UltraAnalogue's Superlative Tatsuki Narita tape

[Foxbat]

Are you using the normal basic (non horn) subs? What crossover frequency are you using?

Best.

Yes, the box ones that came with the system, it's been a while, but I believe they kick in below 120Hz. I always prefer my system to be bass shy rather than have the booming sub effect.

Great tape from Ed as expected! I am also hearing the avant garde speakers seeming to play really good for the first time over this youtube video (for what its worth), congratulations to you. I had a few chances to hear different iterations of trios (latest versions at Munich) and all of them have let me down. Enjoy your finely tuned version, it may be the best one Also your tip top condition Ampex 800 is a thing of beauty. I had an ampex atr102 but I kept my studer a807 for practical reasons

More important thing for me is that, it looks, you have a very good music collection. Any recommendations from your "go to" tapes.

ps. enjoy your great system

Perhaps the electronics is also importnant. I think they work well together. That ATR-800 was a nice find, it was actually built by Teac, and they did very good job. I love Ampexes, I also have two ATR-102's and several older ones, the 350's and the 440. They have that special feel to them.

As far as the recommendation, just off the top of my head, besides the usual suspects, I would mention any of Joe Policastro recordings by IPI (especially his vibes), the wonderful Antonio Lysy Argentinian music tape by Yarlung, and the Rembrandt 2 by STS, that wonderfully captures the venue acoustics.

 

[adrianywu]

Thanks Victor for the recommendation. I have meant to try Ed's tapes for a while, but not yet got around to it.
I have made quite a few recordings over the past 20 years on my Nagra IV-S, mostly orchestral but some chamber music also. I have recently started to make backup copies using 468, since the original session tapes are on 456 (I bought a large stock when Quantergy closed shop), whose longevity is questionable. I transferred them with my Nagra T Audio with the repro head directly out to my differential tube preamp, and then to the IV-S. Even the 1st generation copies sound great with barely noticeable difference. Does Ed make all his commercial copies from the original work parts ? How many copies can you make from the tapes before noticeable deterioration ? I always have concern about playing the session tapes too often.

 

[Amir]

Thanks for sharing the video

 

[Edward Pong]

Thanks Victor for the recommendation. I have meant to try Ed's tapes for a while, but not yet got around to it.
I have made quite a few recordings over the past 20 years on my Nagra IV-S, mostly orchestral but some chamber music also. I have recently started to make backup copies using 468, since the original session tapes are on 456 (I bought a large stock when Quantergy closed shop), whose longevity is questionable. I transferred them with my Nagra T Audio with the repro head directly out to my differential tube preamp, and then to the IV-S. Even the 1st generation copies sound great with barely noticeable difference. Does Ed make all his commercial copies from the original work parts ? How many copies can you make from the tapes before noticeable deterioration ? I always have concern about playing the session tapes too often.

I always make a running copy from the master recording & copies are usually made from this 1st copy. We've found, "making a very good copy" is not as simple as connecting 2 stock decks & pushing record. The playback & record electronics have to be extremely sensitive if one wants to have a copy with as little degradation as possible. So the quality of any of these copies, totally depends on the signal path of the whole recording/playback chain.

 

[Marcus]

Edward, have you ever thought about doing vinyl releases of your beautiful tapes? Like, let’s say modest 1.000 one-step pieces for instance?

 

[Edward Pong]

Edward, have you ever thought about doing vinyl releases of your beautiful tapes? Like, let’s say modest 1.000 one-step pieces for instance?

Marcus, thanks for your interest! I have thought about it & actually took this Tatsuki Narita tape to a local studio to have a lacquer made to hear it's sound.... unfortunately it didn't go well... will look for other engineers to try this.

 

[tapepath]

I've recently had a unique opportunity to once again appreciate this wonderful tape and hear the improvements Ed has made in his duplication capability. I had an original copy made with an earlier tube amplifier and Ed supplied a second version where a different tube amplifier was used. Over a two day period I could listen to one version, register how it sounded and then compare how I reacted to the second. The hard part was to keep my "audiophile hat" on and listen with the critical portion of my brain and check for all the important attributes we search for. Meanwhile the "music lover" section of my brain was telling me, "to relax, enjoy this special musical moment, hear how beautiful the violin sounds? Stop looking for "overtone structural cohesion" and appreciate the artistic soul being displayed here in front of you!".
Without doubt this tape (I hesitate to use the word "captures" since it implies a hostile act) embraces the evanescent moment when a gifted musician uses a wonderfully crafted instrument to convey musical bliss. This is one significant tape to own.

 

[Edward Pong]

Thank you tapepath for your kind words!

My original tape playback amplifier for the Studer A80 was based on the WE437a tube using all silver transformers. About 1 year ago, Tony finished my WE300b tape playback amp, again with all silver transformers with a pair of NOS 1956 WE300b tubes.
It's really the differences between the sound of a indirect vs direct heating triode.
The WE300b presents more low level detail but in a very organic natural way.... one hears deeper into the music/performance/emotion of the music...
The effects are heard across the whole audio spectrum, the mid base is more fleshed out & the highs of violins are resolved into many layers...

Ed