Reel to Reel?

[DaHaq]

I've heard it can sound really good, but would it be practical to find a unit and start collecting the things? How does it compare in sound quality to vinyl? I know there are different speeds/qualities of recordings...Does anything get released in this format nowadays? I know I must be showing my age by asking all this...but I recently got into vinyl and love it so I thought I might inquire about other analog forms as well. Any insight appreciated! ;D

[royphil345]

Reel to reel can sound great, better than vinyl. But, very inconvenient and the tapes degrade over time. Would also be hard to keep a machine in tip-top shape. Don't think any music has been released on reel to reel in QUITE some time!!!

Would it be practical?... heck no. Might be fun to look into if you had the time, money, and space though.

[DaHaq]

Thanks for the reply....yeah the only tapes I found on ebay were from the seventies, some aerosmith and zeppelin. When you say the tapes degrade over time, is that from playing them, or do they get worse just sitting in a box over the years? Would any tapes from that long ago, even if they weren't played, sound bad? Obviously I know nothing about tape!

[royphil345]

That's another problem. The tapes are harder to come by because they were never as popular as LPs.

Yes, the tapes degrade just sitting there. I've even heard that they've had problems making some CD reissues because of the condition of the master tapes. And those are carefully stored.

My guess is that if you started collecting, some of the tapes would sound fine and some wouldn't.

[squeegy200]

R2Rs are excellent for capturing live performances. That is really the only remaining source material that will produce exceptional musical fidelity from a R2R. The older prerecorded material has aged and will likely not sound very good anymore. (You could also record LPs and CDs but there are more convenient alternatives methds available today)

But consider also, there is dwindling supply of fresh tape. Quantegy (Ampex) is the only producer of fresh Reel tape and they discontinued production last year. They issued press releases indicating they are reorganizing. The demand for tape is so low, that only the faithful remain optimistic that Quantegy will resume production.

One other setback to Reel machines is that conventional HiFi VCRs can match or exceed audio recording performance of most R2R machines and VHS tape is still available. Machines and tape is inexpensive too.

I'm currently restoring an Akai 1710 reel to reel. It has a tubed preamp and amplfier stage. I'm finding it difficult to justify the effort except that I enjoy the vintage hardware. Parts and accessories are difficult to find.

[E-Stat]

I've heard it can sound really good, but would it be practical to find a unit and start collecting the things? How does it compare in sound quality to vinyl? I know there are different speeds/qualities of recordings...Does anything get released in this format nowadays? I know I must be showing my age by asking all this...but I recently got into vinyl and love it so I thought I might inquire about other analog forms as well. Any insight appreciated! ;D

Arguably, 15 or 30 ips analog master tapes offer the most musical medium above all. They share all the benefits of vinyl and address some of vinyl's limitations. RTR copies of other mediums, however, do not necessarily fix them.

Unfortunately, they are obsolete from a current availability standpoint.

rw