A New Reel to Reel Tape Deck?

Inna,
Ampex made incredible machines. For years they were the defacto studio machines in use.  Popularity declined with stiff competition coming from Sony and Studer in the studios.  Ampex studio machine were over built, similar to Crown 822's and all Scully machines.  Excellent electronis and very flexible. Today they are a coveted by those who have keep them in working order. They are every bit as good as a Studer machine.  Now the bad. Parts no longer exist, machines in good working order are extremely difficult to find and they rarely updated their designs so the machines are not as modern or comtemporary as Studer.  The last half track Ampex machines were built by Teac/Tascam. 
Today, unless one finds one in top condition, purchasing a Studer or an Otari makes much better sense.  

Larryi -I am WAY too lazy to thread tape and wait for tape to rewind, but, I have heard The Tape Project copies and other high quality dubs and the sound is quite superior to vinyl and any digital sources I have heard--open and detailed sounding while managing to sound relaxed, smooth and natural.

Hi Larryi, et al - Just thinking out loud here this morning with my coffee.
There is indeed a set of tape rituals involved; but someone that is already performing "vinyl rituals" should not have a problem if they want to learn. However for someone fully into digital.... I can’t see this happening. Unless the spinning tape reels have some kind of hypnotizing effect on them. I have come across individuals that only want upright tape decks so they can better see the tapes spinning under special lights. My tape deck is not even in the same room as my music room when playing.

From my experiences Good 15 IPS tape recordings are indeed very very good. But here is the added benefit not usually discussed. For the audiophile (not music lover) looking to upgrade his vinyl rig setup, it provides an excellent reference source in ones own room. It teaches one that vinyl has huge potential. There is nothing like starting the lp, with the tape started 10 seconds behind. Switch between the two, adjusting for levels before the switch. It teaches you about your vinyl rig and its potential. If your turntable, and tonearm design allow for tuning and modifications, and if the cartridge wiring is modified to a straight shot of unshielded wiring (if tonearm allows for this), new levels of vinyl play can be achieved. What kind of levels ?

It still comes down to the recording. I have some good but not great, 15 IPS tape master dubs. I have managed with my personal vinyl setup, to make myself not even think of putting these tapes on anymore. Do I regret this? no. Because I learned for myself. Now the tape guys will say..."Well, its time to hotrod the tape deck next." Sure.......but where does it stop? This can be a lot like running quarter miles at the track and trying to get faster and faster. Hopefully the music lover in all of us comes to the rescue and puts an end to the insanity at some point for each of us at whatever level that is, for each of us. Remember, the higher you go, the more it hurts when you fall and break. I am only looking in the mirror when I say it. Let me explain this better.

Larryi - The BIG problem is the lack of decent pre-recorded tapes being available.

This is not the biggest problem imo.
The BIG problem. Who is going to service your deck when it fails - and it will fail. These are complex machines and many moving parts. Among the top 3 or 4 audiophile withdrawal moments for me- two of them happened when my Studer went down. I am very lucky as the Studer Rep / tech for Canada lives a 40 minute drive from me.

http://ultraanaloguerecordings.com/wpsite/sample-tracks/

Vitali Chaconne - the 27 second mark has a particular effect on me...8^0

Regarding tape availability. There are a number of individual sources like the one referenced. I am a customer. Blank tapes are expensive - $50 a reel and you need two reels for a single 15 IPS album. So you will see prices of $200 and up. What’s never discussed on forums is that anyone acquiring a good tape deck (not just asking on a public chat forum) but going out and doing the actual deed. Once this happens hunting techniques are developed .....to find tape. This all happens naturally. I will just say there is an tape undergound system, and their are individuals out there that have libraries of 15 IPS tape masters. various generations. All one needs to do is search and contact individual tape owners personally for more information.

Just some personal thoughts for those considering RTR. Consider the above.

Larryi - I doubt that there will be much of a resurgence of reel tape.

Imo - as long as there is passion for music, there will always be a niche business within this already very small audio business. The person that is associated with the recordings I referenced above is not in this to become rich. It is about this passion for music and spreading it.

Cheers

ct0517,

Thanks for your thoughtful comments.  I think that we are pretty much in agreement, but you certainly fleshed out the issues more completely.  Yes, tape will remain a niche business and I would certainly hope that the niche remains healthy enough so that support in the form of parts, service and blank tape will always be available.  Tape might not be for me, personally, but, I do recognize that under ideal conditions, it remains the very best medium out there.

I read not too long ago about a discussion among current recording engineers. They were remarkably consistent in their agreement about the merits of various forms of recording.  They all agreed that high resolution digital is closest to sounding like the microphone feed, but, they also agreed that analogue tape actually sounded the best, even though it was not the most accurate.

Servicing these complex machines IS a big issue.  A very good friend of mine actually does this as a side line.  He fixes and reconditions machines for a local Washington DC area audio store.  He said that, from a purely mechanical perspective, the Otari machines are the best built.  I believe that he has managed to find the parts necessary to service most of the common brands--Technics, Otari, Akai, Studer/Revox, etc.-- but I believe he has had some trouble with certain parts for Tanberg machines.

As to speculation on the original posting, I would guess that Nagra, which continues to make consumer goods, is the mystery company planning on making new consumer machines, with Studer/Revox as my second guess.

I have looked over what is available on 1/4 inch pre-recorded (high-def)
tapes and the selection is (still) very very small.  Plus when i collected a few
tapes from the 60's and 70's off of EBAY like Columbia for ex. and had
to throw several of them away- the backing was too dried out, the edges
were feathered and didn't pass over the heads correctly, etc. It isn't the
money spent as much ($10-$25 each) but the aggravation this caused (plus having to clean the tape path thoroughly to make sure there was no tape
residue left behind).  If you want a good machine you can get one for $1K or so, but you have to either make tapes from your vinyl collection or spend hundreds of dollars on a tiny selection of tape project titles or similar.  I DO have a few decks that could be modified with better electronics, etc. but i need someone to make available a whole bunch of HD tapes for, let's say $100-$150/ea. to make it all worthwhile. 
     Maybe a modern-day Rudy Van Gelder will open a studio, assemble some jazz musicians, make a whole bunch of masters, and sell copies
at something like affordable prices.  Until then, we wait...
Reference Recordings could "probably" embark on this kind of a project...
     I had a Concord-220 when i was 12 years old and have had a R-to-Reel of some kind ever since- i am over 60 now. I made hundreds of tapes, compilations of
music i liked- off of FM radio, and then later off of vinyl.  But that 
ain't what we're talking about here, is it?

ct0517, larryi,

I haven't had a problem with any reel to reel machine I've ever owned.  I play them regularly and all of them are over 35 years of age.  That and a quick Google check shows that here in the Chicago land area there are several quality shops that will do a full service on your machine.  I honestly think that with most all machines, parts are still available from some source.

The most common concern is that of head wear.  If you're using a Sony, or an Akai (they only made one half track machine) then head wear isn't a concern with their ferrite heads.  I was worried about this and bought a couple of NOS head stacks for the Pioneer that I use most.  But now after years of use the heads look tremendous.  I realize that I am probably never going to wear out the original stack.  Maintenance and using quality tape helps a lot in this regard.

If there were NO available master tape copies I would still own a reel to reel machine to tape LP's that I enjoy most.  I can edit out the songs I don't like, put them in the order I do like and at then listen for 45 min at at time without having to get up and flip the LP.  

larryi, I listen to tapes that I made back in the early 70's.  Only those I made using Scotch 206 and Ampex 468 having given me issues.  Maxells, BASF, AGFA, Memorex (believe it or not), and TDK's play beautifully without issue.

N.