It seems as though there was at least one vote for hearing about the notes of the tape session on (the hpefully now infamous) listening night this week (... JBzen this Bud's for you

     Stella by Yello (1985) (30 IPS (?); 1st gen dub by Steve at Decware; Played on the Otari mtr10(?) recorded on Otari MX5050; I think).

This album includes the song "Oh Yeah". I will mostly focus on this track as a point of referance as I am completely unfamiliar with the rest of the album.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:


"Oh Yeah" is a single released in 1985 by the band Yello and featured on their album Stella. The song features a mix of electronic music and manipulated vocals. The song gained popularity after being featured in the films Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Secret of My Success, among other films. It is a popular staple in pop culture.


As far as albums go this one would not generally make it's way into my listening rotation. The heavy use of layered effects from the era never really grabbed me, and I was too young to be 'cool' at the time. Playing the aforementioned track was an eye opener. What has always seemed to be 'noise' in this track, the many many background tracks that make this type of music interesting, may be heavily modulated or layered versions from an initial recording of voices have always just seemed like background fluff. However on this evening the tape revealed these underpinned 'vocal' tracks were practically clear as a bell. Not only were there words, but they made sense. Very interesting. After decades of hearing this over the radio and on tv as well as cd on occasion... I never new what the track really sounded like. This track is a tame, sheared back version of the layering and processing used on the rest of the album. A broadcast release cut (single) for sure. At times you might think that some missteps had been made in the engineering of some individual tracks. After the album has a chance to open up you find that, as with most of the albums curated by people who have whole, long-form, ideas to be presented by the album, but the larger picture reveals the intention behind the album and its layers and timing. This album scrapes up against the railing at the edge of the precipice of good sound engineering and the void that can never be filled with lost albums that went too far; when viewed as a whole piece.

But, I don't really care about the album. It is intensely useful in that it is a stark departure from the recent tapes that I have been introduced to that center around direct 2 channel recordings from simple singular voices to orchestrated large and small groups in real time and range from open (stage) to closed (studio) type environments.

Tape seems to remove the romantic layer that is imparted by phono setups. Phono setups, imo, slightly mimic the tube amplification section of a system in that there are gaps to be jumped by the signal. By this I refer to the isolation that is the distance between the magnet and coil in either MM or MC cartridges. A gap exists between tube plates as well. There seems to be something magical there regardless as to whether or not it is magnetic or some sort of plasma field, or... I digress. I don't quite yet truly understand the microphonic intricacies of tube/analog audio, but I am trying. This stuff is deep. I feel like it really has to be to get out of it what we do... It is practically transcendental (Zen, some would say) and absolutely transformative at its higher levels... I keep walking away like it is my first experience. Truly wild stuff.

There seems to be a bit of reprogramming needed. It reminds me of one of the most enjoyable moments from Axpona where I was able to meet and spend some time at the table with our friends at ZMF Headphones. Headphones are there own things. It is kinda like attaching speakers to the side of your head. I was able to hear a higher end model and then both the new Bokeh and its prototype open back. There may be an upcoming post in the headphones forum on this later. The point is that for how similar they are, they are an entirely different beast and take a little getting use to. Same with tape. The detail depth/ resolution is only eclipsed by density and speed/ instantaneous promptness(?)/ almost there before it is played-ness(?). Absolutely intense. Can you tell that engineers and musicians are smiling when they record stuff? Maybe not for certain, but the implication is probably on the master tape. Jeez-O-Peets.

Late night Decware tape sessions are almost otherworldly.

I'm spent for words at the moment. It has already taken me three separate writing sessions to get this down. I gotta build more amazing amps for some of you guys!
Sorry if the post is disjointed or doesn't make sense. I am in between builds at the shop ATM but wanted to drop some nuggets for the forum homies! You guys are great!