Check out my thread I started on the analog forum asking how many people still had reel to reel decks and used them. Several people responded that belong to the TP. I personally talked to one of the guys on the phone and he loves the tapes. He said he would buy 20 a year if they could put them out. Also see my response to a VPI Rim thread where I spell out in black and white my feelings for why tape is far superior to LPs and people should stop wasting their money chasing the latest "upgrades" for their LP set-up.
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I think some of the Project Tapes are starting to show up on e-bay. Plan to buy one and see what the fuss is all about. I have two decks, many reels including some of the B&C tapes. Well recorded 7.5 tapes sound best. The 3.75 are easily beat by vinyl. As always, condition is everything. Most of the tapes I originally purchased new in the 70's and none are tightly rewind, so they seem stable. One thing most people don't know is that if you have a 4 track deck you can still play two track tapes. Not ready to buy a $5K technics, yet. |
I am a charter subscriber to the Tape Project. I am playing them back on a Technics RS1500 modified and optimized for playing back the Tape Project releases. The Technics internal electronics have been bypassed so that the tape heads directly feed a Bottlehead Seduction tape head preamp. The Tape Project tapes use the IEC equalization curve, not the NAB. They are two track, 15 ips. Each tape consists of two 10.5 inch reels packaged in beautiful slipcases, including cover art. All charter subscribers for the first set of 10 tapes are assigned a serial number so that all tapes arrive with the same number. The Tape Project has licensed the original masters and each copy is duped from slaves in real time. To date, I have received Tapes 1 & 2, with 3-6 on their way shortly. I do not have the vinyl versions of the two I currently have so I have not been able to do a head to head comparison against my LP playback system. That said, they are damn fine analog listening. Dead quiet, big deep soundstage, and David Alvin's voice on tape 2 (Blackjack David) just hangs in the air between the speakers. Coming releases in the first set include "Saxophone Colossus" and "Waltz For Debbie". To learn more, check out http://www.tapeproject.com |
As a follow up, I just perused EBay and saw no mention of TTP tapes for sale. Mike, Paul and Dan are still busy getting charter subscribers orders taken care of. They have yet to start selling the individual tapes. I doubt that anyone who has invested in the project thus far would want to break up a set and sell them. I would think that should that be the case, you see them here first, rather than EBay. |
heck, i wouldn't mind a 7.5ips dubbed copy of one of their tapes sans packaging, etc. for, let's say, $75? the audiophile lp 180gm would cost about $30; so add the cost of a nice reel of tape ($20) and the time and effort ($25). play it on a regular ol' teac, etc. i'm willing to bet it will still sound good even on the most revealing systems, with a slightly higher noise floor. i like the tape project for shedding light on magnetic tape, because i have a reel to reel (a teac x-2000r piece of plastic junk) which i have made some AMAZING tapes of classical lp's. the music just jumps out of the speakers and grabs you like "Ahnold S."! moral of the story is that you can have a BLAST with a tape recorder with OR WITHOUT all of the proprietary hardware and software. it's LIVE RECORDINGS where you start running into major difficulties without a professional setup, but recording from another tape or an lp, a cd, etc. is a piece of cake, with extra icing with tapes dubbed from lp's (of course). oh, i forgot- the TURNTABLE i used to make the tapes from? a $300 thorens with a denon cartridge. i wonder what would happen if i record NOW from my VPI Aries? Hmmm.... |
Gentleman, I made the comment to Mepearson regarding buying 20 releases from TTP per year, if they could release them. It wasn't an off the cuff statement but re-enforcement of what happened after I heard the first TTP release on my Ampex 351-2 I bought new in 1958, or so. I have a high resolution system that showcased TTP recordings that to the point that Sue and I bought some high quality mikes and started out recording live music in Richmond, Va. The variety and venues are great here, and NOTHING sounds better than live music recorded on a pro machine with great mikes, Peluso 2247 SE's. It all began after we heard TTP releases and wanted more. I'm sure Dan and crew knew there'd be rip offs but it's not as easy as ripping a $20 cd on a $500.00 computer. If you have a pair of top Pro machines, Studer, or better yet, Ampex ATR machines, which TTP uses to dub the masters in IEC equalization, you'll get a copy from ? to ? The old adage said, " Garbage in, garbage out." Put your $75 bucks in the LP. Chances are the quality level of your tape machine will be close to that of your TT/ Cartridge so buying a dupe of a TTP release might be wasting your money. On another note, the prices of RTR machines on ebay are going up; buy with caution or deal with TTP and get a machine that will deliver the music on the tape, or stick to LP; the most cost effective medium of all. I think I'll visit Goodwill tomorrow and see if I can score a find. Ken |
Whoops,I forgot to mention- TTP uses 468 tape. If you buy 10 reels they cost about $45 each plus shipping. The reels are NAB but not as classy as TTP reels, plus the leather bound boxes are first class. THEY CAN'T BE MAKING MONEY ON THIS VENTURE, YET! If you have a superior product you need to appeal to the top end of the market. If you have a chance to hear their tapes on a system with all the correct audio acoutrements, you'll know what the engineer heard when the tape was originally recorded. After that, you'll know how much has been lost as we've escalated to the Ipod generation. Thoughts from other RTR Gonners are appreciated Ken |
i still have to wonder if i was misunderstood- if they want to make some $Money$ they could offer 7.5ips dubs of their premium tapes that could be played on a teac, revox, akai, pioneer, sony, etc. which are far more affordable to alot more people than ampex-351's, studer 810's and 807's, etc. a 7-inch plastic reel of tape, cut from a pancake, would not be that expensive, and you could get 1800ft/45 minutes per side (or the half-track version if you have the right machine and prefer to play one side only). i'll bet you $50-$75 that it would sound wonderful. put me down for 4 CLASSICAL RELEASES for $240 please... |
French_Fries, that's just the point. The Tape Project effort is not about making lots money. It's all about providing the highest fidelity playback possible without constraint and to share that result with the audiophile community. I'm sure the principals would like to recover their costs, but it's not about getting rich. i still have to wonder if i was misunderstood- if they want to make some $Money$ they could offer 7.5ips dubs |
I agree with Ken and Rush. The ideal behind this project is to get the listener as close to what is on the master tape. In order to do so, the playback machinery must be optimized to accommodate the effort. Tape project tapes are true 2nd generation copies of the master tapes. The tape quality must be high to accommodate this. This all comes at a price. Each tape is duplicated in real time at 15 ips on 10.5 inch reels on very expensive tape. The principals involved in the project are not trying to make a lot of money, they are trying to show what is possible in quality analog playback in 2008. Compare this to vinyl playback: Yes it is true you could produce a product at a lower speed on less expensive tape that would sound quite good on most consumer decks, just the same way that there are many quality turntable/cartridge combinations available for a reasonable sum of money that allow the listener to enjoy LPs. There are also state of the art turntables on the market for those who are fortunate enough to be able to make that kind of investment. The Tape Project is aimed at those folks who wish to enjoy tape playback that approaches the same level the ne plus ultra in vinyl does, perhaps surpasses it. The Tape Project is a specialized effort designed to ensure everything is as good as it can be from the machines, to the quality of the raw tape, the copying process, and the packaging. In time, perhaps there may be some effort to provide tapes at a lower price tier. Each master is licensed for a limited amount of time and copies, also at great expense. It is obviously turning out to be quite successful as the people involved are doing everything they can to keep up with filling the orders for the current group of charter subscribers, all of whom feel that the investment, paid up front by the way, is well worth it. I count myself as one of those. |
Gentleman, Please allow me to make a comparison of a vinyl system to a tape system. The TT / arm combination will allow the cartridge to retrieve the information from the LP. Buy a $50K table/ arm and compare it to a $500 table on ebay. Buy a tape transport for $500 on ebay, generally a Japanese RTR to handle the tape as the TT and arm would. This does not include the Technics 1500 series transport. It does what only the Sony MCI and Ampex ATR machines will do at 10% of the price, durability does account for much of the price difference. The cartridge extracts the sound from the LP; pay more and you generally can expect a better sound. Tape heads can cost from $210. each for an OEM unit to $700 for a mastering series head. You can have a good TT set up man set up your cartridge for a hundred or so. Installing a new tape head requires a re-calibration of the electronics for recording and playback according to the EQ curve desired. Aligning the tape heads in all three planes requires tape analyzers that are scarce in todays market, unless you live in the LA, Nashville, Chicago or NY area. Bench time is around $100 an hour. Alignment tapes run over $100 bucks each even though they only run for a few minutes. You need one for each speed and EQ. It gets expensive. Now to the medium. You can pay big bucks for a re issue of a recording that will sound good on any TT/ arm/ cartridge combo. Better vinyl delivers better sound. It will generally sound best on the mega buck rig. Tape is no different. The 468 tape now used by TTP will deliver about 6 db over ZERO VU. This translates to a greater Signal To Noise Level that a lower grade, or thinner extended play tape could deliver. The first thing I hear from someone listening to a Tape Project recording is," Where is the tape Hiss." ATR Magnetics is now shipping a tape that will yield a 10 DB over ZERO VU. It's not cheap but it's the best money can but. If you invest in the best of RTR software there is nothing better. I'm listening to my LP's on a SOTA vacuum star that I bought from Robert Becker at the CES in Chicago who knows how many years ago. The music is great. I will finally finish the TT i've been working on for 2 years so I can compare the Suite Espanola on TTP 005, to the Decca reissue, To the CD remastered By Paul Stubblebine of TTP. I think the pecking order will be- TTP, Decca vinyl and then CD, but as Dennis Miller says," I may be wrong." Tape is fun, it's a combination of electronics and mechanics. I put a CD in the player and it either plays it or not, that's it. A tape recorder makes me feel as though I still have some value as I can check the tension resistors, clean the heads etc. I don't see any labels that say, " No user serviceable parts inside, breaking the seals voids the warranty!" Translation- Ship it back to us so we can boost our profit margin, we'll be kind. If you have a RTR machine, please reply. I'm convinced that tape is on the rise. The number of postings for RTR machines on Audiogon is three times what it was when I bought my first RS 1500 machine two years ago for $600 bucks. It was as new but cost me $450 to get it to Va. If you see one on ebay it will be much more. Time for supper, it's 9:04 in Virginia. Ken |
i am not trying to fuel a debate or an argument here (well, not intentionally anyway). what i AM trying to say, probably not very effectively, is that a tape project tape for $300 of some music i don't like that much is just not my cup of tea, just as, if i don't see an SACD by the artist, orchestra, and piece of music i desire, i will not pay the extra money for that either. BUT, i fully support the IDEA behind what they are doing, which is to expose people (and probably to alot of curious folks that listen to the demo's at audio shows) to what music sounds like as close to the original source as possible. SO, once again, IF you make a copy ONCE REMOVED from the 15ips tape onto your choice of a 7 or 10 inch reel that can be played on (usually) a quarter track machine, hooked up to a perfectly good preamp or integrated amp, then YES, it would be a blast to check it out. more money to the distributor means more possibilities, more PROJECTS, more INTEREST, more people listening to MORE MUSIC. but perhaps i am mistaken in assuming that the tape project folks have any thoughts beyond their extremely limited (by definition) enterprise. in that case i and thousands of other people (who dabble in the audio asylum's tape recorder interest group, or the yahoo group, and/or other people who have not taken their tape decks down to goodwill industries yet) will continue to have fun and experiment on our own, until unfortunately, the hardware and the software fade into obscurity. and those of us ipod'less folks are not going to be around all that much longer ourselves... |
I want to respond here. I sympathize with what French Fries is trying to say and I think he was a bit misunderstood. If the Tape Project was going to try and maximize their sales vice making the highest quality tape they could, they would have released their tapes as 1/4 track 71/2ips. There are obviously WAY more people that have 1/4 track 71/2ips decks than people who own 2 track 15ips decks. The Tape Project has for the here and now severely limited themselves on their target audience because they are making the best quality tapes they possibly can, not the most profitable tape they could. From what I know, and I have run some numbers, their venture is not one you could take to the bank and get funded. The business case analysis simply doesn't hold up. You could not invest the money necessary in order to duplicate their mastering decks and slave chain, buy the tapes, boxes, engraving, paper, maintenance, and pay for the labor and sell these tapes for $200 each and make any money. If you could sell all tapes for $329, then things look much better. As for Lp over tape, I still contend that a good 71/2ips 1/4 tape will sound better than the majority of LPs regardless of the quality of your LP rig. I own a VPI TNTIII that sits on a VPI TNT stand with an ET-2 arm fed by dual pumps through a surge tank. I use a Denon 103R cartridge fed into a Counterpoint SA-2 (all tube) pre-preamp into my Counterpoint SA-5.1 that has both line and phono stages upgraded. Most of the prerecorded tapes I have just sound better. Sound snaps off of a tape in a way that makes music sound live vice merely really good on LP. I contend that you can spend $500 on a quality deck like a Revox A-77 and it will embarrass some very costly LP rigs. If you have a really super quality RTR, my personal opinion is that no LP rig at any insane price will come close to beating the sound. |
DUMB POINT #4- I have 4 (out of five) decks that run at 7/15 ips, with half-track heads (two with a fourth head that plays quarter-track tapes as well). i could definitely even go for a 15ips tape SANS fancy packaging, serial-numbered, etc. (i want a metal reel though of course). all of them except for one i believe have NAB equalization- the one deck has a switch. i could offer "someone" maybe a hundred bucks to "try" a tape that runs as close to my musical tastes as possible. but that is about it for me (watch, i'll sneek out one day and spend the $329- IF it will play on a teac or an otari NAB deck). but i think my brain works pretty much the same as everyone elses when it comes to what i MUSIC i can buy for $330 bucks. harmonia mundi or astree cd's? LP's of the new york philharmonic or the cleveland orchestra? OTOH, TO ME, a bill evans recording ain't no big deal (even though i have an XRCD of his anyway- what the hell- it was an experiment). anyway, i am done here. sorry if i ruffled any feathers, because i am sure the genuine article is well worth having. i just wanted to offer some alternative viewpoints and suggestions. i have 5 reel-to-reels for goodness sake!! peace. |
Mr. Jsman, several of the aforementioned tape recorders can playback the tpt's. only 2 of them lack the ability (via a simple switch) to play IEC equalized tapes-the prosumer teacs, and only ONE lacks the ability to play at 15ips. plus i could always dub the recording onto that deck turning at 7.5ips as well- i'm sure with excellent results. the reason for 5 decks? check out the Teac A-6100 Master Recorder, which i picked up for "a song", with 4 heads and wooden side panels. or an X-2000M, a modernized version of the A-6100 with an autolocater, DBX-1, and a spooling feature. i used to have this "urge" to see what vintage machines would come up for auction- some of them are real jewels- (i.e.- the teac 35-2 had the option of connecting your recording preamps directly to the heads). BTW, none of them cost me a fraction of what i spend on high-end audio. AND, when you need parts for Teac or Tascam decks (for the newer models of course), you call or e-mail them in california, they ship them to your door. i can afford the tapes btw. maybe one day... |
Sorry i'm late to the party here; i am a Charter subscriber to 'The Tape Project'......and have 6 of their releases so far. i am a format junkie; i had always heard that however much i thought vinyl was the best format that master tapes could go to another level. up till now; there had been no way for one to 'legally' aquire top level 15ips master dubs. finally; 'The Tape Project' offered top level RTR software......which then motivated me to finally jump in. back in High School; my first 'stereo' was a Wollensack RTR machine.....which i very much enjoyed. i think RTR machines are very cool, however they sound. i've now purchased 4 RTR machines; i possess 2 of them; a completely refurbished ATR-102 which is stock; and a Technics RS-1500; which is very good condition but still stock. i also own a Studer A-820; which has been fully gone thru by Studer guru Fred Thal; Fred is installing some custom output electronics on this and 'hopefully' he will deliver it to me and set it up in my room 'shortly'. i have never seen this deck. i intended to have Doc B. rework the stock RS-1500 and add his Bottlehead repro electroinics. then a couple of weeks ago i was offered a Tim deParavincini modified RS-1500; so i purchased it. it is in route from the U.K. now. i still want Doc B. to do the work on my stock RS-1500; but i blew my budget with the dPv deck; so i am in negotialtions with SWMBO. the Tape Project tapes are very very good. played thru the stock RS-1500 they are on a performance level likely slightly below my tt; maybe equal to a good tt. played thru the stock ATR-102 they are a few levels better; now they are different but more similar to my tt. they don't have the dynamics or do space as well; but the world class rock solid transport of the ATR does yeild a rock solid base to the music which approaches the Rockport if not quite as good. RTR tape has a continuousness which is very special; and no clicks or tics. overall; the Rockport is better......but then the Rockport pretty much kills most other tt's too. i own about 100 7 1/2ips commercially recorded RTR tapes, of which 10 or so are 2-track, and another 10--3 and 3/4 ips tapes. a few of the 7 and 1/2 ips tapes are pretty good; but none approach the Rockport tt level of performance. personally; i would have zero interest in any 7 and 1/2 ips tapes as they can't reach 'very good' vinyl performance and would cost more with far fewer software choices. the 15ips tapes have the potential to be as good as there is. not to say that others may not desire 7 and 1/2ips. i must qualify my RTR perceptions by saying that stock output electronics on these RTR decks is a serious drawback compared to what is used by my vinyl. i plan on upgrading the ATR and RS-1500 output electronics; and the Studer and dPv will both have top level output electronics; so until i have those units and the other's upgraded my take on the performance comparisons is preliminary. my agenda is to eventually choose which of my 4 RTR decks i prefer and then likely sell the others; i want tape in my system permanently but there will never be enough top level software. hopefully; 'The Tape Project' will continue for 4 or 5 years and i will end up with 40 or 50 wonderful 15ips tapes.....but i have 4000 shiney digital discs and 8000 Lps. |
I have to echo a lot of what Mike has just said. I did have Doc B modify my RS1500 (which had the cosmetics and transport fully restored by Jeff Jacobs at J-Corder). I use the Bottlehead Seduction tape head pre too. I was a late charter subscriber to the Tape Project so to date have only got the first two releases. I am still in the break-in period on the Seduction at about 25 hours, so have a way to go. Like Mike, my perceptions of what I am hearing on the TP tapes is somewhat skewed by the fact that I am trying to compare what I am hearing based on what I hear from "that other" world class turntable, my Walker Proscenium. I think the Walker has the edge in my system. The tapes are a different listening experience all together. They sound nothing like digital, yet they sound unlike my tt. It is analog for sure, very quiet, but lacking the sense of air and space around the instruments that the Walker does so well. The music on TP001 and TP002 were unfamiliar to me prior to getting them, and is not really my cup of tea so it's hard to make any hard and fast comments. I expect to be getting the next four tapes within a week or so and may be able to comment further. Like Mike, I am an analog format freak, and hope that the Tape Project continues to release 15ips tapes for sometime to come. |
admittedly, the other people here have better sources than i do by light years, but i still think it would be a serious kick to try to dub an LP onto a tape running at 7 or 15, quarter or half track, just to see if the results are enjoyable. that's what i used to do with my teac, and i was really pleasantly surprised. but... i was using a thorens turntable with an at-0C9 cartridge. see, the problem is, if you DOWNGRADE to a real-world "record-player", you will start to appreciate analog tape all the more. there is one other solution, but i hate to bring it up (sorry Mike!) you should have gotten the studer-a-80 with levinson electronics, the same machine my (grumpy but impeccable-reputation buddy Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio) used back in the old days. he has engineered some recordings on Harmonia Mundi as well as his own label (Audiofon), with results that compete with the best. i don't know if you can get him to talk about his work in the recording industry, but if ANYONE knows what makes a decent recording, he would. OTOH, the last machine he favored was the Nagra D-2 as far as i know. |
Mike, I must disagree... I have never found vinyl to eclipe RTR tape. It is the one bastion of "as close to master tape as you can get". When RTR were/are mastered there was/is no concern to the low or high frequency rolloff of disc cutting heads and thus dynamics will always be better with RTR given similar work parts and mastering thoughtfulness. It makes no difference if you have a Rockport TT or a Walker... In my mind, tapes will always be more life like because of their greater frequency response. I owned Lloyds best TT for 7 years and my RTR machines were far better in life-likeness. His table was close but just not "as there" as RTR. You know, it's that extra little bit that separates the sensation of real from reproduced. Otari, Technics 1520, many Revox decks and many-many Ampex 44s just blew away the turntable in this slight but important regard. I don't think vinyl is in the same league as RTR. I've been at it for years with over 4000 tapes (15,000 records now down to 10,000) and I would take the master tape like sound of RTR over the pops and ticks of my vinyl any day :) You should try some dolby BC tapes (much controversy) with a Concord decoder. It's amazing! Peter |
well along with how things are dubbed etc., tape machines take a lot of set up to work properly. You have align your machine to get the best sound out of it and if you want to aling it properly, you'd need distortion measruing equipment which alm ost nobody has at home. are there reference tones on the tape project tapes? |
Peter, i appreciate your perspective that RTR can/does exceed the performance of a top tt. i have invested in aquiring a couple of the top RTR machines, the ATR-102 and Studer A-820, thinking that properly set up and with the proper output electronics they will take me to another level beyond my Rockport with optimized 15ips master dubs. i have always believed that the direct drive speed perfection of the Rockport takes it to another level; and believe that the transports of the master recorders ATR-102 and A-820 will potentially contribute the same to tape. after investing some significant dollars refurbishing these RTR decks i sure want the tape performace to be better; which means i have taken another step forward in this hobby. hopefully very soon i'll have the dPv Technics and the A-820 here and all tweaked to get right down to it. the next few Tape Project tapes will include a couple where i also have 45rpm re-issue Lps; Saxophone Colossus and Watltz for Debbie. i also have 33rpm Lps of a couple other Tape Project tapes; Arnold Overtures and Albeniz, Suite Espanola. it will be educational to do some comparisons. |
Let me start by saying thanks to all of those who made this project possible. Without the support of all involved this would have never happened, thank you so very much. Now on to the music I finally got the chance to sit down alone and play the first two tapes. WOW!!! I can only try and put words to this, I am pretty sure that the words will not be enough you must expirence the tapes for yourself. The first thing that stands out to me is the overall quality of the whole project process, from the album covers or boxes your prefrence to the tapes themselves the art work liner notes etc. Now we get to the tapes and the music, I only have the first two tapes, so I will just speak about them. The overall quality of the tapes is overwhelming, really and truly these tapes just ooze quality. I cannot emphasize it enough the quality is over the top, great job guys!!! Now I am not familiar with JQ and her music, but I am familiar with female voices. In my opinion female voices can make or break a system, if they sound correct to you on your system chances are it is real close to where it shold be. There again we all here a little different, but we all know what sounds good and or right to us. At the end of the day that is all that matters. I feel that the presentaion of the music is right on, all the instruments where well spaced and the sound of each is as it should be. The best description I can give is that the music sounds live!!! as if I were in a Jazz club downtown; or as if JQ was in the room with me. I can say it no plainer than that. As for the second tape I like acoustic guitar when complimented by the right voice. David Alvin has the right voice for that, I really enjoyed his guitar on this tape the more I listen to it the better it gets. There is not much else I can say you just have to get into the music, and feel where it puts you. I am just dying to hear the two Jazz tapes, as those I am very familiar with plus I have them both on vinyl and SACD, if they are anything like the first two man o man what a treat!!! I guess the only thing left to do is to mod my deck, think I'll wait a little on that hoping something special will come along for the Otari MX5050 BII. |
Hi, Super late to this thread; however, I just became a subscriber to The Tape Project...for me, this IS the REFERENCE! I can improve my redbook a little and am returning to analogue via vinyl, as well. The experience rendered from 15 ips analogue tape, i.e. master tapes or extremely close to master tape, is astonishing -- no hyperbole...no equivocation. Should you ever have the opportunity, you owe it to yourself to audition it. Best regards, Sam |
I'm hoping Bill Evans if the one that is waiting for me when I get home. BTW - I did a pick six from the first series, even though 3 of the selections I was not familiar with. The second series really didn't capture my attention as much (save the Jimmy Smith tape). Anyone have opinions on either of the series? Oh, do people really think that highly of Jacqui Naylor or is she just the latest fad in female vocalists ala Patricia Barber and Diana Krall? |
Audioblazer, Replying to your first thought; maybe there will be more classical albums from The Tape Project. I don't hold out much hope. You can get great Blue Note re issues for 50 bucks each. It's not hard to record and reproduce small groups that don't sell many albums and that's why the masters are more available. I'm grateful that the classical titles they issued are those I play over and over. Black Jack is a close second but the Jazz all sounds the same to me and I won't play them again. I realize the cost constraints of TTP when they source masters. If they could count on ALL their subscribers to purchase full subscriptions they might take a few more chances. I will continue to be a full subscriber and ENJOY all their issues, after all, I need to expand my musical horizons. Those in my audio group have told me for years, not that many, to do just that.. I've spent bucks on Jazz, rock and everything below the CLASSICAL genre. I buy it , listen to it and file it away. I guess I just prefer music written by dead guys. IMHO, playing a small jazz group is much less demanding on an audio system than a full blown symphony orchestra. I realize not everyone can afford the cost and room size to hear the best reproduction of "The Absolute Sound." I'm not counting out the difficulty for ANY system to reproduce the human voice or a piano but it all comes down to what makes you want to hear it all again. Enough said. I was unable to navigate the website and effect an order for their classical titles. I can dig out my book, "Apples for dummies." or you can give me a helping hand. Thanks from a fellow RTR "Gonner." |
I've listened to the Arnold Overtures so far. Business travel and some other audio projects (just built a passive preamp and in the process of building an amp) have gotten in the way of some listening time. The material, although unfamiliar to me since I do not have much of a classical background is okay, but the recording and ambiance of RTR as an analog source makes the sound "big" in ways that I could not imagine. I have made some recordings of my CDs on reel (7.5ips) and I get a similar experience with the sound, but this tape takes it a many steps higher. My new vinyl rig that is on the way might be in for a worthy challenge. |
Kftool, I have 1-2k of original LPs. Transferring it to tape? Not sure how it's done. Until 2 wks ago I have never seen a RTR, so quite newbie. Just started playing 3 days ago. If I understd yr last paragraph abt ordering tapeproject classical album , just email [email protected]. Take a while to get yr order. Happy listening |