my Studer A-820 1/2" RTR deck has been idle for a couple of years. it was fully functional, but there was a simple but involved, 'Ki' level fix needed, so I could comfortably use it. and yesterday Ki Choi rode in on his white horse and fixed it.
bravo Ki!!!
last night and this morning I've been luxuriating into my limited 1/2" tape selections. 1/2" Studer A-820 -> King Cello (or other master recorder/tape repro personal choices) is just on another level beyond any other source IMHO. recent big rig system tweaks have raised all source performances, as well as recently I've moved my Entreq Silver Tellus grounding + the 'upgraded to Infinity level' Atlantic Eartha (one each on KC circuits and power supply chassis) and Apollo Eartha (one each on 1/2" and 1/4" chassis) cables to the Studer-KC area. and also I added the Furutech NCF plugs to the power cord and outlets since then. so since 2+ years ago the context of 1/2" wonderfulness has moved forward in a number of ways. my brain knew it would be better, but my senses were not prepared for the reference to jump up.
I've had my blinders on for these last few years not thinking about 1/2" tape knowing at some point i'd have it back. and now it's here.
there is nothing like 1/2" 15ips tape. 1/2" 30ips is also wonderful, but offers sonic trade-offs with 15ips plus less time. and 1" 2-track is even better, but really a challenge to deal with on many levels as well as much more expensive. so the sweet spot beyond 1/4" is 1/2" 15ips. and having a library of 1/2" 15ips is a real world proposition. many tape sellers can produce 1/2" versions of their titles, and many use 1/2" as the source or working master.
i'm really happy getting back in touch with this, and i'm going to have to now look around to see what tapes are out there to expand my 1/2" 15ips library.
bravo Ki!!!
last night and this morning I've been luxuriating into my limited 1/2" tape selections. 1/2" Studer A-820 -> King Cello (or other master recorder/tape repro personal choices) is just on another level beyond any other source IMHO. recent big rig system tweaks have raised all source performances, as well as recently I've moved my Entreq Silver Tellus grounding + the 'upgraded to Infinity level' Atlantic Eartha (one each on KC circuits and power supply chassis) and Apollo Eartha (one each on 1/2" and 1/4" chassis) cables to the Studer-KC area. and also I added the Furutech NCF plugs to the power cord and outlets since then. so since 2+ years ago the context of 1/2" wonderfulness has moved forward in a number of ways. my brain knew it would be better, but my senses were not prepared for the reference to jump up.
I've had my blinders on for these last few years not thinking about 1/2" tape knowing at some point i'd have it back. and now it's here.
there is nothing like 1/2" 15ips tape. 1/2" 30ips is also wonderful, but offers sonic trade-offs with 15ips plus less time. and 1" 2-track is even better, but really a challenge to deal with on many levels as well as much more expensive. so the sweet spot beyond 1/4" is 1/2" 15ips. and having a library of 1/2" 15ips is a real world proposition. many tape sellers can produce 1/2" versions of their titles, and many use 1/2" as the source or working master.
i'm really happy getting back in touch with this, and i'm going to have to now look around to see what tapes are out there to expand my 1/2" 15ips library.
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