- Brand: Sony
- Type: FeCr, DUAD
- Reel: 7" (18cm), 10.5" (26.5cm)
- Lengths Available: 1200' (360m), 1800' (550m), 3600' (1100m)
- Thickness: LP (1.0 mil)
- Tape Grade / Performance Level: 7-FeCr Ferrichrome
- Base Material: Polyester Backcoated
- 2024 Advice: Soft Binder Syndrome - (Squealing) - Needs Treatment / Lubricant to Play, Unstable - Transfer ASAP
- Where Produced: Japan
- Mfg Years: Late 1970s, 1980s
- Sale Condition: Used - At your own risk
- Description:
Sony Fe-Cr was Sony’s specialty top end tape introduced in the late 1970s. This is a unique tape we classify as a type 7 (Ferrichrome). Sony was the pioneer of this tape type, placing a sandwich of two oxide coatings on the tape. The first coating was a standard iron oxide and the second coating composed of CrO2, Chromium Dioxide – Supposedly the best of both worlds – the iron oxide for the low and mid frequencies, and the chromium dioxide for the high frequencies. Unfortunately the tape never really caught on, as it was difficult to get good results with it. Over the years this tape has developed multiple failure modes. Notes:
- You can identify the FeCr as the tape looks brown from the side when stacked but the coating appears stark polished black. It was also back-coated. The tape was available in the LP thicknesses only in 7″ and 10.5 metal reels.
- The unique binder used apparently has prevented SSS (Sticky Shed) from happening, but they do suffer from SBS (soft binder syndrome) that causes some tapes to squeal. These might need other treatments to play.
- We tried to record on some unused FeCr and could not get even close to decent results with it. Old Fe-Cr tapes appear to play fine, but cannot be recorded on with good results, leading to inconsistent signals and constant drop outs. Apparently this is due to the Chromium Dioxide layer, as similar problems are found with cassettes made with the same oxide. We know this failure mode exists but cannot tell you WHY it exists at the time of this writing.
- We suggest transferring any recordings from this tape to either another, more reliable tape or to digital.
- Available Refurbished: No we do not sell refurbished reels of FeCr but some *might* be available used (sold without a guarantee) in our store that are available for collectors or research purposes. As a result, we cannot recommend using these tapes today – BE CAREFUL as these are sold with big price tags on ebay. They were very expensive when new.