Two Tapes for Your Consideration!

Bruce B said:

amir..... +2/-2dB at below 200Hz is pittance in what some of these rooms measure. The worst graph is +3/-3dB. I have never heard of a room that is within those specs from 20-200Hz....

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c1ferrari said:

Amir,

It would be of value to me.

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Bodyslam said:

First, Myles, thanks for the kind words about two of our titles.

Second, for those who asked, a couple of comments about the Tape Project production processes.

Where did the missing 1/2 generation go? Really this all started with someone's offhand comment that the generation loss going to 1" was so small that it was more like a 1/2 generation. It was a joke not meant to be taken literally, and we have repeated it in our descriptions in the same lighthearted vein. We don't mean it literally either.

We start with the original master (except the Linda Ronstadt...read the whole sordid story on our forum.) In some cases this is a mixdown master from a multitrack recording, so you may consider that a generation down from the multitrack if you wish. In other cases, mainly the classical and most of our jazz titles, the recording was done straight to two-track, and the tape we work from is the very first generation.

In either case we make running masters on 1" 2-track analog at 15 ips--one more generation--and run those 1" running masters real time to our recording decks--one more generation. Most of the time those recorders are set up for 1/4", but we have a few customers for whom we make 1/2" tapes, and now one who orders 1" copies. All these copies are at 15 ips.

The original masters from which we work are whatever format the producers were using at the time. The majority were 15 ips but some were 30. Most were 1/4" but some were 1/2", and one title was mixed to 1". Trusting to memory, the Alvin, the Cray and Kurt Elling were 1/2", 30 ips no noise reduction. The Jacqui Naylor was the one mixed to 1", 15 ips no NR. The titles we got from Reference Recordings were recorded on two channels of a 3-track 1/4" master on Keith Johnson's custom machine, and played back on that machine direct to our 1" for the running masters. The rest were 1/4" 15 ips, some with NR, some without (The Band had some tunes with Dolby, some without, on the same reel.) Whatever format it is, we set up to get the best from the tape and move it across to our 1" running masters.

We have standardized on 15 ips for our running masters and for our final product because we like the result. 30 ips has some tradeoffs, and we acknowledge that some prefer those tradeoffs. We prefer 15.

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Thank you, kindly, Paul for this instructive post.
It was great seeing you at THE Show rolling tape in Philip's room.

MylesBAstor said:

And there you have it folks! From the horse's mouth!

Welcome and good to see you in corner of the internet Paul!

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