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Will Magnetic Tape Eventually Go Full Circle

I was born in 1959. I have seen many technologies go full circle. In the late 1960s/early 1970s, tubes were pretty much pronounced dead. In the mid 1980s turntables were a thing of the past. Reel to reel tape was replaced by cassettes.

In pro sound, acoustic pianos were replaced by electric pianos. Hammond organs became too "big and bulky" and could be purchased for less than a thousand dollars or, were literally given away. Synthesizers took the place of Rhodes and Hohner pianos promising "one keyboard can do it all". Studer and Wollensack "consoles" were replaced by 64 track digital mixdown boards.

Now? Tube amps are some of the most highly sought after amongst audiophiles. There are now more manufacturers of turntables, tonarms, cartridges and analog "tweaks" than ever before.

Hammond organs in fully restored condition are selling in excess of $10,000. The most respected Rhodes pianos are the 1966 tube amp models now selling for $2500+. And, both Hammonds and Rhodes pianos are in extremely high demand and highly sought after. Hell, even Steely Dan recorded their latest release insisting on analog tape, and they had to search high and low to find studios still skilled and capable of using such technology.

Will tape eventually find it's way back? Don't laugh. If I told some of you older audiophiles back in the mid 1980s that by the year 2000 turntables would experience a major regain in popularity, would you had believed me?

Let's consider a few things: You can record ANY two channel format onto magnetic tape, analog or digital. Copy protection? Would become an irrelevant point. Near the tail end of cassette recorders being produced, some extremely impressive machines were available. 65db dynamic range, 20hz-20,000hz frequency reponses, Dolby B,C,DBX, and HX (headroom expansion) noise reduction systems were regularly installed on the higher end recorders. Signal to noise ratios were far superior to ANY analog rig.

My last cassette recorder, a Sony ES TC-K870 (which I still own), would actually calibrate, bias and EQ, (automatically!) to any tape being used on that particular recording. It even had "CD direct" inputs and would make tapes almost indistinguishable from the original recordings.

And the funny part about all this? "Music piracy" was unheard of back then. Music companies focused no efforts on "copyright protection", because then, it was not an issue.

O.K. So tapes only lasted about 10, 15, 20 years before sonic degradation set in. That would be about the only fallshort I could think of. Cassettes were small, at least smaller than a CD. They played in portable players, car players and home systems. Blank cassettes, even the best (remember TDK "MARs" with their "aluminum laboratory reference tape mechanisms") were very inexpensive to purchase.

Is this whole thread THAT far fetched? Will music companies eventually find ways to incorporate copy protection onto LPs also?(shudder) Is Buscis2 off on another crazy ass rant?

In 2010 will we all be raving over the latest Tascam 3 head, dual capstan, auto reversing, outboard power supply, self calibrating cassette machines? Stranger things have happened.

What are your views?



128x128buscis2
buscis2's avatar
buscis2 OP
468 posts
 
Greg and Dopogue, you both make some very valid points. But, point/counterpoint. Dopogue, in response to your last statement, you also don't buy a turntable for it's convenience. We all know it's a giant pain in the ass to have to jump up in the middle of a musical performance to flip the record over.

Greg, your comments regarding corporate profit were extremely insightful. Although, the music industry is presently grasping at straws with the multi format SACD, DVD-A, HDCD, etc. in order to establish multiple income streams. Do you think that just possibly, if the music companies were to have the slightest hint that the public would embrace magnetic tape technology, that they wouldn't be back on that bandwagon also?. I mean, several of the biggies are now producing records once again!

I think copy protection would once again be their biggest fear.

I have had discussions with several retailers regarding the renewed interest in turntables. They have explained to me that even the non-audiophile individual wants to "listen to their records again" because "they like the way they sound".

And Dopogue, you hit the nail right on the head regarding the appreciation in the values of R to R. Obviously prices are appreciating because of higher demand. These buyers could very well be people thinking outside the box. Cassette vs. R to R? That's an issue in itself. The point being, there are many of us who still consider older, and as some feel, "antiquated" technology is still far superior. Hence tubes , records, and turntables. And........ R to R.

Bottom line? if the music companies felt that there was profit to be made, they would be all over it. All they would need to see is an opportunity.
elgordo
530 posts
 
Magnetic tape already went full circle. It was called eight track;^) Of course it only went full circle for a little while, until it bound up and broke. The most horrendous format the world has ever seen.
buscis2's avatar
buscis2 OP
468 posts
 
Elgordo, I was hoping someone wouldn't mention that. It causes all of the above statements to lose any and all validity.
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
Buscis2, vinyl is a LOT more convenient than R-R tape. To play the second "side," you have to run the tape all the way through. To find a specific track anywhere on the tape, good luck. If you're not prepared to sit through both sides of the tape (assuming it's a 4-track tape). don'tg even think about playing it. and threading a tape is a lot less convenient than playing a record, plus there's likely to be 3-5 minutes of dead air before the music begins on side 1.

Oh, and the decks themselves are high-maintenance relative to turntables. So you REALLY gotta love this medium to even think about getting into it. Yet more and more audiophilkes seem to be doing just that. Dave
elektron
21 posts
 
No, but until sample rates match up to the "pixal" count of analog, magnetic tape will be with us. Sound is recorded on analog magnetic tape much like FM broadcasting, with a high frequency carrier modulated by the audio. The bit rate of digital consumer formats to date cannot fully match the ability of analog magnetic tape to capture and reproduce the analog waveforms, ultra complex audio waveforms rife with harmonics and overtones. Not the cassette tape, in this case, but half inch format two track at 15 or 30 ips.
Think of digital as sampling the complex waveforms, taking snapshots of them if you will, and converting to binary format. Playback requires taking the data and turning it back into analog waveforms that get amplified and drive speakers. Leaving inherent tape noise and all the other negatives out of the equation, how many samples is it going to take to accurately sample the original waveforms in the first place? How accurately are the samples going to be put back together to reconstitute the original? Answer: more samples than the mathematics predicts. My guess is that sampling into the gigahertz range will be necessary.

About life of magnetic tape: the long life of mag tape you mention really applies to the tape formulations prior to the high output tapes that came along in the late 60's and 70's. The Elvis masters are a good example. Some of this Scotch (3M) product holds up even today. The higher output formulations had a problem with the binder becoming unstable resulting in it falling off the plastic backing.

The Hammond B3 is a good example of analog versus digital.
I have yet to hear a digital sampler synth or other keyboard that claims to be "THE" B3 sound live up to the claim. The harmonic richness of the tone wheels and draw bars played through a vacuum tube amp cannot be easily emulated. Close, but no cigar. More often, not close.

This same analog versus digital thing is what is keeping vinyl LP's alive. Despite the drawbacks: dust, inner grove distortion, degradation, etc ad infinitum, the LP delivers the analog sound, sound pleasing to the ear, sound that is analog all the way.

Kind of like the difference between a filet mignon and a chopped up, reconstituted, reformed filet mignon. It just ain't the same thing, try as you may.

It's getting better, but...

Don't get me wrong. I love the convenience of the CD, and DAC technology keeps coming along.

Maybe in 10 or 20 years the debate will be over. We'll see. Meanwhile, analog remains the format of choice for lots of mastering applications, often demanded by the producer or artist. It won't take over the world, but by the same token, it won't go away either.
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