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Is There Any Reason To Buy A Reel-To-Reel Machine Nowadays??

I bought my first reel-to-reel machine in 1977 as a convenience in order to record and play back multiple albums in high fidelity.without having to fool around with my manual turntable.  I was surprised to find out that I preferred the sound of the reel to the turntable.  Along came cd and I could play both sides of an album with the fuss of having to flip it over every 15 minutes.  Now with high a high quality DAC and a computer, you can have uninterrupted high fidelity music for days on end.

No one is making new recordings on reel-to-reel.  The cost of blank tape is exorbitant.  The cost of a good open-reel deck is stratospheric.  So pretty much you're left with recording an LP or a cd to your reel for playback.....what's that??

Please chime in for reasons to buy an open-reel deck today.
128x128mitch4t
fatdaddy2
387 posts
 
Nothing like spending the cost of an entire season of concerts on one album, that you probably already have multiple copies of.  Rich fool's hobby reel-to-reel is (says Yoda).
audioguy85's avatar
audioguy85
2,018 posts
 
Maybe not as good as R2R, but I regularly still use my two Aiwa 3 head cassette decks. I use them to listen to my many pre recorded cassettes, as well as taping from Fm radio or from lp's. I use them not only because they sound great, but because they are fun to use. Never sought out a R2R, due to costs and unfamiliarity. Cassettes are much cheaper and easier to come across, both blank tapes and pre recorded music. My decks are the Aiwa AD f770 and f660. Also have a Nak bx100, but it's apart to replace belts and idler tire.
richopp
760 posts
 
https://www.nagraaudio.com/

If you want a professional tape recorder to record live music.

Cheers!
captaindidactic
79 posts
 
I have always loved the R2R sound. What about HIFI VCR? Long ago I watched the movie, Eddie and the Cruisers 2 and just loved the soundtrack. I bought the CD and it didn't sound nearly as good as the Super HIFI VCR tape. I was astounded. I asked about it at my upscale Hifi store and was told that due to size of tape that the VCR recordings equaled or were better than the best R2R's and were then being used to record in studios. Thoughts?
flembo
18 posts
 
I had a sizable stock of NOS blank reels I got out of storage last year and bought a refurbished Teac X-10M -- a two track deck capable of 15 i.p.s. I love it to death. It just sounds fantastic to my ears.

I've been dubbing LPs and 45s to 'hi-rez' (24/192) for many years, have a Nakamichi CR-7 (fantastic deck especially with metal tape, but cassette just can't beat RTR), and a Pioneer RT-707 (OK for 7.5 i.p.s. but no match for the Teac). 

When it's all said and done a good tape with the Teac sounds better to my ears than anything else. A good recording on an audiophile vinyl press sounds better to me dubbed to reel than any other of the formats I listed above. They all have their place, but as the end user who's in it for the sound more than anything else, I have to say RTR is a rich and wonderful experience. Yes, it finicky, it's not convenient, I'll have to get it maintained regularly...but so what. I don't care when I get this kind of pleasure from the sound.
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