Half Speed Mastering


I forgot how amazing half speed mastered records sound. I only have 1 that I listened to after a long time today. Everything we love about analog, but more of it! Wish I had more.

secretguy

Showing 2 responses by atmasphere

Isn't Half Speed Mastering a bit over rated and maybe more of a Marketing thing

Apparently not. All cutter heads have resonance issues and that is treated with feedback from windings in the cutter head. But it can still be an issue and by cutting at a lower speed the resonance is pushed up an octave.

Its also easier for a tape machine to playback all the highs present on the tape. IMO the biggest technical challenge is getting the bass right but all cutter heads have good bass bandwidth so that much of it isn't an issue.

Decca half speed mastered their classical LPs (London too). This was to avoid a resonance issue in their cutter system. Apparently it worked.