A New Reel to Reel Tape Deck?

Norman,

Thanks for your interesting description of your personal experience.  I agree that 7.5 ips can sound very good and I take your word for it that 2x copying can be essentially perfect.  The issue there is whether the hyper-critical audiophile market would accept anything that appears to be a compromise.  Several of the premium reissue labels claim that they do regular speed one-to-one dubbing (i.e., only one slave) which means that, if volume increases, some cost savings could be achieved by making more than one copy per pass of the production master (save wear on the master too).  Given how much some people are willing to pay for nice rare vinyl discs, I think you are right about $200 being a cost point that may attract some interest.  But, it still would probably be a niche market, certainly much smaller than the market for $50 premium 45 rpm vinyl reissues.

larryi,

"The issue there is whether the hyper-critical audiophile market would accept anything that appears to be a compromise."

What hyper-critical audiophiles don't understand is that everything is a compromise!  Compromises are made every time a recording is created. Every component, cable, speaker etc., they are all compromises.  

I have never heard anything that sounds 'live'.  Ever.  I've heard close, but never live.  One can always distinguish a live performance from a recording.  It's the same in a studio as well.  Step into the live room then step into the sound booth.  You'd be deaf not to hear the difference.

These hyper-critical purist audiophiles would upchuck if they knew what processes took place in the recording loop. However, when it comes to playing back that same recording, they treat it as a ceremonial  experience that 'can't be altered'.  Yet they alter it anyway, using room treatments, esoteric cables, LOMC cartridges with a tipped high end curve, and any sonic enhancing tweak they can come up with.  

When we prefer one component over another we are altering what we hear, and there is nothing wrong with that.  It has however become ridiculous when I go to a friends house and he is auditioning power cables, and A/C receptacles.  Really?

But I do suppose your are correct, they would never accept a 7.5ips half track recording regardless of how good it sounded.  I would welcome them however, as for me it's the music that matters.  

Norman


   




  

I’ve mixed live shows as a "small venue sound man" (rarely record them these days, although I have had things that I simply "dumped" from the board mix on to media come out fine), mostly jazz and acoustic "folkie" (current meaning: singer songwriters) performers, often and for many years…last weekend even. I find that live musicians (other than myself, since I’m already wherever I am all the time) are harder to rewind, tend to play whatever they want, and unless I had them living at my house it’s way harder to simply dial them up instantly to play something. They do sound more live though…

wolf_garcia,

And so the need to record them!  =)  I mix some small venues as well.  Mostly jazz trio's.  Tapes sound amazing, even just using a couple of well placed mic's does pretty good.

Nothing like hearing a solo acoustic guitar or piano though.  It seems that the solo instruments are harder to record somehow.  For me, these are the easiest ones to detect when it comes to telling the difference between recorded music and live. 

N.

No significant difference in many cases between 7.5 ips and 15 ips two track?  How would you explain it?  When the recording is really bad I can understand it.