Hi--

>I started using Sony and JVC mini DV tapes. In one of my early
>projects using both tape stocks I did find a number of
>bad drop outs. Since I use a JVC camera and a Sony deck, there
>was no ideal tape stock. I've been using only JCV tapes lately. I
>don't prestripe tapes. but I do pack them before recording. Haven't
>seen a drop out since. Seems like a small price to pay to insure no
>drop outs. Digital drop outs are much worse than analog. They
>usually make an entire frame unusable.
"Hal Landen"

I suspect that you may have changed two things at once switching from
two tape brasnds to one; and packing tape...;-)
Mixing Sony and any other brand itself is likely to result in dropouts
(or worse...) - I suspect that you could stop packing tapes now, with no
change in the dropout rate...
BTW, most DV dropouts are invisible, or nearly so - it is the very worst
ones that seriously damage much of the frame. With minor ones, if there is
no action in the sector of the frame where it occurs, you will not see it;
if there is overall motion, as with a pan, you may see a momentarily out
of place small square in the picture; with a disasterous dropout, much
of the picture is displaced or missing. I think the last type does not
result from tape not having been packed, but from tape head clogs, or
serious obstruction between the tape and head surfaces, a symptom of tape
brand mixing...