Please help,,,,, what about tape?

F

Frusciante_Fan

New member
I have been scoping out some equipment to buy, to start my small home studio. I have been looking at Converters, Pre amps, and Mics. And my whole thoughts of recording, where Mic - to preamp - to Converters - to computer. But I have been seeing alot of people talking about Mic - to - Preamp - to TAPE? And I get the feeling that they are going to half inch reel to reel? And then somehow running that into the digital realm? I would guess they are going to tape for the warmth, and realness feel of it all?? Am I correct in this assumtion? Or am I wrong? Could someone please tell me what is going on with that?

Sorry for the stupid question
 
There are a lot of reasons why people like going to tape when tracking as opposed to straight digital. The main one is people like the sound of analog tape. You can push the tape harder and get some cool harmonics that sound pleasing. If you push digital harder than 0dB, you get nasty clipping.
 
I love the sound of a good tape machine, but don't overlook the main reason why digital HDD recording is the preferred format these days:

Tape machines require constant maintenence & alignment.

If you have the equipment, time & know how to do it, go for it.

Reason #2 why tape is a pain:

Expensive media that can't be re-used (if you want to maintain decent sound quality).

Good tape ain't cheap, and requires careful storage.

To me digital HDD recording is much better suited to the home recorder, but if you feel you want to take the tape plunge you have my blessing.:D
 
Tape

I just recently went from a DDD to ADD setup, using tape to track.
I wanted a reliable tracking format independent of my chaotic computer. My r2r doesn't crash, get errors or lock up. I can touch the controls with my fingers instead of a pointer. I love being able to power on the preamp & the r2r, hit record, and GO!
Tape does require regular maintenance (alcohol swab + alignment), but so does my computer. Stand alone HD units are not perfect. They can fail like any other hard drive.

Every tracking method has advantages and disadvatages. Do some research on each...
 
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