Hi Norman,
It's hard for me to know the best place to start with my response but I'll begin with with what I learned on Friday.
I Spent Friday at a Seminar at ATR Services in York, Pa. It is the THIRD time I've been there! I'm a slow learner. I have a number of ATR 100 machines and picked up another on Friday. Being an audiophile, I got to mix with those that make the music we listen to. I hear Pro Tools, $Y*"_P+Jm and all the studio speak that comes from those in the business of making the music we listen to. They leave me in the dust. I'm able to offer my opinion on the Pizza at lunch time, but otherwise , I just sit there like a bump on a log.
Guess what, a few guys, in their mid 30s, that have a studio that only use Pro Tools attended because their clients are now asking if they can mix down to 2 track analog. They left ordering an ATR 1- 2 ready machine for about $14,000.
The discussion centered on how a digital multitrack recording WILL sound better if mixed down to 2 track analog on an RTR machine. ATRs aren't the only RTR machines studios use. HOWEVER, when it comes to recording, the ATR machines have a bias frequency over 450 KHZ which is three times that of the closest competitor. The harder you can drive the nail, recorded sound, into the tape the better reproduction. I'm referring to recording and not reproduction which is easier to do.
Today I took my Krell SACD player and connected it to one of my ATR machines, via balanced interconnects, and recorded one of my favorite songs on ATR tape at 15 ips. I played the song back on tape, it was done in full digital when released, and compared it to the CD. Tape took the digital harshness off the music. I guess I'll be transferring my favorite CDs to tape. I'll be selective as tape isn't cheap, that is if you get the good stuff.
I have the feeling that the studios that are run by the 30 to 40 year old guys will listen to the artists that realize that analog just sounds better.
Pro Tools offer effects that almost no new studio can afford to do in the analog domain. Vintage Fairchild limiters that sell for $10.000 grand are emulated in digital for a few hundred bucks. If the digital harshness can be reduced by doing an analog mix down to analog tape, so be it.
Long live analog, ken