Reel to reel

- I just down-loaded 4 of the 15 IPS reels that I had recorded to my hard-drive. They really sound good on play back, and I don’t have to get up and put another reel on.

It also saves wear on your repro head, as well as the rest of the transport.

But personally I can’t see why you would want to use R2R to record your LPs. At 15 IPS, you’ll need 2 pancakes of 1.5 mil tape or 1 pancake of 1 mil tape for each LP. Each pancake is GBP35 over in the UK (presumably about USD 40-45). That buys you 2 x 45 rpm QRP pressings of every album.

I do get R2R as a concept - I have 5 studio machines - 1/2 inch 2 tr Studer A820, 1/4 inch 2 tr Studer A807/II, 2 x Sony APR 5000 series and an Otari MTR12. But I play studio masters or dubs. The difference then becomes compelling, although the outlay is very substantial.

That was just an experiment, and to make sure it wasn't a waste, I down-loaded it to hard-drive; those were my most select LP's.

As you know, new tape can be recorded over at least once with no ill effects; consequently, I'm regarding that as blank tape when the need arises.

While the playback sounds good from the computer play list, I'm wandering if I would get R2R quality out of the playback with a very good DAC?


Yes, 15 IPS is extreme for LP's, but only because of the expense and time. Even if I could afford the expense, the time would be too short; but if I could find a way to negate those two factors, I could easily live with 15 IPS for my most select LP's, not just any LP.

The Jacintha Tape while expensive is a true reference caliber tape, which you can also compare directly w LP
again for those of you taping LP at 15 ips or even half that you are blowing thru $ on tape...
the simple experiment is level matching at 1k with an spl meter, y’all doing that, right ?

after you have done that, hit play/Rec and pause... this will allow you to listen w deck electronics in loop

level matching....

you might discover you just like gain...

free experiment.....

I'll give the SPL meter test a try.  Found one on feebay cheap and it's in good working order.  

The enhancement of music is never a waste for the music lover. These 15 IPS reels that were down-loaded to the computer hard-drive, are quite revealing on lesser systems; the subtle nuances are more apparent on the bedroom system for example.

Music for me is as close to a 24 hour a day thing as I can make it, and of course every day. Where as many evaluate everything from a technical point of view, I evaluate the emotional impact of the music; do I experience "instant recall" in regard to very personal music that I enjoyed at a certain time. Can I travel back to that time?

When the music is reproduced to the the highest level possible, it functions as a time machine, that allows me to sit in my listening chair and travel back to long forgotten events and experience them vividly.