Tonight I totaled up all of the 23 companies doing master tapes and how many different titles are available. No question sales have gone up along with varity.
As of October 13 2016 there are 458 master tape titles available at 15ips.
- Thread starter earlinarizona
- Start date
I first went to Myles Astors Page of Master Tape companies as of 1/23/2016 https://www.audionirvana.org/forum/...eel/103-where-to-find-reel-to-reel-recordings
Then I went to each site and totaled up the available titles. That simple. Here are some of the companies with the most tapes available and the numbers were surprising.
ABC 87 tapes, Opus3 40 tapes, MTSL 39 tapes, Horch House 35 tapes, UltraAnalog 34 tapes, Fone 30 tapes, Tape Project 29 listed but some not available,
IPI 23 tapes, This is just the top guys in the way of number of tapes.
Then I went to each site and totaled up the available titles. That simple. Here are some of the companies with the most tapes available and the numbers were surprising.
ABC 87 tapes, Opus3 40 tapes, MTSL 39 tapes, Horch House 35 tapes, UltraAnalog 34 tapes, Fone 30 tapes, Tape Project 29 listed but some not available,
IPI 23 tapes, This is just the top guys in the way of number of tapes.
With all of the new tapes could you imagine if Proprius /Naxo Label decides to publish the masters of all of there audiophile recordings like Cantata Domino, Jazz at the pawnshop and Arne Domnerus and the others?
All of the 2xHD Proprius titles "FROM ORIGINAL ANALOG MASTER" https://naxos.nativedsd.com/
All of the 2xHD Proprius titles "FROM ORIGINAL ANALOG MASTER" https://naxos.nativedsd.com/
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Earl, thanks for the information. I have tapes from 13 of the companies. Many of the ones that Myles has listed which you have not mentioned specifically have only one or just a few tapes available. So the ones you listed have about 70% of all the album titles. I have purchased tapes from all the ones you listed except for Fone. I did not have good luck with MTSL and some issues with ABC. All the others are fine and I would add Yarlung/Sonorus to your list of companies that have released in some quantity (I think 20 so far for them). The eight hundred pound gorilla who has just walked into the room is Chad Kassam of Acoustic Sounds. He just announced his first 12 releases and the first two were at Rocky Mountain (mine were shipped today). With Chad's relationships with most of the major and lesser labels, there is a potential treasure trove for R2R fans.
Larry
Larry
The price can be steep -- agreed. What I believe imperative is analog provenance. For example, let's stipulate one has access to a genuine analog master tape: analog tracked...analog mixed...analog mastered or AAA. Is the analog-only integrity preserved when it is delivered to the consumer? If not, then prominent disclosure is necessary.
Of the major players, there is pretty secure provenance. Many of them, like Ed Pong of UltraAnalogue, Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung, Open Reel, and Jonathan Horwich (for most of his tapes) are the owners of the recordings, were the recording engineers and they recorded and keep the master tapes and do the duplication themselves. Opus3 is another where they did the recording and own the master tapes - in their case they are selling direct copies of the master tape. Both Tape Project and I am certain Chad Kassam (Acoustic Sounds) have been very careful about provenance.
However, there are some (ABC Intl which is in China) where provenance is not clear and suspicious to my mind.
I've heard about the occasional tape from this or that company (always very small) that is digitally sourced. However, I haven't seen it as a major issue.
As far as cost - most of the companies sell tapes for around $200-$250 per reel, with the two big boys - Tape Project and Chad selling for $450 for 2 reel albums. Part of the problem is that the cost of materials is very high (about $75 for one reel of blank tape) and there is essentially no economy of scale - everything is done in real time. The master and slave tape machines are also very expensive, and the cost has to be amortized over a small number of copies made - unlike vinyl presses. For the direct masters - the most expensive tapes - the number of copies is strictly limited, to prevent the master tape from wearing out (Opus3 limits the number to 50).
Not cheap, but this is the WBF
. A reasonable collection of tapes (say 100 albums) will cost more than a top R2R machine with external tape prepro, or a new Camry, but less than a top of the line set of interconnects, or a year at Harvard. Larry
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Makes you wonder how much degradation master tapes from the 50s to the 70s have suffered that are used for modern reissues simply through the process of being played back so many times. Many of them would have been played back at least that many times - probably much more. Plus they would be suffering the usual age-related degradation.
Would it not be at least of some concern that tape reissues are considerably expensive yet are a "wearing" format?
Of the major players, there is pretty secure provenance. Many of them, like Ed Pong of UltraAnalogue, Bob Attiyeh of Yarlung, Open Reel, and Jonathan Horwich (for most of his tapes) are the owners of the recordings, were the recording engineers and they recorded and keep the master tapes and do the duplication themselves. Opus3 is another where they did the recording and own the master tapes - in their case they are selling direct copies of the master tape. Both Tape Project and I am certain Chad Kassam (Acoustic Sounds) have been very careful about provenance.
I expect those enumerated above have established bona fides. BTW, does anyone have an e-mail address for Acoustic Sounds?
I've heard about the occasional tape from this or that company (always very small) that is digitally sourced. However, I haven't seen it as a major issue.
What about an original AAA master tape source that is captured or remastered...digitally...then released on analog media? In my estimation, the product -- now converted -- may be said to be sourced from the original AAA master tape, but is de facto -- digital.
For the direct masters - the most expensive tapes - the number of copies is strictly limited, to prevent the master tape from wearing out (Opus3 limits the number to 50).
Opus 3 -- an exquisite source.
Not cheap, but this is the WBF
LOL -- cruisin' for a brusin'? ;-)
Larry
Sam
The wear and tear on master tapes is definitely an issue. When I was working with Winston Ma on our Decca book, Winston's source for the CD's were the master tapes from Decca. I know that there were tapes he wanted and actually received from Decca, but when he had them played by his mastering engineers, he rejected them because of their poor quality. You can see on the cover of the master tape a record of each time it has been taken out to play for whatever reason. Paul Stubblebine of Tape Project has also had tapes that he wanted to release, but the condition was not acceptable.
As far as the tapes that have been released, wear can be an issue. I think a rule of thumb, if you have your tape machine in good shape (cleaned and demagnetized heads, etc) that if you play them fewer than 50 times, it should be no problem. I wouldn't play the tapes all day long, every day for weeks on end. There are also some rules like never store the tapes in a fast wind condition. 15ips 2 track tapes are always stored tails out, so you store them just after they have been played, so they have an even pack. My pro Ampex ATR-102 has a special library wind, which gives a very even pack, somewhere in speed between fast wind and regular play.
Larry
subscriptions@acousticsounds.com - Karen is responsible for the tape series subscriptions.
I just received the first two releases today - Janis Ian and Ben Webster.
Larry
Very interesting Larry. Thanks for this. I think this also serves as an explanation as to why some titles mysteriously never get reissued. I have an ORG reissue from 2013 of Mercury SR90006 (The Love for Three Oranges) and quite honestly they shouldn't have released it at all. If you compare it to the original and even the Wilma Cozart-Fine CD reissue from 1990, the tape degradation is profound. Sounds like a tube amplifier where you've just pulled the power plug!
It would be very nice to have a public and easily accessible list of such tapes. IMHO it is the kind of product that creates confusion in the market.
And yes, I know most of today's vinyl is digitally processed - but I also object to its use in the high-end!
Received a reply from Acoustic Sounds regarding Ultra Tape and whether or not analog-only integrity is preserved from source to consumer. Acoustic Sounds responded: "They are sourced from a (sic) analog tape copy of the original analog master tape."
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