Quote:

Greg
United Home Audio

wont happen....too expensive for the end user.. MUCH more expensive than LPs.

and as far as user-friendliness... nightmare!

(and I am an analog tape devotee..MCI jh16 machine and Nagra IV I use all the time)

there is no way this will become any sort of standard. the tape project is a niche proposal at best. (and its been around for a while with not too much of a bang)

I have an Akai GX-4000D, which weighs a ton. It is very difficult to get a good factory reel that doesn't smell like my grandmother's breath. But the few reels I have that are in excellent shape sound very good. I also enjoy being a pseudo audio projectionist. "Okay, this goes through here and then around here and goes into the reel here, do I have the right side set up?, doesn't matter, okay set up, turn big heavy handle to play, *CLICK*, it's working!" Stare at the needles bouncing with the music the whole time. It's fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wHa82Q30K4

I had a Ferrograph Super Seven 2-track reel-to-reel way back in time. It sounded awesome, but it weighed close to 60 lbs. Not very fun to drag around when rehearsing with the band.

Revival? Perhaps for those whe don't have to

1) Drag it home
2) Find a place for it in the listening room

For the rest of us: No way Jos

Does anybody really know what time it is? It's time to dust off my Akai and listen to Chicago at Carnigie Hall. Columbia GR30863 1971.

Must be 25 or 6 to 4:00.

cassette revival
reel to reel tape revival

an other silly thread

The one that got closed last night.

no the Totem thread is working

they deleted a few posts in the dead zone which had 50 views and growing, more than this one

No, the Seattle thread is closed you dumb toad.

Again I am talking about the Totem thread idiot

I never posted in the Seattle thread

I'm talking about the Seattle thread, numb nuts.

go put your head in the toilet and flush

In Seattle? Are you trying to reopen a closed thread? You said you knew nothing about the Seattle thread.

How'd that Chicago tape sound?

It was very good. Surprisingly good condition.

Quote:
I have an Akai GX-4000D, which weighs a ton. It is very difficult to get a good factory reel that doesn't smell like my grandmother's breath. But the few reels I have that are in excellent shape sound very good. I also enjoy being a pseudo audio projectionist. "Okay, this goes through here and then around here and goes into the reel here, do I have the right side set up?, doesn't matter, okay set up, turn big heavy handle to play, *CLICK*, it's working!" Stare at the needles bouncing with the music the whole time. It's fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wHa82Q30K4

Listening to the music in the dark - lit only by the VU meters of a reel to reel is very very retro-cool.

I had a Dokorder 7140 (it still lies in state, like Lenin, in an old closet) and a DBX 3BX that I'd use to record LP's with 'range expansion' and then I'd play the 'improved' tapes.

Our local Mirabelli's Records and Tapes sold reel to reel releases, and they were OK.

I think this new revival is likely more about throwing money at a hobby more than it is a pursuit of audio verity.

Reel to reel rigs are the new "cool older kid" thing.

Grosse, I think you are conflating two media. Cassettes are low fi, but the only way to get some music that is self published by interesting bands. You listen to those cassettes for the tunes, not the reproduction.

The big tapes can provide excellent fidelity, they are just a pain to purchase, set up, and use. But they can really do a great job as a hi fi medium.

Trey

Thank god we are off the Seattle thread. That was close.

I was a pro audio technician in NY for 22 years and I have just about seen it all. I have had all kinds of R2R decks in my time, Studers, ATR 102's, Tascams, Revox, you name it.  When properly set up by a professional there is no "digital thing" that can possibly reach the sound quality of a R2R deck. I have worked on and repaired sound boards, digital, speakers, keyboards, amps and preamps, you name it and I have heard the best of the digital recording and playback apparatus. I can tell you it ain't the quality you get from tape.

It's great to see The Tape Project offering Master Tape copies to consumers, this is the future of high quality sound!

This is real sound not a sampling of reality!

a good friend has a revox that has been modified to use "tape project" tapes.  it just gathers dust now.  i thought that on the tape project tapes, it was the best i have heard, like the very best vinyl with no noise whatsoever.  however, the unit was costly and is huge and challenging to use and the tapes are $500 a pop.  as great as it sounds, i just can't see this becoming anything other than a very small niche.

Honestly I have not used a reel to reel since the mid 1960 but I found them relatively easy to use back then when I was 7 or 8. Joshing aside, I recall them as being easy to use, put on the tape, thread the tape, play the tape. Is there something new I am missing?

Trey

ok, a pain in the ass to use.  happy?

Tom I am sorry if I offended, I did not intend to at all. I appreciate and enjoy your posts and would not insult you. Please forgive me if my post came off snarky, that was not my intent.

But I see tapes as less fiddly than vinyl! More than discs, less than computer audio (if you factor in the ripping and file work necessary to have a good set up) and a bit less than vinyl. Having said that, I am not in the market for a reel to reel!

Trey

no prob.  i think we all get infected at least a little by so much of the sniping that goes on in this forum that i was just being a smart ass.  we must be about the same age because around 1965 or 66, my dad decided i was old enough that he would trust me to use his viking r2r and it was a 7th or 8th birthday present the day he showed me how.  you are right, it is not too much of a pain, but you pick your poison as i find fooling with turntable stuff enjoyable.  probably just so much repetition.  i was serious about those tape project tapes, my buddy has bill evans waltz for debby and it is sublime, totally smokes my vinyl reissue. 

but man, that is a LOT of money for playing a little bit of software! I could not listen to the 30 titles all that much without getting bored. Well who am I fooling, I could not afford the 30 titles! Later pal!

Trey

When I began reading Stereophile in the early '90s they were still reviewing the odd cassette deck. I distinctly remember AIWA seemingly coming out of nowhere with the XKS-9000. Best Buy carried it, crazily enough.

But I always wondered, "Why not review open reel decks instead? Everyone knows they are better."

Problem: Consumer decks no longer existed. The fact that a consumer could buy a TASCAM or an Otari ... and connect it to their home stereo was irrelevant, apparently.

The odd Alesis or Nagra did get some ink, sure. But they were always solutions to problems "other people" (readers) wouldn't be interested in, I suppose.

The Tape Project's greatest achievement has been to show that what's old and irrelevant can indeed bring wonderful results at home once you allow yourself to think beyond a few self-imposed barriers. I think it's great they are making inroads to the Shows. First step to a published audience, I guess.