tape bias

[revenant]

Hi to u all,
for tape decks provided with only chrome and standard bias position,is it safe to play metaĺ tapes on the deck?i mean metal and chrome have the same bias constant of 70 micro but they differ in tape material,could the metal particles harm the head if the deck is optimised only for chrome?is there some tolerance?awaiting your replies,thanks.

 

[Tiido]

70µs is the EQ time constant, nothing to do with bias. You can play the metal tapes on such a deck but recording will most probably not work all that great. Higher bias is required te erase the tape properly for example.

 

[Max Headroom]

Playback eq will be fine.
However metal tapes are strongly abrasive and will wear standard heads prematurely.
IIRC all Metal tape decks had ferrite heads for this reason.

Dan.