Get Reel

Forget tape plug-ins. The digital revolution has pushed many precision analogue tape machines onto the second-hand market, so now is an ideal time to consider hitting the oxide. Huw Price discusses how to buy, use and maintain the reel thing.

You’ve heard it all before – digital sounds harsh and brittle, but tape sounds warm and cuddly. Of course, this is all over-simplified nonsense, but analogue tape recordings can have an absolutely gorgeous sound that’s quite unlike anything digital technology can fully emulate. Tape machine manufacturers set out with the same intentions as the digital converter designers who followed them. Both were after high fidelity, which means that the recording should be indistinguishable from the original sound source and both formats at their technical best achieve excellent results. However, they also sound different and each format has its strengths and weaknesses depending on your personal preferences and your chosen musical genre.

This feature first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 35
Filed under General Features

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