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Tape Trail Reel to reel, cassette and other analogue tape formats. |
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Tape Trail Reel to reel, cassette and other analogue tape formats. |
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In Reply to: We've all been waiting posted by Inmate51 on December 8, 2017 at 21:31:21:
Despite the snark, you make a good point. I had hoped that Tape Trail would develop the same kind of interest and following as some of the other forums here. As an uber geezer I frankly figured that if I helped get the ball rolling, as I did, someone else would step in and lead us to glory. Wishful thinking.
My tape background started in the Magnecord PT-6 era, continuing through at least a dozen decks -- a Revere, more Maggies, a Viking, multiple Teacs -- leading up to the current setup, a Teac 2300SD, a MUCH modified Otari MX5050 BII and a companion Otari (same model but without the mods).
All along, my entire emphasis has been on sound quality. My best tapes and decks have always sounded better to me than the comparable vinyl and digital. Still do. Not for lack of trying, as you can see from my Inmate Systems listing.
Take Miles Davis' Kind of Blue as an example. I already had 6 copies of this -- SACD, CD, Vinyl, 4-track tape -- and still popped $300 for two tapes (one for each LP side) purporting to be 15 ips 2-track copies of the master tape. Worth every penny. You haven't heard Kind of Blue until you've heard this thing played on one of the Otari's modified with tape head output, into a deHavilland 222 tape head preamp and onward to an Aesthetix Calypso signature, then to a pair of SET monoblocks.
Yeah, lot of time, money and effort expended on a format that 99+% of folks consider obsolete.
So let's back off and get at least a little more real. You don't have to go to these lengths to find out that tape (still) rules. Here are some random commercial 4-track tapes that easily prove the case, (bearing in mind that I'm mostly a jazzer who DOES do classical but would prefer listening to the Modern Jazz Quartet and Miles).
All are 7 1/2 ips except as noted:
* Virtually any Dave Brubeck tape (Columbia)
* Kenny Burrell, Midnight Blue (Blue Note)
* Julie London, Julie Is Her Name (Liberty)
* Buddy Rich Big Band, Mercy Mercy (World Pacific)
* Peggy Lee, Is That All There Is? (Capitol)
* Gerry Mulligan, Feelin' Good (3 3/4 ips, but see below)
* Gabor Szabo, Bacchanal (Skye)
* Oscar Peterson, Blues Etude
* Modern Jazz Quartet, Jazz at the Lighthouse
* Shelly Manne/Andre Previn, My Fair Lady
I could easily come up with another 50 or hundred. Granted, you'll wait a while before finding some of this sampling on Ebay. And of course all of them date from decades ago, all the more reason to wonder why they sound so great.
Regarding the one slow-speed (3 3/4 ips) tape on the list, here's what I do with these. Play the tape at 7 1/2 ips on one Otari. Dub that tape at 15 ips on the second Otari. Play back the ensuing dub at 7 1/2. Voila. You wouldn't believe how good many slow speed tapes can be made to sound.
More than enough for now. If anyone wants to pursue the sound quality aspects (in particular) of recorded tapes, I'm your man.
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Follow Ups
- Okay, for all 12 of us - Dave Pogue 06:25:48 12/09/17 (1)
- Make that 13 - kavakidd 13:23:58 12/20/17 (0)
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