The "great" sound of reel to reel explained

Just listened to an original 1961 Everest tape of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue/American in Paris (Sanroma, Steinberg) a 35mm recording. I have the LP album and its 1996 transfer by Vanguard to CD by 20 Bit SBM remastered from original 35mm magnetic film. The one thing that struck me is the amount of extra midrange detail and depth plus richness of tone far more than the LP or CD. A certain degree of sounds rage has been lost and some of the balances are different. It's an interesting and fully involving recording with great piano playing. The tape for its sixty years age is pristine and the tape box is itself a work of art. I played it on a completely refurbished Philips N4414 through a Philips 280/380 pre/power and AR91 speakers. So it's a good system with a tape deck very representative of the consumer HiFi market in the late 1970s. As for recording, as they say junk in junk out! It's hard to get FM stereo reception that comes up to the standard of this tape deck, but all recordings I have made are improved in the midrange by it. The same radio broadcasts captured on MP3 from streaming and transferred to CD are poor by comparison. There is no doubt in mind that despite great strides forward in convenience, flexibility and choice (some would say to the cost of the music industry itself) actual sound quality despite all the digital gimmicks is less convincing than in the 1960s when some of the best stereo recordings were made. 

At the dawn of digital photography entering the consumer market I thought the comment by a Fuji executive that in its refinement sheer number of pixels and resulting benefits in terms of image definition and detail are just one factor in determining the overall QUALITY of a photograph.

As a record it certainly can approach reality likewise the evolution of sound recording since the C19 has approached the original sound more closely but what you actually hear is defined by previous experience, subjective expectations and cultural factors as well as the condition and age of one's own ears! There is no such thing ultimately as "reality".

Digital has evolved in a primitive way, inimical to technicians with a strong musical background and training, mainly based on chip development allowing precisely the sort of pixel overkill devoid of real sound quality that characterises most classical music releases to my ears. At the end of the day one has to be guided by what one hears and to me there is a sort of hybrid "pop" sound that is pleasant enough due to the injection of artificial warmth, that can be either played through in-ear buds, mini bluetooth "speakers", TV/AV systems, or straightforward music systems. And of course relentless volume levelling with little sound stage.

If you can hear some "hiss" on a digital recording you are half way towards a genuinely rewarding listening experience!

From an end consumer point of view digital carriers and playback devices have overwhelming convenience which squashes all considerations of the best" sound quality. When you think about the sheer vulnerability and wear and tear on a reel to reel with the constantly spinning capstan, cogs, gears clutch pads, perishing plastic gears, numerous belts and motors, not to forget the heads, condition, alignment etc. Machines etc deally are optimised for different grades or even brands of Magnetic tape. Within that field there were at least two formats of pre-recorded tape produced and older machines were not compatible with four track stereo tapes commercially available. It's really a nightmare.

On the other hand, there must always be a strong and religious following in professional recording studios for magnetic tape and analogue electronics  - even with valves - starting with the great man crop hones like the Neumann/MGM modified and extending right through to the final master tape.  At the end of the day the stereo LP is and will forever be the most practical and maintainable/convenient system for anyone wanting to enjoy music in the home as reel to reel is too limited and temperamental. I think the same goes for high end music cassettes which also have, despite their other sonic limitations, a similar warmth and mid range depth to tape. You can see how Decca in the 60s and 70s tried to emulate that tape sound in their famous wide band and early narrow band LPs with exaggerated bass effects.

I've got this completely refurbished pristine Philips NN4414  (c.1975) and I can't get a really pristine FM radio signal on live concert broadcasts (which arguably should be the highest quality audio availableas DAB is restricted) which would test its capabilities. Doesn't seem much point recording from a digital source.