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Magnetic tape distortion that resembles vinyl surface noise?

hvbias

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I have heard this sort of very low level crackling that resembles surface noise rarely on magnetic tape recordings. Anyone know why/what this is? It's in the left channel, beneath the piano sound and breathing.

Click to download this sample.

One digital cookie (flour, sugar, gluten free) for anyone that can guess what piece it is :) It's a famous one.
 

restorer-john

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Apart from the constant hiss, there is the sound typical of a rotary head digital recorder encountering periodic errors it can't correct on a tape/channel or a damaged/worn tape. A number of them are present throughout the excerpt.

It's no doubt a digital artifact.
 
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hvbias

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Apart from the constant hiss, there is the sound typical of a rotary head digital recorder encountering periodic errors it can't correct on a tape/channel or a damaged/worn tape. A number of them are present throughout the excerpt.

It's no doubt a digital artifact.

Thank you!

The recording was done in December 1970, so this is a digital artifact from the analog tape going to digital?

This was from a box set last year compiling a bunch of CDs, in the booklet other CDs that were specifically transferred for the box (aka on CD for the first time) have the CDs listed. This was not one of them leading me to believe it was sourced from a previous digital transfer. The crackling is also present on the older CD from about six years earlier.
 

restorer-john

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The recording was done in December 1970, so this is a digital artifact from the analog tape going to digital?

I was going to suggest it was an early AAD style transfer from an analog recording to digital, then released on CD.

What is the actual recording? I may have a copy myself in my classical collection and can compare.
 
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hvbias

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I was going to suggest it was an early AAD style transfer from an analog recording to digital, then released on CD.

What is the actual recording? I may have a copy myself in my classical collection and can compare.

It's Rudolf Serkin playing Beethoven's Op. 106 "Hammerklavier" sonata.

As far as I know for US domestic releases these are the four releases that it came out on, all of them would be the same recording as he only recorded it once.

The sample is from the top image the "Complete Columbia Album Collection" and I have also heard the second one "Rudolf Serkin Plays Beethoven"

Free free to ask if you'd like the full movement from the two that I do have.

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hvbias

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A discussion on chamber music on another forum had me pulling out my mono cycle of Budapest Quartet playing Beethoven's string quartets and look at what it says on the back of the box :)

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This would have drove me mad thinking "those F'ing liars, it's all sourced from vinyl!!" Thanks @restorer-john :)
 
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hvbias

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Listening to fabulous performances of some Scarlatti sonatas from 1967 from Horowitz's Unreleased Live Recordings box and came across this in the back of the book. I'm fascinated by this stuff!

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restorer-john

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Listening to fabulous performances of some Scarlatti sonatas from 1967 from Horowitz's Unreleased Live Recordings box and came across this in the back of the book. I'm fascinated by this stuff!

Fascinating information. It makes it all the more important to source original, early 80s digital releases on CD when the master tapes and machines were still in excellent condition. Essentially, the CD then becomes the archival source. We always knew it would outlast everything else.

There's nothing quite like some of the early Soundstream live to two track digital Jazz recordings made in the very early 80s.
 

restorer-john

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@restorer-john any thoughts on this sample?

The issue is entirely left channel (listen to right channel alone in mono), and as you say the early part sounds like marginal overload, or some type of aggressive digital limiting. But the levels and severity are greater later in the excerpt.

I don't think its the recorder's fault, I think it may have been simply an overloaded left channel when recording, which was subsequently pulled back to balance for the release, but unfortunately, the damage was done.

Such a pity.
 
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