Dokorder 7100

Completely out of touch. When I started researching recording, in about 1998, analog was the thing going out. It made no sense to me at the time to even give it a thought.

I'm starting to see there is more. Right now it seems like arguing analog vs. digital is re-stupid. The wise choice is to seek both and use boths' strengths to everyones advantage. End of story.

Oh, and Dokorder 7100 is the KIng of Audio!
 
A Reel Person said:
What I don't get, is why tape recording seems like such strange and mysterious thing?

Are people that out of touch? :eek: :confused: :rolleyes: ;)
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Most people think of analog as cassettes. Everyone thinks to get a clear recording you need to use digital.When I show people my recordings and say I did it on analog they say "wow that sounds good for cassette"

Most people usually say "what's reel to reel?"

People just like digital cause its easy, and new.
 
Sonic Idiot said:
Right now it seems like arguing analog vs. digital is re-stupid. The wise choice is to seek both and use boths' strengths to everyones advantage. End of story.
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Well... No!

Experience and the advice that one can share because of it make these forums worthwhile. Otherwise every answer to every question on all the forums would be the same, which would be, "Whatever dude."

Just the newbies that come to the board that have never before heard anything about analog vs. digital have learned something. That puts them in a much stronger position to make decisions beyond the glossy brochures.

:cool:
 
Well analog vs. digital arguing may not be stupid...I personally love it. I guess my point was that even for newbies, the debate might be reframed as Analog and Digital vs. Just Analog or Just Digital.
 
Sonic Idiot said:
Well analog vs. digital arguing may not be stupid...I personally love it. I guess my point was that even for newbies, the debate might be reframed as Analog and Digital vs. Just Analog or Just Digital.
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Yes, I know what you mean. And if we were to treat the issue as broadly as possible I would be the first to praise digital in its ability to simulate reverb and echo effects. It's perfect because it does the same thing to sound that creates reverberation in nature -- it breaks the sound waves up into tightly spaced pieces. So it makes an excellent blend in the mix type of technology.

But when it comes to taking center stage as the sole recording medium it fails for the same reasons that make it perfect in the afore mentioned applications.

I'm definitely and unapologetically an analog purist. The only point that my recordings enter the digital realm is at the CD mastering level. And that's only because its, "The Format" -- can't change that right now.

But since I realize most people will employ digital recording technology to a great degree, my advice is as follows:

If you must use digital recording then at the very least augment it by pre-mastering to analog 2-track open reel. Or use analog multi-track for certain critical parts like vocals and drums that benefit the most from tape. I guarantee it will make your music stand out from the crowd.

:cool:
 
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There really is nothing better than a completely analogue listening experience, from mic to tape to vinyl or cassette, it warms the soul from within.
I mean, unfortunately due to the capatalising society we all live in, electronic industry manufacturers need to keep ticking over(capatalising), and to become a major earning company you have to be one step ahead of your competitors.

Now how do you do that.....by offering something new, something revolutionary to get poeple thinking are this is the "next big thing", if i'm not up with that i'm not cool.
Companies the world over make billions of $'s playing on this "cool" conciousness as they know poeple are suckers for it!!

So we are drugged into thinking digital is the way ahead by baffling us with technical specification and computer language talk. Oh that is another thing we are all suckers for...computers and computer tech talk has a phenomenon of making these digital products seem hyper sophisticated when the fact is they are utter s**t, only to be replaced a year later by an "improved" version of utter s**t!!

So mediums are constantly changing, products supposedly improving with each new release, studios not cool if they haven't got the latest soft synth and so we have ended up with a completely over inflated music recording industry with so many products on offer (yes, hand your money over again) that the emphasis has shifted away from quality to QUANTITY!
How cheap can we build this, how much stuff can we cram in it, which hip hop artist can we get to attatch to it.

The fact is, we are all being taken for "wallet" ride coz the fact remains that analogue is the first and the "original" and still remains the purest and nicest sounding recording medium known, but unfortunately that does not bode well for company profit margins ;) as there would be nothing new on offer to buy.

So we are left with a medium whereby it is almost completely impossible for an analogue recording to be played back on an average consumer level home stereo system so we are resorted to turning our lovely analogue recordings to the digital realm just so others can listen to our material!!
This process zaps all the life from the recording, end of story :)

I have a passion for electronic music and just recently i have sold off all my digital sileage (i think that's spelt correct) and gone complete analogue, synths/drum machines, and i have now bought a nice 4track reeel to reel for my recordings.
Some poeple think i'm crazy but nowadays i'm after quality not quantity and i truly belive my recordings will stand the test of time compared to this new wave soft synth s**t.
I think sometimes you have to back to go forwards, i hope so :)

Jiggz

ps. Didn't know i could rant so well ;) :) :D :) ;)
 
Beck said:
The only point that my recordings enter the digital realm is at the CD mastering level. And that's only because its, "The Format" -- can't change that right now.
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You say not right now, but any time in the near future would be great :) :)
 
OK, so I got the 456s in the mail and the machine, the Dokorder 71000 (I've taken to adding an extra zero because more zeroes = cool) arrives on July 8th. (I just noticed you asked about this on another thread, Ghost) Assuming FedEx doesn't run over it with one of their stupid trucks, I'll be in business. Here's a newbie question that I can't seem to find a simple answer for on these forums or elsewhere (the search terms always turn up too many results.)

I've got two brand new tapes. I know that the first run is the best, but how many times can I reuse the tapes before they are typically considered degraded beyond recommended use?

Happy 4th, Y'all.
 
The Dokorder $71000 (I've added an extra zero AND a $sign cause zeroes and money are cool these days) arrived, I'm pleased to say, in one piece. I reeled up a fresh 456 and within minutes I was warming up Reason compositions in a real way. My ear is untrained to the particulars of analog, but I don't care who you are, this thing works and sounds great--much better than I hoped it would.

My only reel complaint (that's so clever) is that the typical consumer control knobs are very fussy to adjust. (A $100 Dokorder can't do everything right I suppose) The input and play back controls' settings are only loosely related to what they command the machine to actually do! But with some patience, you can get a great level and do some real recording. I mean reel recording. HA! I kill me.

As a bonus, there is a "sound on sound" and echo effect feature that alone is worth the $100 I paid for this thing. As a pure effect, it blows any software delay I've heard out of the water. It's some serious 70s action.

All in all, lets say I've got the bug and there will be one more person vying for those nice decks on ebay. I get it now: This tape thing is a real disease...or should I say reel disease...God that's a bad joke. It's just not funny.
 
"Dork-orrific"! :D

Man! now that was funny! :)

The SOS/echo feature is indeed a cool one! I spent many a drug crazed session playing with that one. :cool:

I called it the time tunnel!...far out, dude!

Cheers! :)
 
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