They're back...!

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Just read about this:

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/famous-swiss-tape-recorder-brand-re-introduce-reel-reel-analog-recorder

Cheers, Ken

NJPOLKER

Swiss made?? Gotta be pretty good. We had a Akia back in the day and used it for boot leg Springsteen recordings. It worked great for what we had to work with. I think my brother still has it packed away with the old reel to reels. hhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm got me thinking.

mantis

Very cool , thanks for sharing

mhardy6647

I assume it's Studer/ReVox... maybe NAGRA (they're Swiss, too, right) but not, I presume, Stellavox?
Whoever it is - pretty safe bet that I won't be able to afford one.

EDIT: Fortunately, my A77 was kindly reconfigured by Charles "Stellavox" King as a high-speed, half-track deck... so I guess I could spring for some of the pricey new s/w instead ;-)

[Deleted User]

My guess it's Nagra, they are still active in audio. If so, it will be good and expensive. Maybe this will provoke a few other companies such as Tascam or Otari to crack open the blue prints.
Maybe a tape renaissance who knows? There are already a few people who make external tape playback amplifiers, Bottlehead is the most popular.

mhardy6647

True enough - the fundamental problem is (and, mind you, I love tape technology) that audio tape is a gloriously impractical medium for consumer audio. The big problem is the lack of random access; heck, even LPs offer that! ;-)

Still, I am glad to see stirrings of interest in tape.

Eight tracks are comin' back... mark my words! I'm ready, too...

;-)

dkg999

There's something about those big tape reels spinning that seems to improve the air molecules and enhance the listening experience.

audiocr381ve

Is this just for playback or recording?

Off topic but my first time recording drums to tape was an "ah ha" moment for me, and I recorded to a relatively inexpensive Tascam 1/4" tape unit. As far as recording goes, digital has all the fidelity in the world and is so inexpensive but nothing sounds like tape. I know Universal Audio has "Studer" plugins and I wonder how close it gets.

headrott

My guess would be Nagra as well Ken. This is excellent news! A "reel resurgence" is wanted and needed, IMO. Thanks for the news Ken!

mhardy6647

dkg999 wrote: »

There's something about those big tape reels spinning that seems to improve the air molecules and enhance the listening experience.

I am loath to disagree...

dubbin081212 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

[Deleted User]

On some of the tape oriented forums most people are saying Studer and playback only. There are several companies who are producing master tape copies of things they've recorded. Make a tape and they will come.

mhardy6647

The Philips standard for the Compact Cassette was 1-7/8 inches per second (ips). There were a cadre of two-speed cassette decks in the late 1970s/early 1980s (e.g., from BIC and Marantz) that also allowed recording and playback at 3-3/4 ips (but there was no standard for the EQ curve AFAIK).

The de facto standard for hifi consumer reel to reel tape was 7-1/2 ips (although many prerecorded tapes were made at the somewhat lower-fi speed of 3-3/4 ips).

15 ips will provide better signal to noise ratio, extended HF performance, but still provide pretty flat LF response compared to 7-1/2 ips. It was also an industry standard... but more at the "prosumer" end of the spectrum (the interface between very serious amater and semi-pro recordists) and also used in pro applications in the earlier days (probably up through four-track studio recorders).

This TASCAM (TEAC's "prosumer" brand) 22-4 deck, for example, is a two speed (15/7.5 ips) four track deck, but it only takes 7 inch reels. A 7 inch reel will hold 1800 feet of standard 1 mil thickness tape -- that's good for 22.5 minutes (give or take) per side at 15 ips (a little scant for financially-challenged hobbyist tapers). It was much more common to find 10-1/2 inch reel capacity on decks offering 15 ips. A 10-1/2 inch reel can hold up to 3600 feet of 1 mil tape (i.e., 45 minutes per side at 15 ips).

dubbin by mhardy6647, on Flickr

Here's a gorgeous Stellavox portable belonging to Charles King and outfitted with adaptors to handle 10-1/2 inch reels. We were listening to a safety copy of a half-track master of a jazz recording (i.e., one generation past the master) when I took the photo; the sound was superb.

stella by mhardy6647, on Flickr

tonyb

Have a soft spot for reels....like them better than vinyl to tell the truth. Simply stellar sound.

mhardy6647

I have a soft spot for 'em, too -- I have far too many decks (some not really worth the effort of restoring)... I do need to re-hab my RT-909... one of these days.

headrott

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

On some of the tape oriented forums most people are saying Studer and playback only. There are several companies who are producing master tape copies of things they've recorded. Make a tape and they will come.

Studer would be my second guess. I am fine with either one coming back to us. They were both great outstanding companies making outstanding decks.

Msabot1

To those of us in the know....they have never really left have they??