About 30 years ago, I had a nice 4 channel Reel-to Reel tape machine. I think that was the best fidelity I've ever heard. I have researched a little, but haven't found many pre-recorded tapes available. I guess it's almost like searching for 78 records. I'm loving my vinyl, but wish I could find a place that offered many titles of tapes. Is there such a place?
To get the very best out of R2R replay, you have to be an*l about set up. I have a reasonable size collection of 15 IPS 2 tr record company distribution masters (eg Beatles - Revolver; Miles - Sketches of Spain; Lou Reed - Transformer etc) and safety copies too (eg Floyd - DSOTM & The Wall; Michael Jackson - Thriller; Bowie - Ziggy Stardust etc).
Almost every tape in my collection contains line up tones at the head, so that I can check the repro head azimuth on my machine against the 15k tone (misadjusted repro azimuth leads to big losses of HF), and adjust the repro freq response on my machine to match the line up tones (typically 15k, 10k, 1k, 400) on the tape. That way I can be sure that my machine is replaying the tape in exactly the same way as the tape machine recorded the distribution master at the record company.
I always make a 15 IPS copy of the master tape with Dolby SR (Dolby 363 - 105 dB S/N ratio with tape) onto fresh RTM tape stock and have started to make a digital archive using a Prism Sound Lyra 2 interface. The master then gets stored and I can play the Dolby SR copy to my heart's content.
R2R is not cheap or the faint hearted. I have had to learn a fair bit along the way (mostly from my friend Stewart Emmings, who died 2 years ago). But get it right, and R2R replay is just stunning. :)
I have said on other sites, if someone would issue tapes of classic rock or progressive rock albums/artists at say 7.5ips......I think they would sell like hot cakes, either on 7" or 10.5" reels.
Getting a really nice copy of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Rush, LZepp, Eagles would be really nice. I don't have a 15ips deck and even if I did would never pay $450 for those Tape Project issues, mainly because its nothing I listen to and they are all sold out anyhow. If they made tapes more people wanted, they would sell more and be able to buy more tape at a lower price...more demand should lower their cost.
Pink Floyd WYWH/DSOTM on 10.5" @ 7.5ips one album on each side, sell for $200.....People would buy..."build it and they will come".
I just bought a 4 track stereo TEAC A-3300SX, and am starting to assemble a collection of pre-recorded tapes. With the first, “Best of Cream” at 3-3/4 IPS I was thrilled to hear those favourites like “Badge”, “White Room”, “I Feel Free” and “SWLABR” with bigger, fuller and richer sound for the first time all over again. “Days of Future Passed” at 3-3/4 is on its way, and I can’t wait. Looking for other landmark classic Rock pre-recorded releases like “Strange Days” and Zeppelin IV. Also looking for some recommendations.
I am old enough to remember the r2r craze of the 70s...our neighbors worked for an FM station...so we had access to a vast array of tapes at cost prices...vintage sansui receiver, dual turntable, advent speakers, akai reel...my memories are not as fond as others...tape machines are notoriously finicky....with many moving parts...kind of like owning a vintage Jaguar...it was always in need of something...that being said...the fidelity wad very good...moved on to cassette tapes in the 80s...huge downgrade!
@mgattmch....Why? That's a great question....sometimes in the evening I drink and hit eBay...you ought top see all the crap I've purchased this way. :)
Buconeer, you might note that all Barclay-Crocker tapes were Dolby-encoded (except the few that were dbx-encoded), so you need a Dolby deck or a way to cut the highs if you play them back on a standard deck.
That 2-track "Kind of Blue" has only 3 of the original 5 tracks, which works out to $36 minute!
Pretty much the only reason to get into reel-to-reel today is that the great tapes sound so awesome :-)
Most older prerecorded reel to reel tapes were actually dubbed high speed, which we all know created a poor quality copy. Factor also that they were dubbed to a slow playback speed, its not hard to understand why they never really had a fan base. I had a Revox high speed B77 mk2 and it was terrific. It would not however have been optimized for the tape project stuff since some of it is 1/2" rather than 1/4". Lastly the tape project software is WAAAAY overpriced.
it all depends which quality you get. For 1st copies or even 2nd copies you pay quite an amount. I was able to get some very good copies. Also got the 1st series of The Tape Project, some among them are good. I use the Tapes on my A820 and C37. You should connect the Speaking Machines to a good sounding system - and voila, now you know why well recorded tapes sound superior to vinyl. No question about that!
Open reel tapes on Ebay -- they list maybe 8,000 at any given time -- are a total crapshoot. Most sellers don't have a tape deck to play them on (they found them at estate sales or wherever). But there are real gems to be found if you're patient (and obsessed) enough.
Forgot to mention, I had a perfect condition high speed two track Revox B77 Mk11; sold it two years ago on AudiogoN. Big mistake, wish I had kept it and tried one of the TapeProject tapes on it.
E-Bay. Yes, pre recorded R2R tapes are hard to find, but e-bay has a vast selection. While most are 4 track, 3.75 speed, the treasurers are 2 track, 7.5 speed. A while back a Miles/Blue of the latter vintage went for almost $2K. Barcley Crooker tapes, perhaps the highest quality of pre recorded tapes also are sought out. Some of the latter go for $50 plus, however most are classical titles. Another area of pre recorded tapes are 'broadcast' masters. Most come on 10 inch reels, and are 2 track. The best of these are AFRTS tapes produced by the government for the military broadcast system. I have a few hundred of the latter and quality is very high, our government produced nothing but the very best, after all it was using taxpayer funds. I have about 6000 tapes in my collection and enjoy them everyday. I have about ten working tape machines.
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