Yeah, when I said counter I really didn't mean to make a distinction whether the readout was in seconds or reel rotations. I just meant that it seemed like better tapes were made with very consistent lengths. Some cheaper tapes weren't as consistent, but the better ones seemed to be the same length from tape to tape.I know what you mean about the 2 minute exit silence. It was always important to me too, to fill the tape as nearly completely as I could.