Tape: Sonic Gold, or Something Worse Than Vinyl to Obsess Over?

[Robin L]

You would definitely see more "DDD"s on the back of CDs in the 80s. I haven't listened to any of them in decades, but I remember some of them sounding "thin", possibly because of how Sony DASH could sound without the Apogee mods that many studios used:

https://repforums.prosoundweb.com/i...HPSESSID=kagtre2gukr8n0tsmhddus5td1#msg214920

I got a t.c. electronics M 2000 for hall effects, had a nice ADC, much better than the onboard ADC of my Technics SV DA-10.

 

[Jim Shaw]

Tape and vinyl are somewhat close in noise floor (crackling of poorly maintained records notwithstanding), and the low frequency extension is similar, but tape has worse LF extension as speed in increased. Tape has better high frequency headroom than vinyl and they have roughly equivalent HF extension with tape having a bit of an advantage here.

The main difference is that they have radically different harmonic distortion signatures - tape distortion consists almost entirely of the odd order harmonic distortion components which are harsher to the ear, while vinyl has a more natural (to the ear) mix of even order harmonics and odd order harmonics. The presence of stronger even order harmonics tends to cover up the harsher odd order harmonics; vinyl tends to sound 'euphonic' in a more pleasing way than tape.

Beyond this, unless you are willing to purchase current production pre-recorded tapes which cost >= $400, there is nothing to listen to. The old 4 track pre-recorded tapes from the 1960s-1970s were mass duplicated at several times normal speed; they were hissy, lacked definition compared to the vinyl version, and were duplicated on rather primitive tape formulations of the day. I collected these when they were originally made, so I know!

So unless you're just obsessed with getting a reel to reel, I'd pass and stick with vinyl.

Here is a spectrum analyzer plot of tape verses vinyl: note the almost total absence of even order harmonic distortion components in the tape plot. Their total harmonic distortion is almost identical at their respective reference levels, but the nature of the distortion is very different.

View attachment 127823

I could not agree more. If you have no really good quality or heirloom tapes with sentimental value, I'd avoid tape. I worked with tape decks from the late 50s until they essentially became boat anchors. Until digital, they were the best we had. And yes, studios trying to record at >15 ips soon found a lot of bass frequencies missing in action. And the distortion is exactly as you describe -- odd harmonics, which are aurally objectionable. And then there was the issue of AC bias -- the higher frequency the bias, the less likely it was to heterodyne off high frequency signals. But the higher frequency the bias, the weaker signal you could impress on the tape. Ergo, s/n ratio issues. A conundrum.

Tape makes great eye-candy. If you knock down the hiss, and cut vinyl masters -- which add even harmonic distortion to help cover for the odd harmonics of the tepe -- well, we lived with this for about 40 years. And, there are the maintenance issues to contend with. Moving tape precisely is a complex chore, and things get dirty and grease dries up. Oh, and have you priced blank tape of good quality, lately?

I have a vintage Pioneer deck here. It's no Studer, but it is capable of very decent 'tape' sound. I haven't used it in a year. And before I do, I'll have to spend time demagnetizing the heads and cleaning the parts that the oxide touches. It rarely seems worth the trouble.

But, it's cute to watch work. Millennials are amazed by it.

 

[Jim Shaw]

Tape doesn't have the low-end floor that LPs have, right? What is it, 60HZ on LPs?

LP's can handle some quite low frequencies, actually. I mean, typically, well below 32 Hz or so. The price the masterer pays is wide groove excursions, meaning: the cutter lathe must anticipate high amplitude low bass signals, and cause the groove spacing to widen before one groove collides with another. Too much of this can greatly shorten the time length of a 'side.'

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

But, it's cute to watch work. Millennials are amazed by it.

I had my teenage nephew in my studio awhile back and he absolutely couldn't wrap his mind around the concept of magnetism being able to create sound. I didn't know what to say!