Ed Pong
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Here's some interesting thoughts on these 2 tapes from tape guru Ken Swauger on WBF: Sep 13, 2024 I recently had to do a slight modification to my Studer A80 RC deck, since I use the NextGen playback amplifiers the front chassis panel is left hanging down. With the NextGen boards the audio outputs are taken from the front of the plugin plates rather than at the rear of the console. This is done to provide a less contaminated signal and better fidelity. The result, with the front door down, is that in a quiet listening room the very slight ticking of the clock timer can be heard, especially with very low level detailed program material. I finally lifted the transport up, found the red and orange wires leading to the timer and removed them. Now to test the result I began playing the second tape in this collection, part of No.31 and the complete No.32 which has the most detailed low level detail available and the widest dynamic range I know of. The result was pure sonic bliss, all of the delicate nuances of Vadym's playing during the pianissimo passages were there undisturbed. Then the dramatic forceful fortissimo sections were revealed in full, undistorted transient glory. Without the ticking there was just authentic wide dynamic range, not a hint of signal clipping or tape print through. For me this is a tape that every prospective tape deck manufacturer or tape playback preamp designer should have in their evaluation regimen. If there's any hint of distortion then the culprit is elsewhere, not the tape.
Ed
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