Tape vs, digital

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I've never heard a digital source as good as a professional analog
tape machine running at professional speed using first quality tape
with good heads and professional setup. Hasn't happened yet.

"The Tape Project" is not pro quality, although it probably does beat
most vinyl.

Digital HAS made huge gains. Twenty years ago, all consumer digital
flat sucked. Today, even the better CDs are decent, as long as the
dynamics aren't squashed. I'm not disputing that the future is going
to stay digital, just that the gold standard is still analog tape. We
are much closer, but not there yet.

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On Apr 27, 6:02�pm, wrote:
> �I've never heard a digital source as good as a professional analog
> tape machine running at professional speed using first quality tape
> with good heads and professional setup. Hasn't happened yet.
>
> �"The Tape Project" is not pro quality, although it probably does beat
> most vinyl.
>
> �Digital HAS made huge gains. Twenty years ago, all consumer digital
> flat sucked. Today, even the better CDs are decent, as long as the
> dynamics aren't squashed. I'm not disputing that the future is going
> to stay digital, just that the gold standard is still analog tape. We
> are much closer, but not there yet.

Agreed. The Tape Project tapes sound nice, but man are they expensive.

[Iain Churches[_2_]]

> wrote in message
...
> I've never heard a digital source as good as a professional analog
> tape machine running at professional speed using first quality tape
> with good heads and professional setup. Hasn't happened yet.

Sorry to be pedantic but your subject line is misleading.
There are still a few tape-based helical scan digital recorders
around:-)

Mastering facilities often include a pro 2track analogue tape
machine with Dolby SR in the mastering chain. Clients refer
to this as an "analogue pass" and many ask for it specifically
for certain types of material.

>
> "The Tape Project" is not pro quality, although it probably does beat
> most vinyl.
>
> Digital HAS made huge gains. Twenty years ago, all consumer digital
> flat sucked. Today, even the better CDs are decent, as long as the
> dynamics aren't squashed. I'm not disputing that the future is going
> to stay digital, just that the gold standard is still analog tape. We
> are much closer, but not there yet.

For many studio projects, a very good solution is to record on
analogue multitrack, 2 inch 24 track with Dolby SR and then
transfer the takes to be edited/mixed to a digital worlstation.
You get the best of both worlds that way.

Iain
Relativity for musicians: E = Fb