix that was the soundtrack for a party years ago.
Good luck finding blank reel-to-reel tapes for whatever your purpose!
