Steve Deckert
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Rather than start a new topic, I thought I would just update this conversation with a recent observation...
I have a nice sounding Nakamichi Cassette Deck and I took a FUJI metal cassette tape and recorded some test tracks from master tapes and then gave it a listen.
My first take away from the playback was that the sound of tape was there in spades. It was big, dimensional, deep, high density music. The imaging and believability were great, it had something special. I very much enjoyed it. For me, when I can make the front end of my listening room melt into a 3D soundscape with tangible weight and impeccable tone and timbre I'm there. The cassette tape in its highest quality does it in spades, no problem. And it is that very thing that draws me to any format. It's numero uno. Secondly, if you can get numero uno right, is dynamics and everything else.
So what I am saying is that while 320 Nano-weber-meters or higher 15 IPS 1/4 inch tapes are great, you can get the fundamentals of tape from even a high grade cassette machine. Some 30 years ago I used to have a Sony ES CD player that was pristinely detailed and imaged well. I would copy the CD's to metal cassette tapes and play the tapes back and it would just embarrass the original CD... getting something out of nothing, or was it there all along and the tape just decodes it?
Behind the whole analog vs. digital dogmas are the fundamentals -- which are magnetic coupling vs. no magnetic coupling. The cartridge or the tape head are magnetically coupled to the source. That's one degree of separation but with ten degrees of control...and of course the unmistakeable sound difference between the two... This is the reason why I have the balanced output of my DAC magnetically coupled through a transformer which is then magnetically coupled through a second transformer feeding a balanced preamp to restore lost energy and jack things up a bit to feed a final transformer that feeds the amplifier. This makes digital sound analog like, but without the inherent noise of tape or records. It's a win win situation.
Still, for anyone truly into their stereo, tape is a unique experience (a mechanical one) with a unique sound well worth having some enjoyment out of. Again, you can buy a good cassette deck (and spare belts) or a small reel-to-reel machine for under 500 bucks, collet a few 7.5 IPS 2 track or 4 track tapes (depending on the tape machine you get) and then go on eBay and get vintage tapes and amaze yourself with the results... it's a lot of fun.
The down side of tape is that with all mechanical experiences come challenges. A brand new in the box cassette deck from 1979 awaits it's first tape... you excitedly (and stupidly) get one of your best $30 cassette tapes and pop it in the machine... you press play, you wait... no sound but wait, you can hear something happening... you press stop and try to eject the tape... no go. Tape machine ate the tape. No way to get the tape out without cutting it apart. Machine gets opened up to remove tape and belts have turned into black ink. 400 paper towels later and a pint of alcohol later you put fresh belts on it, clean the heads, demagnetize it and you're good to go.
You see, this is why our children have no appreciation for things. Even music, you had to work for -- back in the day. Hell, in order to drive a car you had to know how to drive. Now we have self-steering cars so you can masterbate on the highway while you text your facebook fans and listen to MP3's.
So you see, tape is more than just about tape. It's about preserving patients, hard work and quality to effect an appreciation for the result -- a joy and a quality factor that is not obtainable without those prerequisites.
Steve
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