Reel to reel quality

[S V G <vsyevolod@yahoo.com>]

     Hey gang,

     I've done some looking around on the Internet for the past few days 
and haven't come up with
much info yet (including some Yahoo Groups) so I thought I'd try this well 
spring of like minded
techies and gear heads.

     In one large step backwards, I recently took the plunge and purchased 
an Otari 8 track
($14,000 a decade or two ago, nowadays cheaper than recording software)  
I'm looking to purchase
some blank tape for it, both for professional recording and also for 
recording rehearsals.  I've
been looking at Ampex/Quantgy 456 just because I know it's an industry 
standard.  So two
questions:

     1)  Is 456 really the way to go?  Or are there other high quality 
tapes out there that would
serve me well?  Does it depend on the application?  I'm recording mostly 
electronic music along
with a fair amount of musique concrete.  By electronic music, I mean 
modern day synths and analog
and digital processors.

     2)  On eBay there are many auctions for used tape that has been bulk 
demagnitized as well as
"new" tape that is several years or decades old.  I am aware of the 
difference in quality between
virgin and demagnitized tape, and I am also aware of 25 year old tape 
starting to delaminate or
have the oxide coating come off as you play it.  The questions are: How 
old can "new" tape be for
it to still be viable (assuming good storage conditions), and Does used 
tape degrade faster once
it's been run through the machine and then put into storage for many years?

     I'm looking for both 1/4" and 1/2" reels (10.5")

     Any specific advice would be welcome and especially any links to 
websites that contain more
info.

     TIA,

          Stephen

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM).
http://calendar.yahoo.com