What makes tape sound better than vinyl ?

Yeah, some guys 'bake' the tape, use LAST tape and head preservatives and do other things. I use LAST head preservative that ideally should be applied before playing each cassette. My deck probably has 5000-6000 hours of playtime on it and the head has a minimal wear.

I believe, best tape decks and turntables/arms/cartridges were made later than in early 70's. Or the tape itself, for that matter. He proved nothing.

That Direct to Disk thing really caught on, eh? The industry had a different idea in mind. Overly aggressive dynamic range compression. 😬

Even if direct to disc can theoretically sound slighly better in some respects, I think, tape will still have an edge in smoothness and continuity, perhaps in drive as well. And think of the level of the equipment that you would need to get that out of the groove. Continuum Caliburn with Ypsilon phono and SUT, anyone ?

Geoffkait,

Compression is added to get "punch". As a recording engineer I learned this from others and use it myself. If your kick sounds loose and flabby, add compression. It will give it punch. If the bass is a bit defused and lost in the mix, and compression it will give it punch and sit better in the mix.

Compression and punch in audio engineering terms and practice go hand in hand.

Ray