well, i bought my deck with low hours on it in may. it now has static and noise on all the 90 meter tapes that i use. it has been working fine on 60's. i don't know if my problem is as easy as cleanig/aligning. but i can't afford paul's $75. an hour + possible parts. so i would give you a try
I have the exact same problem with my D8.
Except mines the other way around, no static with 90meter tapes. Any 60meter tape gets static.
With all maxells I get static, but if I use these cheap ass tapes Dwonk got off Ebay, no noticeable static.
REALLY SUCKS cause I only ran it twice, then I borrowed Dwonks M1 and it fucked up after 3 shows.
Heath, do you think you could fix the M1? if I put a tape in it it'll load, and then instantly unload.
Searching here on TS it seems that it's those white rollers