Analog recording tape

GroupDIY Audio Forum

Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Brian Roth

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2005
Messages
3,184
Location
Salina Kansas
I normally lurk in other areas of this wonderful forum, but thought I'd throw this question here.

AFAIK,  there are two remaining suppliers of professional-grade blank recording tape....  ATR and RMGI.

What Say Ye, from the few folks which still use oxide?  <g>  I admit to being a week/year behind the times.

Bri

 
Not helpful, but I have had good and bad experiences with both types of 2" tape. Not used 1/2" or 1/4".
Seems to be luck of the draw.....
 
That is also my experience, but from several years ago.  Pyral (sp?) bought RMGI, and Mike Spitz at ATR has passed away.  Hence, my interest in the state of affairs in 2015.

Like vinyl, interest in tape has been increasing in recent times.

Bri

 
True, we've had 4 sessions so far this year using tape. Generally they ask if we have a gash reel, as people aren't prepared to pay the £250 ish price tag just for tracking drums, then dump into tools.
My gash stock of Ampex?Quantegy had to be thrown as it had become sticky, and that was 499/GP9

Also supply seems a little flakey, RMG wasn't available for a while last year, but seems OK now.
 
It seems that one could accurately mimic tape saturation using modern DSP. I'm sure there are plug-ins already that try...  with mixed success.

Just saying it should not be that difficult to model. Far simpler than tube overload. In fact you might be able to mimic the good aspects of a tape path without the negative sonic characteristics, while purists will want the whole shebang. 

JR
 
Mike spits had a boy robbin who he was training for a good few years and according to mrs. spitz the boy robbin is pretty good. ATR still makes tape and is doing as best they can.
 
JohnRoberts said:
It seems that one could accurately mimic tape saturation using modern DSP. I'm sure there are plug-ins already that try...  with mixed success.

Just saying it should not be that difficult to model. Far simpler than tube overload. In fact you might be able to mimic the good aspects of a tape path without the negative sonic characteristics, while purists will want the whole shebang. 

JR

It goes a bit further than just modelling the "sound" of tape,  IMHO.  In the studio, working with multitrack tape means a completely different workflow **IF** staying with Ye Olde School methods.  No way can you keep 59 lead vocal takes and then "comp" them in the computer!  Punch-ins are destructive (ain't no "un-do") so you decide to sh!t or get off the pot as you go along.

In addition, there is a small, yet growing, group of well-heeled audiophiles who are buying high end tape playback systems (as in Studer machines) and they are seeking things like 1/2" 15 or 30 IPS tape copies as close as possible to the originals.

Example:

http://tapeproject.com/catalog/


Bri

PS, there aren't too many "tape machine mechanics" like me any more....we're a dying breed...literally.  lol



 
The workflow and limitations are my favorite part of working on tape. I guess it sounds pretty good too... 8)

We use ATR, FWIW.
 
Brian Roth said:
PS, there aren't too many "tape machine mechanics" like me any more....we're a dying breed...literally.  lol

Luckily one of the old timers around here isn't too old. Bob Shuster is almost done with my ultra rare Telefunken M15/Neumann MT72 preview tape machine for lacquer cutting. I'm pretty sure it will be the only working one. I've been told that Hilpert hasn't even seen one.
 
There is more to the sound of tape than saturation.  Pre emphasis and post de emphasis  plays a part in making the high frequency sound fluffy for lack of a better term.  That along with natural elimination of hard peaks make the sound friendly or dull depending on your application.    I'm looking at the Kush Audio Clariphonic which does an amazing job of creating that friendly bright sound.  Does anybody here use Kush?

On the up/down side, I had an extremely frustrating  experience recording a blues guitar album for a friend with RMG tape about 5 years ago.  We recorded the 10 songs in about 3 session and then went to overdubs.  The sound was great for this project but the tape started a heavy shedding problem. This was caused by the tape not the deck.  There was no other tape machine to transfer to.  I tried to talk the client to transfer to protools but he was firm on making the project analog only.  So I would clean the heads constantly between takes.  We mixed to 1/2 in 2track and had no problem with the 1/2 inch.  only the 2 inch had the shed problem. 

The good news was that the sound was very flattering and the album got mixed remarkably quickly.  However I was glad to turn off the 24 track after that experience.    On another note, I have a chance to get back my Ampex 1200 2" 16 tk and I think about all the problems with keeping a machine running along with finding good tape to record on.  I have test gear and all tools to keep them running along with the know how but would much rather record, rather than repair old equipment.  Go Figure!
 
I recorded on analog tape for over 35 years and still have my Otari machines.
All the alignment, reel changing, rewind times, high end loss, noise,  was just part of the job.
That's all there was. Boy have we gotten spoiled with digital.
Haven't bought tape for awhile, Otari's pinch roller-less transport is better on the tape streching and shedding.
I sure do miss the sound.
 
I guess it's still a crap shoot on which brand of tape "works well this week".  Trying to decide which brand to suggest to a friend who is wanting to bring his Otari MX-80-24 back online at his new personal studio.

Bri

 
I use both RMG 911 and ATR on my 1" 16 track.  A few years ago I got a few reels of ATR that shed very badly, but they were nice enough to swap them out and it didn't happen again.  These days both types seems to shed a tiny bit but my machine might be at least partly to blame for that.  Both sound great although I tend to lean toward RMG
 
I'm still a few weeks away from bringing the Olde School room back online with the Otari (and JR....you'll get a kick from this...the guy also has an AMR desk which was part of the original setup he bought NEW 20-whatever years ago!)

I've messed with RMG and ATR tape the past decade, but nothing in these most recent days after RMG/Pyral bankrupted, and Mr. Spitz passed away.

Bri
 
Brian Roth said:
I'm still a few weeks away from bringing the Olde School room back online with the Otari (and JR....you'll get a kick from this...the guy also has an AMR desk which was part of the original setup he bought NEW 20-whatever years ago!)

I've messed with RMG and ATR tape the past decade, but nothing in these most recent days after RMG/Pyral bankrupted, and Mr. Spitz passed away.

Bri
Sounds like fun...

I generally try to discourage people from buying  20+ year old consoles, since my endorsement puts me on the hook as the permanent answer man for stuff I long since forgot (or tried to). 

One phone call about a month ago  from a NYC studio type who was considering buying one ended with a string of F-bombs (did I say NYC) and much anger from the caller before he hung up, when  I stated that I no longer provide service support since leaving Peavey 15 years ago. Peavey did stop paying me and it was a work for hire decades ago. 

That said there are bunch of them still in service and well liked by their owners, who manage to chase me down  from time to time (i'm not exactly hiding).  I do try to help. There are several threads over at Geekslutz from such owners.  While I am not trying to grow that community. There are unique obsolete parts in that console that will become increasingly scarce as time goes by.

I am proud of the design and will generally answer questions to extent of my ability, but I don't make house calls or encourage telephone hand-holding sessions.  I do have a set of production series schematics now, that I got from another owner, but when I quit Peavey, I was escorted out of the building by a guard, so I left with my coffee thermos and little more  (no regrets of course, I sleep pretty good now. ).

JR
 
My friend/client (who is the current lead singer with the 4 Tops) bought the AMR desk as a new item along with the Otari 24 track a couple decades ago.  He had it all in storage for awhile, and decided to set it up in a small home studio in his basement at his new house.

Next time we talk, I will ask if has docs for his AMR...he definitely has the original manual for the 24 track.

Bri

 
I recently got my Neumann MT72/Telefunken M15 preview deck back form being restored. I ran recent batches of ATR and RMGI 1/4" tape. The M15 is unforgiving of tape slitting. The RMG had a lot less shedding than the ATR. After a few passes of furiously sweeping away the oxide on the ATR with a chip brush it behaved its self better.

MT72-restore-2.jpg
 
These days I exclusively use ATR for 1/2", 1" and 2" and have no issues with shed anymore...

i had some terrible experiences with RMGI 1/4"...
 
Back
Top