1. Home
  2. analog
  3. 156475-14687

Why no interest in reel to reel if you're looking for the ultimate sound?

Wondering why more people aren't into reel to reel if they're looking for the ultimate analog experience? I know title selection is limited and tapes are really expensive, but there are more good tapes available now than ever before.
People refer to a recording as having "master tape quality",  well you can actually hear that master tape sound through your own system and the point of entry to reel to reel is so much more affordable than getting into vinyl.  Thoughts? 
scar972
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

We don't listen to measuring devices we listen to music. Ages ago when I was all about specifications I agreed with the SS people for just that reason; however, if my musical ears tell me one thing while electronic meters say another, I'm going to go with my musical ears and consider all else of no importance.
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

Since I down-load my reel to hardrive for playback, I think I can speak to the difference between the two with authority.

The direct reel playback is better by a hair, but not so much better that I don't enjoy the computer playback from the hard-drive. BTW, I use WAV which is the highest resolution and no longer available for HD down-loads.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
At last, an authority! Two in a row! 🤗 Someone even thinks this is a religious argument. What next, controlled double blind testing? 😩
roberttdid
534 posts
 
WAV is no higher resolution than FLAC, Apple Lossless, or any other truly lossless format.

BTW, I use WAV which is the highest resolution and no longer available for HD down-loads.

You can speak with authority on your setup for recording and ADC, and on your DAC and how that sounds. If you recorded a tape of a tape, there would be detectable differences as well.

Since I down-load my reel to hardrive for playback, I think I can speak to the difference between the two with authority.

orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

My golden ears told me that WAV is better than FLAC when I compared the two HD down-loads; now I no longer use HD down-loads because they only offer FLAC.

How brilliant of you to note that I can only speak with authority on my rig; you got anymore mind blowing observations left?

That's my lock-down sense of humor coming out.
More to discover