Pre-recorded music reels: how good ? Your opinion please !

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david winter

david winter

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Hi,

I recently got a small 4-track Akai deck with GX heads and two pre-recorded reels with classical music and jazz. As I liked the sound, I thought I could build a small collection of classical titles that I often listen to, but before that I wanted to know the following:
- Since lots of these tapes date the 1960s and 70s, do they develop stickiness ? Lots of them are Ampex tapes and I know that certain types (406, 407, 456, 457 etc) will develop stickiness.
- How good is the sound ? I mean, will these tapes still play well after all these years or will they loose on the high frequencies ? I'm asking this supposing the tapes were carefully used and stored.
- Is there a noticeable difference in the sound quality between these tapes when recorded at 3.75ips vs those at 7.5ips ?

I'm also thinking about buying rarer 2-track tapes but they appear to be much more expensive. Were there a lot of titles on this format ?



Thanks,

David.
 
I have a handful of commercially made pre-recorded tapes from that same era and have no issues with sticky shed or high frequency loss. I believe this is due to the different binder glues that were used on those tapes that didn't become unglued as did the newer formulations which sought to address the needs of higher output and less hiss.

The sound quality of those pre-recorded tapes generally was on par with the more popular type II bias pre recorded cassettes that followed through afterward as much development was achieved in the compact cassette format to catch up with their open reel older cousins.

The difference in playback speeds would also be pretty substantial in terms of higher frequency response, less drop outs and an overall more detailed sound on the faster speeds.

Now, having said all that, all of these pre-recorded tapes came from different companies and obviously from a spectrum of different artists and engineers so the sound quality will vary widely because of the human element of all of that and some recordings might sound stellar and others like pure garbage. So ultimately, it come down to the how much you like a musical performance in terms of it sounding good or not to you.

Cheers! :)
 
My experience...

I'm new to this, and bought some "random" titles at a local vintage vinyl shop (3 for $5.00!).

My deck is freshly "calibrated," tuned-up by a pro shop.

These tapes sound great! I think you'd need a fairly expensive turntable and LPs in superb condition to rival the quality.

The sound is different than LPs. Hard to describe. The high end is very good, and, to my non-professional ear, the bass seems more separate, more detailed than what comes off my turntable.

I'm referring to the 7 1/2 ips tapes, I have 2 3 3/4 ips tapes but my deck doesn't do that speed.

I've found no problems with the taps except near the ends they seem to have a bit of edge wrinkle, or crinkle. I recommend putting a leader on them right away.

Another observation is that the playback level seems just right. My deck is set for a 250 nW/m operating level (+3), and these tapes are reading right where I think they should, with the loudest portions just hitting the +3 Vu region.
 
I've been listening to some of my father in laws reels in the past few months that he bought back in the 70's and most of them sound good. Their are a handful of ones he recorded that have suffered slight high end loss. I'd go for it. Like Ghost mentioned the faster reels should have a better all around sound.
 
I too have recently acquired a handful of pre-recorded reels. For the most part, they sound freaking phenomenal. There is one that has some noticeable hiss to it, but considering the age and condition of the tape, I don't really mind. The only thing that I have run across are that the tapes that "have been duplicated using American Recording tape" are pretty brittle. The Ampex ones haven't given me any problems.
 
Pre-recorded tapes were marketed as better than Stereo LP records. I (sadly) sold all my prerecorded tapes sometime in the late '70s or early '80s due to some moving around and interest changes (I was heading off to the Karakorum every other year and to Argentina in between, that plus living on a boat).

Some tape vendors were held in higher regard that others. Ampex if I recall correctly duplicated tapes at twice normal speed. Bel Canto made them at realtime speeds. It was thought that high speed duplication made for some compromises but then again this was Ampex at the peak of their technology for tape. (as far as I remember)

I think that I have about 25 tapes sitting on the shelf. At the moment. I always look for pre-recorded tape at garage sales. Some tapes are not worth much. But then again almost any of the Beatles tapes go for major $$ and specific Pink Floyd tapes have gone for thousands.....

Regards, Ethan
 
Thanks for your replies.
I'll see how the tapes I purchased sound once I receive them.
I haven't checked the market for collectors and won't go through this, but I'll be amazed if I could see some web page talking about expensive ones. I'm used to expensive LPs like early Decca stereos and similar, but never heard about anything like that for tapes (except 8-track cartridges).


David.
 
what everyone already said.

with the addition that out of the maybe 50 or so pre recorded tapes i have, there are maybe 2 that do shed. i'm keeping and playing them anyway-every once in a great while.
just have to clean a little more.
 
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