Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Mag Tape is Dead? Quantegy Closes.

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-03-2005, 09:40 AM:

Quantegy (successor to Ampex) closes plant. Was likely last manufacturer of reel-to-reel magnetic tape:

Opelika-Auburn News

quote:
Opelika plant closes

Tamiko Lowery
Staff Writer
Sunday, January 2, 2005

When they clocked out for the Christmas holidays, Quantegy employees planned on returning to work, as scheduled, Monday. But, there's no job to go back to - for some 250 employees.

"No Trespassing" signs were erected Friday afternoon and security passwords were changed at the Opelika plant, 2230 Marvyn Parkway.

"Quantegy, Inc. has ceased operations pending restructuring. This is due to financial issues that have plagued the industry and Quantegy for some time. All employees are on lay off pending further notice," according to a brief press release issued by the company Friday. The Opelika plant, once employed some 1,800 workers, has recently filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Almost 60 years ago, the story was different. "In 1945, after capturing several German 'Magnetophon' tape recorders from Radio Luxembourg, the American Signal Corps recorded a speech by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower to be played to the people of occupied Germany. Due to a shortage of recording tape, the speech had to be recorded on a reel of used German tape.

Due to a problem with the German tape recorder, the tape was not completely erased and the voice of Adolph Hitler was intermittently heard along with Eisenhower's voice. This caused a great deal of fear and confusion among the German people and obviously a great deal of embarrassment for the Allied Signal Corps.

Gen. Eisenhower issued an immediate order that no more captured German tape was to be used and assigned Maj. John Herbert Orr to develop an American magnetic tape manufacturing facility.

Maj. Orr located a German scientist, Dr. Karl Pfleumer, who gave him a basic formula for magnetic tape. Within two weeks, Maj. Orr had managed to manufacture his first reels of usable audio tape. After returning to his home in Opelika, Alabama, Orr set up a magnetic tape manufacturing facility and soon afterwards began marketing his own tape under the "IRISH" brand name. Orr continued his manufacturing operation and in 1959, Orradio Industries became part of the Ampex Corporation.

Founded by Alexander M. Poniatoff, The Ampex Corporation had been developing audio tape recorders since the end of WWII starting with its model 200. The company's first sales of the Model 200 were to Bing Crosby Enterprises and the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In 1956, Ampex announced a historic breakthrough - the first practical video tape recorder.

Shortly after this introduction Poniatoff and Orr entered into negotiations and in 1959, Orradio Industries became the Ampex Magnetic Tape Division of Ampex Corporation. In November of 1995, the Ampex Recording Media Corporation was put up for sale, and the recording media pioneer became Quantegy Inc., according to www.quantegy.com Fast forward 2005...

"It's like Happy New Year - you don't have a job," said one former Quantegy employee. "Most of these employees have worked there 28 to 30 years - they don't know anything else; they are a different breed of people, dedicated to the company. The average age is 50 plus, and no matter what they say - it's not easy to start over."

Quantegy management could not be reached Saturday.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-03-2005, 10:10 AM:

What with this and Ilford having gone under last August, times certainly do seem to be changing. I'm not surprised that studio/professional analogue audio tape is now to all intents and purposes an obsolete technology, because two decades or so of Moore's Law now means that even a cheap PC and sound card can equal the performance of the seriously expensive 1/4" decks in use a generation ago. It's exactly the same principle whereby no-one uses manual typewriters for word processing anymore.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 01-03-2005, 10:26 AM:

First of all, how nice of them to treat their employees so well. Not even a warning.

Videotape is still being made in mass quantities, isn't it? Surely these are not wildly different products. I can see where when, say, VHS sales have collapsed that it might be hard to sell it in very small quantities because all the bits and pieces that make up the cassette shell are only economic when mass produced. But audio tape? Sure it may differ a bit from videotape but once you make it it need only be slit (2", 1", 1/2" 1/4") and spooled onto reels. There should still be a market for it for years to come. So perhaps this is more about overseas competition.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 01-03-2005, 12:17 PM:

Too bad. We used miles of 1/2" Ampex 456 when I was a soundman at the original MGM Grand (now Bally's) here. Great stuff.

And what of mag film? I assume it's inevitable that double-system projection will drop tape altogether...

[ 01-03-2005, 06:23 PM: Message edited by: Paul Mayer ]

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-03-2005, 12:30 PM:

I talked to my contacts at Kodak FPC, and they said FPC magnetic films are sourced out of Europe, and are not affected by the Quantegy announcement:

http://www.fpchollywood.com/magnetic-film-fullcoat-5-mil-.html

http://www.fpchollywood.com/magnetic-film.html

quote:
With low noise and lower overall distortion, FPC Fullcoat Magnetic Recording Film ensures an award-winning performance every time
This magnetic film has contributed to many “Best Achievement In Sound” awards for such films as Gladiator, Empire Strikes Back, and Saving Private Ryan
Available in 16mm and 35mm

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 01-03-2005, 03:33 PM:

quote: Steve Kraus
First of all, how nice of them to treat their employees so well. Not even a warning.

It seems totally acceptable within the current culture of American big business. Employees are more of a nuisance than anything else. The only people that matter are the CEO, COO, CFO and members of the board. Everyone else can get bent. Just have to elevate that stock price at the expense of everything else.

I've seen similar closures of smaller businesses. A local pizza restaurant and video game entertainment center here in Lawton closed down in the same surprise manner. Except the employees in this case were greeted by members of the Lawton Police Department and told to get off the premises. There were rumors the business owners were laundering money or some other stuff like that. But there has been no evidence to suggest any charges were filed. They made their money and left.

In previous years I've been big on the idea of trying to buy American products. But with so many American CEO's getting paid much higher than any of their foreign counterparts and seeming to have no loyalty whatsoever to anything, why should I support them? I drive a Chevy pickup truck right now. But the next vehicle I buy may be a Honda hybrid. If big business American CEO's say outsourcing is a great thing, then there's nothing wrong with me outsourcing the profit they want to a foreign executive.
[fu]

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-03-2005, 05:39 PM:

Apparently these unfortunate employees are not covered by The WARN Act because Quantegy was a "faltering" company.

I hate to be a jerk, and I sincerely sympathize with anyone who gets laid off like this. I've been through a company closure myself and it's traumatic to say the least. But how can anyone working for a US-based company manufacturing reel-to-reel tape (and in Chapter 11) be surprised by its closure? [Frown]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-03-2005, 07:09 PM:

quote: Steve Kraus
First of all, how nice of them to treat their employees so well. Not even a warning.

Component Engineering did a similar thing to their Employees when they were bought out. No one knew for quite a while......

Mark

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 01-03-2005, 07:12 PM:

quote: David Stambaugh
But how can anyone working for a US-based company manufacturing reel-to-reel tape (and in Chapter 11) be surprised by its closure?

While it is true that Quantegy was the only company left in the world still manufacturing reel-to-reel tape, that was not the only product they made. They were also a leading pro digital media (CDR, DAT, etc) manufacturer as well.

Hopefully another manufacturer gets hold of the Q'gy tooling and formulas and begins running off more runs of tape; the market IS still out there.

-Aaron

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-03-2005, 07:43 PM:

What about BASF? Are they still manufacturing tape? I actually prefered some of the BASF stuff(911) over Quantagy?

Mark

Posted by Jon Miller (Member # 163) on 01-03-2005, 08:50 PM:

For sake of argument, Mark, kaput. [Frown]

In 1995, BASF sold their recording-media operations to EMTEC, an independent company, which continued BASF's passion for excellence (and carried over, with only a name change, BASF's "spool of tape" logo). EMTEC went insolvent in April of 2003 and liquidated most of their production equipment just last September and October. (Visit this link for more sad details).

It looks like the coffin has been all but sealed on the reel-to-reel era. [Frown]

Posted by Luciano Brigite (Member # 1104) on 01-03-2005, 09:29 PM:

Being a Reel to reel fan,I ran tru a lot of tape brands,most of my reels are 3M's Scotch brand and a few other variants (3M brand followed by a number code) and Maxell. what happened to those two?
Other brands I used were Basf and Ampex (both before name changes).
There are a few Sony tapes in the collection too but I don't think they're still made, tho Sony still seems to be making 1" reel tape for video recorders (not really sure on this )

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 01-03-2005, 10:45 PM:

quote: Luciano Brigite
Being a Reel to reel fan,I ran tru a lot of tape brands,most of my reels are 3M's Scotch brand and a few other variants (3M brand followed by a number code) and Maxell. what happened to those two?

In 1997, 3M sold off their audio media division to... you guessed it: Quantegy.

Quantegy GP9 and 3M 996 are the exact same tape, if you were a fan of 3M 996.

Maxell stopped production of reel to reel tape sometime in the late 90's as well. Rumor has it that Maxell still has all the tooling to produce reel to reel tape again... TDK quit making reels in the late 80's.

Quantegy's main US retailer, US Recording Media , claims that this situation will only be temporary, but the reel to reel stock they do have is going FAST...

Below is a message regarding Quantegy's demise from US Recording Media:

NOTICE--------NOTICE------------NOTICE----------NOTICE-----------NOTICE
Quantegy Inc. has unfortunately shut down production of all their products and shut down the entire factory in Opelika Alabama which explains why we have so little Quantegy product left. We're told this is a temporary situation for restructuring (financial.)

The recording business consists of thousands of talented engineers, artists, and studio people who are not going to, in our opinion, let analog tape die. It is still the preferred method to capture sound although it may be mixed and edited digitally. It is also the preferred archiving method in many circles. Many recording artists will not record on digital equipment and this includes some of the biggest names in recording history.

It may be a little while but we're convinced there will be analog tape manufactured once again and we don't feel it's dead. The new tape may not be a Quantegy product. If it isn't, we're talking about a brand new production line with brand new equipment here in the USA. We want to thank everyone who supported Quantegy and AMPEX over the years. Be patient, we feel everything will be ok.

This matter will have little financial impact on US Recording. We're not going anywhere. And we're looking forward to dealing with the new owners of Quantegy or whomever might be "drafted" into making new tape.

Better get it while its available!

-Aaron

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 01-04-2005, 12:21 AM:

What're the bets that the next reel to reel tape comes from from the home of all things cheap, China?

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 01-04-2005, 03:28 AM:

We won't be able to get razor blades & white china markers next!

quote: Bill Enos
What're the bets that the next reel to reel tape comes from from the home of all things cheap, China?

Or some similar place with environmental regulations so lax, as the PC industry in China seems to be tied very closely to the cheapness of being able to create environmental watelands around the industry. I believe the Opelika, AL plant (originally Ampex or 3M) had some serious, expensive environmental mess from their operation. Apparently the solution is just to close shop, leave their mess behind, & will likely proceed as Bill Enos said, to China or someplace where they can do it again.

Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 01-04-2005, 06:11 AM:

Bing Crosby was a big proponent of magnetic tape recording. The story goes that he didn't want to produce his radio show live anymore (prefering to spend more time on the golf course). Disk recordings were deemed too low quality for major program origination. Thus the push towards much higher quality magnetic tape. I believe Bing was the first performer to get the network to allow a taped brodcast of a major network radio program.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 01-04-2005, 07:06 AM:

Very sad news, both for the employees affected and for the format. Hopefully, someone will buy out the manufacturing equipment cheaply and re-start production. Supposedly, there's some company in India that still manufactures tape, though the quality may be dubious.

I have a hard time believing that there is not a big market for tape--many (most?) big-budget rock/pop recordings are still done on analog tape, and Nagras are still used for some film sound work (usually as a backup to DAT, though). New tape machines are still being made--Nagra sells them, and Otari still makes the MX-5050; Tascam might still have a 1/4" machine, too. As far as I know, the Library of Congress continues to use 1/4" oxide tape for archiving sound recordings (perhaps this has changed--does anyone know?).

The 3M magnetic products division made some good stuff--back when people actually used floppy disks, theirs were among the best. They also had 16mm and 35mm mag fullcoat. Is anyone other than FPC still manufacturing mag film now?

I am somewhat inclined to believe that the Quantagy/Ampex fiasco was the result of bad management (as evidenced by their lack of notice and care for the employees), and not the result of a lack of market for their products.

Posted by Edward Jurich (Member # 1787) on 01-05-2005, 04:26 PM:

quote: Leo Enticknap
even a cheap PC and sound card can equal the performance of the seriously expensive 1/4" decks

Not by my ears, distortion on PC audio is pretty high in some cases were analog tape would sound great. I know single tone distortion specs on digital audio may be low and fine if you want to listen to tones. But with complex audio waveform there is distortion when digital compression is set in, it's that edge that sometimes sounds like shattering glass.

Posted by Luciano Brigite (Member # 1104) on 01-07-2005, 09:11 PM:

After reading AAron's post about the 3M and Maxell tapes, it's indeed a sad thing for everyone that still uses and likes reel to reel tapes.It makes me wonder what a lot of recording studios will do to serve their clients that insists in having their sessions recorded and mixed in this format.I'm almost sure a solution for it will show up sometime in the future,if not then for those who likes it I think it's better go out and do some tape-hunt...(some places that deals with used audio stuff will have lots of tapes for sale at very low prices,many will be in good condition and with luck,a few never recorded reels will be found among them)

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 01-07-2005, 11:27 PM:

quote: Luciano Brigite
It makes me wonder what a lot of recording studios will do to serve their clients that insists in having their sessions recorded and mixed in this format.

Many studios have quite large stockpiles of tape (and from what I have seen it is almost all BASF/EMTEC, as the Q'gy tapes are still iffy binder-wise and do not store well for long periods).

I am sure something will happen that gets new-manufacture analog tape to the masses again very soon. [Smile]

-Aaron

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 01-09-2005, 02:22 PM:

Another update on the Quantegy saga:

Original article with pic can be found at ATR Services, Inc.

The Future of Analog Tape?
Thursday, January 6, 2005

It has been widely reported on the Internet that Quantegy, Inc. has shut its doors and ceased production during a temporary lay-off. We have received hundreds of calls and emails looking for more information. At this point it is hard to separate fact from rumor, but this is what we know to be true as of today:

1) Quantegy has indeed shut its doors and temporarily laid off most of its staff pending restructuring.
2) Quantegy has NOT filed for Chapter 11 as was reported in several news articles. It may still be a possibility, but no record of any bankruptcy is on federal record for Quantegy, Inc.
3) Plans are in place to restructure the Opelika facility and continue to produce the profitable tape lines and hard drives, possibly under a new brand name.
4) Last year, Quantegy audio tape sales alone topped 14M, with total sales of about 30M.

It is our belief that the Opelika facility will be producing product in the near future, but what kind and how much is still undetermined. The tremendous response to this news in the recording community has only reinforced the fact that analog recording is still very much alive and that there is still an incredible demand for analog tape.

ATR Services has been quietly working on a new line of analog tape for the past year. We are currently in the R&D stages of production, and hope to have wide-scale beta testing in place by the summer. Be assured that analog tape will continue to be made no matter what the outcome of the Quantegy restructuring but please be patient, as we will not have any news on formulation or format until we are further along in the testing process.

Thank you to all of the clients, colleagues and friends who have offered your support and commitment to analog recording during the last few days.

Happy New Year and get back to making music!

The ATR team

From what I have been hearing, the ATR product might be using the BASF/EMTEC 911 formulation.

More on the Q'gy saga can also be found
here at the SH.tv forums ...

-Aaron