To the folks who make our wonderful master tape dubs:
Have you considered using MDS-36 or LPR-90?
Most classic vinyl like the RCA Living Stereo records were more than 30 minutes; often they were 40. My Reiner/CSO tapes from Acoustic Sounds are wonderful, but the Pines/Fountains and Scheherazade would both have fit on ONE reel of MDS-36 or LPR-90 vs. two of RMGI-900 or ATR Master. Not only would this allow me to enjoy the whole program without re-threading a tape, but it also just wastes less tape - both of my Pines/Fountains reels are about half full when the music ends!
In most classical concerts (whether chamber or full-on orchestra) or jazz sets, folks play for about 40 minutes before taking an intermission/break. A ton of late classical-period/romantic period works (symphonies, string quartets, other chamber music) run between 35-45 minutes, making them a more-or-less perfect fit for a 3600' reel at 15 ips. Yes, if you're going to do Beethoven's 9th, you'll need two reels. But the 9th tends to run around 70 minutes, so even two 2500' reels won't do it. But two 3600s would (ditto for Mahler).
I realize that the 1 mil tape is thinner and probably somewhat more prone to print-through (though I suspect this has more to do with recording level than anything else), but MDS-36 and LPR-90 I think both have the same oxide layer as their 1.5 mil counterparts and can record at essentially the same levels. I also realize that this is all about a "maximum quality" niche, and the "maximum quality" sort of calls for 1.5mil tape. But as a consumer, I wouldn't mind 1 mil when the program calls for it. Those of us buying this stuff have tape decks that aren't going to destroy a 1 mil tape, be they one of Gary's re-done TASCAM BR20s; a J-corder Technics, or a top-end Studer or ATR102. We will store them carefully and won't abuse them (I promise ). I personally am willing to trade off a db or two of noise floor for more music on a single tape, particularly given that the formulations of modern tapes, even 1 mil, have vanishingly-low noise to begin with. And notice I'm not talking about making the original recording on 1 mil. I'm just talking about doing the dub to 1 mil.
So . . . how about it, folks? Would you consider doing it? I dream about Ed one day recording one of the Beethoven Rasumovsky quartets, or Shubert's Death and the Maiden (all of them between 40 and 45 minutes) and sending it to me on a single reel . . .
John C.
Have you considered using MDS-36 or LPR-90?
Most classic vinyl like the RCA Living Stereo records were more than 30 minutes; often they were 40. My Reiner/CSO tapes from Acoustic Sounds are wonderful, but the Pines/Fountains and Scheherazade would both have fit on ONE reel of MDS-36 or LPR-90 vs. two of RMGI-900 or ATR Master. Not only would this allow me to enjoy the whole program without re-threading a tape, but it also just wastes less tape - both of my Pines/Fountains reels are about half full when the music ends!
In most classical concerts (whether chamber or full-on orchestra) or jazz sets, folks play for about 40 minutes before taking an intermission/break. A ton of late classical-period/romantic period works (symphonies, string quartets, other chamber music) run between 35-45 minutes, making them a more-or-less perfect fit for a 3600' reel at 15 ips. Yes, if you're going to do Beethoven's 9th, you'll need two reels. But the 9th tends to run around 70 minutes, so even two 2500' reels won't do it. But two 3600s would (ditto for Mahler).
I realize that the 1 mil tape is thinner and probably somewhat more prone to print-through (though I suspect this has more to do with recording level than anything else), but MDS-36 and LPR-90 I think both have the same oxide layer as their 1.5 mil counterparts and can record at essentially the same levels. I also realize that this is all about a "maximum quality" niche, and the "maximum quality" sort of calls for 1.5mil tape. But as a consumer, I wouldn't mind 1 mil when the program calls for it. Those of us buying this stuff have tape decks that aren't going to destroy a 1 mil tape, be they one of Gary's re-done TASCAM BR20s; a J-corder Technics, or a top-end Studer or ATR102. We will store them carefully and won't abuse them (I promise ). I personally am willing to trade off a db or two of noise floor for more music on a single tape, particularly given that the formulations of modern tapes, even 1 mil, have vanishingly-low noise to begin with. And notice I'm not talking about making the original recording on 1 mil. I'm just talking about doing the dub to 1 mil.
So . . . how about it, folks? Would you consider doing it? I dream about Ed one day recording one of the Beethoven Rasumovsky quartets, or Shubert's Death and the Maiden (all of them between 40 and 45 minutes) and sending it to me on a single reel . . .
John C.