Audiophile Reel to Reel Tape - Is it worth the fuss? Absolutely! 

Great overview , the good tech is paramount…it’s great that you listed all the contacts. My friend had a Revox B77 way back when I loved the sound and was thinking of getting into it and your video and references is extremely helpful 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Getting along very well with my Fostex E2. Thank you for posting.

Oh hell yeah I've been WAITIN' for this to drop

I found a Teac 4010s at Estate sale for $65 with Original box, manuals, real caps and headphones. I replaced all the Suzuki caps and recapped the preamp/amp board. Great sounding machine the heads are in excellent shape.

Great advice and resource suggestions. Thanks for the video

Excellent. Thanks for the clarification

Thank you for sharing your insights. I also have a fondness for vinyl, especially from the pre-digital era (late 70s). Growing up in Brazil, I was exposed to my dad's small collection of reel-to-reel tapes, which provided a wonderful experience. While I understand the allure of reel-to-reel recordings, I'll stick to the second-best medium, such as well-recorded vinyl and DSD. I recognize why tapes are expensive, but I appreciate why people invest in them. There's nothing wrong with spending money on a good reel-to-reel recording. In a world where so much money is used for negative purposes, it's refreshing to see it used for something positive like reel-to-reel recordings.

Really enjoyed your video. I received all the information I desired. Thanks.

Great resource for R2R tape. Thanks!

I have old tesla czhechoslovakian reel to reel player with great dac build by my dad I have few of my fav records and it's my fav sounding setup

Can’t get enough of tape!

Excellent! I bought my first good reel to reel in 1972 a Teac 1230 finally gave up two years ago. Have 2 of the 5050's love them!

Awesome! Long live analogue!

Thanks for the video/information.

Back in the 1980s I had a Revox A77 which I bought from a colleague at the BBC. When I retired 5 years ago I got myself a really nice working, re-capped and calibrated for modern tape, Revox B77 Mk II. It is a quarter track 3.75 /7.5 ips machine but it still sounds bloody great to me. The only thing I've had to do to it was replace the counter belt and put new rings and pucks into the NAB adaptors. It only cost me £600 which is about $735 and, to be honest, at my age, any better machine would be wasted on my aging ears. The fact is, as we get older, some of those higher and lower frequencies are no longer audible. It still gives me enormous pleasure and is the coolest thing I own, or will probably ever own. I am fortunate that just about the only place in the UK that still sells tape is a 10 minute drive from me, although it is manufactured in Cologne.

Reel to Reel is the only way to listen to the best sound possible. With the exception of live music.

Great video. I love my Tascam tape decks. The sound is great.

Great video!

Michael Gore (Goreski) repaired my Otari MX5050 several years ago and it still sounds great. I don’t use it much lately but curious to hear some commercially recorded tapes. Thanks for the info.

I need to spend more time with R2R, just haven't done so to date. Thanks for the video!

I heard two restored Sony decks just a week ago TC765 and TC880 both were really really good

Excellent!!!

Nice to see a video about tape. I have a TEAC A-3340S that needs some work so I rarely use it, but I have an AKAI 280D-SS that works great and I play it a few times a week. I have about 120 or so 7" reels and buy 7 1/2 IPS when I can find them, but in most cases even my 3 3/4 IPS tapes sound really good. It's hard to find anyone in the Tacoma area to work on the TEAC. Is there any 10" deck that plays all 3 speeds? Would love to hear your set up some day when I'm in the Berkeley area.

Unless you are buying a NOS machine (which is practically unheard of), most reel to reel decks have had a LOT of hours on them. I am relatively a new-comer when it comes to reel to reel and there was certainly no R2R decks here in my country (Australia) for sale at the time a few years back when I looked. What decks I could find were overseas. With the advice of a friend who told me "avoid units that say they are overhauled, you don't know what the heck has been done to them" I imported a Revox b77 MK2, listed as working but needing service. It was expensive to procure the unit (because they are are also heavy, the shipping cost was hefty). The unit I got was a nice one, iec ccir unit which could do 15 IPS. So basically a pro-sumer level unit. It had belonged to a Radio station in its past life and was absolutely worn to hell, it had a LOT of hours on it... The heads were pretty worn too... But... the unit was all original and UNMOLESTED - it just needed an extensive overhaul, both electrically and mechanically. Money was not an issue and I had it overhauled by a professional here that specializes in reel to reel gear and has been servicing and restoring Revox and other brands for decades. I was in good hands. I wanted to enjoy this unit and hear it like it would have sounded when it was brand new - so I went the expensive route - full mechanical overhaul, full electrical overhaul - all the capacitors were changed along with anything else that needed it (other components that might have been out of spec)... I had brand new heads installed in the unit (yes NOS can be found if you are willing to pay a small fortune since they are very hard to come by and what is around is hideously expensive for that reason) - the unit was then fully aligned and calibrated for RTM SM911 tape. I got the unit back after its overhaul and was like a child at Christmas with their new toy. I did some 15 IPS recordings to fresh RTM SM911 tape from a good quality source (digital but with a decent DAC in front of it) --- I remember listening to my unit for the first time after doing some recordings and my jaw dropped at how beautiful it sounded, bought a tear to my eye. It IS an expensive hobby, but if you love analog, it DOESNT get any better than a good reel to reel unit!

I wish you had been around in the '80's when my wishes were to get back into tape (and hi fi)! I made the mistake of buying over the internet and had a lot of bad experiences (and a few good ones).

Reel to Reel has its place and would enjoy getting involved at some point.

Vinyl records are basically just dubs of analogue reel to reel tape.^ Bit still: DSD audio needs to be much more common ! Digital audio if well mastered can sound fantastic, too ! So I think that a well mastered DSD digital audio file can sound as good as a well mastered analogue 15 IPS 2 Track reel to reel tape !

i have a pioneer 909 auto reverse record and playback. i bought it new in the late 70's. and a box of 10 maxell 10' tapes. i use it with a dbx noise reduction. i have not used them in about fifteen years. do you know of any good service shops in the southeast usa. i live in south mississippi. not any hear.

How often do you clean your tape machine, when did it last time has been serviced fully and has been used, and which parts must be replaced asap!!

Own an OTARI MX5050 BII myself. Wonders of the world. Amazing sonics.

Excellent video. Bridge of Sighs ... brother, you're speaking to my soul. Notwithstanding the @home value, 40 years ago, we recorded on 8 & 24 track tapes. Recently, I've made a commitment to the analog domain in every aspect save the virtual tape which I can capture upwards of 192khz. That's okay for the stems, but for post/mastering, I'm interested in capturing to tape for the nearly perfected analog recording. Cool stuff. BTW, thanks for the resource/suppliers details. I saved this video for future reference.

Had a Tascam BR-20T for years. Loved it. Sold it once 24bit/192khz digital became cheap. While I still love audio tape and have recorded many songs on 24 track tape both 1" and 2", there is simply no comparison to 24 bit digital. While I am a huge vinyl fan, and have quite an extensive collection, I have shunned tape. I even record my vinyl at 24/96 to place onto my media server. While I love reel to reel, I really now only miss the nostalgia of it and the cool looks.

No doubt about the rolling machine its captivating there is something pure audiophile about them i also own OTARI's love them probably the best of best of Japanesse machines would love to have a Studer on day

Also thumbs up for the Otari MX-5050BII-2. And the TASCAM 42B. Studer, AMPEX, or Marra: someday! ❤️

If you have money running outta your butt, go for it (and that's coming from an owner of a few). Blank tapes are "ridiculously" expensive & the upkeep can be extreme, but in the end, to "my ears" nothing sound's better than a good analog reel tape. Just be pre-warned.

RTM the best analogue blank tape for your mixtape!!

I own a Teac A-4300SX so limited by size of reels... Looks like limited selections for smaller reels?

Not really audiophile level, but I bought a Pioneer RT 909 deck for $200 about 5 years ago. It was a risk, but the seller was the original owner and seemed legit to me. It needed a new belt and pinch rollers and I never got around to doing the work until recently. It was a bit tricky since some un-soldering and re-soldering was required to get the belt on. You also need a crazy size Allen wrench (5/32") to install the pinch rollers. Anyway the first tape I played on it was the Sinatra/Basie album on Reprise. All I can say is that it really blew me away, even with a 50 year old tape. I have since purchased some fresh blank reels from ATR and make recordings of LPs. Not hi-end, but I am having a lot of fun. One thing I did learn is that some commercial tapes came in a format labeled "For In Line Heads", and these tapes require a special machine that is not the usual type most people had back in the day.

I know tape can sound very good, but what source are people recording from? If it is from digital, then we’re using tape to add colour the sound, Right?

Do you think there is any chance new tapes will be released again at 7 1/2 ips speed ? My two tape decks do not run at 15 ips . I have Revox A77 mk iv 2 track and a Tandberg TD 20 a 1/ 4 track deck ?

My first R2R was a Sony TC-630D that I bought in 1973 while living in the barracks(Travis AFB) from a guy going overseas. I fell in love with the sound of tape due to that machine. Held on to it until 1983 until I bought a new Teac X-2000R and sold the Sony(shoulda kept it too). The X-2000R has been serviced once a couple of years ago and is still going strong. Still love that tape sound and watching those big reels spin!

and worth even more fuss if an outboard tape head pre-preamp is used. Will take tapes to another level above and beyond the standard playback electronics in a 5050 or Ampex 102, or Studer 810. Also don't forget all the 1/2 track tapes RCA, Mercury and others issued in the late 1950s. Some of these are sonic blockbusters.

Mr. Jefferson, do you have a microphone that you can plug in and record yourself live?

Thumbs up for Curt Palme. 👍

The reference Sir Paul McGowan of PS Audio change your Speakers first. A pro studio R2R costing a new car then fine but start at the other end

So I got 11 ReVox RTR's, no Studer's unfortunately. A properly calibrated ReVox (A77, B77, PR99, C273) has a superior sound reproduction to any other analog recorder ever made. In fact it even outperforms some of my DAT recorders in overall sound dynamics and pleasantries to the human ear.

I don't know about you guys? But when 3M Scotch. Shut down making their recording tape. That was it for me. I saw the handwriting, on the wall. All was tumbling down. I did not like the sound of the Ampex or Agfa/BASF, product. As well. I mean, sure. I didn't have any choice but to use it. But it was not my favorite sound. 3M Scotch, was my favorite sound. It was so open and Ballsy. You, just don't know what you guys are missing. I don't care who's recorder you use. Ampex ATR series. Studer, 80 and 800, series. Stephens, 3M, MCI or, Scully. They all sounded great. They were all totally terrific. Yes I was trained to be a factory authorized warranty service technician for, Ampex, 3M, MCI. And while I turned down, job offers. From them. I accepted a Managerial, Position. With another one just as Legendary. One I loved using, myself. For many years. Scully. They were the best! I made the better best! I made the best, better! And nobody could stop me! It's what I was hired to do for Scully.. Yes there is nothing like, Saturation on Drum Tracks. Primarily. For all the other tracks. Digital sounds, on the money. And so you can make more money. As nothing really need be, realistic, sounding. What's that mean? It's all, unnatural, electronic, sound, reproduction. What's natural about that? How many musical instruments are made out of, flapping pieces of cardboard? I don't know any? It's only supposed to sound fun for parties. That's all that matters. As technical blah blah. And gear specs. In the, 21st Century. Really does not matter anymore. Everything exceeds, American NAB Standards. For pennies on the dollar. Actual pennies. And so if you don't get the sound, nor the recordings you desire. I can assure you. It's all your fault. You, don't know what you're doing. You are overthinking, everything. You are trying to pull a Chevrolet out of a, Chrysler showroom. That will not work. They do not sell, Chevrolets. And you can't make them.. So just, forget it! And make the rock 'n' roll recording and be done with it! Stop goofing around. Stop overthinking. Just do.. Grab a microphone. Place it on an instrument. Resist the desire to change the position. Just use it that way. If it doesn't sound good? It's all your fault. I doesn't matter where the microphone is. It only matters that it's in the, general vicinity. The rest is up to you. That's why you have knobs and dials. Better learn how to use them. There's a lot. I know. You'll just have to get over! It really is that simple. Do not do this job,, completely, Sober. You will overthink everything. You will screw up. You'll make an abomination of a recording. You will never do this work again. You will go to work for, Dunkin' Donuts. Where you will really appreciate the, powdered sugar, best. When they go low. We Get High! Out Now! Out Now! Or was last month Pride Month? RemyRAD

ATR tapes are not available in Europe and advise you only use Recording The Masters brand blank tape, stay away from old used amped and Scotch tapes

I'm curious: What is the soure tape or music source for these reel to reel tape producers? Is it all analog? Thank you

Well i also have cassette decks and 8 tracks recorder as well as VHS HIFI (surprisingly good) which need head???, despite being lower (not vhs hifi) quality they also worth it (specially dolby C/S/HX pro ones), in fact i even prefer them tp the hi res digital sound! Of course the slow speed can compete to 15/7.5 ips 2/4 tracks reel to reel but for those whose can't afford it, it's better than just digital!

i have not that problem isn´t the best but i started to record compilations i made in spotify into reels and i´m very satisfied with it´s quality, i´ve already recorded 90 reels since 2021 at high speed, it´s better than almost everything and i could do it better but because i´m old and lazy it´s easier like i have been doing

I have a pioneer RT909 in my system and I love it. Your rule #5 is paramount. It’s cool as fuck. But at my age, with my ears, I’ve got to be honest. the technical specs are lost on me. But I still love it.

I've owned the Teac 2300 SD and Revox B 77 both setup for the Grandmaster 456 Tape, and Scotch 206/207. I could get 456, for 7 bucks/7 inch, 1800ft, 1 mil tape reels from Tapeworld back in the day. But today I dub CD's in real Time, free from the libraries around me via an ancient Magnavox CD player with digital out to a Tascam CD recorder's digital in, included in the playback loop an Audio Note Kit DAC. Works for me. I look periodically at the prices for USED tape and NO THANKS on the prices. The new custom built machines are pure beauty, but I'm not into taking out a mortgage to own one.

Didn’t you just get de-monetized for using Washed Out’s “Feel It All Around” for your intro? Anyway, cool video. I’ve got 2 reel to reels - an Akai GX-747 DBX and an Akai GX-4000 D. Both fantastic decks!

I have a number of Revox A77s, a B77 and a large number of Scotch NAB reels. No, they are not worth the expense, the maintenance or the room needed to keep them. I do my own repairs and alignment, being a broadcast tech.

I've got a shirt like that

Generally, what are the sources used to record the tapes? Of course if the source is digital, the tape is pointless. Should the source be original analog, there are the replay/duplication degradation factors.

Tape and Vinyl ? Lets A-B plugin's to tape ! Can you tell ? Fantasy thanks for the business !

All fallacies - not saying R2R isn’t great; but a really high end TT is going to surpass. Yes, Surpass, the same album on tape. Tapes are EQ’ed as well. Tape machines have Lower dynamic range than a world-class TT (my TT setup is 80dB). Tapes are copies of copies of copies of copies. Vinyl is 1-2 copies from the master. Every tape copy degrades the master by at least 2dB in dynamic range, adds noise, etc.

Otari MX5050 1000 bucks ? I wish. I’ve been browsing for a B3 for years and one that is newly serviced to the max goes for 3000-4500 easy!

Having produced music over the last 30 years, back in the day tape hiss was a necessary evil. Dbx could sometimes help but had its own set of issues. I currently have three reel-to-reel machines and at one time owned lots of 7.5 IPS pre-recorded in addition to high speed Studio Masters. When I'm working on a recording I am always listening for problems among 50 other things. That's why LP's are only marginally enjoyable for me and I have a very high-end collection of Japanese vinyl. As said in this video, ticks and Pops take me out of the moment. So I say use digital and Tube/transformer the hell out of it. SACD/CD for me streaming may cut it someday but not yet

I have both the Akai 747 with digital VU's and a nice Zenith HiFi VCR with adjustable levels......... I perfer the JVC made Zenith HiFi VCR,

As for the Joe Pass, IPI should have opted to put out "The Complete Catch Me Sessions", which has 11 tracks, rather than the original, with 7. --I think they still could have got it all on one reel.

Hmmm. The Atari looks good turning behind you, VU meters and all. Is there no Chinese company knocking out just that? It would fool most people (and more importantly, me).

hi to all you can have a deck that is working when you have it note and when you are using it it can get bad i know the decks like the teac 44 i picked up is still working ok and a teac 80-8 the 1/4 inch decks alot have for sell have alot of wear for the money the 1/2 inch decks i have find are better for my money

Yeah the inner city areas of your "Republic" are doing just great lately aren't they, "comrade"

i have three revox B77 MKII 2 tracks high speed, and for the moment an akai g630d for 4 tracks, which i will replace for a 4 track revox B77 MKII, there aren't as solid as the otari MX5050 B2HD, but more available as well as spare part. .i think it's an overall affordable starting pro machinery today! Also very happy to see the reel to reel world gettings more new tape release, as chad which is known as one of the best vinyl producer out there get involved into it. Reel to reel have despite the spec the most pleasant sound that i could ever heard and this not only at 15 ips, even my studio pro sound card at 768khz can't sound so detailed, fine and dynamic! I don't regret the investment and I'm now convinced forever than analog is the way to go, even if digital can't be avoided totally due to cost at my level, ending on tape is for me the mandatory step Great job hope you and them the best! Long Life Analog!

Hugh masakela is amazing lp I can't imagine how good it sounds on reel to reel

yes the sony tc range are bad i had to jazz 3 of them to get them to run right tascam 30 danger be where i worked on alot the power regs can go on them there a 24v step down reg that goe's the run the capstan motor if you buy a tascam 30 line please check the capstan imotor is not getting 37v dc where the 24v dc was going in this why capstan motors can burn out why it's good to have a tec check them over in the uk it's 60 uk a hr the best price i have seen at this price they work from home i have a otari mtr 12 purrs like my cat only plays now bad coil can't find a one

I give all my reels to the homeless

Hell go into LP albums its waaaaay cheaper

If you get a master reel to reel deck ($2500) and master tapes, then yes. Standard deck and tapes, not worth it.

hi to all new bee's please keep away from reel to reel i am a tec they are time bomb ready to go of and getting them fixed is a right pain i am a tec i have worked on 50 plus decks and now betacam sp decks 1/4 inch tape is bad news wee now why the ill thing i have seen on alot of old master tapes i have picked up alot of zonal 1/2 i inch runs nice

Lol, greatful for being a musician. Playback is playback in the end of the day.

Wow, no wonder you listen to analog media, you cannot even detect how horribly over compressed and distorted the introduction music in your video is..

Hi friend, could you change the name of your channel because it's causing problems on my RU-vid channel called tubeland and I've had that name for a long time and all my accounts have that name so your channel is disturbing mine, change the name to please🙏🙏🙏