Reel to reel

orpheus10

At 15 IPS, my tape deck defies logic; yes, the copy is better than the source ...

That doesn’t defy logic at all if you define "better" as a preference, and not a statement of technical superiority.

If we define high fidelity as truthfulness to the original, then we know that a dub of an LP made to tape can’t be superior to the original. At best, it can only be the equal of the source, because tape can only add distortion, no matter how little it might be. It can’t possibly retrieve resolution or dynamics that were not present in the original. (I’m assuming we’re not using any signal processing here, such as EQ or dynamic range expansion.)

It is not at all far fetched to think that the subtle distortion added by tape might make the result preferable to the original.

To be clear, I’m into tape, and have a half-track Crown 822 and a quarter-track Tandberg TD-20A. But tape has a dirty little secret that some of its advocates overlook, and that’s the difficulty of recording HF at high levels, which is mostly a consequence of tape’s bias current. If you look at tape deck specs or test results, you’ll see that FR is typically spec’d at -10dB for reel and -20dB for cassette. The closer you get to 0 VU, the harder it is to preserve HF. And that may explain why tape dubs remove some nasties, whether from LP or digital.

 @cleeds the 20a is a formidable sounding deck right out of the box

i suspect some of the replicant is better posters might benefit from a better DAC..but who is to argue with the news as fact in so subjective a hobby ?

I will try the theory out...a NEW use for the Leica...

print out a 300 x 300 photo and the use film to improve the detail !!!!

i wonder IF it is not 2 late to save Kodak ?

have fun, that is after all the KEY

Go back to 03-27-2019 7:53pm, in order to discover why 15 IPS sounds better than the original on playback.

At 15 IPS the tape picks up the tiniest details; some that the cartridge glosses over, are illuminated when recording at 15 IPS. This is amplified on playback.

orpheus10

At 15 IPS the tape picks up the tiniest details; some that the cartridge glosses over ...

If the phono cartridge cannot retrieve these details, then what makes you think the tape can reconstruct them? The answer, of course, is that it can’t, even if the result "sounds better."

And remember that even at 15 IPS, tape is compromised reproducing HF as you near 0 dB.

Again, deck does re-mastering when recording and the better it does it the better the sound. But it will never sound better than the analog source in every respect, this is nonsense, regardless of the number of magnetic particles. The recording will have certain advantages, as I stated, that might be particularly important to the listener, me included. It will not have greater dynamic range or resolution. Let's differentiate reality from BS. Some of you should question your hearing, preferences is one thing and hearing is another. Well-done pre-recorded tape is a completely different matter if you have a good deck in perfect order.