Scare me away from tape...

[MadFloyd]

I think I have an idea of how much the tapes can cost and you'd think that would be enough... but having recently heard a few I'm still smitten with the idea.

How hard is it to find a good deck?

How much more would it be to buy it with the recommended upgrades (whatever those may be)?

Do you need to be a techie to maintain it? How does the maintenance compare with turntables?

Do you need a separate tape stage for all tape decks or just some?

What else should I be afraid of?

(thanks in advance)

 

[Bruce B]

IF... you found an A810 or 1500 or ?? in great shape... you could get years of service.

IF... you found an A80RC, you could get by without external pre

IF... you found a couple of great friends... you could trade tapes... just like CD's

IF... you found a great deck... it would require LESS maintenance than a turntable...

 

[Steve Williams]

Tape is "scary good"

 

[joeinid]

Tape is "scary good"

How many plays can you get out of Tape?

 

[rockitman]

A tape pre is a must for a technics 1500. You could get away with a nice Studer A810 and play tapes. I think it sounds pretty good with good cables plugged into your main system preamp. If you catch the bug and can get top quality 15ips tapes, then you can delve further and get the Studer's head wired out into a tape pre....probably a $4k investment there excluding the studer deck. It's all about the software. If you connect and get the good stuff, nothing beats tape although I will say my TT rig gets very close.

 

[rockitman]

IF... you found an A80RC, you could get by without external pre


...

Let me know if you want to sell one of your ponies from the stable....

 

[amirm]

I spent months researching decks on eBay and such. I am an engineer and used to repair this stuff but still, it is very hard to know what you are buying remotely. Best thing I did was get a deck from our good member Ki Choi. He always has more decks than he knows what to do with . I got a couple tapes with collection of second gen masters and frankly, that is all I need to get my fix of music. The classics never get old . There are a lot of pitfalls if you trying to "DIY" the whole thing yourself.

 

[microstrip]

(...) There are a lot of pitfalls if you trying to "DIY" the whole thing yourself.

I second Amir advice. Unless you are technically prepared, the DIY will be a nightmare. But if you are looking for a time consuming hobby, are able to fully disassemble and assemble again a mechanical clock, and love reading long manuals you can consider a Studer A80. This is the deck that separates the children from the grown up man ...

 

[tony ky ma]

R2R is for people who want to go for another level of sound, it is not easy to handle, after you catch the point you will enter to a new level of hi fi, although there are not too much tape music for you to enjoy just only let you know the different from CD and vinyl what is real hi fi
tony ma

 

[Bruce B]

How many plays can you get out of Tape?

You could probably get 75-100 passes on a good maintained deck with no audible sonic degradation.

 

[joeinid]

You could probably get 75-100 passes on a good maintained deck with no audible sonic degradation.

Thank you Bruce.

 

[still-one]

I think I have an idea of how much the tapes can cost and you'd think that would be enough... but having recently heard a few I'm still smitten with the idea.

How hard is it to find a good deck?

How much more would it be to buy it with the recommended upgrades (whatever those may be)?

Do you need to be a techie to maintain it? How does the maintenance compare with turntables?

Do you need a separate tape stage for all tape decks or just some?

What else should I be afraid of?

(thanks in advance)

For those of us who find vinyl too limiting for quickly accessing music and tracks you want to hear, tape should even be more scary. Fast forward, fast rewind, search..........., Then there are storage issues.

There is no potential sound quality improvement that would get me back into tape.
Jim

 

[mep]

For those of us who find vinyl too limiting for quickly accessing music and tracks you want to hear, tape should even be more scary. Fast forward, fast rewind, search..........., Then there are storage issues.

“For those of us…” must refer to the digital crowd who would have nothing to do with LPs in the first place. I can’t speak for everyone who plays tapes, but I can tell you that when I put on a tape, I would never dream of hitting fast forward in order to skip to a song. I relish each and every song I listen to on tape.

There is no potential sound quality improvement that would get me back into tape.
Jim

Really? Based on what experience? If I was a betting man, I would bet that you have never owned a tape deck that was capable of playing back 15 ips 2 track tapes and nor have you owned tapes to play back on said deck. If you did, you wouldn’t have made the statement you did.

 

[microstrip]

(...) There is no potential sound quality improvement that would get me back into tape.
Jim

"The Wilson MAXX 3, powered by Doshi electronics and sourced by a tape deck, was extremely liquid and dimensional in the midrange with a lovely sense of ambience and depth. Of course, using reel-to-reel tape is a bit of a cheat, but…the MAXXes showed very well, nonetheless."

But after you read such comments you always dream about it!

Sentence quoted from the JV's RMAF 2012 Show Report
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/jvs-rmaf-2012-show-report/

 

[still-one]

“For those of us…” must refer to the digital crowd who would have nothing to do with LPs in the first place. I can’t speak for everyone who plays tapes, but I can tell you that when I put on a tape, I would never dream of hitting fast forward in order to skip to a song. I relish each and every song I listen to on tape.



Really? Based on what experience? If I was a betting man, I would bet that you have never owned a tape deck that was capable of playing back 15 ips 2 track tapes and nor have you owned tapes to play back on said deck. If you did, you wouldn’t have made the statement you did.

First, Life is too short to listen to crappy tracks in any format. A bad song is a bad song in any format. If you like listening to fillers, go for it.

I have heard Nick's demo's at both RMAF and at Paragon on multiple occasions. Sure it sounds good. I stand by my statement that nothing could get me back into tape.

Sounds lije you spend too much time listening to how a system sounds rather than to music you like,

Jim

 

[rockitman]

My thought on track skipping, including tapes and lp's, I don't do it for obvious reasons. That said, if the song is on the tape or record, I will listen to it even if I don't care for it much....that's the purpose of a record....to listen to it in it's entirety and in order...but that's just me....ymmv

 

[still-one]

My thought on track skipping, including tapes and lp's, I don't do it for obvious reasons. That said, if the song is on the tape or record, I will listen to it even if I don't care for it much....that's the purpose of a record....to listen to it in it's entirety and in order...but that's just me....ymmv

In my mind the purpose of a record is entertainment and if I own it that is MY entertainment. Even great artists put out a lot of poor tracks that aren't worth repeated playing.

 

[treitz3]

Different strokes for different folks....

 

[mep]

First, Life is too short to listen to crappy tracks in any format. A bad song is a bad song in any format. If you like listening to fillers, go for it.

Do you buy a lot of music that you don’t enjoy all of the tracks? Every jazz tape I have has great music on each and every track.

I have heard Nick's demo's at both RMAF and at Paragon on multiple occasions. Sure it sounds good. I stand by my statement that nothing could get me back into tape.

I for one am not trying to talk you into getting “back” into tape. You either ‘get it’ or you don’t. You don’t and that is fine. 15 ips 2 track dubs from master tapes don’t sound just “good.” They sound great. Some of us who are capable of playing all formats (LP, digital up to DSD2x, and tape) believe that tape is at the top of the food chain.

Sounds lije you spend too much time listening to how a system sounds rather than to music you like,

I think that is an undeserved slam with a hint of anger thrown in. I love to listen to music and I tend to play music I love. The system is what allows you to hear how good the music you love really sounds.

 

[flez007]

...or...you can be up&running with an UHA or J.Corder deck!

I have an EAR RtR (a 1570 modified by TdP) that sounds awesome, no external preamp needed.