[Eeyore]

Richard Crowley wrote:

"Dave Platt" wrote ...
Richard Crowley wrote:
It is stereo

If it is really 1/2 track (as YOU claimed) and if you are hearing
the "other side" backwards (as YOU claimed) then it is impossible
for the tape to be "stereo". If there are ONLY TWO TRACKS,
then there is only ONE track *in each direction*. One track = mono.
It has been this way since before you were born.

Richard,

Half-track stereo tapes certainly did (and do) exist. There's nothing
"sacred" about having to use one track in each direction - a tape deck
can quite easily record both tracks simultaneously, using half the
width of the tape for the left channel and the other half for the right.

Of course there are 1/2-track stereo tapes. I have recorded
hundreds of hours of them. It is still a popular format for "mastering'
among the die-hard fans of magnetic tape recording.

I know a studio that can master 1/2 track stereo on 1" tape ! Ampex ATR100 of
course. Very rare headblock.

Graham