Hi Mike,
Please keep in mind that the professional tape world is quite different from the hobbyist tape world. I hope to shed light on some of those differences here.
Yours is a FAQ and the answer is no, because we feel that fitting RCA connectors for tape play head inputs on our preamps would be a big step backwards. Let me list some reasons why.
First, fitting RCA inputs would invite problems with the customer changing cables. You'd have no idea of the cable capacitance, the cable length and shielding characteristics. So your careful head to first stage interface optimization goes right out the window.
Second, tape playback heads are not line level devices and they are certainly not suitable for directly driving anything but the shortest of cables. (It has been found that a cable length of about 10 cm or under is ideal.) That is only part of the reason that we started seeing repro head "pre-preamps" (the very first stage of gain) placed in, or immediately adjacent to the headblocks of the best pro machines in the early 1980s.
Third, as mentioned, ATAE equipment is designed for professional use. Note that you will never see RCAs used anywhere on professional tape machines. Knowledgeable analog circuit designers have long known that RCA connectors are sub-optimal for highest quality unbalanced audio signal transmission and certainly this is so for the low-level signals seen in playback heads.
Also, we must remember that analog tape professionals change headblocks much like pro photographers change lenses. Taking quarter-inch tape for an example, a professional will need a minimum of four headblocks to cover the common formats that might turn up in most tape archives. These of course are: full-track monaural, half-track (or two-track) NAB, DIN stereo and quarter-track stereo, a once popular consumer delivery format.
I'm fully aware of the argument that one can cover all four of these track formats with fewer repro head types. But such a low-budget, faking-it approach is throwing away optimal signal-to-noise performance.
For those reading here who might not know, knowledgeable professionals working with high-value master tapes do not use standard, three-head confidence recording (sometimes called ERP for erase, record, play) headblocks to play back master tapes.
I'm delighted that over the past ten years, some quality-focused professionals have been using our ATAE SHRO blocks. Further, we feel that it should take under one minute to change a headblock on a precision guidance transport. We also believe that the reproducer should then be ready to go, without any need for making additional adjustments to the related connected equipment.
Now, what might be the single most important reason has to do with perfecting the critically important repro head to first stage matching.
When we place the first gain stage right there inside the headblock, that circuit has been matched to that particular head.
ATAE THP-2 tape head pre-preamplifier
So now you have a headblock system that facilitates quick-changes, provides the optimal head matching for that particular head and has the built-in gain intended for driving a designated connection cable to the outboard tape playback preamplifier. It's clearly the right way to do it. Not our invention by any means, many did this earlier (Studer and Cello are but two).
Our work is only a humble effort to help advance the state of the art of analog tape playback. It's tragic that the public doesn't know just how good many of the surviving master tapes in the record label vaults can actually sound. Of course, how could they, as so many of the earlier transfers were of poor quality and hardly anyone gets access to many of the surviving original master tapes today.
Please keep in mind that the professional tape world is quite different from the hobbyist tape world. I hope to shed light on some of those differences here.
Yours is a FAQ and the answer is no, because we feel that fitting RCA connectors for tape play head inputs on our preamps would be a big step backwards. Let me list some reasons why.
First, fitting RCA inputs would invite problems with the customer changing cables. You'd have no idea of the cable capacitance, the cable length and shielding characteristics. So your careful head to first stage interface optimization goes right out the window.
Second, tape playback heads are not line level devices and they are certainly not suitable for directly driving anything but the shortest of cables. (It has been found that a cable length of about 10 cm or under is ideal.) That is only part of the reason that we started seeing repro head "pre-preamps" (the very first stage of gain) placed in, or immediately adjacent to the headblocks of the best pro machines in the early 1980s.
Third, as mentioned, ATAE equipment is designed for professional use. Note that you will never see RCAs used anywhere on professional tape machines. Knowledgeable analog circuit designers have long known that RCA connectors are sub-optimal for highest quality unbalanced audio signal transmission and certainly this is so for the low-level signals seen in playback heads.
Also, we must remember that analog tape professionals change headblocks much like pro photographers change lenses. Taking quarter-inch tape for an example, a professional will need a minimum of four headblocks to cover the common formats that might turn up in most tape archives. These of course are: full-track monaural, half-track (or two-track) NAB, DIN stereo and quarter-track stereo, a once popular consumer delivery format.
I'm fully aware of the argument that one can cover all four of these track formats with fewer repro head types. But such a low-budget, faking-it approach is throwing away optimal signal-to-noise performance.
For those reading here who might not know, knowledgeable professionals working with high-value master tapes do not use standard, three-head confidence recording (sometimes called ERP for erase, record, play) headblocks to play back master tapes.
I'm delighted that over the past ten years, some quality-focused professionals have been using our ATAE SHRO blocks. Further, we feel that it should take under one minute to change a headblock on a precision guidance transport. We also believe that the reproducer should then be ready to go, without any need for making additional adjustments to the related connected equipment.
Now, what might be the single most important reason has to do with perfecting the critically important repro head to first stage matching.
When we place the first gain stage right there inside the headblock, that circuit has been matched to that particular head.
ATAE THP-2 tape head pre-preamplifier
So now you have a headblock system that facilitates quick-changes, provides the optimal head matching for that particular head and has the built-in gain intended for driving a designated connection cable to the outboard tape playback preamplifier. It's clearly the right way to do it. Not our invention by any means, many did this earlier (Studer and Cello are but two).
Our work is only a humble effort to help advance the state of the art of analog tape playback. It's tragic that the public doesn't know just how good many of the surviving master tapes in the record label vaults can actually sound. Of course, how could they, as so many of the earlier transfers were of poor quality and hardly anyone gets access to many of the surviving original master tapes today.