What audiophiles have themselves they consider " the best ".
Whether its tapedecks amps speakers cables
What's Up On Your Tape Machine?
- Thread starter MylesBAstor
- Start date
What audiophiles have themselves they consider " the best ".
Whether its tapedecks amps speakers cables
It’s kinda like turntables. Amazing they work at all. But I suggest looking at some people’s work like that fellow in Italy who restores vintage machines to better than new specs and really flattens out that head bump. That’s one issue with repeated use.
I’ve heard both ways (annd other heads to) and to my ears the decision is very easy. The Flux heads are far, far quieter and thus transparent and resolving, more extended at the frequency extremes particularly the low end, dynamic and less colored.
I’m not following you here.
Sorry no though I’ve spoken with them at several shows. They seem to know what they are doing and obviously another good resource for replacement heads. Especially if Flux ever shuts down.
I guess I am luckier than you. But I don’t buy everything and will often get the LP if I don’t have it to make sure is worth paying the $$$ for the tape. I have just a handful of tapes that will eventually toss when I need to free up,some space. They’re, primarily some digital crap passed off as all analog. You know something is really wrong when your LP runs rings around the tape..Well, many people insist the M15 is far better. I can't testify to that, as I only have the M15A, but they are adamant.
Personal preferences aside... your 30% number is not unreasonable. I would put it at 42%...but that hardly changes anything. I have a short, but painful, list of companies I would never buy from again.
For instance, last night a tape from a well known producer exhibited the typical lousy bulk erasure "spoke" noise at the end of music. I am now sure it was present along the whole tape, just not audible there. It is soft, but definite.
So two observations here. One - a previously recorded tape was used (should not be), and two - the proper erase procedure was not even followed.
So I am pissed.
But as we say provenance is everything and if in doubt, ask them to send a picture of the master tape. Won’t catch everything but will narrow down the bad choices.
I hope you find some tapes of interest in this thread Victor! .
I have about 300 titles on 1/4", 15ips tapes. Most of these are 1:1 copies of production or safety masters. I also have 250 commercial 2-track and 4-track tapes. The commercial tapes usually cost between $10 to $50 (for classical). Some of these are really excellent, often much better than the LPs (original or reissue). Some titles such as the Reiner Scheherazade give the 15ips AP Ultratape a good run for its money. In fact, most of the RCA classical titles are excellent, as long as the tapes are in good shape. The Everest titles are often astonishingly good too. At this price, it is well worth giving it a shot. On the rare occasions when I bought a dud (most commonly due to edge damage, which affects the left channel on one side only), I would buy another if the recording is otherwise good. I think even the best Shaded Dog LPs don't truly reflect how great some of these recordings from the 50s and 60s are.
YES!
on my A80/Nextgen machines the SM900 sound as it feels; more solid with more loend weight and definition
so I stopped using LPR90 when dubbing......rather use 2x10,5" reels for whose who cannot use 12 or even 12,5" reels
The crème de la crème of the Opus 3 Records’ catalog are the Eric Bibb recordings. No small wonder given owner Jan-Eric Persson’s fondness and long term musical relationship for Bibb. There’s such a twinkle in Persson’s eye when he discusses Bibb’s recordings! I chose Spirit and the Blues out of all of Bibb’s Opus 3 releases in part for the for the music and in part because there was more meat on the musical bone. In short, if I’m paying big bucks for a tape title, I want more than a solo performer. Though obviously with exceptions.
Here, Bibb performs with a gospel group and a group of other musicians playing a selection of blues and gospel recordings, recorded by Persson with his famed Blumlein Mike setup. The sound is simply mouth watering.. So natural and there’s an ease to the music that escapes so many recording. That lack of added miking/recording tension leaving the tension and release where it really belongs: in the music! The tone of his and the backup singers vocals are uncannily realistic and the airiness surrounding them is captured in its full glory. Just wait until you hear the sound of the steel guitar. Another tape where you think the musicians are in your home!
One note. There’s no fancy packaging here like Analogue Productions, 2XHD, The Tape Project, AudioNautes and others. Just a white box with a label and the SACD insert. Highest recommendations!
Here, Bibb performs with a gospel group and a group of other musicians playing a selection of blues and gospel recordings, recorded by Persson with his famed Blumlein Mike setup. The sound is simply mouth watering.. So natural and there’s an ease to the music that escapes so many recording. That lack of added miking/recording tension leaving the tension and release where it really belongs: in the music! The tone of his and the backup singers vocals are uncannily realistic and the airiness surrounding them is captured in its full glory. Just wait until you hear the sound of the steel guitar. Another tape where you think the musicians are in your home!
One note. There’s no fancy packaging here like Analogue Productions, 2XHD, The Tape Project, AudioNautes and others. Just a white box with a label and the SACD insert. Highest recommendations!
Last edited:
1959 was a good year in both the jazz and classical world!
There was on the classical side the RCA team of Producer Richard Mohr (HP actually assigned me to interview Mohr back in the late 80s but that hit a snag) and Engineer Lewis Layton’s recording of one of Saint-Saëns most noted compositions Symphony #3 (Organ) with Munch and BSO (LSC 2341). This recording was a sonic blockbuster when it was originally released in 1960 and it has clearly stood the test of time both musically and sonically. As detailed in the liner notes, RCA moved the orchestra here partially off stage into the orchestra for the best sound. And HP was wrong when he said the RCA Living Stereos were simply miked – save for the earliest stereo efforts - and maybe the excellent Reiner Pictures at an Exhibition. Most RCA recordings used 5 to 9 mikes (maybe more here?); sadly we’ll never know outside of Reiner’s Pines of Rome Layton’s miking setup because the bean counters at RCA destroyed all of Layton’s recording notes when they moved up to the 6th Ave and 44th St location. (And Mohr and Pfeiffer are no longer with us.) Just as we lost RCA’s wonderful sounding Studios A and B when the company were later sold and they closed the 44th St location.
Chad and Ryan Smith went back to for this tape release the original three-track master tape and made fresh 2-track running masters (rather than using RCAs old and well used 2-track mix down tapes). Sonically, the tape really betters the original RCA LP releases (and other reissues) especially in the bottom end where RCAs tended to be bass shy (like one of my favorites BSO release The French Touch). As a result, one hears so much more of the weight and depth of the organ on the tape (it’s interesting to compare the organ here with Mercury Paray and the DSO with Dupre on organ though you can’t compare orchestra qualities here). In contrast to my earlier tape posts, listeners are also going getting a very large scale presentation of large scale music! With that spaciousness the Living Stereos were so renowned for!
This is definitely one tape release that will impress your audiobuddies and show off your system to the max!
There was on the classical side the RCA team of Producer Richard Mohr (HP actually assigned me to interview Mohr back in the late 80s but that hit a snag) and Engineer Lewis Layton’s recording of one of Saint-Saëns most noted compositions Symphony #3 (Organ) with Munch and BSO (LSC 2341). This recording was a sonic blockbuster when it was originally released in 1960 and it has clearly stood the test of time both musically and sonically. As detailed in the liner notes, RCA moved the orchestra here partially off stage into the orchestra for the best sound. And HP was wrong when he said the RCA Living Stereos were simply miked – save for the earliest stereo efforts - and maybe the excellent Reiner Pictures at an Exhibition. Most RCA recordings used 5 to 9 mikes (maybe more here?); sadly we’ll never know outside of Reiner’s Pines of Rome Layton’s miking setup because the bean counters at RCA destroyed all of Layton’s recording notes when they moved up to the 6th Ave and 44th St location. (And Mohr and Pfeiffer are no longer with us.) Just as we lost RCA’s wonderful sounding Studios A and B when the company were later sold and they closed the 44th St location.
Chad and Ryan Smith went back to for this tape release the original three-track master tape and made fresh 2-track running masters (rather than using RCAs old and well used 2-track mix down tapes). Sonically, the tape really betters the original RCA LP releases (and other reissues) especially in the bottom end where RCAs tended to be bass shy (like one of my favorites BSO release The French Touch). As a result, one hears so much more of the weight and depth of the organ on the tape (it’s interesting to compare the organ here with Mercury Paray and the DSO with Dupre on organ though you can’t compare orchestra qualities here). In contrast to my earlier tape posts, listeners are also going getting a very large scale presentation of large scale music! With that spaciousness the Living Stereos were so renowned for!
This is definitely one tape release that will impress your audiobuddies and show off your system to the max!
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Never thought about taking a photo of the thousands of tapes that have been through here. The last time I did, the label/owner was pissed…..
I'm sure the people conducting this comparison would have been happy for you to have hired a tape technician and for you to pay for that tape technician to go around to all the machines involved in this comparison and make sure they are operating properly and calibrated using the same technique.
Failing this, is there anything you are not inclined to question or to complain about?
I'm sure the people conducting this comparison would have been happy for you to have hired a tape technician and for you to pay for that tape technician to go around to all the machines involved in this comparison and make sure they are operating properly and calibrated using the same technique.
Failing this, is there anything you are not inclined to question or to complain about?
I could complain that you are too superficial about tape to understand the importance of head gap geometry when choosing tape, as I explained in the following posts in the thread. Unless you are just joking, your reference to a tape technician suggests that you did not understand what was being addressed. But we only addressed the tip of the iceberg, people did not show interest on it and the thread stopped.
And yes, there are a lot of subjects I do not question in WBF, such as agendas or equipment aesthetics. But surely I appreciate technical matters in this hobby. Are you pleased?
One of the great memories of my college days in Boston, was attending many BSO concerts (typically the dress rehearsals which were the cheap way to go to the BSO, normally with Leinsdorf conducting. The highlight of those concerts was attending a concert conducted by the previous BSO music director, Charles Munch. The program included the Saint-Saens Organ symphony, with Berj Zamkochian playing the organ, the same as on this famed recording. The concert was in the mid-60's, around five to seven years after the recording was made. I didn't get a copy of the record until many years later. Larry
Could we please stay on topic eg. what is playing on your tape machine? Start your own thread if you want to talk technical matters.
Well, you were the one who brought tape quality on the thread - sorry it is a technical question and I was just asking a question of Ron. Due to the logistics of moving, currently my Studer A80's are in storage with the tapes and I will take the opportunity to change the capstan and tension bearings. The last tapes I played were calibration tapes - MLR and TapeProject tones
, to set up a redundant Revox machine I was selling to a good friend.
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Last weeks AXPONA show! Chad’s/Acoustic Sound’s booth. Plus Horch House and Delmark.
The acoustic sounds Hugh Masekela tape has one of the lowest noise levels of any tape i have .
Buying more ( Ultra ) tapes is next on my audio wishlist .
Also the packaging is very nice
Buying more ( Ultra ) tapes is next on my audio wishlist .
Also the packaging is very nice
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |