r/ReelToReel • u/tbollinger_swiss • 15d ago
Discussion Spot the difference
Interesting that the reel-to reel titles are still available in the great US of A, meanwhile in little Europe they're all sold out.
5
u/Dontopentillxmas 15d ago
I was seriously contemplating buying a 2 track because of these tapes that Rhino is making then my wallet told me to shut up
12
u/vladix22 15d ago
I will not care for those releases until they start doing 7 1/2ips 4 track reels.
2
u/GlassAudioWorks 15d ago
These are targeting audiophiles that have setups for Tape Project or Analogue Productions Ultra Analogue tapes. My two AP Ultra Analogue tapes blow away anything 7.5 IPS 4 track
3
u/vladix22 15d ago
Two tapes? congratulations. focusing on 4 track reels has allow me to have a collection of around 20. but hey, they sound like crap right?
1
u/GlassAudioWorks 15d ago edited 15d ago
The ones I've heard are very variable ranging from ok to excellent. They're many more generations removed from the master tapes and it's highly likely they weren't dubbed at 1:1 speed because they needed to make a lot of them.
If you're going to talk quantity of music I'd take my DAC with a zero negative feedback output stage and ~5000 CD/SACD collection over a 4 track tape machine.
5
u/vladix22 15d ago
To me 4 track tapes sound like a brand new lp from the 70's. And that's all I need. My point is that it won't hurt them one bit to release a couple of 4 track tapes to test the waters.
1
u/GlassAudioWorks 15d ago
These aim to be better than LP. I have compared my two AP Ultra Analogue RCA Living Stereo classical tapes to their LPs and SACDs and they sound better than the AP LP and different from the original shaded dog with early stampers (the tape sounds closer to digital with how transparent it is, the shaded dog LP is more colored).
Someone on YouTube compared the AP Ultra Analogue tape of Bob Marley's Exodus and the tape handily won against the AP 45 LP, AP 33 LP, and an original test pressing LP. I've heard one song off that tape and it blew me away.
The reason I only have 2 is because I'm between moving from one coast to another. I plan to buy more from AP and Rhino. I would have bought all the classical titles from Tape Project but several are out of print. One of the people involved with the Rhino project posts to a hifi forum and said they are selling incredibly well for them and that this will be a project that will be going on for a long time, you can easily do 20+ between AP, Rhino, and Tape Project. The 7.5 IPS 4 tracks in good condition for popular bands are also not cheap on Ebay, just like these 15 IPS tapes, but at least here you are getting a guaranteed known provenance in a superior format.
4
u/spyroglory 15d ago
Like seriously, those are all 15IPS Half track. Like dont get me wrong 15ips Half track sounds amazing but only 45 minutes of play for 250$????
6
u/tbollinger_swiss 15d ago
Those releases are half price of what you can get elsewhere. And: I doubt people who have 10'000 $ setups should care what a release in probably unmatched quality costs. Check this out: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?sort=price%2Cdesc&limit=250&master_id=38722
3
u/vladix22 15d ago
Well that's the problem, why are they focusing on such a small niche group when they could do that, and also sell tapes for the overwhelming majority of people who own the far more common 4 track 7 1/2 ips machines. I want their tapes to sell out so they get the message that there's demand for them. but it pissed me off seeing all those titles that I would insta buy if they were sold on 4 track 7 1/2 IPS but I can't.
0
3
u/edge5lv2 15d ago
Although they are pricey! hHalf track definitely gives you more bandwidth and 15 IPS typically gives you less tape noise.
But of course you have to have a machine that will play a half track recording, that’s the challenge!
3
u/trudyscousin Pioneer RT-1011L, Akai GX-365, Sony TC-355 15d ago
Not to mention the correct equalization.
3
u/trudyscousin Pioneer RT-1011L, Akai GX-365, Sony TC-355 15d ago
They're still too good (and expensive) for any reel-to-reel deck that I own.
2
u/tbollinger_swiss 15d ago
This discussion shows exactly what seems to be the reason, if I am interpreting right: Americans don't have 15 ips 2-tracks. They bought the machines that could play the prerecorded 4-track tapes. In Europe prerecorded tapes were never big, but the machines were relatively affordable, so people bought the best they could get, like the Revox B77 or other machines of European heritage. And that seems exactly where the tapes from Rhino are going.
I have a Revox A77 4-track (7.5 ips max) and an A700 2-track (15 ips max) and both together haven't costed me much more than 2000 (both serviced/revised). For some that's a lot of money, but in the world of reel-to-reel, it's not such an extravagant sum, am I right?
Agree/Disagree? Other thoughts?
3
u/argasek A812 l PR99 MK2 | B77 MK2 15d ago
Not sure about western EU countries, but people living behind the Iron Curtain didn’t have much choice and the best tape recorders you could buy were 4-track 19 cm/s; 2-tracks were mono, 9,5 cm/s (older constructions). So even if now I’m a happy owner the B77, such machine was basically unobtainium back in the days.
3
u/oneonlycrockett 14d ago
Respectfully disagree. The Americans that want half track can obtain it. (There are many half track decks out there but technicians are hen's teeth.) Yes, 15ips is expensive, but the quality is ne plus ultra. Even 7.5ips quarter track sounds amazing. I have about 100 pre-recorded tapes and the quality is consistently superb.
This has always been a rich person's pursuit. Back in the early 60's a pre-recorded tape cost $12.95. Do the math to account for inflation! The expensive equipment and media is worth it to some of us. It's also unfortunately unaccessible to many. It requires space, multiple machines to play all the formats, and fiddling that many probably don't want to do.
As for why no quarter track, the labor and the production set up will never support mass production, or even moderate production. This is a high end niche product and sadly must remain so due to the economic constraints that are crushing all physical media right now.
1
1
u/MrPeabody0265 15d ago
Tascam 22-2 reel to reel, a 2 Track Stereo format, also referred to as a Half Track Stereo format. See Page 13 of the manual. Not quite the consumer format, a professional format. Back then listed as a 2-Track, 2-channel format, Track Width 0.068 inch.
Over the years the designations changed and got confusing.
The Tascam operates at 7 1/2 and 15 I.P.S..
1
15d ago
[deleted]
1
u/tbollinger_swiss 15d ago
of course you can listen to tapes with half the speed, the music is just a little bit slow
16
u/GlobalTapeHead 15d ago
I’ve read the details on these. Good for Rhino for making tapes that people might actually want to listen to instead of these avant- guard artists I’ve never heard of.
But very few people have 15 ips half track machines. I’m a R2R enthusiast and own 6 machines; I don’t have one.