Can we finally put Reel to Reel out of its misery? Put it to rest people.

Glupson,

I think you have got a bit confused about the "vault". Sony, Warners, BMG all have vast temperature and humidity controlled vaults, where they keep the original multi-track and stereo mix down MASTERS. These never leave the record company.
Copies (in their hundreds) were made by the record company and sent all around the world to record pressing plants. When these record pressing plants went bust in the 80/90s, the copies (production/distribution masters) were just put into skips/dumpsters. Some of these got rescued, preserved, and now find their way onto the market.

Charlie

topoxforddoc,

I think I understand now where it came from and what copy it was. It was as close of a copy as a local distributing company could get to the original and it served as that to make actual records. That would make it, for all practical purposes, an "original" for that local pressing plant. That is what is puzzling me, why would they give it away? I know it may be impossible to find out about each particular tape. It just does not seem expected.

As life gives us surprises where we would never expect them, I got stuck with that particular tape of yours as it brings back a few memories. I visited that room a couple of times and I believe I might have been in it at the same time your tape was (just passing through as a curiosity, not much else). Remembering people there, it is hard for me to imagine they just threw the stuff away. Who knows, maybe they did.

topoxforddoc,

Thanks to Google, I found this website you are certainly familiar with.

Clicking on pictures makes it even more confusing. All the available tapes are from very short period. Roughly 1987-1993. Nothing that I could find from decades before that. I did not check those with no pictures, though. Almost like someone decided that nothing after 1987 was worth keeping and everything before that was too good to be thrown away. Puzzling.

All are on the same tape (Agfa PER 528) which was probably the standard of the day but I wonder if every major company had really used only those to send to the local pressing plants.

https://www.mastertapes.eu/jugoton-masters#myCarousel

I own a Tandberg 9000X and Technics 1500, both fine decks.  However, I rarely use them anymore other than playback.  The Tandberg was used until the mid-80s to make very fine recordings.  However, LPs and CDs are just too convenient and only the LP cartridge wears out (the lasers I've had last 5,000+ hours) and now approach 15 ips RR quality.  I use a digital recorder since the 2000s and have used DAT prior to that for recording transfers.  Most of my pre-recorded RR from the 60s and 70s are inferior to well mastered and pressed LPs and often well mastered CDs.  I have some 50s pre-recorded RRs that are amazingly good but transferred them to CD via the Alesis Masterlink.  I've appraised many sound studios and found some rockers prefer RR from the 90s to the present time.  They can also afford using RR instead of digital (some major bands).   

Like Vinyl, analog tape is of course and older technology.  Is it dead, well that depends on your perspective.  I have a VPI turntable, Wadia digital, Tuner, and Revox A77.  This is of course a mix of vintage hardware and much newer technology.  To put it simply, not all available media is either affordable or in good shape but I do have some older recordings (family type stuff) that I cherish and that was recorded on m A77.  I also have recording that were made from sources that are no longer available to me in any format.

Do I enjoy any format over another? Simple answer: they are all great given the restrictions or the very character of the playback device. Noise, hiss, pops, etc. are part of the media and enjoying the music simply requires a mental step; what's more important the content or the delivery .... I go fo content always!

Sam