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I just started a session with brand new ATR 1" on my MX70, running at 15IPS. This is the first time I've tried the new ATR tape.

There were a couple hick ups that I've never encountered before (tracks all of a sudden not recording until turning the machine on and off again, slight "hick ups" on certain tracks, where the recorded signal dropped a small amount for a really short time). I blamed these on my machine, but tonight encountered some strange activity that I'm not sure if I should blame the machine.

I was recording vocals, and there were the "hick up" type things going on, maybe every 30 seconds. It was always in the same place. I switched from track 11 to 15, and got the same problem, but not at the same place as on track 11. I then recorded 1kHz to the track and heard a definite "bump". It wasn't a warble in the tone, but a low frequency click, if that makes sense.

I located the bump and inspected the tape with a flash light. I didn't really know what to look for, but I didn't see anything in that spot that looked different than in any other spot on the tape.

Also I'm getting a lot of shed from both the reels that I've used so far. Is this normal for new ATR tape?

Has anybody else experienced similar problems, or have any ideas as to what it might be?

We haven't had shed problems. I have heard about drop-outs occasionally. Can you throw an old reel of something else on it to see if that works fine? Then you know it's the tape.