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Topic: tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end (Read 4010 times) previous topic - next topic
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tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

I just saw this and had to share with you guys...

Quote
Releasing classic albums on reel-to-reel, duplicated from the original master tapes.
You would expect these tapes to sound good of course, and you should expect they would sound better than the LP and digital sources.
But you will be shocked at just how much better they do sound.


http://tapeproject.com

Only USD 300 a pop!

Thoughts?


Edit: title was supposed to have "users" as the last word... "a format for end users".

tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #1 –
My first thought is, I got a box full of 1/4" tapes for $5 at a garage sale.

tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #2 –
Would there be an audible difference if you recorded the output of the tape machine playing one of these tapes as a 44.1/16 digital file and then played that?

tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #3 –
Wasn't there / isn't there something exactly like this, but it's a subscription-only thing. You pay about the same per tape, but have to buy 6?

I would expect these things to become collectable, and maybe even increase in value in the long term.

"you should expect they would sound better than the LP and digital sources" - I'd expect it to sound better than an LP, but worse than a digital copy from the exact same master. Of course people expecting it to sound better will probably find that it does

I know it's the same old rich men with pointless (and largely miss-sold) toys, but I quite like this idea. It's so mad, and so niche, and requires such exceptional effort, that somehow it warms my heart that anyone cares enough to do it. The price is high, but it probably costs a fortune to do it. There are already more than good enough ways of enjoying most (but maybe not all) of those albums, so I know it's just jewellery and bragging rights, but I can't help it. If I had more money than I knew what to do with, I'd buy some just for the fun of it. Though you should spend some money saving lives and getting people out of poverty first if you're in that plentiful situation (or even if you're not).

Cheers,
David.

tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #4 –
Quote from: lozenge on
I just saw this and had to share with you guys...

Quote
Releasing classic albums on reel-to-reel, duplicated from the original master tapes.
You would expect these tapes to sound good of course, and you should expect they would sound better than the LP and digital sources.
But you will be shocked at just how much better they do sound.


http://tapeproject.com

Only USD 300 a pop!

Thoughts?


Edit: title was supposed to have "users" as the last word... "a format for end users".


So the product is a 1:1 1st generation copy of a master tape?  Sonic quality is mostly dependent on the quality of the master which as usual can be all over the map.

I looked at their equipment list and they are a bunch of nuts or very savvy marketers.  One of their primary machines is an Ampex ATR 102 with its wonderful lab-grade SS electronics bastardized into tubes.

http://tapeproject.com/machines/

I suspect that most of their probable market eats this sort of $#!^  up.

tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
So the product is a 1:1 1st generation copy of a master tape?
No, the copies are made from a one inch tape copy.
BTW the copies are at 15 ips, not 30 ips, which makes more sense for 1/4 inch.

http://tapeproject.com/why-tape/

Quote
Q: How are the tapes made?
A: Our duplication process begins with the actual analog master tape. From that we make analog running masters on one inch two-track format. The one inch tape format transfer results in a extremely low loss of information, which we consider more like 1/2 generation than one full generation. These running masters are copied in real time to a bank of finely tweaked Ampex ATR-100 decks, yielding a “1-1/2 generation” copy. You just aren’t going to get any closer to the original master, short of buying a record label or two.

Q: What format do you use?
A: We have chosen 15ips, 1/4? half track stereo tape using the IEC playback curve as the format. This format is vastly different from the pre-recorded tapes of yesterday, good as they were. In fact it was the master tape format of choice for many many legendary recordings, and is the preferred format of many record producers today.
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tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #6 –
The shame is the cost, if such products were reasonably priced, there might be a niche market for vintage audio buffs with existing equipment.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
 

tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #7 –
Quote from: 2Bdecided link=msg=0 date=
Wasn't there / isn't there something exactly like this, but it's a subscription-only thing.


It's possibly the same thing, it seems this is just a new website for them.  They do mention subscribers, but I obviously wasn't paying much attention hence me somehow mistaking the clearly written "15 ips" and wrongly thinking "30 ips"  as caught by Kees de Visser, so apologies for that.

I can see the appeal, but your phrase "If I had more money than I knew what to do with" sums it up perfectly.





tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Kees de Visser on
Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
So the product is a 1:1 1st generation copy of a master tape?
No, the copies are made from a one inch tape copy.
BTW the copies are at 15 ips, not 30 ips, which makes more sense for 1/4 inch.


IME 15ips was a very commonly used speed for professional work. 30 ips was rare.



tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
IME 15ips was a very commonly used speed for professional work. 30 ips was rare.
That's what I was trying to say
Perhaps I should have written: "BTW the copies are not 30 ips but 15 ips, which makes more sense for 1/4 inch."
AFAIK 30 ips is/was mostly used for 1/2 inch and larger.

tapeproject.com -- 30 IPS half track 1/4 inch tape as a format for end

Reply #10 –
Quote from: Kees de Visser on
Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
IME 15ips was a very commonly used speed for professional work. 30 ips was rare.
That's what I was trying to say
Perhaps I should have written: "BTW the copies are not 30 ips but 15 ips, which makes more sense for 1/4 inch."
AFAIK 30 ips is/was mostly used for 1/2 inch and larger.


30 ips was often avoided because of poor bass response. The LF response of analog tape is strongly affected by the shape and width of the magnetic portion of the tape head.  At LP the response is affected by wavelength effects and it gets bumpy.

reel-reel in Wikipedia

It also wasn't that much of an improvement over 15 ips in terms of high frequency extension.

For example the Otari 5050 had the following specs:

15 ips: 30 Hz to 20 kHz ±2 dB.
7 1/2 ips: 20 Hz to 18 kHz ±2 dB.
3 3/4 ips: 20 Hz to 10 kHz ±2 dB.

Note that from 3 3/4 -> 7 1/2 there was a near doubling of HF extension, but hardly any when going from 7 1/2 to 15 ips.  There are other sources of losses than the width of the head gap, which is mostly responsible for what happened in going from  3 3/4 -> 7 1/2